Where did he come from? Tim Rogers joins the Hard-Ons

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By The Barman

The Barman

04 August 2021

Hits: 5620

Australia most enduring musical contradictions the Hard-Ons have pulled another surprise out of the hat by recruiting You Am I’s Tim Rogers as frontman.

The announcement was quietly made on Facebook via a change to their page’s` listed line-ups on Tuesday. A photo of the reconfigured Hard-Ons was released on social media overnight, along with word that a single with their new singer would appear digitally on August 13.

The band parted ways with founding drummer-turned-frontman Keish de Silva in March this year after historical allegations of sexual impropriety.   

You Am I released their 11^th studio album, “The Lives Of Others”, in May.  

Online reaction to recruitment of Rogers has ranged from incredulous to delighted. Rogers' recruitment has beewn a closely-guarded secret for some months.  

There’s no word on live shows yet although lockdowns in Australia are making touring problematic for any act with dispersed members.  

• hard-ons
• you am i
• tim rogers

Raunch and roll video from Flowers for Jayne to premiere here

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 July 2021

Hits: 3227

We're living in dangerous and uncertain times. One thing you can be certain about is Sydney band Flowers For Jayne's new single “Dangerous Woman” packs a punch. Former Lime Spiders members Jayne Murphy and Phil Hall teamed with renowned Australian drummer Jess Ciampa to form one of Sydney's more formidable power trios.

Their video for the song makes its premiere via The I-94 Bar at 3.45pm (AEST) on August 3. You can view it here, or register for the Facebook event and receive a reminder when it goes live. "Dangerous Woman" will be available as a download or stream across all platforms.

Lifted from their soon to be released Flower for Jayne album, “Dangerous Woman” could be described as the new generation of power anthems. Mixed by ARIA award winning engineer Anton Hagop, the fuse is already lit before the band ignites into explosive sounds reminiscent of the 70's British rock invasion.Catchy pop melodies driven by a raw and raunchy soundscape, deliver a message that “Dangerous Woman” will be a favourite for listeners across generations.

• youtube
• flowers for jayne
• dangerous woman

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All revved up: The Datsuns storm back

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By Matt Ryan

Matt Ryan

29 July 2021

Hits: 4534

For me, the best band to come out of the so-called garage revival of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s was New Zealand’s The Datsuns. Mainly because while they had a garage sound, they actually managed to be their own thing and not sound like some lame retro rip-off band.

While it’s been a long time coming, their latest release “Eye to Eye” is the band’s first record since 2016 and finds them in full flight. It’s also possibly their best release yet. Frontman and guitarist RUDOLF "DOLF" de BORST spoke to MATT RYAN about all things Datsuns, as well as his membewrship of Nicke Andersson's  bands the Hellacopters and Imperial State Electric.

• hellacopters
• new zealand
• imperial state electric
• the datsuns
• eye to eye
• dolf de borst

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Turning lemons into lemonade

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 July 2021

Hits: 2694

Thwarted by COVID in his attempt to launch his new song “Skin and Bones” live, locked-down MD Horne in Sydney gathered a few friends to stage an online musical party to mark the tune's released, on the day of his birthday.

I-94 Bar patrons will recognise some familiar faces, among them Johnny Casino (dialing in from Spain), Kylie and Llouis of Thee Cha Cha Chas, Al Creed (Aberration, ex-New Christs, Hell Crab City), Craig Jackson (ex-Brother Brick) and Carrie Phillis (ex-Booby Traps.) Cop the digital single here.

• md horne's last call
• skin and bones
• last call

A record that fondles your vitals

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

28 July 2021

Hits: 4439

Negativity - The Scientists (In the Red)

Holy crap. First Scientists long-player since 1987.

You know, I'm old enough to remember when I first heard powerpop. And I also remember the first time I heard the Scientists' first single, which I thought was rather bloody wonderful. I was lucky enough to always hear Scientists' records before purchase and every record they put out, no exceptions, had to be in my collection.

We were often startled, because you never quite knew what the hell was going on in this band. It was like they had these ... bees in their bonnets, and took delight in shoving them into people's faces, much to their alarm. Once they'd got used to the bees, of course, the band found (or invented) wasps.

