Suburban musings provide fuel to this fire

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 February 2020

Hits: 4679

In The Fridge Vol 1 - Suburbia Suburbia (self released)

Biting satire and blues rock make a happy couple. Suburbia Suburbia know the value of three chords and a bucketload of wit and employ both on "In The Fridge Vol 1".

You could call Suburbia Suburbia yobbos. They'd shout you a beer for it before they'd thump you. It's stating the obvious to say Australia's bogan rock heritage had its origins in the "suck more piss" bluster of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and lives on through Cosmic Psychos and Amyl and the Sniffers.

Suburbia Suburbia are gnarly old hard-heads who have been around the Australian live music block a few times. With a grounding in sticky carpeted pubs across Sydney, Brisbane, Toowoomba and the Gold Coast, they don't so much take the piss out of suburban culture as revel in it.

• oz rock
• byron bay
• suburbia suburbia
• in the fridge
• bogan
• aussie
• kicks iron studios

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One ride worth taking

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 February 2020

Hits: 3865

Taking a Ride - The Chordites (Swashbuckling Hobo)

This ride’s got a lot of everything. Pop-punk, power pop and grimy garage rock spring from the 10-song vinyl LP like water from a leaky radiator. 

It’s a self-assured effort from a crew of Brisbane players who - to milk the travelling metaphor - have a bit of mileage on their clocks, doing duty in bands such as the Dolls-meet-the-Groovies Subsonic Barflies, Half a Cow popsters Daisygrinder and '80s punks Death of a Nun.

That’s a diverse background, so It may have been tempting to make a record with a side of pop and another of the rougher stuff. I have a feeling that such a contrived approach would have been too predictable for The Chordites.

• garage
• brisbane
• pop
• grunge
• swashbuckling hobo
• don bartley
• the chordites
• taking a ride

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These Divine Rites fed our appetites

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 February 2020

Hits: 5395

Divine Rites – New Christs (Citadel Records)

Not so much an album as a compilation of singles, “Divine Rites” stands the test of time. Just 45 minutes long and spanning a dozen songs, it was released in Australia in 1988 as a mini-album and CD – a holding action while the newest line-up of the band worked up its debut full-length album, the stunning “Distemper”.

The New Christs materialised after Rob Younger took a lengthy lay-off from performing. The Other Side, his first post-Radio Birdman group, had disintegrated without committing anything to vinyl. Pity. The Other Side live were brutal, founded on a plundering of the ‘60s punk and early ‘70s Alice Cooper vaults and fueled by the take-no-prisoners guitar of Charlie Georgees. The band (Younger, Georgees, Clyde Bramley on bass and Mark Kingsmill/Ron Keeley on drums) worked up some fantastic originals, some of which would be played by the New Christs.

• Citadel
• new christs
• rob younger
• divine rites

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Open your wallet and put Fred Negro on the big screen

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 February 2020

Hits: 5223

We’re glad you asked…

Fred Negro (pictured) is one of Australia’s most unusual talents. An artist, satirist and musician, he’s also a diarist who’s chronicled his own life, and the cultural pulse of the Melbourne Bohemia of St Kilda, for more than 30 years in his “PUB” comic strip. His musical credits include The Editions, I Spit on Your Gravy, Gravybillies, The Band Who Shoot Liberty Valance, The Brady Bunch Lawnmower Massacre and the Fuck Fucks.

• st kilda
• fred negro
• andrew leavold
• pub: the movie

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Cmon, get Hammered

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

24 February 2020

Hits: 3649

Hammered - Jackson Reid Briggs and the Heaters (Grubby Publications/Beast Records)



“Hammered” is a term I associate with a different era. A time of binge weekend drinking, gratuitous displays of alcoholic masculinity, bloviated local sporting club identities, sub-optimum musical soundtracks (I’m sure I remember hearing Dennis Leary’s “Asshole” about 63 times one Saturday night after a long day in the field) and bleary-eyed Sunday morning recoveries. They were best of times, but only until you come to your senses.

But Jackson Reid Briggs and the Heaters get you "Hammered", it’s a thing of perennial excellence, an ordeal that makes you stronger, better, all the attributes you thought that slab of Southwark Premium was going to do.

