A deckfull of Black diamonds

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 February 2021

Hits: 3405

If This Is The Hand I’m Dealt – Peter Black (Cool Bananas)
I’m Gonna Cheat As Much As I Can - Peter Black (Cool Bananas)

At first blush it’s D-U-M-B-everyone’s-accusing-me for an artist to release his sixth and seventh albums simultaneously. Flooding the market breaks a fundamental rule in the mythical music industry marketing manual about (a.) controlling supply to build demand and (b.) maximising the impact of “product”.

But Peter Black is the guy who, in 2016, set himself the challenge of recording a year’s worth of music and releasing one track a day, and you know that convention is for squares.

• hard-ons
• peter black
• blackie
• cool bananas

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Detroiter Danny takes it back to blues basics

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 February 2021

Hits: 3205

Danny Kroha, founding member of highly-influential Detroit minimal garage rock trio The Gories, has today released his second album of acoustic folk-blues entitled “Detroit Blues” via Third Man Records, and has premiered a performance video of the title track.

Kroha will be performing songs from Detroit Blues and more on a Bandcamp Live performance slated for February 20 at 11am AEDT (February 19 at 6pm CT in USA). Tickets are priced at $10. Find more details here.

Kroha spent the late '80s and early '90s playing alongside Mick Collins and Peggy O'Neill in seminal Detroit garage-blues combo the Gories. The Gories, who were championed and produced by Alex Chilton and who released hugely influential recordsjack whiteon labels like Crypt and In The Red, were the prime influence on the subsequent blues-influenced garage rock scene in Detroit, out of which came Jack White and the White Stripes. 

• gories
• mick collins
• third man records
• ben blackwell
• jack white
• danny kroha
• dirttbombs
• white stripes

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Covering all the bases with Ash Naylor

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By Keith Claringbold

Keith Claringbold

31 January 2021

Hits: 6144

_{Matthew, Ash and Wally are Even. Emma-Jane Johnson photo.}

Ask any Australian fan of hooky powerpop who they rate and the answer will almost inevitably include Even, the Melbourne institution that’s been a fixture on the Oz scene since forming in 1994. Fronted by  singer-songwriter-guitarist, Ashley Naylor, with Matthew Cotter on drums and Wally Kempton (aka Wally Meanie) on bass and backing vocals, they have just released their eighth album, “Down The Shops”, and it's reviewed here.

“Down The Shops” is a beautifully presented, vinyl collection of covers Even has released down the years. Ever since working up a rocking version of Badfinger’s “No Matter What” in their early mid-‘90s days playing the pubs around Fitzroy and St Kilda,  Even have usually had a cover or two on the go. And they weren’t adverse to working up a load of them; they did "Even Jukebox" performances every year at Melbourne’s Cherry Bar.

• blondie
• meanies
• even
• ash naylor
• beatles
• wally kempton
• wally meanie
• down the shops
• matthew cotter
• cheersquad records

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Go shopping and get Even

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By Keith Claringbold

Keith Claringbold

31 January 2021

Hits: 4466

Down The Shops – Even (Cheersquad Records and Tapes)

Even’s newest release, “Down The Shops” is a collection of covers recorded and released between 1996 and 2019.

Many appeared on Even‘s CD and vinyl singles and others are better known from tribute albums. The songs are a mixture of studio recordings and live performances.

While the selection of songs points to obvious influences- Kinks, Beatles, Yardbirds, Master’s Apprentices - it also encompasses less obvious sources such as the MC5 and the Sex Pistols.

• beat-man
• kinks
• eleven
• sunnyboys
• down the shops
• cheersquad records
• hoodoo guus
• master's apprentices

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Live album is a fitting testament to Les Thugs

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By The Barman

The Barman

26 January 2021

Hits: 3603

Live Paris 1999 – Les Thugs (Nineteen Something)

The first overseas signing for soon-to-be famous label Sub Pop, championed by Jello Biafra and Greg Shaw, and one of the few French bands to tour relentlessly around the USA, Les Thugs deserved to be more than a blip on the world’s music radar. 

You could go broke collecting the back catalogue of Les Thugs. It’s all out of print and the rarest of it fetches biggish money on eBay. The band lasted from 1983-99 and bounced around on various labels. This album is their 10^th and  documents a show on their farewell tour of their homeland.

The sound of Les Thugs – named for the 12^th Century Indian brotherhood of the ThuggeeThuggee who used to kill the rich for their money, not your standard bovver boys - is a few steps removed from their punk rock beginnings when they were formed, DIY-style, by brothers Eric and Christophe Sourice. It’s dense and intense, two guitars with enveloping harmonics and textured bass-lines.

• french
• buzzcocks
• nineteen something
• les thugs
• dead kennedys
• live paris 1999

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Stick a fork in it, I'm done

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By Patrick Emery

Patrick Emery

23 January 2021

Hits: 3551

BBQ Haque - BBQ Haque (Spooky Records)

There’s a term we’ve been debating at home recently: Disassociative. Apparently it describes a state of existence where consciousness is disassociated from physical and ordinary psychological presence.

Some drugs are disassociatives; not sure what the others are (associatives?). According to a friend, if you have a series of late nights, coupled with a day job, you can become disassociated. I thought that was just being over tired, but never let critical assessment get in the way of a specious pseudo-medical term.

I’d describe Melbourne instrumental-psych-garage band BBQ Haque as transcendental; maybe they’re disassociative. Either way, you can get lost in BBQ Haque. But you’re not really lost, you’re just on a different plane. It’s a plane with a dusty spaghetti western edge ("Chilangos de los Chios’" and mesmerising beats and psychedelic chants. You’re dragged in, wide-eyed, devoted to the cause, if only you knew what it all meant.

• melbourne
• spooky records
• bbq haque
• krautrock

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Sonny Vincent teams with Pentagram, ex-Stooges member for new album

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By The Barman

The Barman

23 January 2021

Hits: 3497

• stooges
• testors
• new order
• sonny vincent
• the black sea
• pentagram
• dawnrider
• svart records
• the limit
• jimmy recca

Your Gray matter knows it makes sense

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By Bob Short

Bob Short

17 January 2021

Hits: 5799

Long term denizens of this scurvy establishment will need no introduction to the names Captain Sensible (nee Ray Burns) and Paul Gray.  If there was such a thing as punk rock royalty (and I’m against it on general principle), these guys would at least be Grand Dukes or Princes or some such.   

For those of you who are slumming it, Captain Sensible is the more fluorescent face of The Damned.  His beret and toilet mat jumper has besmirched the covers of a good many picture covers of hit singles, including a surprise run as a solo star. 

Paul Gray came to the world’s attention with fellow graduates of the class of ’76 Eddie and the HotRods.  Paul has also had three runs as bass player in the Damned and the kind of resume that would have you blushing with jealousy. He played on Johnny Thunders’ “So Alone” so don’t you go comparing resumes.  He’s Paul Gray and you’re not. 

• bob short
• damaged goods
• the damned
• paul gray
• capain sensible
• sensible gray cells
• martin parrot
• get back into the world

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Chesshire's new Dive Bombs clip is Right On

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By The Barman

The Barman

16 January 2021

Hits: 2756

One of our favourite Aussie rock and roll cartoonists, Rick Chesshire, is a man of many talents - as this filmclip for "Right On" by Melbourne three-piece The Dive Bombs shows. The Dive Bombs are a new-ish band whose members have a solid pedigree and their releases so far have all been digital and are on Bandcamp. Check them out on Facebook and hit up Rick here for your cartooning, artwork and filmclip needs. 

• rick chesshire
• the dive bombs