The Tommys keep it primal on new 45

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 June 2025

Hits: 401

Window Pane b/w Born To Follow - The Tommmys (Fry Up Records)

With a storied membership of guitarist-vocalist Ollie Laurie (The Exotics), bassist Jonathan Lickliter (Died Pretty) and drummer Rob Lastdrager (T Bones), this red vinyl 45 from Aussie trio The Tommys promised to deliver something out of the box on this 45. And they do.

The Tommys play surf-influenced garage rock that's so out of kilter with anything you'd hear tin mainstream radio that it could only flourish in the darker recesses of the divergent Melbourne rock scene. Open chord twang and spiralling leads pull against alternately surging or shuffling rhythms to create a dark undercurrent.

People went nuts for this stuff in Europe in the pre-grunge 1980s - and probably still would, given the right distribution.

• the tommys
• window pane
• fry up records
• born to follow

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Going over the top with Australia's last Real Rock and Roll band

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 June 2025

Hits: 1220

The New Christs
The On and Ons
Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
Friday, 6 June 2025

It’s fitting, in many ways, that the New Christs assaulted the beaches of Marrickville in Sydney’s Inner-Western Delta tonight on the 81^st anniversary of D-Day. Your correspondent on the frontline can report that no ammunition was spared in a fiery, two-set bracket show that was their second-last before an August tour of the UK and Europe.

The New Christs pulled a full-house on a cold Sydney Friday night and put on an intense performance that peeled the Copperart panels from the beloved Bowlo’s ceiling.

• new christs
• the on and ons
• marrickville bowling club
• marrickville bowlo

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Dave Favours and his Roadside Ashes score with their The Eastern Dark homage

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2025

Hits: 259

 Walking b/w Waterfront Blues - Dave Favours and The Roadside Ashes (Stanley Records)

The new single from ubiquitous Sydney country rocker Dave Favours and his ace band is proof that you can take the boy out of Oz underground rock but you can’t take Oz underground rock out of the boy. It’s a 45 in the traditional of the double A side.

One  is a cover of The Eastern Dark and that’s overly faithful to the original, with Dave Hatt’s tasty slide the iceing. It's a show stopper, live. The other is a mid-tempo Favour-penned rocker that’s both an ode to lost love and The Eastern Dark’s old label (and retail home base), Sydney’s late and great Waterfront Records. Don’t we all wish we could go back there... 

Mixing a landmark and reflections on a relationship is a neat juxtaposition and The Roadside Ashes propel this story well, with a rock solid engine room, a swelling background vocal and sympathetic accompaniment. Michael Carpenter’s production (via the band leader’s home studio) is uncomplicated and punchy, while the cover art reflects both the song they've covered and the band members’ formative influences. Long Live the New (Country) Flesh!

1/2

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• dave favours
• stanley records
• roadside ashes
• walking
• waterfront blues

The Johnnys and friends make the rock and roll road trip worth it

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By Ronald Brown

Ronald Brown

04 June 2025

Hits: 1352

The Johnnys
"Live in Lyon CD Launch"
Penny Ikinger’s Marbles
The Vibrajets
The Tote, Collingwood, VIC
Saturday, 31 May 2025

Hello I-94 Barflies! Well, I dragged my skinny white arse from The Farmhouse down to Melbourne on the bloody bus (500 kilometres) last Saturday morning for The Johnnys’ release of their CD. “Live In Lyon 1990”,  at their gig at the Tote Hotel.

And let me tell you that it was worth every fucking painful kilometre.

• the tote
• the johnnys
• live in lyon
• the vibrajets
• penny ikinger's marbles

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The Owen Guns shoot to thrill with fucking idiots in their sights

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By Ed Garland

Ed Garland

01 June 2025

Hits: 2485

Songs About Fucking Idiots - The Owen Guns (Outtaspace Presents/Booker Bastard Records)

Those in the know about The Owen Guns’ piss-take attitude and wild performances are have caused “Songs About Fucking Idiots to almost sell out its first pressing in a week.  It’s a signal that the drawbridge has been pulled up and the posts are manned in society’s ivory towers as The Owen Guns are poised to seize the palace.

“Songs About Fucking Idiots” is sitting at number-three on the Australian Independent Records Chart, along with safer (and nicer) acts like Pete Murray and Kate Miller-Heidke.  It’s a massive achievement and reflects on The Owen Guns’ loyal following.

The Owen Guns have been around since 2020, led by Sean St Leone (aka Sean The Bastard),  a raconteur and smart-witted cynic who somehow crosses Uncle Fester from “The Addams Family“ with Dave Vanian from The Damned and ex-Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra.  

