Detroit - Sonic’s Rendezvous Band (Easy Action)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 December 2014

Hits: 6732

What do you think we’d say? Sonic’s Rendezvous Band was truly The One That Got Away. It’s a crime they weren’t signed, recorded and backed to the hilt by a major label and elevated to a household name, but rock and roll is seldom fair. That’s why you need to hear everything you can of this great lost band.

Never heard outside a small circle of alumni and fans, this short but sweet five-song set comes from the January 14,1978 show, on the undercard to the Ramones and the Runaways at the Masonic Temple in Detroit. Maybe.

The opening act was un-billed and surviving band members (that would be Gary and Scott) can’t agree that they played it. All but one song (“City Slang”) has remained in the vaults and the label thought it had issued the gig as part of its splendid box set. But that disc wasn’t even from one entire show, if that makes sense.

• rock
• easy-action
• detroit
• sonics rendezvous band
• scott
• morgan
• asheton
• action
• fred sonic smith
• gary rasmussen

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CJ Ramone tours Oz

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 December 2014

Hits: 6337

If you have to ask which band he played with you’re in the wrong place. We're talking about xx-bassist for the greatest rock roll band in the history of the world, CJ Ramone, who will undertake his first solo band Australian tour in February to support a new record.

The extensive run by the ex-Ramones bassist takes in the ACT and all states except WA.

• australia
• tour
• ramones
• cj ramone

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Sunnyboys sell out Brisbane show, put on another

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 December 2014

Hits: 4546

The Sunnyboys and Riptides show at Brisbane's Tivoli has completely sold-out. Due to this clearly overwhelming demand, both bands have agreed to a second Brisbane show, this time at the city's latest hot-spot, the all-new The Triffid, in Newstead on Thursday 12th March.

Tickets for this inspired pairing go on-sale on Friday from www.thetriffid.com.au or www.feelpresents.com and all OzTix outlets.

• live
• sunnyboys
• riptides

Nobody Likes Us – Alice Cooper (Easy Action)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 December 2014

Hits: 5861

Let's not get into discussions about how many times this notable, nay historic, 1969 Toronto gig from the nascent Alice Cooper band has been released.Ladies and germs, this is the definitive, speed-corrected version, with correct song titles, spunky pink artwork and a second gig from San Francisco appended, for good measure. Plus, a couple of feathers inserted, if you're lucky.

Toronto 1969 was the notorious Chicken Show where Alice (the man, not the band) threw a live bird into the crowd only to have it tossed back at him...in pieces. Leaving aside the animal rights aspects of this on both sides - being out of your mind on booze is no excuse for throwing a flightless fowl into a crowd of excitable Hoser  stoners – you might wonder what the fuss was all about, musically speaking.

It is true that Alice Cooper was the most despised band in L.A. at this stage; soaking in the discordant skronk, seemingly random rhythmic shifts and walls of feedback, it's often easy to hear why.

• easy-action
• live
• alice
• cooper
• nobody likes us

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Tales of Endless Bliss - The Primevals (Closer Records)

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08 December 2014

Hits: 7766

"Hipster beware! Time to be free; rock 'n' roll is primeval beat."

Lindsay Hutton, founder of the “Next Big Thing” fanzine and “The Legion of the Cramped” Cramps Fan Club, knows a thing or two about great rock 'n’ roll. His liner notes to the “On The Red Eye” anthology of early Primevals material succinctly summarised the appeal of the Glaswegian garage veterans: "Their Gun Club meets Radio Birdman take on Detroit rock 'n' soul preachin' blues was much more direct than practically anything that has ever come outta Glasgow.“

Formed by Michael Rooney in Glasgow, Scotland in 1983, The Primevals were the compete antithesis of everything that was fashionable at the time. Right up to the present day, the group has always been roundly ignored by mainstream media both in Glasgow and at a national level, aside from a handful of free thinking journalists who have championed them through thick and thin.

• primevals
• cramps
• rooney
• lindsay hutton
• tales of endless bliss
• closer

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Carlton cowboys and Fitzroy floors…a retrospective and review

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By J.J.Adams

J.J.Adams

03 December 2014

Hits: 21610

There’s a time machine where I work. The size of an average bathroom, it can spin rock samples at 16 times gravity, replicating a century’s worth of gas and water movements throughout aquitards in a couple of days, or a millenium’s worth in a week. Impressive!

The two discs of the “(When TheSsun Sets Over) Carlton” compilation may not spin quite that fast (or if they do, either they or my CD player have truly greater construction and sound quality than I realized!), but they equally constitute a time machine, taking the listener back to an era which technologically, politically and socially is so different to the present, it’s hard to believe it’s 40 - and not 140 - years ago!

Just take some time to consider Australian daily life as lived from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, an era when the musicians on “Carlton” were growing up, forming groups and writing the songs which on playing still sound so amazingly fresh so many years later. If you are old enough to remember, read on and be reminded how things have changed. If you aren’t, read on and be amazed!

• martin
• when the sun sets over carlton
• skyhooks

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Sun – Dreamtime (Conquest of Noise)

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 December 2014

Hits: 7003

Even if writing about music really is like dancing about architecture, applying descriptors is still a necessary evil. You could probably tag Brisbane’s Prog Psych. Americans would probably call them a Jam Band. Both would be correct.

Dreamtime hails from the depths of Brisbane’s underground scene and its music is as exploratory as it gets these days. Both feet are planted firmly in the late-‘60s scene of the US West Coast with a bit of Syd’s Floyd thrown in for good measure. These are meandering, weighty jams built on guitars and a nimble but minimalist engine room. “Sun” pulls in influences like Eastern ragas and percussive touches like chimes.  

• brisbane
• sun
• conquest of noise
• dreamtime

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Shark Infested Waters – Various Artists (Easy Action)

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By Robert Brokenmouth & The Barman

Robert Brokenmouth & The Barman

30 November 2014

Hits: 5963

Sometimes I think I’m a bastard instead of being just somewhat scatterbrained. See, I put this order in to Easy Action and they sent a couple of other CDs as well. Generous of them. And I never thanked them.

Alright, I’d had a couple of man-flu health ishoos, and there were other inconveniences. But I never fucking thanked them. And they’re a generous, intelligent company. I feel like a small limp dick confessing this. But you should know some of the circumstances.

• howard
• easy-action
• johnny
• thunders
• iggy
• stooges
• bob dylan
• primal scream
• rowland

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Sunny summer as Sunnyboys announce tour and more re-issues

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By The Barman

The Barman

26 November 2014

Hits: 8484

Comeback kings the Sunnyboys have announced a full-blown Aussie summer tour, along with deluxe releases of their second and third studio albums.

The 2015 tour will include shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide plus a slot at the Perth International Arts Festival, just the second Sunnyboys appearance in the W.A. capital since 1984.

Brisbane and Sydney will be treated to appearances by their former sparring partners, the Riptides. Other guests on the February tour include The New Christs (Melbourne and Sydney) young punks Bad // Dreems (Adelaide) and Dom Mariani's post-Stems vehicle DM3, in Perth.

• dm3
• live
• australia
• sunnyboys
• tour
• new christs
• riptides
• summer

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