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 The Barman
- Hits: 9768
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 Andrew Molloy
- Hits: 8557
Bright Lights & Dead Beats – DISGRACELand (self released)
It’s hard to translate a live band to tape/hard drive, but DISGRACE Land have given it a damned good shot on their sophomore CD “Bright Lights & Dead Beats”. In doing so, they’ve also wound the clock back to Sydney circa 1986 when the city resonated with the sounds of the garage and the swamp in equally large measures.
“Bright Lights…” is a major sonic advance on “A Beginners Guide to DISGRACEland” and that’s largely down to engineer, mixer and masterer John Cobbin, but the band gave him the songs and performances to make it fly.
It’s a no-frills recording but the energy is palpable on songs like the surging “Sweet Salvation”, brooding opener “Border Town” and the urgent and lean “Better Call Saul”. Granted, you don’t get frontman Carl Musker jumping on top of your stereo to preach at you in person but listening to the CD is the next best thing.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 481
Rosewood – Kevin K and The Bowery Kats (Vicious Kitten)
Around these parts, a new Kevin K album feels just like an old pair of slippers. The sound is lived in, equal parts Johnny Thunders, Stones and the New York Dolls, and the lyrical themes (usually loss, drugs and swimming against the tide) sit just right. Familiarity does not breed contempt.
Some folks say Kevin K is in the thrall of Thunders and there’s an awful lot of JT in his guitar squall and vocal drawl. That being the case, admiration stops just short of mimicry. The more enlightened think he’s giving a nod to (as opposed to being on the nod with) an enigmatic influence.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 462
Jails, Death & Institutions – Van Ruin (Crankinhaus Records)
This five-song CD EP is the new project for Sydneysider Phil Van Rooyen, also of Chickenstones and late of Sonic Garage, Circus Chaplins and Panadolls, and for those with short attention spans, in two words it’s: “compellingly great”.
Phil’s on vocals and guitar and is joined by producer Al Creed (New Christs, Panadolls and a million others) on bass and additional guitar, and Stu Wilson (Aberration, New Christs, Lime Spiders, Chris Masuak’s Dog Soldier) on drums. If those credentials strike a chord with you, you’ll take to “Jails, Death & Institutions” like a long-term inmate to a remand hearing.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 499
Interloper - Ed Clayton-Jones (Golden Robot Records)
The past is a mystic portal. You know? Maybe not so much if you're under 24 years; but, if you survive long enough, you draw on the past more than the present, simply because 1) there's a lot more of it, 2) there's a lot you missed the first time, 3) you're finally beginning to put the pieces of your youth together and 4) your thirties and forties will just have to remain unexamined.
Not all of us ponder our beginnings, but we should, because it's how we got here. And some of that getting here was pure luck as much as anything. Anyone who thinks that they were predestined or that their life was written by god ... sorry, chum, you think you're way more important than you actually are. Remember that last roast lamb? Could've grown up and had a happy life, but guess what..?
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 677
Break Out - PocketWatch (self-released)
Pocketwatch burst onto the Sydney scene about two years ago. With the two youngest members just turning 16, they put on infectious live shows and had attitude. With a range of influences (Power-pop, Britpop and Grunge), these kids were no shoe gazers. The band’s rise has been meteoric on the street-level live circuit and they are now packing out the likes of Marrickville Bowlo.
It's less than year since their debut release, the “It’s Time” EP. It captured their live sound, pointing to a raw punk ethos served with a side dish of meat and potatoes, no frills production. And it was the right record at the time.
Young bands need to spread their wings and find an empathetic producer who can bring to the table their decades of skills and create a shared vision. Enter Wayne Connolly.
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- By Edwin Garland
- Hits: 1361
Demolition – Rob Griffiths (Swerve Records)
The Girl Belongs To Yesterday Rob Griffiths (digital single through Swerve Records)
As long as I've been a music fan, I've regularly become obsessed with particular songs. At age 10, it was “Devil Gate Drive” by Suzie Quatro. It was “Department of Youth” by Alice Cooper at 12. It would be “London Calling” by The Clash and “Another Girl, Another Planet” by The Only Ones in my late teens.
I'd buy a single and replay a song again and again. The tune would stay my head for weeks and I would wear out that seven- inch single until it was a crackling mess.
I came across “The Girl Belongs To Yesterday“ by Rob Griffiths a few weeks ago on Facebook and like all the classic three-minute singles, I replayed it again and again. Just like that kid bringing home a seven-inch vinyl by Suzi Quatro or Alice Cooper. Except this one’s a download.
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- By Edwyn Garland
- Hits: 1076
Brando Rising – Brando Rising (self-released)
Hello I-94 Barflies. Well folks, The Farmhouse has been rocking this last few days with Melbourne band Brando Rising’s self-titled album. It’s bloody good, folks, and some mighty fine musicians make up this band.
I’m talking about a lineage spanning Hitmen, Lime Spiders and Glen and The Peanut Butter Men, to name a few. Kelly Hewson is on guitar, Tony “The Kid” Robertson plays bass, Steve Whan is on the drums and it’s Ripley Hood on vocals and charisma.
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- By Ronald Brown
- Hits: 1989
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