- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 15603
Emmy Etie photo
The tour is almost over and the verdicts are in following a re-tooling of the line-up with the controversial omission of guitarist Chris Masuak. We present divergent views of the sold-out Australian run of Radio Birdman shows.
Go here to read an appraisal of the Adelaide gig by Robert Brokenmouth and here to read Edwin Garland's read-out on the band's two Melbourne gigs. You can leave comments on both reviews. Photos are by Emmy Etie and Kyleigh Pitcher.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 14281
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…
- Details
- By Andrew Molloy
- Hits: 12921
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.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 105
Sonic Maze – Flippin’ Kick Outs (self-released)
The splintering of what used to be called mass media has put a universe of sounds at everybody’s fingertips and they only need to pay a pittance - if anything at all. The onus really is on you and me to step carefully. lest we tread in dog shit.
It really is a maze out there – as the title of the second album from Sydney’s Flippin’ Kick Outs attests.
- Details
- By Edwin Garland
- Hits: 636
1978 - Young Charlatans (Eminent Vinyl)
If you go on YouTube you can see a remarkable clip of two 18-year-old kids, Rowland S Howard and Ollie Olsen, being interviewed by the ABC. As the teenagers walk down St Kilda Road in Melbourne, they are jeered at for looking like aliens with art school aesthetics.
It was 1978 and a vastly different time in Australia. In the beige, conservative world ruled by the Tories and the Country Party. Every second house had porcelain ducks on its wall and a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth the 2nd. The Robert Menzies vision of Australia ruled and the fashion mindset embraced Dennis Lillee’s porn star moustache and safari suits.
- Details
- By Robert Brokenmouth
- Hits: 688
Family Affair - Gaian Soul (Charlie Marshall)
Because I've been in a tunnel several years long it's been a while since I reviewed a CD. I won't say I'm out of the tunnel because I'm not. As most music writers know, LP or CD reviews always take up a lot of time (the book I'm currently beavering away at doesn't get much of a chance when reviews come tapping at the door. Poor little thing).
However. I was asked if I would do a CD review to get The Barman out of a hole and I rashly said yes, so this will probably be the last for a while, so there.
- Details
- By Bob Short
- Hits: 853
Not Like Everybody Else – The Damned (earMusic)
Growing up in Sydney in the ‘70s, betrothed to the rise of punk music, you and most of your fellow travellers understood that this music had roots. It did not appear out of vacuum. It was a folk art built upon a tradition.
While folk art maybe sneered upon by some, it creates a sense of community and shared history. And punk rock is counter culture. It celebrates the outsider by counter-intuitively placing the outsider within the shared myth of the outsider.
Humans love our smoke and mirrors.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 368
Live At The ANZA Club - Rich Hope (Planned Obsolescence Recording & Novelty Inc)
There was a time when you could walk into a designated rock and roll club in most sizeable North American cities and try your luck, knowing that you might just stumble on a band that would make it the best night of your month.
It may still be the case in musical hotbeds like Austin and Nashville. No idea because it’s been such a loooong time between long-haul trans-Pacific flights. But that's the scenario that Canadian rocker Rich Hope tried to replicate on “Live At The ANZA Club”.
- Details
- By The Barman
- Hits: 379
Kicks and Diabolik Licks – Brian James (Easy Action)
As his last will and testament, “Kicks and Diabolik Licks” is Brian James as most fans of The Damned have never heard him.
It’s rock and roll, mostly, stripped right back in places with a dollop of jazz, and most of it is a few steps removed from the punk rock foundation that he helped build and the dark storm that was The Lords of The New Church.
Brian James passed in March 2025 after protracted health issues. Not before he’d re-joined Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian and Rat Scabies for Damned shows and a one-off with a reconstituted Lords with Michael Monroe subbing for the long departed Stiv Bators.
Subcategories
Behind the fridge
Artifacts and reviews from days gone by.
Send us stuff to review
PO Box 334
Oatley NSW
2223 Australia
Get in touch: barman@i94bar.com
The Living Eye
Michael Plater
Sydney Tour
MAR
19 - Sapphos Books, Cafe, and Bar, Glebe (7pm)
+ Trappist Afterland + Geoff Towner
20 - Butcher's Brew Bar, Dulwich Hill
+ Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits
21 - Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
w/ Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes (single launch)
+ Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits
22 – Moshpit, St Peters (4pm)
+ bleedingintoradio + Matt Malone & The Holy Spirits
I-94 Bar presents
"Lost In Marrickvile"
The On & Ons + Jupiter 5
+ The Frequent Flyers
185 Bar, Marrickville
- Mar 20
I-94 Bar presents
Sacred Cowboys
"In The Manifesto" Album Launches
+ ZZG
Smiths Alternative, Canberra, ACT
- Apr 17
Tickets
+ Belle Phoenix
+ Peter Ross & The Sapphire
Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
- Apr 18
Tickets
On The Loose Presents
Guitar Wolf Australian Tour
MAR
14 - Perth, Seasonal Brewing Co.
15 - Fremantle, The Buffalo Club
all WA shows with Aborted Tortoise
18 - Gold Coast, Vinnie's Dive Bar
w/ supports TBC
19 - Nambour, The Ramp
w/ supports TBC
20 - Brisbane, Season Three
w/ Future Shocks & Evil Dick Industries
21 - Sydney, Factory Fusebox
w/ supports TBC
22 - Wollongong, La La La's
w/ Itchy & the Nits
25 - Bendigo, Trash Cult
w/ supports TBC
26 - Castlemaine, Bridge Hotel
w/ The Freedom Wave
27 - Melbourne, The Tote
w/ Alien Nosejob & Cujo
28 - Frankston, Singing Bird
w/ Split System & DJ Centipede & The Worms
29 - Balnarring, Social Club
w/ Cry Cyclops
Tickets
“Surreal Science”
Music of the Scientists
&
Kim Salmon
and The Surrealists
APR
10 – The Corner, Melbourne
Tickets
11 – Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
Tickets
18 – Rosemount Hotel, Perth, WA
Tickets
Fresh Reviews
-
Let Flippin' Kick Outs steer you through the Sonic Maze
15 March 2026
-
Young Charlatans' legacy laid bare in a stunning time capsule
03 March 2026
-
Harem Scarem founder Charlie Marshall (and Louie's) Family Affair
01 March 2026
-
They're still Not Like Everybody Else
28 February 2026
-
It's Alive! Canadian rocker Rich Hope and his red hot band hit the mark
25 February 2026