The Johnnys aiming to put the sin back into St Kilda
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2306
New Johnny Casino single a taste of the album to come
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 2678
"Another Girl" is the latest Johnny Casino track, and has been released digitally today via Golden Robot Records. It is the first single from his February 2022 release "5x7 the Days of Wine and Cola". The Spain-based expatriate former member of Asteroid B612, The Egos, Easy Action and his own Johnny Casino and The Secrets wrote "Another Girl" as a moody acoustic piece -until it found its way into the recording studio on the Costa Blanca in Spain. Here, a fire had been lit underneath it, a couple of bottles of wine poured all over it and an inspired electric guitar burned into it by Johnny and his band. Stay tuned for news about the album.
Exalted blues noise rockers feedtime plan two sets in return to live shows
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2456
Hey Sydneysiders! After COVID did its best to sink it, the "extreme dream team" pairing of feedtime and Examplehead at Marrickville Bowling Club, originally scheduled for June, has been re-scheduled to January 22...and both bands are determined to make it a very special night.Examplehead were an inner-city staple in Sydney and existed from 1985-90. They lay dormant for 30 years before reforming in 2020, minus late Greg Garnder who passed away three years earlier.
Online tickets are here. If they're gone, join the Facebook event or mark the date in your calendar - and turn up promptly at 8pm.
The art and tragically unnecessary death of Martin Harris
- Details
- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 10441
How best to remember Melbourne graphic Martin Harris who left the world a week ago?
The Barman has asked a few of us to write about our Top Tens this year. Well, like most of us, I didn't go out much, and didn't listen to much either. However, one thing which has dominated this year is depression and its many variants.
What has this to do with rock and roll? Plenty. If you don;t agree, you can't have been listening to the greats, Ozzy Osbourne, Johnny Cash, New Order, Amy Winehouse...
See, I've always thought the impulse to create rawk is only a single manifestation of what I call 'the creative imperative'. This imperative is stronger in some than others, of course. But if you would take the imperative to success on a gigamax scale, you not only need luck, you need determination, hard work AND more luck.
Queen, for example, were so determined to succeed that before they were gigamax they rehearsed in their stage gear. They worked hard for their success. Ask any musician: songs don't just drop from trees, fully formed. Some folk are stupidly talented, but with most creatives, genius rarely spontaneously happens.
Anyone reading “Get in the Van” gets an idea of how determined Rollins has been to succeed. What do P.G. Wodehouse, W.E. Johns and Dick Francis have in common? They wrote at least a book a year (Johns sometimes churned out three or four per year). But not only did they each have a lot of luck, they all worked damned hard. (Alright, so PG had several flops and weathered two gigantic, very public (and bloody funny) scandals but even so).
East Coast Low's coming of age
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 4111
Seas on Fire – East Coast Low (Crankinhaus Records)
The promise of their first recordings (an album and a promotional EP) has been realised and “Seas On Fire” showsEast Coast Low has the requisite rock and roll cojones to take on all comers.
A five-piece with most of its membership drawn from the matter-of-fact city of Newcastle, a couple of hours north of Sydney, East Coast Low is a product of its home-town: Nothing is overly dressed up and most of the songs get straight to the point, with no fucking around.
This is a well-travelled band. Grizzled, if you like. High rotation on the national youth network doesn’t beckon (though we all know they don’t program anything with a hint of ageism about them.) The Low formed in 2015 with members playing in Newy bands like The Fools and No Reason. The influences are myriad, although the ‘70s punk lineage is strong.
Don't Let Me Down 'cos there's gold at the end of this Long and Winding Road
- Details
- By Bob Short
- Hits: 4124
Get Back Peter Jackson (dir)
Disney Plus
Disney plus. Shit. I'm still waiting for Disney Plus to cast on the television.
I was waiting for a mission but, when I got one, I'd never want another.
"Do you remember that film 'Let it Be'?"
The voice in the corner was passive. It was as if the answer didn't matter, only how I phrased my response.
"That hour-and-a-half piece of wank with the Beatles bitching at each other? They end up playing on the roof? Yeah. I've seen it."
Long-awaited and definitive Spencer P Jones bio released
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 4967
The long-rumoured and exhaustively researched biography of iconic Australian musician Spencer P Jones is out tomorrow.
Hard on the heels of the James McCann-compiled tribute double album, “All The Way With SPJ”, “Execution Days - The Life and Times of Spencer P Jones” is being published by Love Police and can be ordered here.
