The Complete Matrix Tapes - The Velvet Underground (Universal)

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By Bob Short

Bob Short

01 January 2016

Hits: 4973

It seems totally ridiculous to tell you how important the Velvet Underground were. What do you think I am? The god damn professor of punk? I know there are some squares who blew in too late but if you haven’t made this particular scene by now, you won’t be reading this. Keep sucking on that caffeine free soy latte and tell me reading about music is so 20th Century.

I’m writing this review for those who want to know why they should fork out big bucks for this top shelf item, a box of four CDs. Those who drink out of jars and buy LPs ironically need not apply. For those people, it’s time to start feeding a new habit. Shave off that frigging beard. Go out and listen to these CDs, one through four. Take some drugs. Bad drugs.

• live
• lou reed
• velvet underground
• matrix
• doug yule
• john cale
• mo tucker
• sterling morrison

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The Dictators: Go Girl Crazy! 40th Anniversary Reissue - The Dictators (Sony)

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By Geoff Ginsberg

Geoff Ginsberg

01 January 2016

Hits: 6070

This album did not change my life. It affirmed it. When I was a pre-teen I was way into Pro Wrestling. That translated to automatic retard status among peers and adults. After all, it was fake, only an idiot would be so into it. And having Slade as my favorite band was not earning me any coolness points at school either.

And then, first darned rock mag I ever bought - either Circus or Circus Raves - there was a review by one Gordon Fletcher of this now-classic. Man, it sounded like everything I was looking for. I got the LP right away and was blown away by everything about it.

Most especially the songs of course, but also the graphics - just like my wrestling mags - and the fact that not only did they have wrestling promos on the record, they knew who Verne Gagne and Dick The Bruiser were. They really knew their stuff! Plus, like me, they were Jews from NYC.

• dictators
• reissue
• dictators every day is saturday
• handsome
• dick
• manitoba
• ross the boss
• andy
• shernoff
• sony

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Louder Than Love - The Grande Ballroom Story

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By The Barman

The Barman

31 December 2015

Hits: 6338

Seismic changes in music don’t occur spontaneously. They’re usually a result of people unwittingly being in the right place at the right time, running into a catalyst and stumbling over a big stockpile of serendipity.

Does anyone think CBGB would have been anything more than the source of dogshit on the soles of a few Bowery bums’ shoes if Hilly Krystal hadn’t been conned by a supposed bluegrass band into giving live music a try?

How quickly would the Sex Pistols have fizzled out if Queen hadn’t cancelled on Bill Grundy at the last minute, presumably so Freddy could get his nails done? McLaren had no more planned the TV outburst that propelled his band to infamy as Steve Jones had sworn off the booze.

In 1966, a former dance hall on the shady side of Detroit called The Grande Ballroom became both a focal point for the counter culture and a scene. It attracted and generated a strain of high-energy, blue collar rock and roll, the likes of which have been seen rarely anywhere else. It came into being through good management, but also through incredible luck.

• iggy pop
• stooges
• mc5
• wayne kramer
• grande
• louder than love

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Till Death Do Us Party - Levitating Churches (self released)

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 December 2015

Hits: 4106

The catchcry “No Squares Or Hippies” re-appears on the LP’s sleeve and it’s as apt as the “Play Loud” instruction on the back cover. Levitating Churches deal in a jagged, jarring blend of psych blues and hard rock on their second, vinyl only long player. Lovers of the flute or banjo need to seek their kicks elsewhere.

A little less psych and more straight-ahead than its predecessor “Levitating Churches”, “Till Death..” shows a band whose feet remain planted firmly in the garage scene of the late ‘60s. If these guys dig Roky more than Iggy and that’s a truism rather than a criticism.

• garage
• levitating churches
• till death do us party

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Archie and the Bunkers – Archie and the Bunkers (Dirty Water)

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 December 2015

Hits: 5412

Let’s get it out of the way, up front. The two members of Archie and The Bunkers are teenage brothers from Cleveland, Ohio, who live with their parents. You need to know because media types will get hung up on that fact if and when these kids get better known.