• kim salmon
• leanne cowie
• leanne chock
• in the red
• tony thewlis
• the scientists
• boris sujdovic
• negativity

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Oh Lord! Hugo Race dishes up some ambience

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

27 July 2021

Hits: 3788

Dishee! - Hugo Race (Helixed Recordings & Films)

"Dishee!" is Hugo Race's umpteenth studio LP  - I think the veteran guitarist has stopped counting (if he ever did). Race came up to considerable notoriety in The Wreckery in the 1980s in Melbourne (and Sydney).

On the Allmusic website, Mark Deming describes The Wreckery  as "One of the more important bands on the Australian post-punk scene of the 1980s, Melbourne's The Wreckery played dark, atmospheric music informed by the blues and the same sort of chemical and cultural obsessions as their contemporaries Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds". 

There's a lot more to Hugo Race; he's been involved in many recording projects; Dirt Music and The True Spirit spring to mind. Also, by dint of relentless touring and recording all over the world, he has built up a considerable overseas following. He also cannot keep himself still, creatively speaking; just recently he's played sizable gigs with The True Spirit, and a Doors' "LA Woman" tribute show. And there's a new one on the horizon...

• hugo race
• true spirit
• the wreckery
• dishee!

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A bat symbol in the Melbourne night

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

27 July 2021

Hits: 3282

Spooky Bootleg Tapes Volume 2 – Various Artists (Spooky Records)

Bats get a bad rap. They’re part of nature and humans – some of the stupider members of the human race, at least – feel an idiotic desire to tame nature. Nature will always win; unlike humans, nature plays the long game.

There’s a local politician whose electorate covers the poor, marginalised and disenfranchised inner-eastern Melbourne suburbs where the local population can barely rub two four-wheel drives, a private school education and an annual ski trip together. He doesn’t like bats, probably since he had an involuntary bowel movement after reading “Dracula” at school.

He wants the bats out of the trees in Kew. Dirty, filthy, disease-ridden pests, he reckons. Plus, they might have conspired to unleash COVID on the world, working in cahoots with devious foreign governments, copies of Mao’s “Little Red Book” stashed under their wings…

• spooky
• movie star junkies
• sun god replica
• brian-henry-hooper
• spooky records
• bbq haque
• spooky bootleg
• crocodile boogie

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Brian's loving legacy

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

24 July 2021

Hits: 4103

I Won't Bend For You - Brian Henry Hooper (Bang! Records/Incubator)

First, it's a damn good LP, the kind you put on repeat all day when it lands in the letterbox. Second, it's so damn moving you'll find yourself tearing up in decades to come. Third, there are songs here which you'll put on at parties and have people scampering up, eyes wide, 'Who THE FUCK is this? It's brilliant!'

This has been a difficult last few years. The stupidvirus has not, of course, helped, but as far as I'm concerned it's just a gentle reminder of what awaits us all, one way or another. One dilemma which confronts some of us is - how best to remember the creative? A novelist, well; in George Macdonald Fraser's case, because he'd left the manuscript in a very prominent place, his family arranged for his very first book to be published. In a musician's case - what have they left for us?

• bang! records
• beasts of bourbon
• kim salmon
• surrealists
• spooky records
• spencer p jones
• ninevah hooper
• ii wont bend for you
• incubator records

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Bored! lost tracks pre-empt re-issue

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By The Barman

The Barman

24 July 2021

Hits: 3457

She’s Back b/w The Other Side – Bored! (Fantastic Mess Records)

Discerning people like their diamonds ijn the rough. These are cast-off gems from Bored!’s “Feed The Dog” album sessions, released on a short run 45 by Fantastic Mess in the run to their re-issue of the 1991 record on vinyl. It’s the three-piece version of the band, led by the late Dave Thomas.

“She’s Back” sits back on the groove and shows off Thomas’s singular guitar tone. The vocal is buried deep in the mix but audible enough to give you the idea. Keep it sleazy! “The Other Side” is an obvious nod to Dead Boys with more steamroller guitar and a tsunami-like feel from the ending room propelling things along.

Issued in clear and pink vinyl (the latter is already sold out) with the usual Fantastic Mess trimmings of inserts, sticker and postcard, it won’t be around long. Glenno Smith’s stark artwork suits it to a ‘T’.

Buy it 

• bored!
• the other side
• fantastic mess
• geetroit
• she's back