Schizophonics return to Australia and New Zealand

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 January 2023

Hits: 2716

San Diego's dynamite trio The Schizophonics is returning to Australia and New Zealand after pre-COVID visits in 2019 and ’20.

Returning on the back of their latest LP, "Hoof It", The Schizophonics are husband and wife duo, singer/guitarist Pat Beers and drummer Lety Beers, and have built a formidable reputation around the world as an explosive live act.

Tapping the same wellspring that fuelled The MC5, James Brown, Iggy Pop, Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix and The Sonics, this electrifying outfit has released three albums since 2009.

Joining the Schizophonics for most Australian shows are The Unknowns, who hail from South East Queensland and share members and a record label with The Chats.

The Unknowns are set to release their second album "East Coast Low" on Bargain Bin Records around the time of this tour. Combining '70s style punk and power pop in a manner not dissimilar to the classic first three Ramones albums, The Unknowns' music is timelessly exciting and fun for all ages! 

Schizophonics
Australian-NZ Tour
MAR
Australia
1 – La La La’s, Wollongong, NSW
+ The Unknowns
2 – Crowbar, Sydney, NSW
+ The Unknowns
3 – Drifters Wharf, Gosford, NSW
4 - Tent Pole Festival, Mt Duneed, VIC
8 – Northcote Social Club, VIC
+ The Unknowns
9 – Hotel Westwood, VIC
+ The Unknowns
11 – King Lear’s, Brisbane, QLD
+ The Unknowns
12 – Vinnie’s Dive Bar, Gold Coast
+ The Unknowns
Tickets here
New Zealand
15 - Space Academy, Christchurch
16 - Valhalla, Wellington
19- - ONEONESIX, Whangarei
+ Neon Serpent
22 - Whammy Backroom, Auckland
+ Ratso
23 - The Green Room, Thames
+ Neon Serpent
25 - Piha Bowling Club, Piha
+ Neon Serpent
Tickets here

• australia
• tour
• new zealand
• schizophonics
• 2023
• hoof it

Chimers' new single ahead of extensive Australian dates

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By The Barman

The Barman

14 January 2023

Hits: 2876

_{Katelyn Slyer photo.}

Wollongong's Chimers - whose self-released and self-titled album of 2021 has found fans in Henry Rollins, Fugazi's Guy Picciotto, and members of The Mark Of Cain and Mudhoney - have released a new single "Generator" ahead of extensive live dates.

The single will be launched in Sydney on January 20 at Vic On The Park with support from Private Wives, and in Wollongong on January 27 at La La La's with Uncle Pit.

Irish born Padraic Skehan and life partner Binx formed the band in their Wollongong backyard during the initial lockdown of 2020. Veterans and drummers both of the ‘Gong’s vibrant garage-scene - The Pink Fits, Drop Offs, Evol and more. Chimers is an altogether different beast, Padraic taking a giant leap forward by removing himself from the back seat and assuming the roles of singing, playing guitar song-writing.

• scientists
• mudhoney
• chimers
• generator
• me first and the gimmie gimmies

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The Breadmakers to send off a mate on January 29

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 January 2023

Hits: 2427

It was with great sadness that Melbourne cult retro band The Breadmakers learned of the passing of their old pal, Graeme Thomas, of the Preston Records studio and label, in November last year.

Thomas  was hugely influential to just about any roots, rockabilly or rock ‘n’ roll musician in Melbourne in the 1980s and 90s – and it was no different for the young Breadmakers. They’d heard some of the amazing recordings that Graeme had made in his home-built studio that sounded exactly like they had come out of the ’50 and ‘60s and asked him to record them too.

Graeme was a musical perfectionist, and taught the band so much about getting the sounds they liked in the studio. He could make his studio sound like Sun Studios in Memphis, or just about any other vintage studio by moving microphones, changing amplifiers and rearranging a few baffles.

Graeme once offered to truck in enough soil to completely cover the studio floor so that he could get the sound of the Fortune Records Studio from Detroit Michigan, which famously had a dirt floor.

• the breadmakers
• the gem
• graeme thomas
• dave hogan
• blues hangover

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Hooks galore as Superhands make their debut

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

05 January 2023

Hits: 2431

Scruff Myers' Superhands - Scruff Myers' Superhands (Blunder Town Records)

The Superhands' debut LP, and it's taken me far too long to get to it. The second LP will be under way shortly, I am told. 

Blunder Town's press release explains that Superhands started as a one-off party band, which clearly took off in Scruff's head. 

Scruff? John “Scruff” Ellis had 16 years’ service with legendary UK clockwork punks The Adicts, and if you're not familiar with them, I suggest you start here.  The Adicts play in an instantly recognisable style - it's catchy, anthemic, uplifting stuff.

