The Owen Guns are mouthing off again

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By The Barman

The Barman

13 April 2025

Hits: 305

The loveable (or hateable) knuckleheads, The Owen Guns, will release their new single "Me and My Big Mouth" across all streaming platforms on April 17.  You'll find the link to the premiere at 0900 (AEST) on the same day below, after the fold,

It's the second single by the bnand based in Wollongong, New South Wales, from their forthcoming album "Songs About Fucking Idiots". The long player (with no apologies to Big Black) will be released on May 22 (on vinyl, CD, and streaming) through Outtaspace Presents and Booker/Bastard Records. 

Says singer Sean The Bastard about “Me And My Big Mouth”: “It's a song about speaking out, getting into trouble because of it, and being unwilling/unable to change”.

Backed by a pummelling drum track and the slashing guitar and basswork you've come to expect from this cheeky four-piece, it also features the sterling triangle playing of Jay Whalley (Frenzal Rhomb).

• the owen guns
• outtaspace records
• me and my big mouth
• songs about fucking idiots

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This Is Real? Lame Sunnyboys tribute act spreads fake news about Jeremy Oxley's passing

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By The Barman

The Barman

12 April 2025

Hits: 3078

The award for 2025’s Lowest Act so far goes to a lame tribute band from Queensland that somehow managed to “kill” the lead singer of the iconic Australian band from which it profits.

Sunnyboys Shakin’ has been playing shows in South-East Queensland since late last year and  today posted a fake Facebook obituary to Sunnyboys frontman Jeremy Oxley, claining he had passed away two days earlier. 

The real band’s mouthpiece, Sunnyboys Fan Club, was quick to dispel the fake news within two hours of it going online. Images of Jeremy Oxley posted to Facebook indeed showed he is very much alive and well and still a Happy Man.

The fake news drew a sharp retort from Jeremy's wife Mary Oxley-Griffiths who posted a cxomment: "You pricks! Jeremy is alive and well!"

Sunnyboys have disassociated themselves from Sunnyboys Shakin’ and a quick listen to performances posted online reveals why.

Concerns about the way the tribute act and some venues have billed the fake band have angered fans of the real thing. We look forward to the retraction and explanation.

• sunnyboys
• jeremy oxley
• sunnyboys shakin
• fake news

An Old Romantic triumphs in Adelaide

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

12 April 2025

Hits: 944

Soft Cell supported by Marc Almond
The Gov, Adelaide
Friday 11 April 2025
Words & Photos: Robert Brokenmouth

This will be a brief review - I got other writing to do. But you need to know. If for any reason you've hesitated about buying a ticket, I can only repeat what I said about seeing the Sex Pistols and Frank Carter:

JUST GO.

They play Enmore Theatre in Sydney on Sunday, Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on Tuesday, and the Palais in Melbourne on Thursday.

• australian tour
• 2025
• marc almond
• soft cell

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Asteroid B-612 re-launch with a single, 25 years on

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 April 2025

Hits: 617

From The I Didn't See That Coming Department: After a 25-year hiatus, legendary Australia’s Asteroid B-612 are making a return with their brand new single, 'Park Bench Gods', out April 25 via Golden Robot Records.

The track is available for pre-save on all major streaming platforms right here..

Lifted from their forthcoming album “Roads, Stars”, “Park Bench Gods” is a raucous, full-throttle return to form that captures the essence of what made Asteroid B-612 an underground cult favourite.

Recorded in both Australia and Spain throughout 2024, the single is pure, unfiltered rock ‘n’ roll. It features the blistering guitar work of band founder, guitarist and songwriter Johnny Casino, alongside the unmistakable raw and soulful vocals of original frontman Grant McIver( from the band’s first three albums).

Long-time drummer Ben Fox (a member since 1993) brings his signature locomotive groove, rounding out a rhythm section bolstered by new members, guitarist Xabi Garre (Señor No, Roy Loney, Cheetah Chrome) and bassist Juancho Lopez (Paul Collins, Peralta, Kurt Baker Combo).

• johnny casino
• asteroid b612
• golden robot
• park bench gods

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The Stems are back with a cool new single, "Deep Freeze" and live dates

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 April 2025

Hits: 326

Fresh from last year’s sold-out 40th anniversary 2024 tour of Australia and Europe, and following on from single “Falling from the Sky”, The Stems have released a new sseven-inch.

