Alive 2023 - Golden Oak (Iceage Productions)
As you probably know, the Australian Iceage label is known for extraordinary experimental, electronic, drone, industrial and general fist-in-your-sleepy-face noise.
On the other hand, Golden Oak is known for its cheap, usually cask-borne, wines and fortified wines. Golden Oak is beloved of ... well, I won't say it, but you know who I'm talking about.
One assumes that, by choosing the band name, there is a droll (if not perverse) joke afoot.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1974
Died Pretty has reluctantly cancelled its run of Australian shows in October due to health concerns for band members Ron Peno and Chris Welsh. In a statement on Facebook an hour ago, the band said:
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 3113
Pleasant Dreams - Ramones (Rhino Records)
Pleasant Dreams Demos – Ramones (bootleg)
(Written from 23 May through 3 July 2023)
Ever notice how our first impressions are the strongest? That whatever we encounter first, stays with us, often for decades, and often despite intellectually knowing that that first impression is in fact wrong?
Like lasagne sticking to a carpet (don't try this at home) or a losing soul clings to pride, with both pasta sauce and draining soul not having a clue about what they're sticking to, or why, or even that they are sticking to anything.
Similarly, what we discover when we're young often stays with us no matter how wrong we might be.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 3121
Broken – Kevin k (Vicious Kitten)
Recorded with all dials in the red in a basement in the cold of a Michigan winter, “Broken” shows Bowery veteran Kevin K is anything but. Your sound system may be, though, after 12 songs that don’t skimp on distortion.
Glossy production and Kevin K have rarely been mentioned in the same breath. Ironically, his most polished record, “Magic Touch”, also came out on Vicious Kitten 23 years ago. Apart from being on the same imprint, “Broken” bears no resemblance and sounds like Blue Cheer.
Kevin K played all the instruments on “Broken” (with some minor drum machine assistance) and the production is homespun. The “never too loud” ethos and claustrophobic feel might leave you gasping for breath midway through but I suspect that’s the intention.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2165
Author Mark Cornwall and "Proby and Me".
As a child growing up in the south-east South Australian town of Mount Gambier, Mark Cornwall recalls seeing an American singer performing on the Beatles’ television special, “Around the Beatles”.
“He had a pony tail and this was 1965. This weird stage outfit, buckled shoes, singing “Walk the Dog’,” says Cornwall.
The artist was Texan-born James Smith, known better by his stage name PJ Proby. Proby had first come to public prominence with the top 10 hit “Hold Me” and would go on to generate and foster a mixture of popular interest and media controversy over the course of the rest of the decade.
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- By Patrick Emery
- Hits: 3097
The Dividing Line – The Primevals (Heavy Medication/Triple Wide/Ghost Highway)
It’s 40 years after they formed in the no-nonsense Scottish city of Glasgow and If you haven’t worked out what The Primevals are on about three songs into this, their latest and 14th album, you need to have a wee dram and a good, hard look at yourself.
Admittedly, a band that dates from 1983, worked the European circuit on the back of a French New Rose Records deal, disappeared and resurfaced to start a second life a decade-and-a-half ago and has undergone considerable member churn could be a hit or miss proposition, but The Primevals keep delivering.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2436
Rock ‘n’ Roll Homicide – Trading Aces (Ripple Music)
Hello I-94 Barflies , it’s been a while but there’s a bit to talk about with The Farmhouse rocking to the sounds of Trading Aces’ “Rock ‘n’ Roll Homicide”, and what a ripper this album is.
Trading Aces is a supergroup of well-known, and not so well-known, musicians coming from all over the world to pay homage to one, the late Eddie Van Halen, and, boy, does it rock.
Frank Meyer of the Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs is joined by Dennis Post of City Kids (both on guitar and vocals) .Bjarne Paamand (Warrior Soul) is on bass and Ivan Tambac (also Warrior Soul) is on drums. They got together to make some tunes and express their grief at the loss of Eddie into some hard rock, metal, punk and pop.
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- By Ron Brown
- Hits: 3061
One of the most irreverent bands ever to come out of the Southern Californian punk scene,Descendentsare returning to Australia and New Zealand this October, playing six headlining shows.
Descendents have one of the most enduring legacies of any punk rock band in history. Known for their early, defining timeless classic albums such as “Milo Goes to College” and “I Don't Want to Grow Up” and songs, “Hope”, “Suburban Home” and “Good Good Things”.
Milo Aukerman (vocals), Bill Stevenson (drums), Stephen Egerton (guitar) and Karl Alvarez (bass) will be joined by a swag of local supports listed below.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1833
Ride Hard Ride Free b/w Smokestack Lightning - Zeke (Hound Gawd Records)
Seattle speed metal merchants Zeke cop a perennial barberqueing from critics who perceive their Motorhead-meets-Black Flag to be one-dimensional thrash. That might be partially correct - the 2000 cover of “Rhiannon” was certainly an attempt to crack the mould - but what’s wrong with sticking to your guns? It never hurt Lemmy.
This vinyl-only single (as in it won’t be on any streaming service anywhere, soon) vindicates that single-minded approach. The production is more metal orientated than the band’s high-water mark album, “Dirty Sanchez”, but that won’t deter any more than a handful of followers.
With original members Blind Marky Felchtone (vocals and guitar) and Dohnny Paycheck (drums) “Ride Hard Ride Free” is as uncompromising as ever, with a furious whirlwind rhythm the foundation for a tidal wave of fast guitars. Feltchtone’s serrated knife vocal might be even more toxic than two decades ago.
Be forewarned: The B side “Smokestack Lightning” is not the Yardbirds-appropriated blues smoker from “Five Live” but a similarly pitched blistering aural assault.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2061
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