R.I.P. Duncan Stewart

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 October 2016

Hits: 7412

Tributes are flowing freely for Duncan Stewart, onetime host at iconic Sydney and Melbourne rock venues like the Petersham Inn and St Kilda Bowls Club, who has passed away.

Ex-Bambalams frontman Brendan “Wig” Kibble described Duncan as “a true original who gave so much to the music scene”.

“A lot of us found it tough getting gigs in Sydney because of what we played, (and) Duncan gave us a 'home' at the Petersham Inn and the Britannia. He touched the lives of a couple of generations of musicians and punters. We're all so lucky to have connected with Dunc.”

Psychotic Turnbuckles singer Jesse the Intruder met Duncan when he was publican at the Petersham Inn in Sydney and said his passing was “very sad news”.

“Duncan was one of the true great supporters of The Psychotic Turnbuckles (when he) ran the Petersham Inn during the glory days of Sydney rock and roll. Duncan has sadly left this earth for a better place. God bless Duncan.”

Turnbuckles gigs at Petersham became legendary and Stewart re-named the hotel's back room as The Pismo Bar in honour of the band.

Charlie Maclean of Sydney band 50 Million Beers said Duncan was “charismatic, stylish, funny and loyal” and “a natural enthusiast of subversion and the music that made its soundtrack. Before Americana was du jour, Dunc was on a mission to support the music he loved come hell or high water. In doing so he helped and encouraged countless young musicians who shared his passion.”

Photo by Dominic O'Donnell

• duncan stewart
• petersham inn
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Caravan Park Summers & All Bets Are Off - The Coolites (One Crowded Hour)

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By Robert Brokenmouth & The Barman

Robert Brokenmouth & The Barman

09 October 2016

Hits: 3422

"All Bets.." is The Coolites’ first disc, a five-track EP, and "Caravan Park Summer" is their debut CD. Four-and-a-half bottles each. And I was reluctant to score so high, but … you’ll see.

Put simply, The Coolites have discovered a delightful, poppy rock niche. And it’s very well done indeed. They’ve got harmonies, tunes, structures, chord progressions and everything that goes into a good song.

And all their songs are very good, and if today were 1985 I reckon they’d be signed already and with at least two singles in the charts. Certainly

The Coolites' CDs are a cut above the usual cd package, evocative, somewhat nostalgic for an apparently more innocent time … yet there’s a layer of tinfoil or something in there which prevents them being a 'happy' band (but they're not unhappy, y'know). The Coolites’ celebration of Australia past (metaphorically Australia’s present, I spose) is first, dancing shoes time (and perfect driving through traffic music, tho the car will return with one or two minor dings and scrapes through trifling inattention) and second, a sort of nudge at what we are now as well as what we had then. In between, as I said, dancing.

(Just as a by the by, d’you remember the era when one job bought your house, a car, a telly, 2.5 kids and a bar-b-cue and/or roast on the weekend and kept your partner busy? And when bank managers were pillars of the community and teachers and salespeople obvious failures at life?)

The Coolites’ lyrics make sense, there’s an immediate pull of recognition and identification. I’d like to see what they’re like live, because a sweaty rock’n’roll night in Australia is a unique thing… Their Facebook site makes it clear where their souls lie, and there's a Sydney surfin thing going on there too.

Which is partly why I’ve scored it a reluctant 4.5. They make me grumpy. Maybe that’s just me, cos these CDs are the business.

Now look. I’m sure I’ll get letters about this, but it seems to me that people born overseas who then migrate either embrace their new country like disciples to the Chosen One, or long for the Auld Country to the point of stupidity (yet never leaving), or have their emotive feet stuck in two countries. So The Coolites’ warm but intelligent embrace of all things Australian is, for me, a rather dissonant thing.

No, I’d never, ever return to the country I was born in (the UK), by God they’ve made a shocking mess of the place. Vile. But this country, overall, is pretty fucking horrible too. And there are some fairly unpleasant individuals running the joint.

No?

To take one example: almost everyone has had a whinge about the weather these last couple of weeks. Where I am, Adelaide, we’re fine, because it never really lasted more than a few days, and wasn’t surrounded by 35C days for months at a stretch - for us, this and the last few summers, have been pretty acceptable. Australia is great in winter. If you don’t get flooded. Winter is the only time eucalypts are acceptable to me. Can’t stand the bush. And the fucking flies and fucking mosquitos. Jesus. And how people leap out of bed in the morning of yet another 35C day, declare themselves ‘energised’ by the stifling, morbid, deadening heat I cannot imagine. Then there's this passion to hurl themselves beachwards at the slightest sign of real heat, even more so on 40C plus days … this is just weird. And it’s not as if we’ve never heard of melanoma; isn’t that a town just out of Darwin? If I go out on an overcast 24C day for more than 15 minutes I’ll change colour and just shrivel up. Patrick White said it best, ‘This country hates people’ (I’m paraphrasing).