“Execution Days” was written by Melbournite Patrick Emery, who whose work has graced The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, Beat, The Brag, Time Off, X-Press, Mess and Noise, Faster/ Louder, “1001 Albums You Must Hear” and the I-94 Bar.
Patrick carried out 150 interviews with friends, relatives and bandmates of the late Spencer, as well as the man himself.
With a career spanning over 40 years, Spencer’s resumé is vast, deep and eclectic, ranging from the wild cowpunk of The Johnnys, to the garage swamp of Beasts of Bourbon to the rugged beauty of his solo albums, to cameos with Ian Rilen, Paul Kelly, Maurice Frawley, Rowland S. Howard, Renee Geyer, Mudhoney and Violent Femmes. He also toured Europe with Sonny Vincent’s Shotgun Rationale.
“Execution Days” traces Spencer’s life from his childhood in New Zealand to his evolution as a musician in Australia to his profound impact on those around him. Along the way there are stories of irreverence and excess, of frustration and heartache, of friends loved and lost.
A Swede deal for Sydney live music fans
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 8918
Like the escapees from lockdown prison that they are, Melbourne’s Swedish Magazines are setting a frenzied course for New South Wales now the gates are again open, and will land at Marrickville Bowling Club on Friday, November 26 for their only Sydney show, presented by the I-94 Bar.
The reformed early 2000s high-energy outfit will be packing a new best of collection, ”I Wish Life Could Be…”, on LP and CD.
And lending a hand as special guests are the re-animated Leadfinger (poised to release their own new record very soon) and the psychedelic Sabbath-meets-Dictators crunch of Jupiter 5, hauling their own vinyl and CD single. Tickets are on sale here.
ABBA isn't the only rockin' thing that's Swedish
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 3556
I Wish Life Could Be… - Swedish Magazines (Rubber Records)
Underground rock on Australia’s East Coast really needed a well-organised interstate exchange program in the 2000s.
Despite a smoothed-out Hume Highway between Melbourne and Sydney making long-haul road-trips safer and a flood of cheap airfares, the flow of bands between the two big smokes slowed, largely in part to Sydney’s declining number of live music venues.
After all, bands can’t do reciprocal deals to play in each other’s cities if one hometown has 20 venues and the other has four. If the balance had been more equitable and audiences less fragmented, it’s a fair bet that Melbourne’s Swedish Magazines would have household names across the nation in the mid-00s and not juist in Melbourne.
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The Living Eye
"In The Zone"
CD Launch
The Mick Medew and Ursula 4
+ Lovejoy Surf
It's Still A Secret, South Brisbane
- Nov 16 (2pm)
Tickets
Kim Salmon’s Smoked Samon
How Did They Ever Manage Tour
NOV
3 - Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle (Free Entry)
9 - Merri Creek Tavern, Melbourne - Tix
Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders
Victorian Tour
NOV
6 – PBS live to air
7 – Trash Cult, Bendigo, VIC
7 - Shedshaker Taproom, Castlemaine, VIC
8 – The Tote, Collingwood, VIC
9 – River Rocks, Barwon Club, Geelong
10 – St Kilda Bowls Club, St Kilda, VIC
11 – Last Chance Bar, Melbourne, VIC
Mucho Sonar
"Flight of The Bandito Tour"
NOV
8 - Hamilton Station Hotel - Newcastle
9 - Marrickville Bowlo - Sydney
23 - Link n Pin - Woy Woy
Hard-Ons' 40th Anniversary
Australian Tour Oct - Nov 2024
NOV
3 - Red Hill Hotel, Castlemaine, VIC
4 - Barwon Club, Geelong, VIC
7 - Amplifier, Perth, WA
8 - Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough, WA
9 - Froth & Fury, Adelaide, SA
Tickets
Los Chicos
Australian Tour 2024
NOV
3 - Red Hill Hotel, Chewton, VIC (arvo)
w/ Hard-Ons - tix
3 - St.Kilda Bowls Club, VIC (evening)
w/ Private Function*
