New Chris Masuak album ready to drop

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 July 2019

Hits: 4619

The new album from Chris Masuak and the Viveiro Wave Riders is out in early August on I-94 Bar Records and we’ve opened pre-orders. The lead-off track "1776" is embedded above. Place an order here.

“Address to the Nation” is full of trademark Masuak melodies and power with harmonies, a wide-ranging record where powerpop gems rub shoulders with bristling, muscular rock and roll, and punk. It’s in a similar vein to its predecessor, “Brujita”, but a touch harder-edged and more pointed, with lyrical insights about life, love and the sorry state of geopolitics, all powered by Klondike's ace Spanish band There’s also a healthy dose of satire, lurking deep in its grooves.

If you pre-order, your copy of the CD will be sent the day the album arrives back from the pressing plant. You’ll also receive a full digital copy, with bonuses, shortly before. If you're in the market for vinyl, we'll keep yuou posted. 

• klondike
• hitmen
• bandcamp
• radio birdman
• i-94 bar records
• screaming tribesmen
• chris masuak
• address to the nation
• viveiro wave riders

The Last Great Ride – Dark Carnival (Bang! Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 July 2019

Hits: 5087

More like The Lost Great Ride because it's been hard to find in any format, this vinyl re-issue of Dark Carnival’s 1997 studio swansong tells you all you need to know about this Detroit ensemble. Bang! Records have given it a re-master job and restored two tracks that were found on the CD version but omitted from an earlier LP edition.

Dark Carnival was built around vocalist Niagara and guitar god Ron Asheton with a floating cast of players, who were a Who’s Who of the denuded but defiant Michigan punk underground. A direct descendent of Destroy All Monsters, Dark Carnival thanklessly played in and around Detroit for years, even making it to Australia for a lengthy 1991 tour.

Of course, they never got their due accolades. There’s one universal truth that’s harsher than the menu at a homeless shelter in the Cass Corridor in winter and it’s this: Being a Best Kept Secret is great for your cool kid cred but doesn’t buy you more than a cup of shitty Starbucks coffee. Ron (R.I.P.) had to wait for the Stooges revival, and Niagara for her painting career to take off, to make it onto the broader cultural radar. As the Carnies make clear, life really is for sissies but it’s infinitely easier when you can pay the rent.

• detroit
• bang! records
• niagara
• dark carnival
• greasy carlisi
• ron asheton
• the last great ride
• pete bankert
• larry steele

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You Will Not Be Spared b/w Late - Beast Bones (Iceage Productions)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

18 July 2019

Hits: 3056

Don't listen to Beast Bones if you have a hangover. Genuinely disturbing, eerie and quite quease-making, "You Will Not Be Spared" comes from Aussie label  Iceage Productions (who brought you the mighty Monolith ... what? you must have this CD. No? Get on it), and a slew of other underground musics which can be found here.

Over the years Iceage has released "music by Arthur Cantrill, Primitive Calculators, Robin Fox, Bonnie Mercer, Ollie Olsen, Ernie Althoff, Mad Nanna, Shane Fahey, Matthew Brown and Sean Baxter amongst others"; and describe their label as "specialising in electronic, experimental, noise, drone and industrial music from all over the globe" - which I suppose is true enough.

• iceage productions
• beast bones

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All-star cast announced as rare Flaming Hands film-clip unearthed

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 July 2019

Hits: 4132

Flaming Hands have announced their line-up, six weeks out from their Sedition Festival show at Paddington RSL on August 31, and it’s an all-star cast.

Founders Julie Mostyn-Gilbert (vocals) and Jeff Sullivan (acoustic guitar) will be joined by Cub Calloway (guitarist with the Saints, New Christs and Ed Kuepper and The Yard Goes On Forever), bassist Warwick Gilbert (Radio Birdman, Hitmen, The Rats), Barton Price (The Models) on drums, John Hoey (Died Pretty, New Christsw) on keys and Phil Hall (Sardine v, Drop Bears and Lime Spiders) on sax.

Coinciding with this news, a rare 35-year-old Flaming Hands clip for single “The Edge” has resurfaced online.

• radio birdman
• flaming hands
• shy impostors
• julie mostyn
• warwick gilbert
• the professors
• barton price

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The Mark of Cain announces first tour in five years

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 July 2019

Hits: 3756

The Mark Of Cain returns to the stage this October performing their debut album “Battlesick” in its entirety. 

Originally released in 1989 via indie Adelaide label Dominator, Battlesick sounded like no Australian album before or since. Tracks like “Wake Up”, “Dead Man’s Mail”, “The Setback”, “Call in Anger” and the title track addressed the fear of dreams, the threat of death, anger over disappointment and personal setbacks; not exactly the subject matter of an era when Kylie Minogue was queen and Ratcat were primed to become the pinnacle of the underground.

