Ex-Barracuda Jeremy Gluck's march of time perfectly captured on career retrospective

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

11 May 2024

Hits: 1819

I Am Time - Jeremy Gluck (Glass Modern)

This is one of the few times I cannot quantify a musical release. I cannot answer the question: “How many bottles?”

Really? For this? No, you may as well say “I Am Time” is as high as that thing over there, or as round as it is long. 

“I Am Time” is a rather startling career overview of the tempting output of one Jeremy Gluck - and, yes, we're all aware of the sniggerment possibilities of Jeremy's surname, so if you quit cackling at the back there we might be able to get to the meat of the matter at hand.

• the birthday party
• nikki sudden
• the gun club
• the barracudas
• i am time
• glass modern
• jeffrrey lee pierce

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FLASHBACK: Dennis Thompson and The American Ruse

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By Ken Shimamoto

Ken Shimamoto

10 May 2024

Hits: 3423

^{Dennis Thompson (rear) with Fred Smith, Wayne Kramer, Rob Tyner and Mike Davis.}

We are marking the passing of Dennis Thompson, last man standing from the MC5, with this flashback interview. Ken Shimamoto conducted it in two parts, beginning on March 24 1998 and winding up on March 28, 1998.

Besides being the party who propelled the MC5 (and New Order, and New Race, and The Motor City Bad Boys, and...) into the stratosphere with his percussive power, Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson is also undoubtedly the greatest living high-energy conversationalist on the planet. He talks the same way he plays the drums -- energetically, assertively, aggressively, thoughts spilling over each other two or three at a time, punctuated by explosions of laughter.

K: How'd you get started playing music back in Lincoln Park?

D: Well, what it was, was that I had a friend named Billy Vargo who played guitar, and I'm thinking, how old were we, we were like maybe 15-years-old, and he was the leader of the band. We had three guitars, no bass, and me on drums. And I was doing it, I was playing.

My brother is 10 years older than I am, and he's been a musician all his life. So when he was 16, I was six years old, and they had a rock and roll band, practicing music in my basement, the drummer would leave his drums, so four year old, five-year-old Dennis would run down there and bang on the drums and Mom would yell down there, "Dennis, get off those drums, they're not yours!" But she'd always give me at least 10 minutes, you know?

• fred smith
• mc5
• wayne kramer
• sonic
• rob tyner
• dennis thompson
• michael davis
• new order
• new race
• ken shimamoto
• jon landau

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Vale MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 May 2024

Hits: 2322

 _{Grande Ballroom image by Norm Lye.}

Vale Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, who was Last Man Standing from the MC5 until today. “MGT” passed away peacfully in hospital in Detroit where he had been rehabilitating following a heart attack in April. He was aged 75.

The Detroit Free Press reported earlier today that he was still at Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital during his initial recovery when he heard that the MC5 was headed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 21.

• mc5
• dennis thompson
• new order
• new race

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Pismo Beach's finest mark 40 years with Australian match-ups

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 May 2024

Hits: 1912

It's been four decades since they burst onto the Australian rock and roll scene, and Pismo Beach’s own Psychotic Turnbuckles are descending Down Under for a three-state tour.

With three albums and a dozen singles and EPs to their credit, the Turnbuckles are still The World Rock and Roll Tag Team Champions and retained their crown on a Japanese tour that included an appearance at the world-famous Tokyo Halloween Ball. 

The 40 Years Undefeated Tour will take on the Tote in Melbourne on Saturday, June 29 for their only Victorian show, presented by The I-94 Bar.

Guests on this leg are Sydney’s glam kings Starcrazy and Melbourne’s retro sound champions The Vibrajets.   

• psychotic turnbuckles
• vibrajets
• australian tour
• starcrazy
• the fadeaways
• bahne super-flex
• strike-outs
• the dangermen
• the busymen
• kill pill

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Perch and Destroy: Bumper Birdman book is in the nest and poised to take flight

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 May 2024

Hits: 3251

The long-awaited Radio Birdman biography from Australian writer Murray Engleheart is on the launch pad, ready for release.

“Radio Birdman: Retaliate First” is drawn from more than 150 interviews with band members, their closest associates, devotees and observers and will be published on July 2.

You can pre-order here.

A 448-page opus in paperback format being published by Allen & Unwin, it threatens to be the last word in text-rich Birdman books.

(The title of Best Visual History already belongs to the George Munoz-authored "Radio Birdman: When The Birdmen Flew".)