• scruff myers' superhands
• the adicts
• blunder town records

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A dozen serves of trouble

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 January 2023

Hits: 2585

12 Super Duper Extraordinary Girl Trouble Rock ‘n’ Roll Tracks – Bang Bang Band Girl (Voodoo Rhythm)

First, the whinge. This is one of those cases where you’re left wondering what might have been if the contents matched the cover. A one-lady band from Chile via the Netherlands,  Bang Bang Band Girl, has great taste in covers but the sum of its parts make this album not so much unhinged as mildly off-beat and muffled.

The one-sheet for what's almost an album full of covers promises a “spaced out wall of fuzz, theremin, reverberation and a warm, dangerous yet sweet voice” and there are elements of all those, but they’re sometimes buried by so-so production.

• heartbreakers
• nancy sinatra
• johnny thunders
• motorhead
• voodoo rhythm
• the cramps
• bang bang band girl
• 12 Super Duper Extraordinary Girl Trouble Rock ‘n’ Roll Tracks
• sheri corleone
• hasil adkins

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Cramping their style

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 January 2023

Hits: 2652

Cramped – 50LgE (self released)
This six-song EP from the New South Wales Far North Coast trio 50LgE (“50 Large”) with lineage derived from The Eastern Dark and the Psychotic Turnbuckles is as stylistically diverse as they come, swinging from swampy rock to garage rockers. 

“Cramped” is an unabashed lift from the early Cramps, not weird enough to rouse Bryan Gregory from his grave but obvious enough to send the message that 50LgE are big fans.  “White God” chalks up one for the atheists without getting out of second gear. 

• cramps
• psychotic turnbuckles
• 50LgE
• The Eastern Dark
• cramped

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Things will get fuzzy with return of the Green Spiders

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By The Barman

The Barman

02 January 2023

Hits: 2845

It’s a bill to have fans of lysergic acid punk reaching into the cupboard for their paisley shirts and Cuban heeled boots, when the Green Spiders pair with old school punks Moot and garage throwbacks The Jane Does at Marrickville Bowling Club on Friday, February 24.

The Green Spiders come from the DNA of the Lime Spiders, Adolphus and The Most – all staples of the Strawberry Hills-Sydney Trade Union Club circuit in Sydney in the early ‘80s. They play the songs of the Lime Spiders that Green Spiders members penned.

Lime Spiders members Ged Corben (guitar), Tony Bambach (bass) and Tom Corben (drums) are joined by Ripley Hood (Mushroom Planet) on vocals to deliver a potent parade of hard rock and ‘60s punk gems.

• lime spiders
• marrickville bowling club
• green spiders
• moot
• jane does

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R.I.P. Scotty Nash of Asteroid B-612

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By The Barman

The Barman

29 December 2022

Hits: 4723

_{Asteroid B-612 with Scotty Nash, second from the right.}

Founding Asteroid B-612 bass player Scott Nash has passed away after a protracted illness.

His partner Sarah posted the following on Facebook earlier today:

With no fuss and a little bit of pain relief, the one-and-only Scotty Nash took his final bow last night. He loved and was loved by so many and leaves a hole that no-one will ever fill. Evie, Sam and I could not be more proud of who he was and how he lived his life, particularly these past few very difficult months.  Rest in peace now Scotty Nash .  We will love you forever.

The Asteroids released four studio albums during their original lifespan – “Asteroid B-612” (1993), “Forced into a Corner” (1994), “Not Meant for this World” (October 1996) and “Readin' Between the Lines” (2000), before disbanding in 2004.

One of the best bands of the '90s (or any other decade) to emerge from Sydney's Northern Beaches, they recently partially reformed for shows in Spain but Nash was unable to make it. More recently, Scott played with Newcastle band Rangers of The Universe. 

• asteroid b612
• vale
• scotty nash

Get messed up with JJ and The Real Jerks

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 December 2022

Hits: 2425

Mess You Up – JJ and The Real Jerks (Heavy Medication Records)

The lines are so blurred these days that you can’t guess where most bands applying a defibrillator to rock and roll’s ailing heart come from. So-called scenes are fragmented and the means of production rest in many sets of hands, thanks to technology and the information democracy of the Internet.

Wind back the clock a couple of decades and JJ and The Real Jerks could be from snowed-in Sweden or inner-city Sydney rather than sprawling Los Angeles.

This 12-inch, eight-song EP is razor sharp, fun garage rock and roll in the style of The Hives crossed with Dead Boys. Big twin guitars and occasional sax punctuate the songs, which throw up plenty of hooks.  

• los angeles
• heavy medication records
• jj and the real jerks
• mess you up

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