Take a trip with Bad Drip

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 June 2024

Hits: 1950

• sydney
• outtspace records
• bad drip
• tales from bad drip
• inner-west

Tales From Bad Drip – Bad Drip (Outtspace Records)

From out of Sydney’s Inner-West comes Bad Drip and they’re quite the thing if you’re partial to heavy blues jams. “Tales From Bad Drip” is only four songs but the vinyl-only EP packs plenty of punch.

The Inner-West Delta. It’s where Surry Hills’ survivors settled when gentrification pushed the inner-city rents up and the dole dried up. Some of them even got mortgages and have spawned kids. It’s a funny place, full of contradictions and probably ripe for urban renewal itself, but it’s also where most of Sydney’s music now lives.  

A lot of those Inner-West bands sound like fey indie rock or hip slacker drivel with no songs. If the cliche is reality, Bad Drip is refreshingly atypical. A quartet that’s only been around two years, this is their first physical release. Of course, it’s on vinyl.  

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Disaffected? Dan Denton must be your new fave author

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By JD Monroe

JD Monroe

19 June 2024

Hits: 1821

• dan denton
• roadside press
• the dead and the desperate

The Dead and The Desperate By Dan Denton (Roadside Press)

Way back in the New Wave/Post punk era, one of my only friends was a kid with a very similar name to mine. He was really into Depeche Mode and Tubeway Army, and he had a real hardk nock life with a dead father, abusive brother and corrections officer mother,

We met at some troubled teen diversion program. He knew some Kung Fu and kinda became my protector, as I was a scrawny-ass make-up wearing Ramone who was always targeted by bully dumb-fuck Ohio males for wearing eyeliner and being like totally into Bowie and the NY Dolls.

I always tried to get the kid to work on his keyboards so he could join my dirty punk band, I thought that might give him a productive creative outlet and elevate our sorta stupidly primitive Ramones/Cramps sound. He dabbled with it for awhile, but would always get sorta distracted by girls. He saw the two of us as rivals, whereas, I saw us as more like brothers. I really loved the guy.

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Moot proves that punk is where you find it

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By The Barman

The Barman

18 June 2024

Hits: 1912

• punk rock
• moot
• outtspace records
• A Crowd Pleasing Extravaganza

A Crowd Pleasing Extravaganza – Moot (Outtaspace Records)

It's a point hat has been made here before: Moot comes from the New South Wales Mid North Coast region and you’d struggle to think of a place with a more tenuous claim to being a spawning ground for punk rock.

Neat farms sit on rich alluvial land, squeezed between eucalyptus-lined mountain ridges and coastal towns that cling steadfastly to beaches or river inlets. The populace seems past or approaching retirement age. It’s a region devoid of (visible) dole queues or massive social dislocation – at least on the surface.

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Getting back in The Grooveyard: Jon Schofield looks back (just a little)

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By Chris Virtue

Chris Virtue

16 June 2024

Hits: 1979

• paul kelly
• chris masuak
• Richard lawson
• grooveyard
• avalanche of love
• bob wackley
• ian little
• the coloured girls
• the messengers

_{Jon Schofield leading The Grooveyard through a set with (fron left to right) Ian Little,  Richard Lawson and Bob Wackley.} 

A little piece of Australian underground rock and roll history was rescued from relative obscurity in April when the modestly-proportioned back catalogue (one 45 and an EP) of 1980s Sydney band The Grooveyard was re-issued digitally.

Grooveyard played ‘60s-influenced power pop in and around Sydney in the 1980s. Their recorded legacy kicked off with their Chris Masuak-produced “Avalanche of Love” single in 1984 and ending with the posthumous 12-inch “Grooveyard" EP in 1989. 

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).

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M'kay, this Premonition K is Special.

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 June 2024

Hits: 2478

• foghorn records
• steve kilbey
• kilbey kennedy
• premonition k
• martin kennedy

Premonition K – Kilbey Kennedy (Foghorn Records)
I came not to praise Prog Rock but to bury it. You know, throw on a “Pink Floyd” T-shirt with a handwritten “I Hate” appended to the front of the band name, just like it’s the King’s Road in London, circa 1976.