I could go on but I won’t (looking back at Australia’s 20C history is often bleak and an exercise in wilful ignorance, bastardry and troughing. If one bloke rorts and gets found out, that’s permission for everyone to join in. Don’t get me started on those manly games involving balls. Thug gang culture.) but I really cannot abide the place.

Then again. Maybe The Coolites have a point.

After all, where is better? Certainly not the USA, a country whose ignorance and myopia we've been lionising since the 70s. Certainly not China, who we seem to be snuffling towards like gormless puppies.

Bah. The Coolites. Get ‘em, you’ll love ‘em. They’ve managed to annoy me on a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon, in between jigging around the room in a grouchy old swine sort of way. - Robert Brokenmouth

 - both

Looking back doesn’t have to be awkward as The Coolites demonstrate on their “Caravan Park Summers” album and “All Bets Are Off” EP. Their music is clever, winsome rock-pop and very Australian.

This Sydney band is the brainchild of drummer/multi-instrumentalist Simon Gibson who did the rounds with a slew of bands in the ’90s (Sneeze, Modern Giant, the Aerial Maps and Lazy Susan) and wrote these songs while teaching in an international school in  Vietnam for seven years. So he was not just looking back but gazing from afar, with al the clarity that distance affords.

It takes a lot to entrust someone else to sing your songs and Gibson gives that role to part-time TV presenter Peter Colquhoun on “Caravan Park Summers”, and parts of “All Bets Are Off” where other bandmates like guitarist Mark Hyland and bassist Danny Yau chime in. Familiar names like Matt Galvin (guitar), Tim Byron (keys) and Stewart Cahn (guitar) are part of the collective.

These are pop songs with some obvious reference points - REM, the Sunnyboys, Go-Betweens, amped-down Midnight Oil and the Hummingbirds. The music carries a strong whiff of salty surf spray - which is very appropriate when the band’s name comes from the stuff they used to make kids surfboards from in Australia in the 1970s. 

“Caravan Park Summers” starts strongly with “Growing Up In Australia” which name-checks a couple of dozen iconic Aussie cultural events in the space of its two-and-a-bit minutes. “When Strummer Was Alive” and “Just Kids” respectively draw on the late Clash frontman and Patti Smith’s book for lyrical inspiration.

“I Hope It’s Not Too Late” is a cool rocker with sobering twang and “Past Midnight” a darker surf tune. “Wingman” is as clever as all get-out with its reflection on an under-dressed and financially fraught night in a club full of models.

Peter Colquhoun’s weathered vocal is limited in its delivery but that’s not a game-breaker - the dichotomy of sometimes sunny songs paired with dour vocals is interesting in itself - but he needs a bit more light and shade in the arrangements over a whole album. Jade Tran's occasional spot on backing vocals bears this out. 

Being an EP, “All Bets Are Off” brings the same elements together in one place and is slightly stronger for that. “That Is Punk” is a pop song imploring you to listen to what’s good, not what you’re told to. “Truth, Freedom and Rock ’n’ Roll” is uplifting, altruistic and a little cynical all in the space of three minutes.

The title track has Colquhon sounding like Peter Garrett singing a clever punk song. Mark Hyland takes the mic for the contrasting “Not Even Sure”, a a co-write with Gibson that sounds a little out of place while still making sense. Adam Yau’s nervy vocal and a keyboard wash sweeps “Thank God You’re An Atheist” along and it’s another song brimful of smarts.

This will be especially compelling if you spent your youth in places like Hotel Bondi, Cronulla Workers or Sydney Cove Tavern. Check it out on Bandcamp where you can listen, download or order physical product to your heart's content. - The Barman

1/2 - Caravan Park Summers

 - All Bets Are Off 

The Coolites on Facebook

• the coolites
• simon gibson
• sneeze
• caravan park summers
• all bets are off
• one crowded hour

Command Performance - Tav Falco (Twenty Stone Blatt)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 October 2016

Hits: 4450

Memphis-born Tav Falco has been drawing inspiration from a deep musical well of swamp blues, soul and psychedelia since the early ‘80s. “Command Performance” is his first LP for five years. 

Even though there aren’t many places he hasn’t toured, much of the world is yet to catch up with his music so “Command Performance” is another chip at that wall of mainstream indifference.

• twenty-stone-blatt
• swamp
• tav falco
• command performance
• alex chilton

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Sweet, Sweet Sadie b/w The Alligator - The Missing Souls (State Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 October 2016

Hits: 4295

A slice of fuzztone thicker than hand-sliced artisan bread and bossy chick vocals fuel both sides of this snarler 45 from French band The Missing Souls. Vocalist-bassist Zaza Sharpe lives up to her surname on the A side, a cover of a song by The Teardrops that's recorded live to eight-track, with guitarist and co-vocalist Little Big Ian chipping in.

