They got those Lockdown Blues

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 November 2020

Hits: 3650

“Lockdown Blues” is a new project for Sydney musician and I-94 Bar scribe Edwin Garland (Waxworks, Dwarfthrower) with his studio band Moonlight 5. It’s Edwin on vocals and guitar, John Cobbin on guitar and bass, Elizabeth Lim on bass clarinet, Jim O'Sullivan on drums and Digby Richards on organ and piano. 

• lockdown blues
• moonlight 5

MONDAY EVENING GUNK Episode 8: John Kennedy's 68 Comeback Special

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 November 2020

Hits: 4786

Howlin' Threads ask: Do ya think I'm saxy?

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 November 2020

Hits: 4122

Edge On The World b/w Red Line - Howlin’ Threads (Mineshaft Records) 

The Howlin’ Threads wear their collective influences on their sleeves but it's the A side of this, the follow-up to their debut EP, that finds them pushing the stylistic boat out.

Summoned to life by Adam Bowler’s toms, “Edge On The World” recalls the Iggy and James of “Kill City” - or even an early Died Pretty - in its sonic approach, deploying some expansive saxophone from guest Noah Hampson to mix things up. Guitarist Dylan Webster rides a wave of wah wah pedal with a keyboard wash fattening the sound.The B side is more straight-forward and rocks along nicely.

Mark Hunstone recorded it with veteran sideman Bruce Callaway (Ed Kuepper, Saints and the first studio version of the New Christs) mastering it. Score a copy at the band's Bandcamp.

• howlin 'threads
• edge on the world
• mineshaft records

Hot chicks and big riffs

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By Ron Brown

Ron Brown

08 November 2020

Hits: 3411

Ready Steady Go - The Dirty Denims (Ghost Highway Recordings)

Hello Barflies! Well folks, The Farmhouse windows have been getting a battering from some great fucking rock 'n' roll from The Netherlands. The Dirty Denims have released their third album (with a couple of EPs before that) and what a dead-set heavy hitter it is.

"Ready Steady Go" is, from the opening self titled track to the very last song, a killer. Miriam Sieben (vocals and piano), Jeroen Teunis (guitars), Suzanne Driessen (drums and sexiness) and Marc Eijkhout (bass) have definitely let all their influences come into the studio with them. Think early AC/DC meets The Runaways with a dash of Ramones and Nashville Pussy.

• ramones
• nashville pussy
• netherlands
• ready steady go
• the dirty denims

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No slow burn for this Short Fuse

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 November 2020

Hits: 3923

Short Fuse 3 - Various Artists (Wreckless Enterprises) 

Fifteen songs from as many bands in 11 minutes. A punk rock barrage. Sounds like fun - and it is. 

As you can tell from the name, this is the third in the series of concise and imperfectly formed, all-Australian compilation EPs from Wollongong label Wreckless Enterprises and it doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t in its headlong rush to the finish line: It’s a punk rock speed dating party and you wouldn’t want to be left on the shelf, would you?

• punk
• australian
• wreckless enterprises
• short fuse
• moot

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There's no taming this Beast

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 November 2020

Hits: 3197

Beast - Pussycat And The Dirty Johnsons (Hound Gawd) 

There’s more fuzz on this than a box of rotting fruit in a share house kitchen. Two guitars, drums, no bass, simple punk rock songs and Puss Johnson’s tuneful, yet in-your-face, vocal is a monstrously good combination.

“Beast” is 12 songs by a UK band with a venomous sound on a German label. Who says Brexit is a thing? 

The back story is that guitarist Dirty Jake formed the band in 2002 but it took eight years to find Puss Johnson’s vocal and a more or less settled line-up. Two years later, their bass player was given the flick and The Dirty Johnsons continued as a trio. So they pre-date Amyl and The Sniffers - who are an obvious comparator - by a fair stretch. 

• hound gawd records
• pussycat and the dirty johnsons
• dirty jake
• puss johnson

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Peter Black to wheel out two albums on the same day

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 November 2020

Hits: 3598

The man always known as Peter Black - but perhaps best known as Blackie from the Hard-Ons - is releasing his sixth and seventh solo albums on November 27.

"If This Is The Hand I'm Dealt" and "I'm Gonna Cheat As Much As I Can" are acoustic and electric efforts respectively, and both were recorded with Jay Whalley of Frenzal Rhomb and Neptune Power Federation. Whalley also contributes some keyboards and vocals  and his partner in Neptune Power Federation, Lauren Friedman, contributes vocals. Musical pals like Heather Shannon from the Jezebels,  fellow Hard-On Ray Ahn and former Nunchukka Superfly drummer Joel Ellis also help out.

• hard-ons
• peter black
• blackie
• If This Is The Hand I'm Dealt
• I'm Gonna Cheat As Much As I Can

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MONDAY EVENING GUNK Episode 7: Chris Masuak

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 November 2020

Hits: 5750

The Explosive sound of Swedes with loud guitars

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 November 2020

Hits: 3728

Watch Out! Look Out! - Doojiman & The Exploders (Heavy Medication)

Dunno about you but Scandirock was thicker on the ground in these parts in the 1990s than dandruff at a record collector fair. Doojiman & The Exploders are from Sweden and use a simple recipe of punk guitars from the garage, a sackful of strong songs and buckets of phlegm to attitude to rock the house down.

You gotta to be good to steal the title of a Stooges outtake as the name of your band and Doojiman & The Exploders are. There are traces of The (early) Hives, a less metal-ly Gluecefier and the venerable ‘Copters, sans six-string histrionics, on this 45rpm, nine-track slice of vinyl.

• punk
• sweden
• heavy medication records
• doojiman
• exploders
• watch out! look out!

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