Indie Sounds from Newy and The Hunter – Various Artists (Vi-Nil Records)
He’s never been seen in anything other than a T-shirt and one of his own label’s trucker caps, but it’s easy to picture Vi-Nil Records label boss Mark Fraser as the Pied Piper of the New South Wales Central Coast and Newcastle music scenes.
The analogy has to stick like baby shit to a blanket after the release of his second collection in the Indie Sounds series. Fraser is batting 2-0.
Picking a bunch of local bands and presenting two songs each on CD and vinyl is some brave/crazy idea in these days of diminishing economic returns.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1496
Brut - Gentle Ben and his Shimmering Hands (Beast Records/Spooky Records)
You dug Six Foot Hick? Of course you did. Gentle Ben and his Sensitive Side? Sure.
But it's 2024. And “Brut'” is here.
The Shimmering Hands are Jhindu Pedro-Lawrie on drums, Dan Baebler on bass, and Tony Giacca on guitars. Ben Corbett handles the vocals...
The Bandcamp blurb explains; “The themes of BRUT range from a fraught, taught exploration of the broken bodies, hearts and minds of our capitalist hellscape (‘Spices’) to wailing rock and roll eulogies (‘De Bliksem’, ‘No Encore’), a drifting death-country ode to colonialism (‘Five Stars’) to bloody kitchen sink drama (‘Tactical Empathy’).”
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1343
The Strike-Outs – The Strike-Outs (Evil Tone Records)
The debut LP by Sydney duo The Strike-Outs is the duck’s nuts, the bees’ knees and all the other animal physiology that lies between. Twelve songs in 24 minutes, so brevity is at its core. But so are dynamics. a feral energy and a musicality that divorces it from standard two-chord thrash punk.
The Strike-Outs-are brothers Simon Vines on guitar and vocals and Adam Vines on drums. They used to be Thee Evil Twin until they shed a bassist. No bottom end? No problem. Simon’s tone and a kick drum high in the mix compensate just fine.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1276
The Beautiful Black – The Beautiful Black (self released)
Before we start, perhaps I should explain. This article is not just a review, but a homage to Ross and Caz. As the Barman politely explains to me, “Uh, Robert. ...Who ...? Context?”
Right, then, context.
First, like so many other large Australian cities, Adelaide has had a strong and diverse music scene for decades. There was a distinct hand-over of the baton, too. You could see it in the composition of the audience which rolled out to see XTC on their first tour compared to their second the following year: the first tour, it was mostly older folks (I was 15, so everyone was older than me, but I'm talking 30+ here).
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- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 1412
Happy Hours Air Travel Club – O.C. Rippers (Ruined Records)
From what can be worked out their online footprint, OC Rippers are your typical punk rock band circa the 2020s: Feet firmly planted in their home turf (New Jersey), they’re not out to win friends or influence people and aren’t embarking on any world tours any day soon.
They’re not fussed being pigeon-holed because their influences are as varied as the quality of cocktails in a beer barn. They’re also realistic about their chances of hitting the heights because they’re aged (at a guess) in their 40s and not named Taylor.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 3501
Tales From Bad Drip – Bad Drip (Outtspace Records)
From out of Sydney’s Inner-West comes Bad Drip and they’re quite the thing if you’re partial to heavy blues jams. “Tales From Bad Drip” is only four songs but the vinyl-only EP packs plenty of punch.
The Inner-West Delta. It’s where Surry Hills’ survivors settled when gentrification pushed the inner-city rents up and the dole dried up. Some of them even got mortgages and have spawned kids. It’s a funny place, full of contradictions and probably ripe for urban renewal itself, but it’s also where most of Sydney’s music now lives.
A lot of those Inner-West bands sound like fey indie rock or hip slacker drivel with no songs. If the cliche is reality, Bad Drip is refreshingly atypical. A quartet that’s only been around two years, this is their first physical release. Of course, it’s on vinyl.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1807
A Crowd Pleasing Extravaganza – Moot (Outtaspace Records)
It's a point hat has been made here before: Moot comes from the New South Wales Mid North Coast region and you’d struggle to think of a place with a more tenuous claim to being a spawning ground for punk rock.
Neat farms sit on rich alluvial land, squeezed between eucalyptus-lined mountain ridges and coastal towns that cling steadfastly to beaches or river inlets. The populace seems past or approaching retirement age. It’s a region devoid of (visible) dole queues or massive social dislocation – at least on the surface.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 1764
Premonition K – Kilbey Kennedy (Foghorn Records)
I came not to praise Prog Rock but to bury it. You know, throw on a “Pink Floyd” T-shirt with a handwritten “I Hate” appended to the front of the band name, just like it’s the King’s Road in London, circa 1976.
The claws were out and the poison pen primed with ink. It was time to snarl about pomposity and pretentiousness, declare a fatwah on all hippies and kick out some serious wordplay jams . This War Against The Jive is relentless, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer truly do suck dogs’ balls.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2320
Crawling Back To You – Stu & The Connections (Crankinhaus Records)
There’s a lot of ground covered on this mini-album (digital only) from Stu Wilson and his all-star collective The Connections. The drummer with Lime Spiders, New Christs, The Crisps, Loose Pills, Leadfinger, Aberration and Chris Masuak & Dog Soldier, Stu contributes lead vocals, keyboards harmonica, drums and percussion..
Looking at his c.v., you might have certain expectations. Leave your preconceptions at the door. This is a cohesive collection of seven songs that cajole and captivate rather than assault.
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- By The Barman
- Hits: 2054
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Behind the fridge
Artifacts and reviews from days gone by.
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