Say Hola! (again) to Los Chicos in November

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 October 2019

Hits: 3272

It’s their fifth tour but who’s counting? Spain’s ultimate party band Los Chicos is returning to Australia in October, playing with Radio Birdman and doing sideshows. They’ll will take their garage-country-punk to stages in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney and the the Gold Coast, so if you live in any of those places or within driving distance, you have no excuse. Keep up to date on tour dates and ticketing here.

NOV
1 – The Triffid, Brisbane (w/ Radio Birdman)
2 – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast (w/ Radio Birdman)
3 – The Outpost, Brisbane*
4 - The Croxton, Melbourne (w/ Radio Birdman)
5 - The Tote, Melbourne*
6 – The Metropolitan, Adelaide*
8 – Marrickville Bowlo, Sydney* - New Christs headlining + 300 St Clare
9 – River Rocks, Geelong (sold out)

• los chicos
• radio birdman
• australian tour

Sydney live music stalwart Sue Telfer brings home the gold

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 October 2019

Hits: 3976

Our late friend Sue Telfer has been named the Australian Women in Music Awards 2019 Music Leadership Award gold medallist. The award - which recognises a female CEO, managing director, label manager, A&R director, artist manager or publisher who has made a significant impact in music industry leadership - was announced at the Brisbane Powerhouse last night.

Sue was a 27-year manager with APRA-AMCOS and a long-term band booker/den mother on Sydney’s live music scene. We’ll be celebrating her life at a tribute concert at The Factory Theatre in Sydney on Sunday October 20 from 2pm, featuring X, the New Christs, The Johnnys, Kim Salmon, The Cruel Sea (instrumental), Front End Loader, The Mis-Made, Penny Ikinger, The Holy Soul and The On and Ons. Tickets are selling fast and are available here,

• kim salmon
• new christs
• front end loader
• the on and ons
• the johnnys
• x band
• the holy soul
• the mis-made
• the cruel sea

Chris Masuak takes us track-by-track through "Address to the Nation"

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By The Barman

The Barman

09 October 2019

Hits: 5570

"Address to the Nation" on our own I-94 Bar Records is the latest album from Chris Masuak and the Viveiro Wave Riders. If we do say so ourselves, it's the equal-best Australian release this year (the other being "Open Season" by labelmates Mick Medew and the Mesmerisers.) .

After a series of requests from fans, we decided to ask Chris Masuak to take us through the album track-by-track. Here it is in Klondike's own insightful words:

• i-94 bar records
• chris masuak
• address to the nation
• track by track

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American University - John Dissed (Bull Lee Records)

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By General Labor

General Labor

07 October 2019

Hits: 4190

When both irretrievably corrupt, collaborating, billionaire owned, fat cat political parties are 100 percent complicit in knowingly propping up completely fabricated, mythological stories to manufacture consent for a babies in cages prison state and permanent lies for imperialist wars for the insatiable profits of the one percent, hungry ghost, demonic extortionists at the top, it is absolutely essential that we, the people, educate our peers, and organize authentic resistance, and become the new media.

If you think you might appreciate an album's worth of simple, Nick Gilder style, solid gold pop hooks galore spiked with revolutionary truth-telling and courageous common sense, you will probably really thoroughly enjoy this important LP! John Dissed is a modern day Billy Bragg or Joe Strummer and "American University" is his ambitious D.I.Y. tour de force concept album, a pleasing throwback to the days of the Adverts, Lords Of the New Church, and Wanderers with a cinematic Pink Floyd ambience.

• punk
• los angeles
• american university
• john dissed
• bull lee records

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New music from Kent Steedman and friends

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 October 2019

Hits: 4369

There's new music from Celibate Rifles guitarist Kent Steedman out today. Radio KSG is the group and it also features Russell Baricevic from Bored! on bass and Stew Cunningham from Leadfinger on vocals and guitar. "Place of Care" is the song and is available online only and is a preview for an album to be released next year. Go listen in iTunes or on Spotify. 

• bored!
• kent steedman
• celibate rifles
• russell baricevic
• stew cunningham
• radio ksg

The Scientists - The Scientists (In The Red)

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 October 2019

Hits: 4119

Iconic bands recording new music years after their prime-time is fraught with peril. Recapturing old magic is nigh impossible when every member has inevitably moved on, musically speaking. Only a few succeed.