• melbourne
• beast records
• Jackson Reid Briggs and the Heaters
• hammered
• grubby productions

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A Tornado in the eye of a Stooges storm

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 February 2020

Hits: 9298

The Tale of Tornado Turner is a curious but intriguing piece of Stooges history. You’re about to hear the story. First-hand.

Flashback to 1973. An increasingly bored and three-quarters strung-out Iggy and the Stooges are holed-up in a rented mansion in the Hollywood Hills, captives of their management company Mainman. “Raw Power” is out. For reasons best known to themselves, Mainman is booking no tours to promote it.

One reluctantly-arranged show (Ford Auditorium, Detroit, March 27) produces an ultimatum following a clash at an after-party between Manman supremo Tony Defries and guitarist James Williamson. The edict is: It’s him or the band. Iggy sacks James. Enter a replacement, Warren Klein.

• iggy pop
• mainman
• james williamson
• raw power
• scott asheton
• iggy & the stooges
• ron asheton
• lee black childers
• warren klein
• tornado turner

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A five-band bill of which you could speak no ill

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By James Wallach

James Wallach

23 February 2020

Hits: 5073

_{Blackie, Julien and Ray from Nunchukka Superfly.}

Nunchukka Superfly
White Knuckle Fever
Bitchcraft
Babymachine
Garry David
Marrickville Bowling Club, Sydney
Friday, February 21, 2020
                                                       
Friday night and gig-bound, I really had no idea what to expect. Part of the thrill of seeing a multi-band bill is to be blown away by a group you're unfamiliar with although I was armed with the knowledge that only one, Nunchukka Superfly, is familiar so I was attending with an open mind.

First up was Garry David. Without previous knowledge who Garry David was, I was expecting, maybe, a solo guitarist singing busking style songs with an inner city bent? Wrong.

• babymachine
• garry david
• marrickville bowling club
• nunchukka superfly
• white knuckle fever
• bitchcraft

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Schizophonically speaking, this is a tour you don't want to miss

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By Russell Hopkinson

Russell Hopkinson

20 February 2020

Hits: 4793

_{Credit: Minivan Photography.}

They formed in 2009 but it's in the last few years that San Diego’s Schizophonics have convincingly cemented their reputation as one of the world’s hardest-working and most dynamic bands.

Gymnastically-inclined singer-guitarist Pat Beers, drummer (and his wife) Lety Beers, plus a series of bass players, have been wowing audiences around the world with their unique brand of explosive garage rock. They’re poised to pay Australia and New Zealand their second visit in a year in February and March, before hitting Japan for the first time.

The Schizophonics have been likened to a cross between James Brown and the MC5. Local bands have been lining up to join them on bills. Aussie all-female combo, The Fangin’ Felines, are lucky enough to be joining them for two support spots - in their own hometown Wollongong (Lalalas, March 12) and Sydney (Marrickville Bowlo, March 13).

Strong females are integral to both bands, so it made perfect sense for the I-94 Bar to host a pre-tour conversation between Lety Beers and Fangin’ Feline singer Carrie Phillis. The ladies spoke over Skype earlier this week. Pat Beers joined them and uber fan Russell Hopkinson (You Am I, ex-Radio Birdman) made the whole thing happen.

• the-end
• carrie phillis
• mc5
• tour
• australian
• new zealand
• rocket from the crypt
• el-vez
• schizophonics
• pat beers
• lety beers
• russell hopkinson
• the loons
• rosalyns
• james brown

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No pedal to the metal but hearts on sleeves

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By Craig Norman

Craig Norman

17 February 2020

Hits: 3689

Twist the Lens - The Pedaljets (Electric Moth Rcords)

The Pedaljets are Midwestern rock veterans who formed in Kansas City in 1984. In 2020 they’re still in Kansas, at least for recording purposes. This album was produced in Shawnee, KS by their former guitarist Paul Malinowski and he did a great job. It leaps out at you. They sound as modern as tomorrow and as rock as they ever did, but with some welcome twists and turns along the way.

As contemporaries and tour partners of the top level of '80s US alternative bands – The Replacements, Husker Du, The Flaming Lips – they put out a couple of albums and did a lot of touring. Somehow they didn’t break through to that R.E.M. next level, and pulled the pin out of frustration. Two decades later they returned to the studio and have released a couple of albums in the last 10 years, including this absolute belter.

• jeremy
• replacements
• electric moth records
• pedaljets
• twist the lens
• college radio
• husker du

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