Vale Sue Telfer, Sydney music icon

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2019

Hits: 13349

^{Michelle Fabok photo}

Sydney’s live music scene suffered a body-blow last week when much-loved and long-time live music booker, musicians’ rights advocate and den mother to countless bands, Sue Telfer, passed away.

Sue had been conspicuously absent from a Deniz Tek acoustic gig she’d booked at Sydney’s Golden Barley Hotel last Tuesday night. Her employer, APRA AMCOS (the Australasian Performing Right Association and the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society), raised the alarm when she failed to log-on remotely for work.

Police attended Sue’s inner-city unit and found her. There were no suspicious circumstances.

• vale
• sue telfer

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Who? - The Heck (Dirty Water)

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 June 2019

Hits: 4445

You might ask who they are, but after you wrap your ears around this debut album from The Heck, chances are your next question will be: “Where can I get more?”

The Heck hail from the northern reaches of the Netherlands and are the new garage rock outfit for singer-guitarist Henri Soulman (Sensational Second Cousins, the Miracle Men and De Keefmen) Soulman references the Sonics and The Reigning Sound as his big influences but there’s a lot more going on under the hood.

The Heck are a trio and we all know that such a configuration puts a sharp focus on the rhythm section. The fluid, warm bass-work of René Katerbarg and effervescent drumming of Erik Berends are right up to the job. Katerbarg fills any holes in the road while Berends drives the songs from just behind the beat.

• who
• dirty water records
• the heck
• netherlands
• henri soulman
• de keefmen

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Moronic Pleasures – The Candy Snatchers (Hound Gawd!)

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 June 2019

Hits: 4696

Rarely does the cliché “all killer no filler” stick in real life but here’s an example where it does. Recorded in 1997, shelved while the band did other things, and then issued digitally 20 years later, this little-known gem has finally made it to vinyl.

Saying it’s been worth the wait is like calling Isis just a little heavy-handed just after they’ve buried your nearest and dearest up to the neck in sand and wheeled out the harvesting machine.

The Candy Snatchers were one of America’s best-kept secrets back in the ‘90s. With the unbridled energy of The Dragons, the unrestrained spite of the drug-fucked Stooges and the sheer power of the Dead Boys, these Virginia Beach miscreants bled over US stages for about 16 years, before guitarist Matthew Odietus clocked out at the tender age of 40. They have returned to stages sporadically without him.

• hound gawd records
• the candy snatchers
• the ringleaders
• larry may
• moronic pleasures
• jake starr

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Folk Implosion co-founder's tour

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 June 2019

Hits: 4156

One-time oollege radio favourite John Davis - part of The Folk Implosion in the '90'- is heading to Australasia.

Davis and Dinosaur Jr bassist Lou Barlow co-founded The Folk Implosion in 1993 while the latter was looking for a different outlet to Sebadoah, his band at the time.

Davis left in 2000. He now now records and tours solo and with a band of rotating characters based in Durham, NC, USA.

• dinosaur jr
• john davis
• the folk implosion
• lou barlow

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Hide your lighter fluid when these Schizophonics come to play

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 June 2019

Hits: 5315

^{Tom Wilkinson photo.}

The Schizophonics
Grinding Eyes
Sk8tergrrrl
Marrickville Bowling Club
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Photos by Tom Wilkinson

This gig was a bit of a big deal for Sydney’s spluttering live rock and roll scene. There’s an online buzz on San Diego’s Schizophonics, driven by their livewire videos and their reputation for spectacular shows. The Harbour City, however, was absent from their original travel plans.

A tour through New Zealand was being followed by just one Australian show - at The Tote Hotel in Collingwood, Melbourne - until last-minute intervention by a drummer in one of Oz’s most prominent bands (Russell Hopkinson of You Am I knows who he is) and another party who shall remain nameless. 



So a side trip to Sydney was organised - for a Thursday night show at Marrickville Bowling Club. The night after a hurriedly organised, extra Melbourne show. 

Marrickville Bowlo has become a haunt for Sydney’s older rock and roll demographic. Lansdowne for the kids, Bowlo for the seniors. It’s a nice-sounding room with a great PA and friendly staff. The drinks are cheap.