The Scientists - as in the Salmon-Thewlis-Cowie (Chock)-Sudjovic line-up - have been an off-and-on, reformed concern for years, coming together for occasional festivals or the odd juicy support tour as, and when, members are available. They put together this five-song 12" vinyl EP between Australian shows and released it to promote their first US tour in 2019.

These days, their laboratory is spread over two continents with guitarist Tony Thewlis living in the UK and the rest of the band in Australia, so parts of the recording have been worked up inisolation and stitched together. Knowing how the sausage was made, in this case, doesn't detract from the taste. The EP, and the single (an updated oldie) that goes with it, rocks in its own uniquely primeval way. Completists should note that it was was proceeded by a digital-only single in 2017.

• scientists
• kim salmon
• boris sudjovic
• leanne cowie
• in the red
• tony thewlis
• the scientists

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The asthethics of being The Messthetics

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

07 October 2019

Hits: 4137

_{Joe Lallo, Anthony Pirog and Brendan Canty. Antonia Tricarico photo.}

“There’s no line between improvisation and self-indulgence!” It’s all the same thing, so just be forewarned before you come to our shows. It’s rampant self-indulgence, 100% of the time!” laughs Brendan Canty, drummer with Washington DC band The Messthetics.

Canty’s reply to my question is deliberately facetious: The Messthetics explore the jazzier side of rock’n’roll, eschewing the melodic and lyrical hook of a vocalist for an improvisational instrumental sonic aesthetic enabled via guitarist Anthony Pirog’s reedy guitar lines. But the contrast between The Messthetics’ exploratory style and the brutal discipline of Canty’s former band Fugazi is stark.

“We don’t have a vocalist, so I like to think that Anthony’s guitar lines are the vocals,” Canty says. “There are times of course when we do rampant self-indulgence but for the most part we have written music, and we try and diversify what we play and make it interesting for everyone.”

• the mark of cain
• australian tour
• the messthetics
• brendan canty
• joe lallo
• anthony pirog

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Braindead (Resuscitated) b/w SurvivalsKills - The Scientists (In The Red)

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By The Barman

The Barman

06 October 2019

Hits: 4502

This double A-sided single of new recordings from the reconstituted Scientists, released in time for their recent US tour, is all kinds of wonderful. You could spend hours ruminating about what lineup of the band was/is definitive but you’ll be hard to please if the current configuration of Salmon-Thewlis-Sujdovic-Cowie (nee Chock) doesn’t please. 

“Braindead” is an old song re-done and although it dates from a later period, it recalls the sound of the earlier “Blood Red River” with a steak of sustained feedback and fuzzy guitar counterpoint. Kim Salmon and Tony Thewlis sound like they’re having five kinds of fun and the relentless engine room lays down a simple but effective feel. Handclaps add a touch of groove that past productions sometimes sacrificed in pursuit of volume.

“SurvivalSkills” lands the band squarely back into the swamp as Salmon intones grimly over a cauldron of barely muted guitar. It’s more abstract and reminiscent of the 1980s band’s later explorations while in Europe, sans drum machine. “There’s always a cost,” Kim reminds us. In this instance, it’s well worth you putting down your heard-earned and making a beeline for the In The Red website. There's a 12" single with another 7" in the wings, both on the same label. 

Kim will be launching that one, a new split solo/Scientists single and his biography, "Nine Parts Water One Part Sand. Kim Salmon And The Formula For Grunge", at Memo Music Hall in St Kilda, Melbourne, on November 9.

1/2

• kim salmon
• in the red

Pyrmont b/w Kick The City - Thee Evil Twin (Stamp Out Disco)

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By The Barman

The Barman

06 October 2019

Hits: 3503

Old school punk from Sydney in the style of Johnny Dole & The Scabs. These guys are an evil trio, not a duo, but who cares about theirnumerically-challenged state-of-mind when the output is good?

The A side is about being a punk who's lost in the once seedy and now gentrified suburb of Pyrmont. The anger is real. Flip the platter and the Twins are expressing how much they want to “kick this city in the balls”. Many share that sentiment and there's mor than a whiff of a singalong in this one.

It's all very basic in its production with a nice and meaty guitar sound. Thee Evil Twin aren’t flashy and that’s a good thing. This one’s a limited run of 150 and likely will sell out - just like their other 45s. Go here for a copy. 

• sydney
• stamp out disco
• thee evil twin
• pyrmont
• kick the city