• aussie
• the owen guns
• sean st leone
• songs about fucking idiots

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The Dogs deliver renewed bite on new 45

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By The Barman

The Barman

31 May 2025

Hits: 1152

Inside Out b/w Nothin’ To Do In Detroit – The Dogs (I-94 Recordings)

MC5 fans who were born in the Detroit suburbs in 1968, punk power trio The Dogs have been calling Los Angeles home for decades after smelling the roses in New York City and the UK. Their modest body of recorded work (two studio albums, a compilation and assorted singles) is formidable despite its skinniness and shows that while you can take The Dogs out of the Motor City, you really can’t do the reverse.

This 45 on I-94 Recordings (not our own I-94 Bar imprint) pairs The Dogs’ take on “Nothin’ To Do In Detroit”, a 1978 cut by late, great and lost Detroit outfit The Ramrods, with their own “Inside Out" on the flip, and is the 17^th in a series of similarly configured 45s.

“Inside Out” is a hard-driving slice of muscular riffing that lifts the roof. Loren Molinaire attacks the vocal and his guitarwork with equal relish and bassist Mary Kay-Dodson’s backing work kicks the chorus into gear before the song slides into before some bluesy lead guitar laced with sustain. The B side is a simple but effective ode to The Dogs’ and The Ramrods' birthplace that’s a tad repetitive - but maybe that’s the point.



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• the dogs
• i-94 recordings
• the ramrods
• inside out

Henri Herbert heads to Australia to light some "Fire"

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 May 2025

Hits: 2135

He’s currently on the road in Japan and it’s Australia’s turn in June when boogie woogie and blues pianist extraordinaire Henri Herbert returns for live shows.

He's best known in Australian rock and roll circles for playing with The Jim Jones Revue, on their 2011 shows but on the global stage, the French-born and UK-raised Herbert is recognised for chalking up more than 100 million views on YouTube.

Herbert is now based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is constantly in demand in the USA. He'll mark his Australian shows with a formidable video single, a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic “Fire”, which you can view after the MORE link

• jim jones revue
• australian tour
• henri herbert
• ezra lee

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Surf trio The Tommys on the single launch trail

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 May 2025

Hits: 827

After a 20-year hiatus, Melbourne slackabilly surf trio The Tommys are back on the live circuit and launching a new singe. 

Well pedigreed veterans Ollie Laurie (Exotics), Jonathan Lickliter (Died Pretty) and Rob Lastdrager (T Bones) are unveiling their red vinyl 45 single, “Born to Follow” b/w “Window Pane”, at the Old Bar in Fitzroy from 4pm on Saturday. June 7.

They'll also play a live-to-air on Melbourne community radio station 3CR's Burning Vinyl Radio show radio on the Friday between 2-4pm. 

The Tommys released their debut album, “Grow Fins”, way back in 2000 and the follow up single, “Chastity Melts”, recorded live and dirty at the Old Bar in Melbourne, four years later.

Reforming for Garage Fest 2024 they toured of duty in Cambodia and now they’re thrilling audiences in Melbourne and Sydney once more with their tsunami of lo-fi garage surf grooves.

Special guests The Kreep 500 are supporting with their own brand of savage howls with garage nous. A duo far beyond the sum of its parts (think Cramps, Scientists, Reigning Sound), their debut album sold out in months and its follow-up is due in late 2025 on the Groovie (Europe) and Off The Hip (Australia) labels.

• died pretty
• the old bar
• the tommys
• the kreep 500

After 50 years, it's the way he makes us feel

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By Edwin Garland

Edwin Garland

22 May 2025

Hits: 2676

Ed Kuepper
D.C. Cross
Camelot Lounge, Marrickville, NSW
Thursday April 25, 2025
PHOTOS: Judi Dransfield Kuepper photos

Ed Kuepper stormed across Australia last year with The Saints ‘73-’78, reclaiming the legacy of his partnership with the late Chris Bailey and the band they created when Ed was a 14-year-old on detention at school.

The Saints ‘73-’78 withstood the usual uproar from purists and the same arguments that had been wheeled out by fans of Queen, Dead Kennedys and the Sex Pistols when their original members were part of reconfigured line-ups.  The point with The Saints '73-'78 (and The Aints! before them) was that Ed was the bloke who co- wrote the songs and the one who had been tearing down musical walls since the original band split.

• ed kuepper
• laughing clowns
• the saints
• the saints '73-'78
• camelot lounge
• D.C. cross

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