First LP from HITS gets an upgrade

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 March 2015

Hits: 5691

A heads-up that the wonderful debut album from Brisbane’s HITS, “Living With You Is Killing Me”, is being re-issued in re-mixed and re-mastered vinyl format on both sides of the world.

Brisbane label Merenoise is doing the business in Australia with Beast Records  unleashing this baby in France for Europe and the Rest of the World.  

They won’t last long so avail of the links in the label names. We’ve heard a digitised version and even that sounds great, with greater dynamic range and new life in the bottom end.

• beast records
• Hits
• merenoise
• living with you is killing me

Addicted to The Victims? Do we have a deal for you...

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 March 2015

Hits: 4337

Snooze and you’ll lose: There are a handful of T-shirts left over from the recent hit-and-run Aussie tour by The Television Addicts, to celebrate the music of Perth punk pyros The Victims. These T-shirts mimicing the sleeve of The Victims’ "Television Addict" single were designed by mainman Dave Flick.

There are a few in various sizes and they can be obtained for the not so princely sum of $A38 (postage included) within Australia. Drop bassist Ray Ahn a line to arrange a bank transfer or Paypal him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. We don't know about overseas orders but you can try your luck. 

• television addicts
• vicims

Shambolic And Other Love Songs - Donovan's Brain (Career Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 March 2015

Hits: 5240

If “Shambolic” needed a Facebook relationship status, it would use “It’s Complicated”. 

It's a reconstructed Donovan’s Brain record, not intentionally written as a “concept album”, but becoming one along the way. It was recorded over the space of many sessions and three years, only to be left unfinished and abandoned for a decade-and-a-half.

The name’s a misnomer. It’s no shambles by any stretch, more a twisting and turning trip, set to words and music by principal band member Ron Sanchez.

• donovans
• career-records
• ron
• sanchez
• shambolic and other love songs
• ric-parnell

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One Lie At A Time b/w The God Of Gaps - The Galileo7 (State Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5180

This single is great and odds are that the album from which this comes, "False Memory Lane", would be even better. Let’s get the antecedents out of the way first.

The Galileo7 is the latest vehicle for ex-Prisoners bassist Alan Crockford, whose band was at the vanguard of the Medway garage rock wave in the UK. The Prisoners bit the dust in 1986 but Rockford has been dutifully playing this garage rock-pop stuff since then and this is a new line-up of his current band.

• medway
• state records
• galileo7
• alan
• crockford
• the prisoners
• one lie at a time
• the god of gaps

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Black Book b/w Cried Over You - Thee Jezebels (State Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4577

If this East Sussex, England, all-girl trio is aiming to parachute into the same territory as The Pandoras with their debut 45, it’s found the drop-zone. The engine room doesn’t stomp quite as hard but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Black Book” is a song about, well, a girl’s black book and it bristles with fuzz tone and bad grace. Bass tones and a touch of the toms signals the start and it quickly locks into a nice groove. Guitarist Laura Anderson has a strong voice and she's mixed right up front. 

Flip it over and you’ll hear a dirtier, drum-led rocker that’s no slouch, either. Skuzzy guitar fights for a place up front at centre mic before handclaps signal we’re on our way out. Another reminder, if it was needed, that garage punk rock isn't entirely down and out in Mother England. 

1/2

State Records on the Web

• thee jezebels
• black book
• cried over you
• state records

Miss Clara Regrets b/w Alexander - The Loons (Dirty Water)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5353

Mike Stax, long-time singer for San Diego's long-running The Loons, is better known for Ugly Things, the magnificent magazine he runs, than his  band. This double-headed pointer towards their forthcoming album suggests that needs to change.

“Miss Clara Regrets” is a fine slice of bustling freakbeat with a bassline that means business and guitars that demand to be heard. Stax delivers a fine vocal with punch and good range to tell a tale about an “It girl”. Twin guitars and a hook of in the tail that says it’s a pop song and it's exclusive to this single.

• bomp
• pretty things
• dirty water records
• loons
• alexander
• miss clara regrets

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Undecided b/w Wars, Or Hands Of Time - Masters Apprentices (Ugly Pop)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5488

There’s a case to be made for this being the best Australian 45 of all time so Canadian label Ugly Pop has done the world a great service by re-issuing it. Here are the young Masters in their early incarnation, their essence wrapped up in two succinct but telling garage punk punches.

Gloriously raw and an inspiration to countless bands that have followed (Radio Birdman and the Saints among them), “Undecided” explodes with the snarl of over-driven guitars and the young Jim Keays’ unrestrained vocal.Taken from the Aztec Records re-master, it has translated perfectly to vinyl with a crunching bottom end and punchy mid-range.

• masters
• apprentices
• ugly pop records
• wars,
• or hands of time

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‘Lake Bears’ Theme Song b/w Main Title ‘Theme From Lake Bears’ - MFC Chicken (Dirty Water Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4665

If you believe the schtick about expat-Canadian vocalist-saxophonist Spencer Evoy meeting bassist Bret Bolton on a pigrimage to Joe Meek’s former flat and recording studio, you’ll swallow the line that the band was named after a takeaway shop Boulton was living above. And that the pair met when Evoy was busking outside. Every band needs a back story. and it beats Mick and Keef telling record collection stories to each other on a train platform.

(The word is that it's all true. So there. ) 

Anyway, these tracks are from the soundtrack for a forthcoming horror flick about bears. Which makes a change from the band's usual lyrics about chicken. The A is a greasy R & B mover (meaning Rhythm & Blues - before the term was denuded by atrocious pap) that’s dominated by a feel with swing and Evoy’s rich sax and vocal. 

The flip is a horny instro that’s nearly as good and would have gone down a storm in a late ‘50s dance hall full of liquored-up teens. I’ve no idea what it all means in the film’s context but that’s probably not a game breaker. This shit is top-shelf.

MFC Chicken on the Web at Dirty Water Records

• dirty water records
• mfc chicken
• lake-bears

(Get Outta) The DJ Booth b/w Colonel Sanders’ Bastard Son - MFC Chicken (Dirty Water Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4366

Multinational London-based band MFC Chicken aptly describe their music as the stuff “the Sonics listened to”, and if you’re remotely interested in sax-flavoured ‘50s greaser grooves you’ll take this 45 like a rocker to a free vat of hair gel.

The A side is an infectious ode to misguided DJ requests that gets an extra half-point for dissing both Elton John and Rhiannon. Saxophonist-vocalist Spencer Evoy puts it over in the same spirit as big booming Barrence Whitfield. It’s hard to believe this is a band named after a greasy chicken shop. But it is. 

The flipside has the band reverting to type - that is, singing a song with a lyric about chicken - and it’s a rocking and rootsy rumble that’s crunchier than a bucket of its namesake’s original recipe. All meat and no feathers.

MFC Chicken at Dirty Water Records

• dirty water records
• mfc chicken
• gett outta the dj booth