• grinding eyes
• marrickville bowlo
• schizophonics
• sk8tergrrrl
• pat beers
• lety beers
• Blake Lindquist

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Japanese psych master guitarist Masami Kawaguchi’s New Rock Syndicate hits Australia

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 June 2019

Hits: 5196

He's played with Penny Ikinger and Deniz Tek. Now, after a sold-out solo tour in 2018, one of Japan's most exciting guitarists, Masami Kawaguchi, returns to Australia for a tri-state and regional tour with his band, New Rock Syndicate. 

New Rock Syndicate plays Sydney for the first time on Friday, July 5 at Marrickville Bowling Club, presented by Kasumen Records and the I-94 Bar.

The band will be performing material from the most recent New Rock Syndicate album "Now" ( as well as tracks from limited edition seven-inchers and the extensive NRS back catalogue. 

Supports in Sydney are The Holy Soul and Joeys Coop (featuring Died Pretty's Brett Myers).

Masami Kawaguchi presents New Rock Syndicate in Australia with a rhythm section made up of Dave Gray (Rocket Science and The Electric Guitars) and Don Drum (Paul Kidney Experience and Fraudband),

Masami has been a member of some of the greatest Japanese psych bands of the last two decades - Miminokoto (with Acid Mothers Temple Official), Los Doroncos (with Doronco of Les Rallizes Dénudés), Aihiyo (with Keiji Haino), LSD March/LSD Pond feat Bardo Pond. 

Most tickets are on sale here.
 
Ballarat – The Eastern - Friday June 28
Adelaide – Crown & Anchor – Saturday June 29
Warnambool – Dart & Martin - Sunday June 30
Canberra – Transit Bar - Thursday July 4
Sydney – Marrickville Bowlo - Friday July 5
Newcastle – Lass O’Gowrie - Saturday July 6
Port Kembla – the Servo - Sunday July 7
Melbourne – The Tote - Friday July 12
Castlemaine – The Taproom - Saturday July 13

• live
• tour
• australian
• Masami Kawaguchi

Delusionally Yours – Ronny Dap (self released)

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2019

Hits: 4652

He’s not a household name (yet) but don’t let that stop you. Ronny Dap is the self-styled King of Aussie Pub Rock DIY, a minstrel for those who wish their weekend trip to Bunnings was for guitar strings and not Ozito home-brand power tools that fall apart, shoddy customer service and a cheap sausage sandwich.

Yobbos. We’ve had a few. For those playing along at home overseas and not familiar with everyday Australian vernacular, Yobbo is the term for “a heavy drinker, who places mateship above all else and lives for those wild memorable moments that are unforgettable”. According to the authoritative Urban Dictionary, anyway.

From Billy Thorpe to the Cosmic Psychos, yobbos have been part of the musical and cultural fabric –the cut of the cloth being comfy jeans and a blue singlet. Turn up your nose if you must, but disdain for the upper crust, accompanied by larrikin behaviour, pre-dates Oz rock and roll by a long way. It’s probably one of the few defining national characteristics most of us can agree on.

• melbourne
• oz rock
• punk rock
• the dope smoking morons
• ronny dap

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The Aints! Play The Saints - The Aints! (Fatal Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 June 2019

Hits: 6698

No need to apologise for liking the nostalgic side of The Aints! That’d be the part represented by the segment of their live show, comprising the songs of the Kuepper Saints from their first three studio albums. This live document - culled from their 2018 Australian gigs - showcases the songs in all their sweaty, over-driven glory.

While a bracket of the “new” Saints songs would have been equally welcome from the studio album "The Church of Simultaneous Existence", there’s no complaining about this collection. Ten tunes, classics mostly, and all breathing fire.

• ed kuepper
• chris bailey
• the saints
• play the saints
• fatal records

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There is Only Now - The Galileo 7 (Damaged Goods)

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By The Barman

The Barman

10 June 2019

Hits: 4148

One of those online dictionaries defines "freakbeat" as "a sub-genre of rock and roll music developed mainly by harder-driving British groups, often those with a mod following during the Swinging London period of the mid to late 1960s".

Fair enough. This review is written by someone who used "The Rubble Collection" of UK freakbeat as the soundtrack to painting a dining room wall. There are 10 discs in that box set and, no, it didn't all of them to get the job done. Almost.

The point is that if you don't know the tag, you'll know th sound. Odds are you've probably heard, latched onto and loved a freakbeat band without consciously knowing it. In which case, you're a candidate to be equally besotted with The Galileo 7.

• psychedelic
• pop
• freakbeat
• galileo7
• damaged goods
• there is only now

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