The claws were out and the poison pen primed with ink. It was time to snarl about pomposity and pretentiousness, declare a fatwah on all hippies and kick out some serious wordplay jams . This War Against The Jive is relentless, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer truly do suck dogs’ balls.

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Chris Bailey's estate slams Saints reformation

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 June 2024

Hits: 6705

• feelpresents
• ed kuepper
• mark arm
• chris bailey
• the saints
• australian tour
• bailey estate

_{The classic early Saints line-up with reformation participants, drummer Ivor Hay and guitarist Ed Kuepper at front, and Chris Bailey at the rear.}

The Saints reformation has turned ugly with the Estate of late frontman Chris Bailey going public with a condemnation.

In a tersely-worded media statement released overnight, Chris Bailey’s Family and Estate questioned the decision to reform The Saints with Mark Arm from Mudhoney replacing the late singer who passed away two years ago.

“Neither the late singer’s family, nor the Chris Bailey Estate, were informed or consulted, on this decision,” the statement said. “We are surprised that Mark Arm agreed to do this without consultation.”

The statement said the Estate owns “The Saints” name and its primary objective is “to honour Chris Bailey’s memory and the Saints significant legacy with integrity”.

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Surprise Saints reformation announced for six-date Australian tour

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2024

Hits: 4668

• ed kuepper
• peter oxley
• mark arm
• chris bailey
• the saints
• mick harvey
• australian tour
• 2024

Here's news to make it This Perfect Day or send you down a One Way Street...

The Saints are reforming with Mudhoney's Mark Arm up front for a six-date Australian tour in November.
 
Arm, founding Saints members guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay will be joined by bassist Peter Oxley of Sunnyboys and former The Birthday Party/Bad Seeds member Mick Harvey on guitar.

The dates will be in celebration of a vinyl box set release of the 1977 classic debut album "(I’m) Stranded" on In The Red. The sets will be largely drawn from it, "Eternally Yours" (1978) and "Prehistoric Sounds" (1978). 

Wed Nov 13 Hindly St. Music Hall, Adelaide, SA
Fri Nov 15 Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, VIC
Sat Nov 16 Northcote Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Wed Nov 20 Freo Social, Fremantle, WA
Fri Nov 22 Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Sat Nov 23 Princess Theatre, Brisbane QLD SOLD OUT
SUN Nov 24 Princess Theatre, Brisbane QLD 
Tickets via feelpresents.com

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New "MC5" album out in October and here's the first taste

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 June 2024

Hits: 2377

• mc5
• wayne kramer
• dennis thompson
• heavy lifting
• earMUSIC

“Heavy Lifting” – which is being marketed as the first MC5 studio album in 53 years – is out on October 18.

Led by late founding member Wayne Kramer (pictured right) and recorded with iconic producer Bob Ezrin (Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, KISS), the album features original Five drummer, also late Dennis “Machine Gun” Thompson, on two tracks along with special guests including Slash, Tom Morello, William DuVall (Alice in Chains), Vernon Reid (Living Colour), Don Was, and Tim McIlrath (Rise Against).

"Heavy Lifting" will be on LP and CD with a bonus disc of live tracks by MC50, the band Kramer fronted on a world tour to showcase MC5 songs for the 50th anniversary.

earMUSIC will release the album a  day prior to the MC5’s induction into 2024’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

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Tight connection to his heart

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 June 2024

Hits: 2197

• loose pills
• new christs
• stu wilson
• lime spiders
• matt galvin
• aberration
• crankinhaus records
• big al creed
• crawling back to you
• chris masuak's dog solider
• the connections
• ernie o

Crawling Back To You – Stu & The Connections (Crankinhaus Records)

There’s a lot of ground covered on this mini-album (digital only) from Stu Wilson and his all-star collective The Connections. The drummer with Lime Spiders, New Christs, The Crisps, Loose Pills, Leadfinger, Aberration and Chris Masuak & Dog Soldier, Stu contributes lead vocals, keyboards harmonica, drums and percussion..

Looking at his c.v., you might have certain expectations. Leave your preconceptions at the door. This is a cohesive collection of  seven songs that cajole and captivate rather than assault. 

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