A cover song also graces the B side (“Alligator” was by American frat-punkers The US Four) and it’s powered by a storming, dance-worthy beat and a neat duet between Zaza and and Little Big Ian. Soulful and fiery as hell, if this is indicative of The Missing Soul’s output on French label Dangerous Skylab (two singles and an LP) then you and me both need to hear it.

State Records on the Web

• garage
• french
• state records
• the missing souls

Live 1981 - Fast Cars (Method Records and Music)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 October 2016

Hits: 4850

The under-appreciated heroes of the mushrooming Sydney underground scene of the 1980s were the women. Some will say it’s always been the case and continues to be so. For every Chrissie Amphlett there were many others - like Juliet Ward (Shy Impostors), Julie Mostyn (Flaming Hands), Jo Piggott (XL Capris), Annalise Morrow (The Numbers) and Angie Pepper (The Passengers) - who never made it to international mainstream stages.

This exhumed live set by Sydney’s Fast Cars’ underlines this fact. Fronted by Di Levy (vocals and guitar), Fast Cars were habituates of the small but vibrant mod scene that grew in the sweaty pubs of Sussex Street in the Sydney CBD. They occupied a place where ‘60s pop mixed with soul and the sound of what was lazily dubbed New Wave.

• mod
• method records and music
• fast cars
• live 1981
• sussex street
• passengers
• shy impostors

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69BC album out this month on I-94 Bar Records

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 October 2016

Hits: 4500

The new release on I-94 Bar Records is the debut album for Sydney garage supergroup 69BC. The self-titled CD by this shadowy, primal quintet is 20 years in the making and it's 17 tracks of raw and raucous Rock Action. 

Staggering from the smouldering ruins of a Pismo Beach after party, a handful of survivors retreated into the bowels of innumerable rehearsal rooms two decades ago. They have finally emerged to claim their revenge in the new Millennium. This band may have links to the likes of the Psychotic Turnbuckles and Sheek the Shayk. 69BC is Rok Bolder (vocals), Vince Cuscuna (guitar, backing vocals), Dave Wong (guitar), Adam Silverwright (bass, backing vocals), Nix (drums).

The CD releases on October 19 and pre-orders are open now at the link below. It will also be available as a download.    

• album
• 69BC
• i-94 bar records

Hairy Mountain - Datura4 (Alive Natural Sounds)

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 October 2016

Hits: 6579

A debut as strong as “Demon Blues” was always going to be hard to top, but but Perth’s hard rock combo extraordinaire Datura4 has scaled that mountain seemingly without trouble.

There’s a deeper psychedelic vein running through “Hairy Mountain” than its predecessor and the songs are just a touch stronger. Dom Mariani and Greg Hitchcock have solidified what was probably a fun idea involving teenage bandmates reuniting into a serious guitar partnership with some scorching sonic explorations. And the gun rhythm section of Warren Hall (drums) and Stu Loasby sounds in command and totally at home.

• perth
• datura4
• hairy mountain
• dom mariani
• greg hitchcock
• alive natural sounds

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Sleepless Girls - Harry Howard and the NDE (Spooky Records)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

03 October 2016

Hits: 5995

This one gets seven bottles. Seven. Harry Howard and Ed Preston have excelled themselves in the most extraordinary way.

Right, I’ll calm down and try and explain. First, both HHNDE records have been natural progressions, with damn fine songs, and plenty to bounce around the room to. Memorable in every sense.

In 2016, it seems that times have changed. Time was when the “third album” was perceived as “difficult’; that a band found it difficult to develop onwards from their initial impetus and squirt to stardom. The Ramones’ third LP was written at the same time as their first, so no problem there. I suspect much the same could be said of the Stranglers, whose live sets in 1977 featured 90 minutes of ugly hits. However, these are exceptions.

• dave graney
• clare moore
• near death experience
• edwina preston
• spooky records
• harry howard
• sleepless girls

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Grandular Fever - Sun God Replica (Spooky Records)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

02 October 2016

Hits: 4546

Right, when I heard this for the first of what will be hundreds of times, I thought, fuck me, “Grandular Fever” is a career highlight. The thing is… I reckon they can match this over and over without breaking wind. And fuck, Loki Lockwood must be spitting. A record this fucking brilliant and it ain’t out til October (I won't tell you when I initially wrote this).

Every now and then an CD comes along which makes me love the privileged position I sometimes find myself in. And right now… EIGHT BOTTLES. And after several months of addictive listening, it's still eight bottles.

• stoner
• meanies
• sun god replica
• spooky records
• gradular fever

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