That neither 17-year-old Emmett (on drums and vocals) or 14-year-old Cullen (organ and vocals) O'Connor is old enough to ask for booze on their backstage rider doesn’t matter. Not a jot. They pump out simple, and simply good, stripped-back punk sounds that are bereft of bullshit.

• dirty water records
• archie and the bunkers
• cleveland

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Tougher Pucker - Shandy (Contra Records/Longshot Music)

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 December 2015

Hits: 5062

It's hearsay but I’ve got this on good authority: Being on the end of a kicking from one of Australia’s Sharpie gangs at the end off the ‘60s or start of the ‘70s was never have been as much fun as going to a show by Brisbane band Shandy.

For the uninitiated, a shandy is an Australian beer with lemonade added. Truly a relic of the ‘60s and, personally, there’s no reason to commit a crime like this unless your grandmother is really insistent and has a doctor’s certificate to prove she’s dying from thirst. Shandy, the band, on the other hand is less offensive by a factor of double figures. Shandy rocks.

The Sharps were a uniquely Australian brand of street gang that roamed the suburbs of Sydney and especially Melbourne 50 years ago. They liked their music raw and guitar-infested. Glam and boogie were the go. You can read more about it in this review of "When Sharpies Rules, the landmark compilation that came out in 2015.

• brisbane
• sharpies
• shandy
• jj speedball

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West of Anywhere - DM3 (Alive Naturalsound)

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 December 2015

Hits: 4952

DM3 are from Western Australia and make peerless powerpop. If you didn’t know that already here’s another chance to catch up.

Chances are you do already know that DM3 are Dom Mariani and (mostly) Pascal Bartalome on drums and Tony Italiano on bass. With surnames like that it’s no wonder Italy adores them as much as Berlusconi loves bunga bunga parties. You could think of DM3 as a musical version of the family-sized Neapolitan pizza: Chunky pieces of melody on a solid base of guitar - and easy on the cheese.

If you listen hard enough it will be apparent that it’s all in the hooks. Chronologically-speaking, Dom assembled this band after the ‘60s pop of The Stems and the even sweeter pop of The Someloves. Stylistically speaking, DM3 sits somewhere in-between them both.

• dm3
• dom
• mariani
• stems
• powerpop
• alive naturalsound
• someloves

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Sydney gets a dose of The Mummies

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 December 2015

Hits: 5501

The Mummies need no introduction as one of the loudest stupidest most deranged bands on the planet and have been destroying lives, limbs and guitars worldwide since 1989. They’re visiting Melbourne and Adelaide for one week only - and now Sydney gets its chance.

Thursday, March 10 is the date and the venue is Hermanns Bar at Sydney University.

They’ll be joined by Psychotic Turnbuckles and Los Tones.

Tickets won’t last long and went on sale today here. It will sell out.

Why? These bandaged kooks are possibly one of the most legendary Punk/Garage bands on the planet. The Mummies originated the ‘Budget rock sound’ told SUB POP where to get off and now they will blow you a new hole right between those useless eardrums of yours.

The Mummies define what was to be a world-wide revolution of retardo rock and sloped-head slop that erupted in the late '80s and early ’90s, spawning so many bands you can’t even start to name them all.

You can rope in most of the riot girl movement, Beat Man, King Khan, and any of the hundreds of non corporate punk garage combos that are still wrecking guitars worldwide today.

• psychotic
• turnbuckles
• los tones
• mummies

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Grande Ballroom movie released and it's Louder Than Love

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 December 2015

Hits: 7206

It’s been years in the making and "LOUDER THAN LOVE", the long-awaited documentary paying tribute to legendary Detroit music venue the Grande Ballroom, is finally available.

The Grande was the birthplace or breeding ground for the likes of the Stooges, the MC5, The Up and The Rationals. It also became a notorious killing field for visiting international bands who had to undergo a "trial by support band" where the locals did their best to blow them off the stage (sometimes succeeding.)

“LOUDER THAN LOVE: The Grande Ballroom Story” is Tony D’Annunzio’s first independent film as a producer and director.  His movie chronicles the Detroit music scene in the late 1960s, as told through the eyes of the legendary bands that played there.

• detroit
• iggy pop
• stooges
• mc5
• alice
• cooper
• wayne kramer
• john sinclair
• grande
• ballroom
• louder than love

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