There's nothing stupid about these touring plans

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 March 2015

Hits: 4681

• off-the-hip
• dirty-water
• australia
• tour
• los chicos

Celibate Rifles visit Brisbane "on the quiet"

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By The Barman

The Barman

09 March 2015

Hits: 7211

Their “On The Quiet” remains the best example of the “unplugged” concept we’ve ever heard so it’s a penny-dropping moment to hear Sydney’s iconic Celibate Rifles are heading north to Brisbane perform an acoustic set on April 23.

O'Malley's Irish Pub in Queens Street, Brisbane, hosts a fortnightly, mid-week live music club called ‘The Bunker’ and that’s where the Rifles will strip things back to showcase tunes spanning their impressive 35-year career.

The one-off show promises to be a rare treat and the Cellies wil be joined by local support acts, Weezal and Thirteen Seventy, also in rare acoustic mode.

A very limited number of pre-show tickets go on sale midday Wednesday 11th March for $20 +BF here  or from The Bunker 

Some tickets will be available at the door but numbers will be extremely limited to keep the event intimate. The Bunker is proudly presented by O'Malley's Irish Pub, and community radio 4ZZZ 102.1FM Brisbane.

STOP PRESS: Two more amplified Rifles shows announced

• live
• celibate
• rifles
• 4zzz-fm

Lorraine Exotica - King Automatic (Voodoo Rhythm)

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 March 2015

Hits: 5202

French one-man band King Automatic now has four albums on Voodoo Rhythm and still can’t make up his mind what musical genre we should put him in. Amen to that. This record is his most cosmopolitan so far.

“Lorraine Exotica” bounces from exotic organ-drenched garage to fuzz-soaked blues to Jamaican rock steady, with maracas, Russian folk music and trash exotica thrown in along the way. It jumps around like a tenderfoot tourist in Fiji lingering too long on hot coals. King Automatic has toured everywhere from Eastern Europe to South America and this album sounds like he’s sending a musical postcard from every stop.

• garage
• voodoo
• rhythm
• king
• automatic
• lorraine exotica

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Why b/w Taxman - The Arctic Circles (Buttercup Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 March 2015

Hits: 6401

Melbourne’s Arctic Circles might be a relative blip on the continuum of the Australian underground scene of the 1980s with a recorded legacy totalling just a rash of compilation appearances, a single and an EP, but those who saw them or have their records swear by them. This cracker of a 45 adds another desirable entry to the discography.

Issued to pay tribute to late drummer Anders Nielsen who passed away in August 2014 at age 50, it was recorded live at the band’s first show (by its original line-up, naturally enough) at the legendary Seaview Balltoom in St Kilda in 1984 and bristles with roughshod beat-pop brilliance.

• why?
• arctic circles
• taxman
• buttercup records
• seaview ballroom

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Beach Coma - Shifting Sands (Spooky Records/Beast Records)

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By Robert Brokenmouth and The Barman

Robert Brokenmouth and The Barman

07 March 2015

Hits: 7263

Shifting Sands are partly comprised of members of SixFtHick and Gentle Ben, whom you may have heard of … and quite a number of Shifting Sands’ songs are ludicrously radio-friendly.

No, I mean FM radio cross-over, cover of Cosmo friendly; "Boyfriend" and "Other Girls" are the tracks suggested; but that’s not where the band always hang. My favourites include "New Flame", "Dead Memory" and "Airway", the latter being a rather clever inversion of your expectation. In fact, the majors should be sniffing around right now.

• beast records
• beach coma
• shifting sands
• six ft hick
• gentle ben
• spooky records

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The Pop Group live in Adelaide

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

07 March 2015

Hits: 5544

_{Tom Way Army photo}

Supports Simon Barker and Brian Ritchie were on first. Barker had me enthralled, utilising his kit like it was a series of implements to make specific sounds. The musical pieces he and Ritchie made were enthralling. Ritchie (the, er, violent femmes among you may recognise the name) played a succession of rather out-sized flutes.

Now, given that we were in the Freemason's Hall, a very macho, secretive kinda place, and that Ritchie was wearing a sort of rubber cape (with a zip), what looked like Indian love beads and wielded those protuberent, suggestive flutes... well. And there was a dancer, who worked hard but I didn't really enjoy. I was just transfixed by the music. Beautiful, sometimes crushing ... and rather lewd ... hmmm.

• live
• adelaide
• the pop group

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Flatiron b/w Stick Up Jack - feedtime (Sub Pop)

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 March 2015

Hits: 5231

Here’s a single with a reason for living. Like all great 45s, it’s succinct and to the point. It belongs to feedtime, who were be the 1980s Australian underground’s most underrated band.

Revived on the back of a 2012 box set by Sub Pop after 20 years of inactivity, feedtime emerge from suburban Sydney anonymity whenever they feel like it. Obligingly, Sub Pop has released their this, their first recording in two decades.

• feedtime
• flatiron
• stick up jack
• sub pop

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Boogie Pimps - The Juke Joint Pimps (Voodoo Rhythm)

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 March 2015

Hits: 5516

There’s only one thing to do with this album: Play it. Loud. Over and over, Recorded in an analogue Italian studio in two days by a German duo, it’s soaked in whiskey, boogie and blues.

You can bitch about bands that go out of their way to sound vintage and to some extent you’d be right most of the time, but there’s no faking this stuff when it’s played correctly and in the right spirit.

“Bogies Pimps” is not self-consciously retro - it actually sounds contemporary but without the affectations you might expect, or a clean-up. It’s  stripped back Chicago blues and The Juke Joint Pimps could be playing in your lounge room. Only on the closing “Mister Vegan” do the Pimps allow themselves a brief surrender to a looped electronic rhythm track.

• voodoo
• juke joint pimps
• boogie pimps

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Lady Luck - The Villenettes (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 March 2015

Hits: 4627

They’re four girls with guitars and this is their debut album. It twangs a lot and is laced with reverb in all the right places. It rocks like my vintage mono jukebox and the songs are ace. That’s it in a nutshell, but of course you want more…

Being an all-female band is fraught with dangers, not the least of which is that a certain percentage of sneering (probably male) arseholes won’t take you seriously. Don’t make that mistake. The Villenettes play this ‘60s garage psychobilly hellcats thing with skill and feeling.

• villenettes
• lady luck

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