Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol by Steve Jones (William Heinemann) & Anger is An Energy. My Life Uncensored by John Lydon (Simon and Schuster)

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

04 April 2017

Hits: 5777

Here are two books from people whose names you may know that are essential purchases.  

This is from “Lonely Boy”:

… all bands are basically the fucking same. The reason I still - to this day - love watching documentaries about bands like the Eagles … is that I can totally relate to them. The personalities involved and the reasons for the tensions between them never seem to change.

The singer - because the job requires the kind of person who wants to be in the front going ‘look at me, look at me’ - will almost always be very insecure, and usually a bit of a cunt. Then there’s the guitarist, who wants to get all the pussy, and there’s always at least one weird introvert…

Lead Guitarist Syndrome and Lead Singer Syndrome are terms you don’t see in the Macquarie, or the OED. But they exist, in fact if not in print.

• sex pistols
• john lydon
• steve jones
• anger is an energy
• lonely boy
• sid vicious

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Going Back To Wurstville - King Salami & The Cumberland Three (Off The Hip)

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By Ron Brown

Ron Brown

04 April 2017

Hits: 3999

Three days, no brakes, something to celebrate. That’s the state I’ve found myself in after constantly playing King Salami & The Cumberland Three. This is what music is all about: Transcending barriers that are put up by the music snobs.

How the hell do you get a Japanese punk joining forces with a French punk and then finding a Caribbean tennis teacher for oral scintillation? Then they come up with a name that covers a love of sausages, calling themselves “the best party band in the British Isles” And they pull it off. How?

The answer is Music, pure delightful music. Music that you dance to. Music that you can surf to. Music that you can chop wood to. Pure music.

• punk
• rock
• garage
• english
• king salami
• cumberland three

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Chris Masuak and his Harbour City Wave Riders cut a swathe

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 April 2017

Hits: 4194

• radio birdman
• chris masuak

Watch "I Can Control Your Mind" from James McCann and The New Vindictives

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 April 2017

Hits: 4088

• penny ikinger
• james mccann

Iconic Rock and Roll markets stage Sydney support show

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By The Barman

The Barman

30 March 2017

Hits: 3112

Sydney Rock ‘n’ Roll & Alternative Market has hit a roadblock and is taking a detour. In place of the usual market on April 2, a huge support concert for the much-loved market is taking place at The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 

Featuring a stellar line-up over two stages of Market favourites, including The Allniters and The Detonators, this is a one-off and unmissable show.

For six-and-a-half years, Sydney Rock’n’Roll & Alternative Market has brought Sydney a mini music festival every two months, with a vast selection of unique and carefully curated stalls and an all-day entertainment line-up of interstate, local and international bands and DJs.

Hit with some very trying weather conditions over the last nine months, organisers decided to stage an almighty concert rather than fold their tent.

• rock and roll markets
• allniters
• detonators

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Celibate Rifles put rumours to bed and make a claim for greatness

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By The Barman

The Barman

21 March 2017

Hits: 13332

_{Damien Lovelock leads the Celibate Rifles.    Shona Ross photo}

It was a big week for rumours - and that’s not a reference to that awful Fleetwood Mac album being on high rotation.

Celibate Rifles were playing two successive nights in Sydney. A Friday at the near dormant ‘80s venue Carmens at Miranda in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, and a Saturday at one of their local stomping grounds, Narrabeen RSL.

It was about a fortnight before that the gossip started to fly.

• leadfinger
• narrabeen rsl
• circus chaplains
• kent steedman
• celibate rifles
• damien lovelock
• dave morris
• paul larsen-loughhead
• carmens miranda

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Last drummer standing brings his own Animals to play

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

21 March 2017

Hits: 12231

_{Original Animals drummer John Steel.  Piotr Bieniecki photo}

This May, The Animals are touring Australia and New Zealand.

No, Eric Burdon won’t be with them. He lost the rights to the name in 2008, partly because it was evident to a judge that the name was one of convenience to him. However…

John Steel is one of the co-founders of The Animals. Apart from singer Eric Burdon - now performing under his own name with his own cast of Animals - Steel is the member who has been with most of the incarnations. It's his version of The Animals making the trip down under in May.

• the animals
• john steel
• eric burdon

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Fifteen years and going strong: Off The Hip still burns bright

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 March 2017

Hits: 9571

_{Mickster Baty at home in his Off The Hip shop.}

The music industry is a shallow trench full of sharks and transient imprints, to paraphrase Hunter S Thompson. Independent record labels come and go with the regularity of manufactured reality TV stars and only a few manage to find their niche and prosper. In Australia, only Citadel is still standing from the halycon days of the 1980s. A few rose in the '90s to fill the gaps left by the demise of Phantom and Waterfront. Since the 2000s, the most enduring has been Melbourne-based Off The Hip.

Off The Hip grew out co-founder Mick ("Mickster") Baty's love of all things garage rock, powerpop and psychedelia. A drummer and veteran of one of Sydney's finest garage-trash outfits, The Crusaders, he went on to killer powerpop bands The Pyramidiacs and The Finkers. Baty saw Off The Hip as an outlet for his own music. He had re-located to Melbourne by then and formed The Stoneage Hearts, a shifting cast of players who produced top-shelf garage rock with a pop bent.

A retail operaiton operating out of his house morphed into a bricks-and-mortar shop in Melbourne's CBD and a floodgate of releases via the fledgling label ensued. It's been an enduring success - on its own terms - since then. Off The Hip - the label and the shop - have inspired and contrinuted to the existence and growth of hundreds of bands. 

Last month, the Off The Hip label celebrated its 15th birthday. We decided it was high-time for Mickster to occupy the interview seat.

• garage
• melbourne
• bomp
• crusaders
• dom mariani
• little murders
• eddy current suppression ring
• mickster
• baty
• mass cult
• beat taboo
• the slaters
• lords of gravity

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Gas - feedtime (In The Red)

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By Nick Spaulding

Nick Spaulding

13 March 2017

Hits: 4513

feedtime have come together to release their first album since 1996’s "Billy". A lot has happened in the last 21 years, so what can we expect from the original lineup of Rick, Al and Tom who have been playing sporadically since reforming in 2011?

It starts off well. “Any good thing” opens with a fantastic, sliding bass line before kicking off with pounding drums and a frenetically distorted guitar. My first thought when hearing Rick’s vocals was that of GG Allin’s voice towards the end of his life. The gravel has turned into a metallic growl.

And the pace continues well into “Thought”, before slowing down into "Box n Burn". Both strong tracks with a powerful sound. However, the issues start to arise with "Skilled Enuf". While the musicianship on the track is strong, the writing is quite simple and unengaging, “Skilled enough, to play one chord. Skilled enough to play one note” might be a true description of the band’s minimalist arrangements, but it is unengaging.

• punk
• sydney
• feedtime
• gas
• in the red

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