- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 9355
The cover - taken by Lydia Lunch - shows the ruins of an ancient desert city. Could be Jericho. Whether Jericho is in the Mid-East or the West of the USA makes little difference. We’re dealing with perennial humanity in a perilous place with a mythological backdrop. But, you know, the Israelis and the Palestinians are still killing each other, and as I say, it’s a big thing on a big, operatic stage with no solution and no apparent beginning, never mind end…
… and there are plenty of abandoned towns in Australia… it doesn’t take much, just a bit of intolerance and a bit of ignorance, and idealism for a hopeless, not very sensible cause…
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- By Andrew Molloy
- Hits: 8159
If one of those great, booze-soaked rock and roll weekends like Garage Shock or the Las Vegas Shakedown were still a going concern (correct me if I'm wrong and one of them still is ) the Bloody Hollies would have been one of those bands that came in unheralded, blew everyone away and sold a ton at the merch table. And anyone who picked this album up would have been plenty satisfied 'cos it's 30 minutes of fire-breathin' punk fury.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1009
Black Hole - Mark Steiner and his Problems (Rabben Records)
Mark Steiner, expat New Yorker (think Piker Ryan's Folly), Oslosian and globe-trotter, has released his third LP. Being a busy chap, it's been a few years between road-trips Down Under.
COVID won't have helped. Remember COVID when large numbers of otherwise normal folks suddenly demonstrated that they couldn't tell the difference between a virus and a bug, came up with all manner of preposterous and completely impossible conspiracy theories (including the one that the deep state is ruled by giant lizard aliens), and generally gave the impression that education for the masses is clearly a waste of time, money and effort?
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1268
All Bad All The Time – Mad Brother Ward and The Abrasives (Ruined Records)
You have to feel sorry for Punk Rock. Nobody can work out when it was born, so you can’t celebrate its birthday. It’s obviously of advanced age, so it seems a bit woolly around the edges. Everybody claioms to know what it is, yet nobody can agree on a definition.
You’ll know that Mad Brother Ward is Punk Rock as soon as the stylus hits the groove on “All Bad All The Time” and that opening sustained guitar note plunges into Downstroke Heaven. There’s no mistaking the anger in Mad Brother Ward’s delivery, either, as he launches into lyrics about self-loathing and this fucked up world.
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- By Robert Brokenmouth & Ronald Brown
- Hits: 2086
5th From The Sun – Jupiter 5 (I-94 Bar Records)
Well. A few familiar faces here. One wearing a wrestler's mask (perhaps he's from Adelaide).
Superb cover design constructed by the drummer, James McQuade. He's taken the May 1953 cover of science fiction magazine “If” by Kenneth S. Fagg, which features the Arthur C. Clarke story, ‘Jupiter 5'’ Fagg only lasted a couple of years doing sci fi covers for “If”, but each one is utterly classic.
Doesn't matter where it comes from, really. Superb choice and delivery: the cover gets you in, straight in. You should know what you're in for. Science friction pre-50’s fockin' rockin' garage with space weevil sandwiches from 1960s vintage cookery books?
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2995
By The Seat Of Our Pants - Pilots Of Baalbek (Outtaspace)
Next time somebody tells you that rock and roll is dead, know this: They’re either projecting their own sad existence or they’re looking for it in all the wrong places. The best Rock Action almost always exists on the fringes, never attracting mainstream support because most people don’t know what they like, they only like what they know.
Dig, and you shall find.
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- By Edwin Garland
- Hits: 1394
In The Keep - Flowers for Jayne (self released)
Flowers for Jayne have been floating around for the last for a couple of years with their melodic power-pop blended with James Williamson-style, blazing guitar shredding.
The band is led by ex-Lime Spider, Jayne Murphy, whose background from Sydney’s western suburbs carried with it a staple diet of KISS, Cheap Trick and the cooler sounds of Australian indie- noisy guitar greatness.
Jayne has one part of the pedigree of a great rock ‘n’ roller – she’s an outsider with her own personal tribulations behind her. She has always relied on music to keep going.
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- By Ron Brown & The Barman
- Hits: 4418
Tonight We Ride: Official Bootleg Live in Sydney November 13 1991 – Hitmen DTK with special guest Deniz Tek (Vicious Kitten)
Hello I-94 barflies! Ain’t life grand? A new official bootleg recording of the magnificent Hitmen DTK, with special guest Deniz Tek, ripping through a few choice cuts from the Birdman catalogue, How good is that?
But first, the back story.
Hitmen DTK were fresh back from recording the underrated album “Moronic Inferno” in the USA. They hit the road to promote said record in Sydney, Australia, for a handful of gigs.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2153
Crush On You – Smalltown Tigers (Area Pirata)
You like guitars, all-girl bands and anthems? Smalltown Tigers are The Donnas without major hype or The Runaways with songs. That’s 99 percent of what you need to know, right there. What’s not to like about the debut album by this Italian rock trio?
Italian bands? I’ve heard some shitty ones. Likes lot of Europe, rock and roll struggles to retain a grip on audiences in Italy, and the cookie cutter approach abounds, not to mention some uninspired DIY production. Many Italian bands don’t and can’t rock.
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