In the words of the publisher’s blurb: “Sydney's legendary Radio Birdman were a stake through the satin and scarfed hearts of the mid seventies' music scene, revolutionising the conservative Australian industry in the process.

“Regarded as one of the earliest punk bands, before the world had heard of the Sex Pistols, Birdman were feared and loathed by many, yet adored by fiercely loyal fans. But their story has never been told in depth—until now.

• radio birdman

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Lost Sydney band Grooveyard's recorded legacy emerges from the vaults

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 April 2024

Hits: 3369

_{Larry McGrath photo.}

Another cache of gems has emerged from the mists of time that obscure the 1980s Australian underground music scene: The back catalogue of Sydney’s Grooveyard have been posthumously re-released.
Hindsight shows The Grooveyard was something of a supergroup. At various times, its ranks included future Paul Kelly and Messengers, Chinless Elite and Hell To Pay member Jon Schofield, Lime Spiders drummer Richard Lawson, ex-Razar member and future Screaming Tribesmen Bob Wackley, Geoff Rhoe (ex-Minuteman), Ian Little (Bambalams) and Sean Maguire (ex-Minuteman).

 Swimming against the Detroit tide that was gripping most of Sydney, Grooveyard peddled a distinctive and stunning brand of ‘60s-influenced powerpop and issued the Chris Masuak-produced “Avalanche of Love” single (1984) and 12-inch EP (“Grooveyard”, 1989). All tracks are rolling out on digital platforms from today..

• lime spiders
• razar
• Richard lawson
• grooveyard
• avalanche of love
• the grooveyard
• bob wackley
• bambalams
• ian little
• minuteman
• sean maguire

Escape your problems and focus on Mark Steiner's instead

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

23 April 2024

Hits: 2593

Black Hole - Mark Steiner and his Problems (Rabben Records) 

Mark Steiner, expat New Yorker (think Piker Ryan's Folly), Oslosian and globe-trotter, has released his third LP. Being a busy chap, it's been a few years between road-trips Down Under.

COVID won't have helped. Remember COVID when large numbers of otherwise normal folks suddenly demonstrated that they couldn't tell the difference between a virus and a bug, came up with all manner of preposterous and completely impossible conspiracy theories (including the one that the deep state is ruled by giant lizard aliens), and generally gave the impression that education for the masses is clearly a waste of time, money and effort?

• mark steiner
• black hole
• rabben records
• mark steiner and his problems

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Tokyo's garage rock kings The Fadeaways head to Australia

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By The Barman

The Barman

22 April 2024

Hits: 5268

Australian crowds will have their first opportunity to experience Japan’s best, premium high-energy garage rock band when The Fadeaways make their debut on these shores in July 2024.

The Fadeaways have been wowing punters in their homeland since forming in Tokyo in 2005. Sharing a mutual love of ‘60s garage punk, ‘70s punk and trash, Toyozo (vocals and bass), Assman (guitar) and Ozzy (drummers) quickly established themselves on the tight-knit and fanatical Japanese underground music circuit.

This July 2024, prepare to be swept off your feet as Japan's high-octane garage rock sensation. Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s an eyewitness account:

• garage
• australian tour
• japan
• the fadeaways
• 2024

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Dez Dare does Down Under

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By The Barman

The Barman

18 April 2024

Hits: 2070

Expat Aussie fuzz 'n' beats rocker Dez Dare is returning home from the UK for shows to celebrate the release of his fourth album, "A Billion Goats. A Billion Sparks. Fin."

The media release is worth reproducing verbatim:

On past records Dare has fought beasts and beats alike, waging a fuzz war and tackling the biggest topics the world has to face; Doom scrolling, capitalist demagogues, a passionate dislike of the beach in summer. On this record he leaves the sardonic frustration behind for sarcastic existentialism, zeroing in on the big philosophical questions, and the pedantic shards of nonsense that make up our existence.

Piling up the synths, noise boxes and guitar pedals, Dez set about building a soundscape of noise and ideas around the nature of reality, time, and how we interact with them. From the music you would play in your last moments, to the reverse Darwinism of modern society, to arguing with time itself, and very boring people talking at you, all is covered here for the aspiring existentialist. 

Dez Dare is self-produced Darren Smallman (ex-Low Transit Industries, Warped, The Sound Platform) and he's three decades producing music, releasing and touring bands, and doing live sound. A product of the coastal Victorian city of Geelong,  he was introduced to the DIY punk and rock scene at 15.

• live
• australian tour
• warped
• dez dare
• darren smallman

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