From Barracuda to Unbeing Sage: The art of Jeremy Gluck

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

05 November 2017

Hits: 12198

The more art I make, the more persuaded I become that there is no other art than mine, and no other artist than I. - Jeremy S Gluck

Currently Artist-in-Residence at Eltham Hill School (Greenwich, London), ex-Barrcudas member Jeremy S. Gluck is piloting a pioneering new digital art project, "Game of Memes". The first exhibition opens in London on Saturday November 11. The Barman owes me a huge backlog of wages so I’ll be there too. 

Now cast your eye over this pin-up, a centrefold from "Smash Hits" (one of those dubious teenage mags which proliferated in the late 1970s and early '80s). Observe the mop-top hair, the sharp shirts with snappy lines and the aw-shucks expressions. Not to mention that banana-coloured surfboard.

Not quite as dangerous as the gang in The Archies. Never mind the Barracudas being squeaky enough to take them home to meet Mum, you could take these boys to meet Granny.

She’d chuck them under the chin, pinch their cheeks and call them "lovely" before making them all nice cups of tea (from a teapot in a home-made tea-cosy) with a digestive biscuit.

• jeremy-gluck
• barrucudas
• rowland s. howard
• nikki sudden

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Part Time b/w The Day That Cribb & Munday Got Away - Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes (Stanley Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 November 2017

Hits: 4528

Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes is a Sydney band that plays both sorts music - Country and Western - whose debut single recalls T Tex Edwards, the maverick punk-country artist from Dallas, Texas.  

Band leader Dave Favours used to be in The Delivery and has been at this alt.country thing a while. Like T. Tex, Favours has an appreciation for country’s less-travelled roads and a bit of punk in his background. 

“Part Time” has a laconic, resigned feel, with pedal steel bleeding through the lyrics about demons, deep inside, and drinking. Dave Hatt (bass) and Simon Li sit in the pocket nicely. 

• dave favours
• stanley records

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Original 7” Tracks /Demos LP - ME 262/Trans 262 (Buttercup Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 November 2017

Hits: 9280

Most serious musicians would have an aneurysm if someone wanted to release recordings from their callow youth. They’ll tell you they’ve been hidden in a sock drawer for 40 years for good reason, and that demo recordings are just that. 

Of course, people with OCD, completists and the truly curious and/or obsessed - and any or all of these descriptors could apply to most of us - vehemently disagree. This release from the amazing Buttercup Records label in Melbourne satisfies our shared jones. 

• joeys coop
• buttercup records
• radio birdman
• mark roxburgh
• andy newman
• the visitors
• ME 262
• Trans 262
• the other side
• tony gibson
• alan marr

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Sunnies sell-out Sydney again, announce third and final show

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 November 2017

Hits: 5074

It is literally the hottest ticket in town - Sunnyboys at Sydney's Factory Theatre - and nearly as desirable everywhere else. After selling out their two shows at the inner-west venue in just four days, Sunnyboys are pleased to announce a third and final Sydney show.

The new date is Sunday, February 11 at The Factory Theatre in Marrickville with support (again) from the Celibate Rifles. The gig runs over the schoolnight-friendly times of 6-9.30pm.
 
The sold-out shows are the fastest-selling Sydney Sunnyboys shows since the band’s reunion in 2012. Elsewhere, the iconic band - born in the ‘80s but with all-time appeal - set a first-day sales record at Sunshine Coast venue The Shed @ Aussie World, selling a third of all tickets.

It's the band’s first performance on the Coast since their reformation and just their third appearance in the region ever, their last visit being in 1983 at the Noosa Hop,  an all day festival featuring Skyhooks, Midnight Oil, The Church and others.

Tickets for The Factory are on sale now via www.factorytheatre.com.au You'll find the rest of the gig dates and ticketing informaiton here.

• feelpresents
• sunnyboys
• tour
• australian
• ticketing
• gigs

Scientists bring a sackload of magic

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

01 November 2017

Hits: 8366

_{Kim Salmon in full flight. Photo by Barry C. Douglas of Barry Takes Photos.}

Before we start: The Scientists were bloody brilliant; Geelong hosted a magical gig. See them while you can, you may never get this chance again.

Now, then. There really are times when not being a multi-millionaire is, frankly, a bit of a fucking niggle.

So there I was, reading that a certain band were going to tour Australia - they’ve played a few reunion gigs overseas as one of the two guitarists lives in London - but they haven’t toured Australia in well over a decade. So there’s every chance this could well be the last time I’ll ever see them.

• alive
• geelong
• kim salmon
• tour
• boris sudjovic
• leanne cowie
• leanne chock
• australian
• tony thewlis
• the scientists

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Win an ME 262/Trans 262 LP package

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By The Barman

The Barman

30 October 2017

Hits: 5751

Those folks at Buttercup Records have done themselves proud again, digging up the recorded artefacts of another lost Australian underground band and putting them out there in a deluxe vinyl package.

“Original 7" /Demos LP + 7" Flexi-Disc” compiles the EP and demos of Sydney underground band ME 262 (later Trans 262) and you can win one of two copies with us.

ME 262 followed on from the initial wave of bands springing up in the wake of Radio Birdman, The Other Side, Hitmen and The Visitors. The Buttercup package compiles their “Don't Hold Me Down” EP from 1982 and a swag of killer unreleased demos, produced by Rob Younger.

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The Stanleys - The Stanleys (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 October 2017

Hits: 5163

Let’s resist the cliched temptation to wax lyrical about something something mysterious in the water content in Perth, Australia, producing peerless pop-rock music. It’s been done to death and Swan Lager was more likely the culprit. 

The Stanleys (or the two principals) hail from that most isolated of state capital cities but make music that could have come from anywhere on the globe where there’s a love of harmonies, big guitars and sharp hooks. 

Here’s a band that, for once, has done things the other way round. Meaning, they’ve played hundreds of shows since 2011 but have only released their debut album now. This is not the done thing in these times of manufactured pop and inspid TV talent shows. 

• powerpop
• pop detective
• the stanleys
• tomas dahl
• mark di renzo
• jamie horsburgh
• rock indiana records
• ken stringfellow
• love hz studio

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New Feeling - The Favourites (Reckless Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 October 2017

Hits: 4585

Sounding every bit like a band born out of time, The Favourites have released their debut album - 40 years after they expired. 

Throw your mind back to 1977-79 (pretend, if you weren’t born) and think about the music de jour in the UK. Punk? Ska? New Wave? It sure wasn’t Power Pop. What was around used the descriptor New Wave and was at the mercy of the notoriously fickle UK music media. So-called provincial bands (not based in London) had their work cut out. 

The Favourites grew out of two Nottingham bands, the DTs and Plummet Airlines, the latter signed to Stiff Records. Their two-and-a-bit-year existence was peppered by recording sessions and live work, and they shared stages with Squeeze, The Rich Kids and The Only Ones. 

• powerpop
• favourites
• new feeling
• reckless records
• england

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Electric Trails From Nowhere - The Golden Rail (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 October 2017

Hits: 6589

Here’s the thing with pop music - at least for me and probably for many of you, too. First impressions count for a lot; I'm impatient. And the initial take-out from a spin of “Electric Trails From Nowhere” was how grown up the music sounded. 

For two reasons. As the bio says, “Electric Trails” is the output of a 30-year songwriting partnership between Ian Freeman and Jeff Baker, the Melbourne-via-Perth principal members of The Golden Rail. The other factor is that The Golden Rail sounds like none of the music that passes for “contemporary pop” in 2017. 

• dm3
• the jangle band
• header
• the golden rail
• the pallisades
• summer suns
• ian freeman
• jeff baker

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