Black Chameleon Prayer - The Dogs (Astma Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 March 2015

Hits: 5578

It’s said you should never judge a book by its cover and the same goes for records. This is apparently Album Number Three from this Oslo, Norway, six-piece and they sound nothing like the middle-aged lay preachers standing ankle deep in water under a bridge that they appear to be. Hallelujah.

The Dogs (not to be confused with the late French band or the still kicking one from L.A. via Detroit) rock like they mean it. They worship at the shrine of the ‘60s garage/‘80s garage revival scenes but they bring enough manic energy to these songs that makes them stand apart from the rest of the pack. Cock an ear to the furious “Stay Away From Her” with its Dicatoresque vocal and melodic bass-line behind its driving guitars to know as much.

• norway
• the dogs
• astma records
• black chameleon prayer

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Individuals & Get Some Fun - Sunnyboys (Feel Presents)

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 March 2015

Hits: 7351

It’s time to kiss and make up. When “Individuals” was released back in 1982, as a follow-up to the Sunnyboys’ barnstorming eponymous debut, it was justifiably unloved by many.

The songs were…good…but slower. Its lead-off single, the curious “This Is Real”, was stilted and a million miles removed from the infectious “Happy Man” and “Alone With You”. The biggest drawback, however, was the record’s lifeless production which reduced the sound of the Sunnyboys to an empty husk. It lacked warmth and sounded distant.

• feelpresents
• sunnyboys
• individuals
• get some fun

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Watch Your Skull - Kit Convict & Thee Terrible Two

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 March 2015

Hits: 4887

Hey Kit Convict - the people of Medway called and they want their Billy Childish back.

Just kidding. But there is an strong resemblance between the music from most of Billy’s 55,000 albums and what Kit Convict and his stripped-back combo pump out.

This is short, sharp, simple and very catchy garage punk. I know “garage punk” is a broad descriptor and a little imprecise - hence the Childish reference. That the influences for this Melbourne band are obvious isn’t a problem. Like Billy, they’ve gone digging until they hit the right, rich vein and they’re mining from it.

• off-the-hip
• thee
• watch your skull
• kit convict
• terrible two

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Brat Farrar II - Brat Farrar (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 March 2015

Hits: 5353

For a musician who spends many of his recording hours in a bedroom, Brat Farrar is more Punk Rock than you or I will ever be. This is the second album of short and snappy homemade songs from Melbourne-via-Europe Sam Agostino (one-half of Digger & The Pussycats) and it delivers in spades.

There’s a lot to love about “Brat Farrar II” if only because it sounds like “Brat Farrar I”. In fact, you could interchange many of these songs on an iTunes mix playlist (or something similar) and be hard pressed to pick what came from where.

• sam
• off-the-hip
• brat
• farrar
• digger and the pussycats
• agostino

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In Heat - The Fools (self released)

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By Bob Short

Bob Short

26 February 2015

Hits: 8586

Let’s get the clichés out of the way; the show business myths that promise that the cream rises. That living fast and dying young will ensure immortality. It’s all bullshit. Too many artists fall through a crack in the Earth whilst laurels crown the insipid and the banal.

How many great albums and films have vanished to land fill? How many books are lost because libraries can’t afford the storage on their back catalogues? How much blood, sweat and tears has evaporated into the ether? Forgotten whilst the over culture lets us eat dog food. Here is your chance to right that wrong.

• radio
• wayne kramer
• new christs
• newcastle
• the fools

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Things are heating up as The Fools re-emerge

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By The Barman

The Barman

26 February 2015

Hits: 10177

_{Guitarist Dylan Webster from Newcastle band The Fools}

In the early ‘90s, raw and tough rock and roll was supposedly being re-birthed. Grunge had ushered in The Year That Punk Broke and the mainstream was finally embracing music that wasn’t safe and bland. Yeah. Right.

In reality, Real Rock and Roll was still fighting. The tidal wave that was the MP3 was about to arrive in earnest but the only game in town, as far as The Industry was concerned, was Grunge, a sludgy offspring of heavy metal and punk that promised little and (mostly) delivered less.  

Too harsh?  A lot of fine and worthy bands were trampled under the rush by major labels to sign any act with tuned-down guitars wearing flannelette shirts. It didn’t matter if their songs mostly remained the same; the big label A & R men couldn’t see past their own shaggy fringes.

Like Newton used to say, every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. In Australia, a fresh wave of high-energy acts like Powder Monkeys, Asteroid B612, Brother Brick, the YesMen and Bored! were kicking against the pricks and doing things their own way. A lesser light from the industrial port city of Newcastle, two hours north of Sydney, created their own ripples.

• radio
• sonics rendezvous band
• newcastle
• fools

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Brujita by Chris Masuak and the Viveiro Wave Riders Association

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By The Barman

The Barman

26 February 2015

Hits: 6954

Chris Masuak (Radio Birdman, Hitmen, Screaming Tribesmen) has a new music video live and it's a taster for a forthcoming album, currently in production with his Spanish band, The Viveiro Wave Riders Associaiton. Here it is in all its stark glory, showcasing the "dead centre" of Klondike's adopted home town of Viveiro, in northern Spain.

• Tribesmen
• Masuak
• chris
• klondike
• radio
• birdman
• hitmen
• screaming
• bruita
• viveiro
• wave
• riders

Groges tribute tracking to be a sell-out

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By The Barman

The Barman

23 February 2015

Hits: 6139

Get in fast if you want to be a part of the Sydney tribute to late Hell Crab City singer Scott “Groges” Barker, who suddenly passed away in January. The gig is on track to be a sell-out. 

As well as sets by Hell Crab City with guestr vocalists and 300 StClaire, Asteroid B612 will reform its original line-up (with Bullet McIvor on vocals and Leadinger on guitar) and The Crusaders will make a rare re-appearance. 

It's happening on Thursday, April2  at the Factory Floor in Marrickville. All proceeds will go to Scott’s family. Tickets here.

• scott
• benefit
• hell crab city
• barker
• asteroid b612
• crusaders
• groges
• 300 st. claire

The Pop Group - Citizen Zombie (Freaks R Us)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

22 February 2015

Hits: 5220

Well, I know several people who loved The Pop Group when they first bent my head in 1979, and they and the band all went on to other things fairly swiftly, it seems now, and the age of the UK music weeklies waned, and not being in UK, I confess I rather lost track of the ex-members.

So, an in-depth analytic comparison with ‘past hallowed punk rock glories’ ain’t on the cards here. Most of my readers weren’t attuned to this band … but that may be about to change.

• the pop group
• citizen zombie
• post-punk
• gareth sager
• mark stewart

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