A tense moment at a Meanies band meeting: Wally Kempton-Meanie (right) comes to the realisation that it's his shout and he left his wallet in Spain.
Wally Kempton is a busy man. Fresh from a Meanies tour of Spain (more on that later) last month, Kempton hopped off the plane in Melbourne and into the van for various tour managing duties.
In the coming days he’ll be rehearsing with Ash Naylor and Matt Cotter in preparation for next week’s annual Even Christmas shows, then regrouping with The Meanies for a gig at Hotel Westwood with Super American Eagle and Rocket Science. Then there’s the raft of current, imminent and potential signings to his Cheersquad Records label and associated promotional and general label managerial activities. “I just can’t stop!” Wally laughs.
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- By Patrick Emery
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Diggin’ It! – Wild Zeros (Heavy Medication/Adrenalin Fix/Beast)
Scuzzier and nastier than your usual French garage rock, “Dig It!” is three tracks of furious punk fun.
First impressions count for a lot and on the strength of their 2019 seven-inch compilation on Heavy Medication, “Well Cooked”, Wild Zeros are a singles band, in that they’re equipped with succinct, catchy songs that do their business and get out of the way. This 45 does nothing to dispel that.
The title track skids along like a Renault with no brakes with a distinct Devil Dogs flavour. There’s a nagging chorus and room for a brief guitar break before the thing shudders to a halt. “Tough Job” doesn’t have many lyrics aside from the title and probably doesn’t need them. “Did You Dig It?” is a raw and rhetorical question that's served with a side of raw six-strings.
The whole shebang has as many chords as it has songs and is delivered with a ragged sense of l’ espirt that’s invariably fuelled by a case of those Kronenbourg 1664 green bottles.
1/2
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- By The Barman
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Out of Time – Sonic’s Rendezvous Band (Easy Action)
Some bands defy objective assessment and Sonic’s Rendezvous Band is one of them. So let’s not even try to pretend.
How can you be objective about a band that issued just one single in its lifetime when it happens to be “City Slang”, inarguably the greatest rock and roll seven-inch of all time? Can you really question the worth of a band whose lineage is former MC5, Rationals, Stooges and The Up members?
Yes, you could. But that’s just you.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2815
Anna White photo
Two of the hardest working men in Australian show business, Ed Kuepper and Jim White, return for a short series of duo shows this summer.
Kuepper has just completed a run of residency shows with his new instrumental project Asteroid Ekosystem and drummer White is taking a brief pause from international touring with Bill Callahan, Xylouris White and Marisa Anderson.
The pair will continue their journey of exploration via Kuepper’s extensive catalogue and a studio release by the pair looms in 2023. Acoustic troubadour Darren Cross will open all shows which are on sale now via feelpresents.com
ED KUEPPER & JIM WHITE
FEBRUARY 2023
Thu Feb 2 Murwillumbah, The Regent
Fri Feb 3 Coffs Harbour, The Jetty
Sat Feb 4 Brisbane, The Outpost
Wed Feb 8 Sydney, The Great Club
Thu Feb 9 Cronulla, Brass Monkey
Fri Feb 10 Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2304
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2315
Tears of the Minotaur - The Christopher Marshall Predestination (self released)
I guess the starting point here will be 1980s noisy blues outfit Harem Scarem, formed by Charlie and Christopher Marshall. Until they found Chris Wilson, Christopher was lead vocalist. And I do wish for a few live tapes of that line-up.
And, curious how things turn out.
Like his fellow bandmate the late Chris Wilson, Marshall's voice is quite extraordinary, and you can pretty much pick your own favourite blues vocalist to compare him to.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 2244
Punk Traumatic Stress Disorder - Cull The Band (Tomorrow Records)
“Punk Traumatic Stress Disorder” is one helluva a punk rock record and by that I mean it’s everything you want in a punk album: songs full of anger, hate, profanity and, most of all, humor. Yes, humor abounds throughout these 11 wonderful tunes.
Jeff Stephens (ex-Exploding White Mice) was kind enough to drop me a line and talk a little about how some of Adelaide’s finest musicians got to together in Cull The Band:
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- By Ron Brown & Robert Brokenmouth
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Strung Out On Heavens High, 1980-1982 - Religious Overdose (Optic Nerve Recordings/Glass Records)
Nope, never heard of Religious Overdose. So I put it on. And suddenly, that weird Adelaide time from about 1978 to 1981 was back.
Bands like Nuvo Bloc, Systems Go, The Lounge. You sort of knew some of their influences. And rather than be like so many other bands smitten with the underground music movement currently sweeping the globe, they'd deliberately avoided mimicry to produce something both damn strange and damn good.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1851
Speek Evil: Illustrated Rock and Roll Periodical (The Art of Fox)
Reviewing what’s a visual feast served on paper pages is a challenge at the best of times but who doesn’t love a test? “Speek Evil” is neither a zine or a comic – call it a zomic if it makes you happy - because it combines the best of both, and it’s chock full of dark imagery and rock and roll attitude.
Which should come as no surprise, as it’s the product of the mind and pen of Mike Foxall, late of Nancy Vandal and more lately guitarist in The Neptune Power Federation. Foxall is one of the pre-eminent rock and roll graphic artists of the Sydney underground scene.
He’s a member of a club that boasts Ben Brown, Ray Ahn and Glenno Smith, and his imagery adorns the covers of his current band’s albums, plus posters and T-shirts for Crapulos Geegaw, King Parrot, Frenhal Rhomb and The Australian Beef Week Show. He’s also an animator.
“Speek Evil” is a lavish, full-colour 80-page production printed on high-quality matt paper and is produced quarterly. It plumbs similar cultural depths as “Unbelievably Bad” used to, but with Foxall’s own punk rock pre-occupations and peers in evidence. It’s up to five editions.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2291
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