There’s a news story that’s been doing the rounds of mainstream media about a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder who was given a brain implant that turned him into a Johnny Cash fan.

If you want to delve further, the journal “Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience” (yeah, I read every issue) describes the case of “Mr B”, a 58-year-old Dutch man who had suffered severe OCD from the age of 13. The insertion of a brain pacemaker apparently turned him into a follower of The Man In Black.

If Thee Oh Sees are a version of The Replacements for the Two-Thousand-And-Teens - as in critical darlings overlooked by the mainstream, including me in both instances - where does that leave Montreal’s PYPY? Playing this sort of fucked-up mix of psych, electronica and punk is not going you pigeonholed anywhere fast.

This is the closest thing you'll see to a full-blown reunion of seminal Perth band The Victims.

For one night only, The Television Addicts will perform songs by The Victims with origional members Dave Flick (nee Faulkner), James Baker and Ray Ahn (Hard-Ons, Nunchukka Superfly) at Perth's Rosemont Hotel on August 9.

Tickets will be available from June 25 from www.oztix.com.au

Fifteen years ago, US-based rabid rock and roll fans in Washington DC launched a mission to issue a tribute album to the songs of Radio Birdman played by what were then contemporary bands.

Reaction to the "Flattery" tribute was so positive that Jake Starr and Dave Champion were forced to package it as three standalone CDs through their Fandango Records and Nomad Records imprints.

Now well into the 40th anniversary year of Radio Birdman's first gig, Spanish label Ghost Highway has picked up the idea and will re-issue the cream as "(The Best Of) Flattery", a vinyl double LP, funded through crowd-sourced finance. The LPs will be accompanied by a 7" single.

This Saturday night show in an old and recently re-opened Sydney venue was the last stop before Europe for the New Christs who were due to fly out two days later. It’s an odd atmosphere.

Tonight’s the first opportunity for friends and acquaintances of the late Christian Houllemare, longtime bass-player with the band, to gather and share their sorrow.

It’s less than a week since his passing and the mood is understandably muted.

Here’s an album that starts relatively sedately, grows a brass section and descends into off-kilter garage rock hell. If that sounds like a dissing, think again.

The Revellions are from Dublin in Ireland and have made a nine-song album of two distinct halves. The first recalls, at times, Boston institution The Lyres with its strong reliance on surging organ and wailing vocals, while the second goes to that noisy and mind-altered place where the Black Lips and The Oh-Sees reside. Soulful versus Trippy. Both bases covered. 

He writes songs in his sleep and records them before breakfast so assembling an album while on a two-year hiatus, back in his birthplace Australia, is no big deal for Simon Chainsaw, the Brazil-based power-punk road warrior. “Don’t Kill Rock ’n’ Roll” finds him in familiar surroundings, matching pop melodies with razor riffs in much the same way his Vanilla Chainsaws did 20-plus years ago.

The Prehistorics are from Sydney, Australia - a much different one to the musical ghost-town of today. They’re firmly ensconced in the Sydney of 1985 when there was a band in a pub on every second street corner, blasting out high-energy rock and roll. This is their third album and it’s on a French label.