Dishing the Dirt

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By The Barman

The Barman

17 July 2021

Hits: 3853

Free Dirt – Looch Lewis (Nebraska/MGM)

With beginnings as a guitarist in the high energy scene for Zen Genies, and more recent  service as drummer for bush punks Handsome Young Strangers, indie band Wifey and country act Dave Favours and the Roadside Ashes, ubiquitous Mark “Looch” Lewis  has as much claim as anyone to being a Sydney musical fixture. 

Now fronting his own Looch Lewis and The Press Gangsters instead of playing in other people’s bands, dropping this a solo single seems a logical progression.

Yes, it is that “Free Dirt”, the Died Pretty song from which they took their debut album’s name and that ended up on their second LP, ”Lost”, and while it might initially seem a bold choice, it’s done so well that it raises the question why more people haven’t tackled the much-loved music of Ron, Brett and Co.

• solo
• died pretty
• mark looch lewis
• looch
• handsome young strangers
• free dirt

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Lipstick Killers Peter Tillman and Mark Taylor in conversation

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 July 2021

Hits: 4507

The I-94 Bar iinvited Lipstick Killers members Mark Taylor and Peter Tillman to front up for a chat on Friday, to mark the release of their band’s killer posthumous compilation “Strange Flash!” on Grown Up Wrong! Records. Fan Steve Lorkin and Tillman’s former Filth bandmate Bob Short were hosts for this wide ranging chat reflecting on the band’s rise through the Radio Birdman-inspired Sydney underground scene to their disintegration in Los Angeles. You'll find our review of the album here. 

• lipstick killers
• mark taylor
• grown up wrong
• strange flash
• peter tillman
• youtube

Those ch-ch-changes just keep coming

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 July 2021

Hits: 2733

More COVID changes:  Ed Kuepper and Jim White have re-scheduled seven shows.  

Tickets from all previous gigs will be honoured or a refund can be obtained at the point of purchase. Contact your relevant outlet for precise details and conditions affixed to each performance. Keep an eye on NSW gigs especially as there may be more changes. All the latest news and tickets for the new gigs can be found at edkuepper.com

Ed Kuepper with Jim White
(New Hobart dates TBA)
JULY
15 -  Archies Creek, Caravan Music Club, VIC    
16 - Meeniyan, Town Hall, VIC    
17 - Macedon, Railway Hotel – SOLD OUT    
23 - Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom, VIC    
24 - Melbourne, Brunswick Ballroom, VIC    
AUG 
13 - Cairns, Tanks Art Centre, QLD    
14 - Gold Coast, The Sound Lounge, QLD   
15 - Bellingen, No.5 Church St, NSW    
16 - Bellingen, No.5 Church St, NSW    
19 - Sydney, The Factory, NSW    
20 - Wollongong, The Music Lounge, NSW    
21 - Milton, Milton Theatre, NSW
SEP   
12 - Adelaide, The Gov, SA    
14 - Fremantle, Freo.Social, WA    
15 - Margaret River, The River Hotel, WA

• saints
• ed kuepper
• dirty three
• australian tour
• jim white
• covid

Holy Lockdown! The Meanies and Dicklord re-schedule

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 July 2021

Hits: 2858

_{Those Meanies boys.}

_{Those Dicklord girls.}

As Covid lockdowns continue to wreak more havoc than Wally Meanie at a wine tasting, The Meanies have to rejig a whole bunch more dates of their “Better Late Than Never Desperate Measures Tour”. which was meant to start last month! The run now kicks off in regional Victoria in a couple of weeks, and then breaks until October, when it picks up in Adelaide,  and continues through November. What hasn't changed is that DickLord is the main support on all shows, bar Geelong.

The Meanies
"Better Late Than Never Desperate Measures Tour"
All shows with Dicklord except *
JULY
16 - Barwon Club, Geelong* + Poppin Mommas + Eyeroll
23 - The Eastern, Ballarat + The Dawdlers 
24 - Railway Hotel Macedon + Persecution Blues 
OCT
16 - Jive, Adelaide + Cull The Band 
22 - The Tote, Melb + Persecution Blues + Cheeky Geezers 
23 - The Tote, Melb + Super American Eagle + Sidesplitter 
NOV
12 - The Zoo, Brisbane
17 - The Basement, Canberra + Charlotte & the Harlots   
18 - Lansdowne, Sydney  + Blitz Babiez - 
19  - Narrabeen RSL + Tshitaki 
20 - Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle + I Hate People  
21 - La La La's, Wollongong + Ape Rib

• australian tour
• the meanies
• dicklord

New date for St Kilda showdown

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 July 2021

Hits: 3037

The Johnnys show at St Kilda Sports Club in Melbourne in July has re-scheduled - thanks to COVID-19 trapping two members in Sydney. The new date is Septermber 11 and tickets puchased already will be honoured.

