Forty years of X-treme doings

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 June 2017

Hits: 9535

Before there was punk rock there was Ian Rilen. Then there was X.

X weren't punks in the sense of the term that the skinheads understood but they were primal, punk rock and roll in one combustible package.

Sydney had never seen a band like X whose wrecking ball power centred on Rilen's bass-played-as-a-lead-instrument, the massive backbeat of fellow veteran Steve Cafeiro, the slashing guitar of Ian Krahe and the shredding vocals of Steve Lucas, the latter two rookies.

Living a quiet life wasn't part of the X creed. Krahe's submission to a heroin overdose left the already outlawed X even more out on a limb, but they grimly continued as a trio and proceeded to record their debut album with legendary guitarist Lobby Loyde producing.

"X-Aspirations" became an instant classic, setting a benchmark for a whole legion of new, uncompromising and minimalist bands.

These words (and those that follow) were written for the liner notes for the 2009 re-issue of X’s debut album “X-Aspirations” but were inadvertently shelved. We’re reviving them to coincide with the 40th anniversary tour by the X line-up that lives on after the passing of all original members except guitarist-vocalist Steve Lucas. Lucas has crowd-sourced a Best of and Rarities collection ("X-Citations") on vinyl, copies of which will be available at the gigs. Read on.

• ian rilen
• steve lucas
• lobby loyde
• steve cafeiro
• x band
• x-aspirations
• ian krahe

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Johnny Streetlight gets le vinyl treatment in France

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2017

Hits: 5357

“Johnny Streetlight”, that stellar album from Sydney’s best kept rock and roll secret, Chickenstones, is getting a release on vinyl, thanks to French label Basil Records. If you don't remember it coming out or want to know what the fuss is about, we reviewed it here.

To celebrate, Chickenstones will play a special show at The Music Lounge in Brookvale, Sydney, on July 21 with psych-punk veterans The Young Doctors and Thomas Keating. They'll also debut their new filmclip. Show-offs!

• pitshark
• chickenstones
• young docteurs
• johnny streetllght

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Super Natural - Jim Jones & The Righteous Mind (Hound Gawd Records)

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2017

Hits: 6160

You really don’t want to read another review masquerading as a song-by-song description of an album you’ve never heard? Good. You’re not going to get one.

Drop your preconceptions, too, if you’re a fan of the late great Jim Jones Revue.They’ve been dead and buried for close on three years. His other bands, Black Moses and Thee Hypnotics, have been decomposing in their graves for much longer than that. 

• garage
• jim jones revue
• garage soul
• jim jones and the righteous mind
• hound gawd records
• garage blues
• thee hypnotics

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Slights Still Unspoken - Voigt/465 (Guerssen)

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2017

Hits: 5290

There was a time when sharp divisions ran like Pacific Rim fault-lines between underground musical factions in Sydney. 

One one tectonic plate stood the Radio Birdman-influenced, leather-clad, guitar warriors steeped in ramalama-fa-fa-fa and the Stooges, on the other an esoteric bunch of people making sounds with synthesisers and other assorted machines. Picket lines were established and few crossed them, unless by accident or if no-one was looking.

• avant garde
• sydney
• radio birdman
• pere ubu
• voigt/465
• can
• kraughtrock

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Let’s Get High b/w One Last Chance - The Neighbourhood Strange (Strange Recordings)

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2017

Hits: 3823

Imagine if the West Coast Flower Power era had happened, not in the City by the Bay but in the middle of England. Within spitting distance of Stonehenge. Only it wasn’t so trippy-dippy and folkish, and had a nasty streak to its sound. Cue: The Neighbourhood Strange and this, their second double A-sided single.

• the neighbourhood strange

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Rosalita! - Thee Wylde Oscars (Off The Hip)

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 June 2017

Hits: 5894

Let’s not beat around the bush: This is a cracker of a record and the best garage rock album to land in these parts so far in 2017. 

“Rosalita!” (the album) leaps out of the speakers from the get-go with the surging crash-bang-wallop of “Seven Inch Record” and doesn’t let up for 11 more songs. “Rosalie!” (the song) might be an obvious crib of Ricky Nelson’s/The Allusions’ “Gypsy Woman” but who cares? When it’s good as this, stealing’s not a crime - except if you’re Led Zeppelin. 

• garage
• garage soul
• wylde oscars
• rosalita!

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