4 - Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy, VIC
w/ Mach Pelican * - tix
8 - Marrickville Bowlo
w/ New Christs + Crankees * - tix
9 - River Rocks, Barwon Club,
Geelong - tix
10 - River Rocks Rehab, Barwon Club,
Geelong - tix
* plus Human Toys (FR)
Buzzocks Australian Tour
OCT
25 - Brisbane - The Triffid
26 - Adelaide - The Gov
27 - Fremantle - Metropolis
31 - Newcastle - King St Bandroom
NOV
1 - Sydney - Metro Theatre
2 - Melb - Northcote Theatre
3 - Lorne - Lorne Theatre
4 – Castlemaine - Theatre Royal
Tix
Mark Steiner & His Problems
featuring Pavel Cingl
Australian Tour
NOV
21 - George Lane, St Kilda, VIC*
+ Kim Volkman (solo)
23 - Taproom at Shedshaker, Castlemaine, VIC
29 – Cave Inn, Brisbane, QLD
+ Mark’s Paranormal Disneyland
+ Socket
DEC
1 – Wheatsheaf Hotel, Adelaide, SA
w/ special guest Romana Ashton
+ Brave Mistakes
2 – Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville, NSW
+ Simon & Graham of The Vandelles
4 – Brass Monkey, Cronulla. NSW
+ Simon & Graham of The Vandelles
6 – One Star Lounge & Gallery, Melbolurne, VIC
+ Rosie Westbrook
- 8 – The Tote, Collingwood, VIC*
+ Kim Volkman & The Whiskey Priests
+ JP Shilo
+ Julitha Ryan + Eden
Chimers Australian Tour
NOV
8 - Old Bar, Melbourne
w/ Bench Press + No Hoper
9 - River Rocks Festival, Barwon Club,
Geelong
10 - Poison City Records
in-store (afternoon)
20 - Freo Social, Fremantle
w/ The Saints ’73-’78
21 - Old Habits, Perth
w/ Spacerhead + Lounge Tourist
+ Ten Cent Tiger
23 - Princess Theatre, Brisbane
w/ The Saints ’73-’78
SOLD OUT
24 - Sonic Sherpa in-store (afternoon)
w/ Kellie Lloyd (solo)
24 - Princess Theatre, Brisbane
w/ The Saints ’73-’78
SOLD OUT
25 - Princess Theatre, Brisbane
w/ The Saints ’73-’78
29 - Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul
w/ The Saints ’73-’78
DEC
7 - Trocadero Room, Sydney
w/ Antenna + Cammy Cautious & the Wrestlers
+ The Sevilles
15 - The Tote, Melbourne
JAN
31 - La La La’s, Wollongong
+ special guests
“Hotter Than Donut Grease Tour”
Grand Pricks
+ Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes
+ The Tall Stories
NOV
1 - Link & Piin, Woy Woy
2 - Stag & Hunter, Newcastle
3 - The Junkyard, Maitland
9 - Golden Barley, Enmore
29 - Orana Hotel, Blacksmiths
JAN
21 - Tamworth Hotel, Tamworth
The Saints ‘73-‘78
NOV
13 - Adelaide Hindley St. Music Hall
+ Double Agents
15 - Castlemaine Theatre Royal (SOLD OUT)
+ Parsnip
16 - Melbourne Northcote Theatre (SOLD OUT)
+ The Double Agents
17 - Melbourne Northcote Theatre
+ Alien Nosejob
20 - Fremantle Freo Social
+ Chimers
22 - Sydney, Enmore Theatre
+ Kim Salmon & The Surrealists
23 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre (SOLD OUT)
+ Chimers
24 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre *NEW SHOW*
+ Chimers
25 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre *NEW SHOW*
+ Chimers
27 - Hobert, Odeon Theatre *NEW SHOW*
+ Liquid Nails
29 - Thirroul, Anitas Theatre *NEW SHOW*
30 - Byron Bay, The Green Room *NEW SHOW*
Tickets
“Pig Out On Punk #2”
I Hate People
+ The Owen Guns
+ Nunchukka Superfly
+ Flowers For Jayne
+ The Dark Clouds
+ The Pingers
Marrickville Bowlo, NSW
- Dec 14
The Stranglers
50 Years In Black
2025 Australasian Tour
MAR
NZ
13 - Powerstation, Auckland
15 - Meow Nui, Wellington
16 - Christchurch Town Hall, Christchurch
AUS
19 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney
20 - The Tivoli, Brisbane
22- Forum, Melbourne
23 - The Gov, Adelaide
25 - Astor Theatre, Perth
Tickets
Fresh Reviews
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Zoning in on quirkiness and classic songwriting
27 October 2024
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Last will and testament or an American ruse?
22 October 2024
-
Saddles aren't the only thing blazing on new Cowboys collection
28 September 2024
-
Light up your life with Little Murders
20 October 2024
-
The Prehistorics up the ante on "X-Ray Words"
27 September 2024