If the new date doesn't suit, refunds are available from Oztix for a fortnight. Tickets for the new date are here.. 

• live
• st kilda
• burn in hell
• the johnnys
• the lewvis presley experience
• covid-19

Charting a different folk-punk path

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 July 2021

Hits: 3943

Skin and Bones – MD Horne’s Last Call (self released)

Last year’s “Red Dirt Bituman” album was a departure for 300 st clare and Johnny Casino bassist Mark Horne, and his 2021 incarnation MD Horne’s Last Call sounds like another. While “Bituman” headed for the wide open spaces of the Australian bush, framing Horne’s sparse songs against a stark, dry soundscape, “Skin and Bones” hops into a boat and sets sail on folk-punk seas.

“Skin and Bones” is the first track to be released (digitally, natch) from the forthcoming Last Call album, "High Tides, More Crimes", on OuttaSpace Records in Australia and both Folc Records and La Villa Nova in Spain.

• johnny casino
• outtaspace
• studio 57
• folc records
• red dirt bituman
• md horne's last call
• skin and bones
• turtlerock

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"Pop" nails its melodic rock colours to the mast

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 July 2021

Hits: 3607

Pop – Simon Chainsaw (Bad Apple)

The ‘80s isn’t such a bad place to hang out. Simon Chainsaw has been there, musically speaking, since his former band The Vanilla Chainsaws, tasted success 30-something years ago, and this is his 14^th album under his own name.

That '80s reference isn't inferring Chainsaw's musically moribund. Simon rarely sits still and was already Sydney's hardest-working musician before COVID fucked without  the universe. The Chainsaw sound is instantly familiar, a sweet but tough mix of melody and downstroke power, and naturally uses what was learned during a golden time of Australian music. It's translatable toi places where Real Rock and Roll survives.

• pop
• sydney
• simon chainsaw
• broham
• brazil
• SC/TC

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Rigid With Desire's retrospective nightlife

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 July 2021

Hits: 3299

Life At Night 1982-1984 – Rigid With Desire/Helter Skelter (Method Records and Music)

For every band that made an impact on Sydney's fevered 1980’s underground music scene, there are a thousand that left a fleeting impression.

Rigid With Desire was the next vehicle for Fast Cars singer-guitarist Di Levi after the first, mod-pop incarnation of that band dissolved. RWD melded ubiquitous (and very underlying) ‘60s melodies with a thick applique of fashionable post-punk, neo-Goth sounds. Their impression was more than fleeting and they made a mark on the then-serious Australian indepdent charts. 

“Life At Night” compiles their five recordings, including the indie chart single “Nightlife”, and two by Helter Skelter, their re-jigged, latter-day line-up.

• sydney
• velvet underground
• method records and music
• fast cars
• life at night
• rigid with desire
• helter skelter

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Shit From Clay: Stu Spasm shows off his sculptures in "New York Hustle"

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By Danger Coolidge

Danger Coolidge

09 July 2021

Hits: 7253

Former Lubricated Goat frontman Stu Spasm (real name Stuart Gray) is the subject of a new short documentary, which focuses on his work as a sculptor of creepy cult figurines. Part of a series called New York Hustle, which was produced by New York-based Aussie expats Angelica Von Helle and Matt Reekie, and you can watch the doco after the fold below. 

Spasm, who left Australia in the early ’90s and has been based in NYC for the best part of three decades, continues to make music with his latest outfit The Art Gray Noizz Quintet while supplementing his income by making and selling his sculptures. Sculptures shown in the film include Alice Cooper, Suzi Quatro, Charles Manson, Rowland S. Howard and Leadbelly.

Spasm spoke with Danger Coolidge about his work as a visual artist.

• alice cooper
• lubricated goat
• stu spasm
• new york hustle
• art ray noizz quintent
• angelica von helle
• matt reekie
• danger coolidge
• leadbelly

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