“Deep Freeze” arrives in the lead up to their much-anticipated East Coast Tour and festival appearance at The Gum Ball festival in New South Wales.  It’s the second single from the band’s forthcoming album and is a classic freakbeat-R&B stomper. Yiou can hear it here. 

“Deep Freeze” is on Cheersquad Records and Tapes on all streaming platforms and on limited edition 7" vinyl in translucent blue (100 copies), translucent teal (100 copies), and black. Buy it here.

The Stems
East Coast Australian Tour
*with special guests
Rinehearts
APR
23 – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC*
24 – Crowbar Sydney, NSW*
25 – Gum Ball Festival, Hunter Valley, NSW
26 – Old Museum, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets

• dom mariani
• the stems
• australian tour
• east coast
• deep freeze

Sydney's old soldiers salute unstoppable Frank and the sensational Sex Pistols

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By The Barman

The Barman

09 April 2025

Hits: 1585

Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Quick summation: They rocked. They were a massive ball of fun. The New Guy was his own man; Frank Carter doesn’t pretend to be anything he’s not. The band behind him is still three-quarters of the Sex Pistols - and monstrously good.

Statement of the obvious: The crowd was old. Sure, there was a sprinkling of curious young millennials who’d been browsing their parents’ record collections, but mostly it was codgers bordering on, or of, pensionable age.  I haven’t this many senior citizens in one place since Oatley RSL had a disability scooter rally on the concrete apron outside the entrance, where the old dears listen to piped music as the clock counts down to the poker machine room’s 10am opening.

• sex pistols
• glen matlock
• steve jones
• paul cook
• australian tour
• 2025
• frank carter
• hordern pavilion

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Hats off to the Sex Pistols - and especially Frank Carter

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

07 April 2025

Hits: 2102

_{Carolyn Fenech photo.}

Sex Pistols with Frank Carter
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide

First and most important: skip whatever preconceptions you may have.

JUST GO.

People will be talking about this tour for decades and believe me, you really don't want to be telling folks how this band were loads better at the 100 Club as they change your colostomy bag in your fucking retirement village.

The squeakers of "sacrilege"  have had their say on the interwebs, and now it's time for Frank Carter's name (and back catalogue) to be on everyone's minds.

• sex pistols
• glen matlock
• john lydon
• steve jones
• sid vicious
• johnny rotten
• paul cook
• frank carter

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Pinning noise to the Masthead and going for Broke

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By The Barman

The Barman

06 April 2025

Hits: 561

This Masthead – Infinity Broke (Love As Fiction Records)

If Jamie Hutchings’ better-known band of the ‘90s, Bluebottle Kiss, was a child of grunge (at least in the ear of the major label to whjich it signed), Infinity Broke owes its parentage to something less well defined and commodified: Dissonance.

“This Masthead” is the band’s fourth album and now on Perth label Love As Fiction, usually a home for ‘90s re-issues. The quartet is loosely built on a drums-guitar base that brings a stack of influences to bear. The PR blurb says: “Hypnotic avant rock with teeth” and (for once) it’s accurate.  

Formed in 2013 by Hutchings (vocals and guitar) after Bluebottle Kiss wound down (for the time being, as it turned out), the rest of the band is his brother Scott Hutchings (drums and guitar), Tyrone Stevens (drums and percussion) and Reuben Wills (bass). “This Masthead” grew out of jamming, and the loose spontaneity at its heart is immediately apparent. Its nine songs balance noise rock with faint melodies. It’s not straight up rock. It is addictive. Take the plunge.

• infinity broke
• bluebottle kiss
• jamie hutchings
• this masthead
• love as fiction

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The Mezcaltones message: If the hat fits, wear it

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By The Barman

The Barman

03 April 2025

Hits: 714

Big Hat, No Cattle – The Mezcaltones (self released)

Sydney’s Mezcaltones make Tex Mex music for people who’ve never been south of the Albury-Wodonga border. It twangs and pumps in all the right places with surf overtones baked in and a sprinkling of spice over the top.

These four guys and two gals (one of the latter on percussion and Flamenco dancing) in black and matching cowboy hats have been around the block more than once. They’re from the Northern Beaches - a place like the Shire in its insularity, only without functioning public transport -  but conversely, they’ve fronted more Aussie country-blues festivals than Barnaby Joyce on a Resch’s bender, sorry, study tour.  

• big hat no cattle
• the mezcaltones

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