Aussie troubadours take their brands of darkness on the road

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

15 August 2018

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_{Michael Plater live. Fawnia photo.} 

Now, there are a few of you out there who read The I-94 Bar regularly. You may have noticed I'm rather a fan of Australian musician/songwriters Michael Plater and Tim Hudspith.

Plater's music spans various indie, gothic folk, country and “noir” influences, and his first two albums “Exit Keys” (2012) and “Mythologies” (2016) have received worldwide critical acclaim. Hudspith plays guitar with  Goldentone, Colourhweel, The Low-Fi Cowboys, Death Valley PTA and Dead Eyed Seraphim and is a solo artist in his own right. 

This month Melbourne-based Plater and Adelaidian Hudspith (a Ballarat expat) will be touring select interstate venues with intertwining dates, plus some shows in their own right at the end. So, Sydneysiders, Brisvegas residents, Canbrites and Newkies, get out of the house. Dates are at the bottom of the article.  

I was hoping to see the two Sydney shows, but ... as you know, Adelaide's electricity bills aren't what they used to be, so I had to content myself with doing an interview with both Plater and Hudspith..

• tour
• australian
• michael plater
• dean richards
• tim hudspith
• ghosts of electricity
• fall from grace

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Apex b/w Surfing Douche - Prehistoric Douche (Surely Poor Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 August 2018

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They might have started as a jokey Stooges tribute act playing Tuesday nights at Cherry Bar while their other bands were on hiatus but Melbourne’s Prehistoric Douche sound just like the sort of garage-surf monster that most underground rocvk and roll scenes need. Sydney could sure do with them. 

“Surfing Douche” starts out like a de-railed Lizard Train song, with a rumbling bottom end yielding to dual flick-knife guitars and banshee lyrics about going surfing. There’s a significant debt owed to the early Crusaders and The Freeloaders to these ears (your own results might vary) but whatever way you cut it, it’s seriously good. The ludicrous accapella Beach Boys breakdown just adds to the mayhem.

• garage
• melbourne
• prehistoric douche
• surfing douche
• apex

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They're going to kick them out in Sydney

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 August 2018

Hits: 3966

It's 50 years since the MC5 recorded their seminal "Kick Out The Jams" album. While Wayne Kramer's celebratory MC50 project is on the road in Europe and the USA and is not showing any signs of coming to Australia, That's why Sydney's SC5 are having a party of their own on September 8.

I-94 Bar is presenting the KOTJ 50th Anniversary show at Marrickville Bowling Club, featuring the SC5 playing "KOTJ" in its entirety. It's 30 years since the SC5 - an inner-city super group of sorts aka the Sydney City Five - first gathered to play the music of the MC5. Members have included personnel from the New Christs, The Eastern Dark and Daredevil, with Radio Birdman's Deniz Tek sitting in. 

Support will come from Turbobelco (paying homage to Turbonegro) and Australis Uber Alles (in tribute to the Dead Kennedys) and tickets are on sale here. 

• mc5
• marrickville
• sc5
• turbonegro
• kick out the jams
• dead kennedys
• turbobelco
• australis uber alles

Urban Nature - Blaney featuring Mark E. Smith (YERRR Records)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

12 August 2018

Hits: 4675

You may recall I reviewed Blaney's most recent album, "The Severance" (pay attention at the back, you) and I have no qualms about not changing my seven bottle verdict. 

"Urban Nature" is Blaney's third LP featuring Mark E Smith; I don't have the other two, ("Smith And Blaney" and "The Train Part 3"), both on the (defunct?) Voiceprint label.

No, me neither. but on the strength of "Urban Nature" I've ordered both. One wonders aloud whether there's a definitive collection of Smith/Blaney in the works; if not, there should be. Why?

• the fall
• mark e smith
• ed blaney
• urban nature

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Plenty of Soap - Speedboat (Tom Stehlik) and Love In Other Diminsions - Go Go Sapien (HQR)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

12 August 2018

Hits: 4546

If you enjoyed the Laughing Clowns and their slightly wonky, soaring horns, and which Hunnas later wielded to equally great effect, you're in for a treat. Speedboat (from Adelaide) supported both bands and, I can attest, to great effect. While LC and H&C certainly influenced Speedboat, one wonders if the influence was all one-way. 

