Shambolic And Other Love Songs - Donovan's Brain (Career Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

15 March 2015

Hits: 5266

If “Shambolic” needed a Facebook relationship status, it would use “It’s Complicated”. 

It's a reconstructed Donovan’s Brain record, not intentionally written as a “concept album”, but becoming one along the way. It was recorded over the space of many sessions and three years, only to be left unfinished and abandoned for a decade-and-a-half.

The name’s a misnomer. It’s no shambles by any stretch, more a twisting and turning trip, set to words and music by principal band member Ron Sanchez.

• donovans
• career-records
• ron
• sanchez
• shambolic and other love songs
• ric-parnell

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One Lie At A Time b/w The God Of Gaps - The Galileo7 (State Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5202

This single is great and odds are that the album from which this comes, "False Memory Lane", would be even better. Let’s get the antecedents out of the way first.

The Galileo7 is the latest vehicle for ex-Prisoners bassist Alan Crockford, whose band was at the vanguard of the Medway garage rock wave in the UK. The Prisoners bit the dust in 1986 but Rockford has been dutifully playing this garage rock-pop stuff since then and this is a new line-up of his current band.

• medway
• state records
• galileo7
• alan
• crockford
• the prisoners
• one lie at a time
• the god of gaps

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Black Book b/w Cried Over You - Thee Jezebels (State Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4596

If this East Sussex, England, all-girl trio is aiming to parachute into the same territory as The Pandoras with their debut 45, it’s found the drop-zone. The engine room doesn’t stomp quite as hard but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“Black Book” is a song about, well, a girl’s black book and it bristles with fuzz tone and bad grace. Bass tones and a touch of the toms signals the start and it quickly locks into a nice groove. Guitarist Laura Anderson has a strong voice and she's mixed right up front. 

Flip it over and you’ll hear a dirtier, drum-led rocker that’s no slouch, either. Skuzzy guitar fights for a place up front at centre mic before handclaps signal we’re on our way out. Another reminder, if it was needed, that garage punk rock isn't entirely down and out in Mother England. 

1/2

State Records on the Web

• thee jezebels
• black book
• cried over you
• state records

Miss Clara Regrets b/w Alexander - The Loons (Dirty Water)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5370

Mike Stax, long-time singer for San Diego's long-running The Loons, is better known for Ugly Things, the magnificent magazine he runs, than his  band. This double-headed pointer towards their forthcoming album suggests that needs to change.

“Miss Clara Regrets” is a fine slice of bustling freakbeat with a bassline that means business and guitars that demand to be heard. Stax delivers a fine vocal with punch and good range to tell a tale about an “It girl”. Twin guitars and a hook of in the tail that says it’s a pop song and it's exclusive to this single.

• bomp
• pretty things
• dirty water records
• loons
• alexander
• miss clara regrets

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Undecided b/w Wars, Or Hands Of Time - Masters Apprentices (Ugly Pop)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 5499

There’s a case to be made for this being the best Australian 45 of all time so Canadian label Ugly Pop has done the world a great service by re-issuing it. Here are the young Masters in their early incarnation, their essence wrapped up in two succinct but telling garage punk punches.

Gloriously raw and an inspiration to countless bands that have followed (Radio Birdman and the Saints among them), “Undecided” explodes with the snarl of over-driven guitars and the young Jim Keays’ unrestrained vocal.Taken from the Aztec Records re-master, it has translated perfectly to vinyl with a crunching bottom end and punchy mid-range.

• masters
• apprentices
• ugly pop records
• wars,
• or hands of time

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‘Lake Bears’ Theme Song b/w Main Title ‘Theme From Lake Bears’ - MFC Chicken (Dirty Water Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4676

If you believe the schtick about expat-Canadian vocalist-saxophonist Spencer Evoy meeting bassist Bret Bolton on a pigrimage to Joe Meek’s former flat and recording studio, you’ll swallow the line that the band was named after a takeaway shop Boulton was living above. And that the pair met when Evoy was busking outside. Every band needs a back story. and it beats Mick and Keef telling record collection stories to each other on a train platform.

(The word is that it's all true. So there. ) 

Anyway, these tracks are from the soundtrack for a forthcoming horror flick about bears. Which makes a change from the band's usual lyrics about chicken. The A is a greasy R & B mover (meaning Rhythm & Blues - before the term was denuded by atrocious pap) that’s dominated by a feel with swing and Evoy’s rich sax and vocal. 

The flip is a horny instro that’s nearly as good and would have gone down a storm in a late ‘50s dance hall full of liquored-up teens. I’ve no idea what it all means in the film’s context but that’s probably not a game breaker. This shit is top-shelf.

MFC Chicken on the Web at Dirty Water Records

• dirty water records
• mfc chicken
• lake-bears

(Get Outta) The DJ Booth b/w Colonel Sanders’ Bastard Son - MFC Chicken (Dirty Water Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 March 2015

Hits: 4381

Multinational London-based band MFC Chicken aptly describe their music as the stuff “the Sonics listened to”, and if you’re remotely interested in sax-flavoured ‘50s greaser grooves you’ll take this 45 like a rocker to a free vat of hair gel.

The A side is an infectious ode to misguided DJ requests that gets an extra half-point for dissing both Elton John and Rhiannon. Saxophonist-vocalist Spencer Evoy puts it over in the same spirit as big booming Barrence Whitfield. It’s hard to believe this is a band named after a greasy chicken shop. But it is. 

The flipside has the band reverting to type - that is, singing a song with a lyric about chicken - and it’s a rocking and rootsy rumble that’s crunchier than a bucket of its namesake’s original recipe. All meat and no feathers.

MFC Chicken at Dirty Water Records

• dirty water records
• mfc chicken
• gett outta the dj booth

Blow The Bloody Doors Off in Adelaide

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

13 March 2015

Hits: 6001

Warning: Some non-rock 'n' roll content ahead with lots of laddish, British crime and action 1960s films relevance.

"Blow the Bloody Doors Off" is a triumph of ingenuity, intelligence, organisation, talent and sheer bloody guts.

Once or twice I reflect how damn lucky Adelaide is. "Blow the Bloody Doors" off isn’t touring the rest of Australia, though it should, and soon.

Its star is Terry Edwards (pictured right) with guests including Zephyr Quartet, Seamus Beaghen, Rosie Westbrook, James Johnston, Trevor Nichols … you get the picture. It’s an all-star cast.

• adelaide
• terry edwards
• blow the bloody doors off
• fringe

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Gone With Dawn b/w The Interpreter - Vidunder (Crusher Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 March 2015

Hits: 4906

Bluesy rock with its feet nailed to the floor in a smoky bar somewhere in the ‘70s, Vikunder kick out righteous rock with a lashing of soul on this single, a taster for their second album, “Oracles and Prophets”.

“Gone With The Dawn” motors on the same melodic fuel that’s powered The Sewergrooves for the best part of a decade. Is it any surprise they, too, hail from Sweden? In Vidunker’s case, one guitar and an organ fill out the sound with Martin Prim’s tuneful vocal pushed slightly back in the mix.

• the-movements
• crusher records
• sweden
• sewergrooves

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