• the mark of cain
• tour
• australian
• battesick
• anniversary
• fugazi
• the messthetics

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Tenterhooks – Lost Talk (Spooky/ Lost Talk)

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By Robert Brokenbmouth

Robert Brokenbmouth

16 July 2019

Hits: 4170

Vinyl only. Not just brilliant, “Tenterhooks” has no right to be this fucking good, this exciting, and (granted) if you're anything like me it’s going to be thrashed beyond recognition, and god have mercy upon your neighbours. Such raw gentle, blaring fucking power and construction.

There are very few times when I wish I had a shitload more money than I do have, and this week is one of them, when I wish I could've gone to Portland, Oregon to see off the very talented, wayward but rather lovely Mike Pitts (of Neptune Skyline and the Kent 3), and to Melbourne this Friday to see off Lost Talk. 

After (I believe) 3 years Lost Talk are splitting up, and releasing this vinyl LP as a farewell at their last gig - this Friday night (July 19) at the Cactus Room, Thornbury. (Uh, that's in Victoria. Squidneysiders, book your flights) 

• lost talk
• symbol/signal
• live at the old bar
• tenterhooks

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The Sound of My Broken Heart b/w Do The Harold Holt/White Rabbit - Dead Rabids (Full On Noise)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 July 2019

Hits: 3940

Dead Rabids main man Bob Short was a member of seminal Sydney punks Filth before he fucked off to England to become a goth and live in abject poverty. He’s also penned the odd vituperative review for the I-94 Bar. So now it’s your turn. Do your best.

There’s no hint of hyperbole in you being told that the A side is a fantastic song. A stone classic. Dead Rabids are no more and never pulled a lot of people when they were a going concern, but don't let that stop you plonking down your hard-earned virtual cash and picking up a copy before it goes out of print. 

The pathos runs deep on "The Sound of My Broken Heart" and it sounds like something the early Saints would have turned out in one of their more reflective moments. Put away any sharp objects and lock the medicine cabinet.

Flip the single and switch the mood to bathos: "Do the Harold Holt" is an old Filth song (I think) and you can imagine singer Peter Tillman spitting out its message for poliical leaders to jump into the sea three times and surface twice. A resuscitated classic. The Rabids' abbreviated take on "White Rabbit" sounds positively doom-laden and there's a harsh beauty in its acrid chords. Feed your head some squat food.

Buy it

• bob short
• dead rabids
• full on noise
• filth
• the sound of my broken heart
• do the harold holt
• white rabbit

Shake and Bake - Left Lane Cruiser (Alive Natural Sounds)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 July 2019

Hits: 3908

Fort Wayne, Indiana’s favourite blues duo is back and while they’re not making any seismic shifts in their music, it sure sounds good on “Shake and Bake”.

What's here? Ten songs. No fat. Mostly foot stomping punk blues. That giant-sized space cake on the cover sure ain’t gluten-free. Is it studio album 10 or 11? Who cares. The formula works. 

Left Lane Cruiser remains Freddy “Joe” Evans IV (guitar and vocals) and Pete Dio (drums and percussion), the latter on his third straight record, and opening track “Two Dollar Elvis” makes an immediate impact. Dio lays down the time to signal Evans’ stuttering guitar and trademark hoarse ’n’ gritty vocal. 

• left lane cruiser
• alive naturalsound
• pete shelley
• shake and bake
• freddv evans IV

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Russian Spy b/w Many Secrets - The Neighbourhood Strange (Strange)

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 July 2019

Hits: 3124

The latest in a spate of singles. Just when you'd pegged these veterans as a freakbeat-psych band, the A side has a vaguely surf sound to the guitars; the B side is ’60s-infused pop with a reedy keyboard texture and a slightly dark edge. Welcome to the sound of The Neighbourhood Strange, the English quintet from Salisbury.

“Russian Spy” references the Skripal poisoning scandal that put their home town in the news in a way that the Druids never could. Marcus Turner’s elegant yet edgy vocal gives the song a touch of cool reserve while the guitar lines play tag. “Many Secrets” takes a couple more spins to make an impact and then makes itself right at home. The guitarwork is a stand-out.

There’s a CD edition that adds three bonus tracks: “Mary Mary” is a moody chugger. “Walk on Water” is a lost love tale with spacey guitar and an impassioned, out-of-sorts vocal. “Desert Sand” is a rambunctious near-instrumental and the pick of the bonuses. With this sort of variety, you have to wonder where the album will land. 

Buy it 

• the neighbourhood strange
• russian spy