If you don't know Speedboat, what they were about came from many unlikely sources (their name apparently springs from an Elvis movie), and I'm not giving away the joy of Tom Stehlik's liner notes).

Liner notes? Do Speedboat rate that? 

By fuck they do. 'Plenty of Soap' holds the equivalent of four LPs plus a fistful of singles and b-sides, Stehlik's liner notes actually tell the story of the band. Frankly, most bands - especially a band held in such high regard as Speedboat (and all without a recording contract) - fuck up entirely. 

• adelaide
• dave graney
• speedboat
• plenty of soap
• go-go sapien
• love in other diminsions

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Metallic KO Flashback: The Mercenaries of Time (Part 2)

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By Michele Dawn Saint Thomas

Michele Dawn Saint Thomas

09 August 2018

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This is part two of Michelle Dawn Saint Thomas's LSD-fuelled re-iiving of the notorious final Iggy & the Stooges show at the Michigan Palace in 1974. Part one is here.

The entire theater had become a massive downpour of flying objects. Everything from cans, bottles and coins were being thrown up onto the stage. The situation became contagious; soon random missiles were airborne everywhere throughout the hall.

The Palace now was half vacant and nearly everyone that remained was either clamoring to get closer to the stage for purposes of their own agendas, or rapidly exiting the venue. The stage itself looked a terrible sight, unsuitable for even the most daredevil of performers to be upon it at all.

Total chaos reigned supreme.

• iggy
• iggy & the stooges
• metallic ko
• michigan palace
• michelle dawn saint thomas

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Dead Kennedys back Down Under

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 August 2018

Hits: 4878

Jello-less since 2001, the Dead Kennedys are bringing their brand of seminal punk back to Australian audiences, 25 years since they first hit our shores and th first time since 2014. 

The band - these days that's East Bay Ray, D.H. Peligro, Klaus Flouride and singer Skip McSkipster - is doing a quick hit-and-run of four shows in a week.  

The Dead Kennedys had a huge impact in Australia in the 1980s. Their albums - “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables”, “In God We Trust, Inc”, “Plastic Surgery Disasters”, “Frankenchrist”  and “Bedtime for Democracy” – sold by the thousand at a time when punk had yet to break into the mainstream, and kept selling big numbers for decades.

• punk
• 2018
• australian tour
• dead kennedys
• east bay ray

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Metallic KO Flashback: The Mercenaries of Time (Part 1)

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By Michele Dawn Saint Thomas

Michele Dawn Saint Thomas

06 August 2018

Hits: 10640

_{The last Iggy and the Stooges show.  Michelle Dawn Saint Thomas photo.}

I was oblivious to it at the time but the signs were all around. The counter-culture scene in early '70s Detroit was in a state of free-fall, towards a tragic demise from its epic creative height of the '60s.

Plum Street's attempted bohemian arts colony had completely collapsed, along with efforts by local artists to establish a street fair on Woodward Avenue similar to that in Montreal. The existing brick and mortar business were strictly opposed to this effort, in the belief that when people came downtown the local artists would seize profits from the larger stores of the establishment.

Problem was, people were just not venturing downtown like they used to. Life had changed. Two major aspects, one, the “white flight” exodus, and two, the high crime rate, were keeping people away from Detroit. Plus, something new was on the horizon: the suburban shopping mall. Why travel beyond your neighborhood community when all could be found locally?

• detroit
• iggy & the stooges
• metallic ko
• michigan palace

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The Barracudas re-appear in London

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By The Barman

The Barman

30 July 2018

Hits: 3646

Garage-surf kings from the '80s, The Barracudas, reconvened for a show at the Finsbury in North London last weekend. Here’s some footage of "We're Living In Violent Times":

• live
• london
• the barracudas