After 40 years, X's Steve Lucas wants to be At Home With You again, Sydney

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2025

Hits: 517

Flashback to 1984: Seminal Sydney band X finally made it back into the studio to make a follow-up to their classic debut album "X-Aspirations". The end result - featuring the line-up above of Ian Rilen (RIP), Cathy Green and Steve Lucas - became another classic Australian album, "At Home With You", and tThis year marks the 40th anniversary of this iconic release.

Steve Lucas will be bringing the music of X to Sydney for one show only on August 23 to celebrate this event and launch a limited vinyl edition of this groundbreaking release. This also coincides with the 45th anniversary of X-Aspirations, said to be one of the most important recordings in Australia's rmusic industry!

Special guests for this night of nights are Tantichrist and To Be Human and tickets are here.

• steve lucas
• petersham bowling club
• at home with you

Brisbane's 4ZZZ chalks up 50 with another Joint Effort

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By The Barman

The Barman

11 June 2025

Hits: 447

This year marks the 50th birthday of Brisbane’s community radio station 4ZZZ and a series of huge musical events will be held over October and November.

The 4ZZZ Joint Effort concerts played an integral part of the station’sstory in the 70’s and 80’s, providing live music fans in Brisbane with the best value for money events in town and  bringing together local and interstate original artists. Traditionally held at the University of Queensland campus refectory, these events set the tone for the healthy live music scene Brisbane enjoys today.

Original joint effort promoter, David Darling, is curating a special 4ZZZ joint effort event at the Hamilton Hotel on Saturday, 8 November. Tickets are on sale here and here’s the line-up:

Dave Warner’s from the Suburbs
A participant in  in the original 4ZZZ UQ concert events in the 70’s and 80’s sharing joint effort bills with the likes of Mental as Anything and Razar, Perth’s suburban boy Dave Warner and will be performing with the original “Mugs Game”-era band, From the Suburbs. 

X
One of the most influential bands to emerge from the late 1970s Sydney underground rock/punk explosion, the music of X has well and truly stood the test of time. Frontman Steve Lucas has put on many memorable shows in Brisbane and with his band will be performing the seminal 1985 album “At Home with You” plus other classics from the back catalogue.     

The Survivors
Formed in 1977 in the first wave of Brisbane punk bands, The Survivors played a part in many of the original 4ZZZ joint effort events before disbanding in late 78’

He original trio of Jim Dickson (Radio Birdman and the New Christs), Greg Williamson and Bruce Anthon will stage a very special reunion to help wish 4ZZZ a happy 50th.

• x
• lindy morrison
• 4zzz
• joint effort
• dave warner's from the suburbs
• the survivors
• the black assassins
• pineapples from the dawn of time

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The Tommys keep it primal on new 45

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 June 2025

Hits: 585

Window Pane b/w Born To Follow - The Tommmys (Fry Up Records)

With a storied membership of guitarist-vocalist Ollie Laurie (The Exotics), bassist Jonathan Lickliter (Died Pretty) and drummer Rob Lastdrager (T Bones), this red vinyl 45 from Aussie trio The Tommys promised to deliver something out of the box on this 45. And they do.

The Tommys play surf-influenced garage rock that's so out of kilter with anything you'd hear tin mainstream radio that it could only flourish in the darker recesses of the divergent Melbourne rock scene. Open chord twang and spiralling leads pull against alternately surging or shuffling rhythms to create a dark undercurrent.

People went nuts for this stuff in Europe in the pre-grunge 1980s - and probably still would, given the right distribution.

• the tommys
• window pane
• fry up records
• born to follow

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Going over the top with Australia's last Real Rock and Roll band

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By The Barman

The Barman

08 June 2025

Hits: 1722

The New Christs
The On and Ons
Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
Friday, 6 June 2025

It’s fitting, in many ways, that the New Christs assaulted the beaches of Marrickville in Sydney’s Inner-Western Delta tonight on the 81^st anniversary of D-Day. Your correspondent on the frontline can report that no ammunition was spared in a fiery, two-set bracket show that was their second-last before an August tour of the UK and Europe.

The New Christs pulled a full-house on a cold Sydney Friday night and put on an intense performance that peeled the Copperart panels from the beloved Bowlo’s ceiling.

• new christs
• the on and ons
• marrickville bowling club
• marrickville bowlo

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Dave Favours and his Roadside Ashes score with their The Eastern Dark homage

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By The Barman

The Barman

07 June 2025

Hits: 392

 Walking b/w Waterfront Blues - Dave Favours and The Roadside Ashes (Stanley Records)

The new single from ubiquitous Sydney country rocker Dave Favours and his ace band is proof that you can take the boy out of Oz underground rock but you can’t take Oz underground rock out of the boy. It’s a 45 in the traditional of the double A side.

One  is a cover of The Eastern Dark and that’s overly faithful to the original, with Dave Hatt’s tasty slide the iceing. It's a show stopper, live. The other is a mid-tempo Favour-penned rocker that’s both an ode to lost love and The Eastern Dark’s old label (and retail home base), Sydney’s late and great Waterfront Records. Don’t we all wish we could go back there... 

Mixing a landmark and reflections on a relationship is a neat juxtaposition and The Roadside Ashes propel this story well, with a rock solid engine room, a swelling background vocal and sympathetic accompaniment. Michael Carpenter’s production (via the band leader’s home studio) is uncomplicated and punchy, while the cover art reflects both the song they've covered and the band members’ formative influences. Long Live the New (Country) Flesh!

1/2

Buy it 

• dave favours
• stanley records
• roadside ashes
• walking
• waterfront blues

The Johnnys and friends make the rock and roll road trip worth it

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By Ronald Brown

Ronald Brown

04 June 2025

Hits: 1687

The Johnnys
"Live in Lyon CD Launch"
Penny Ikinger’s Marbles
The Vibrajets
The Tote, Collingwood, VIC
Saturday, 31 May 2025

Hello I-94 Barflies! Well, I dragged my skinny white arse from The Farmhouse down to Melbourne on the bloody bus (500 kilometres) last Saturday morning for The Johnnys’ release of their CD. “Live In Lyon 1990”,  at their gig at the Tote Hotel.

And let me tell you that it was worth every fucking painful kilometre.

• the tote
• the johnnys
• live in lyon
• the vibrajets
• penny ikinger's marbles

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The Owen Guns shoot to thrill with fucking idiots in their sights

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By Ed Garland

Ed Garland

01 June 2025

Hits: 2815

Songs About Fucking Idiots - The Owen Guns (Outtaspace Presents/Booker Bastard Records)

Those in the know about The Owen Guns’ piss-take attitude and wild performances are have caused “Songs About Fucking Idiots to almost sell out its first pressing in a week.  It’s a signal that the drawbridge has been pulled up and the posts are manned in society’s ivory towers as The Owen Guns are poised to seize the palace.

“Songs About Fucking Idiots” is sitting at number-three on the Australian Independent Records Chart, along with safer (and nicer) acts like Pete Murray and Kate Miller-Heidke.  It’s a massive achievement and reflects on The Owen Guns’ loyal following.

The Owen Guns have been around since 2020, led by Sean St Leone (aka Sean The Bastard),  a raconteur and smart-witted cynic who somehow crosses Uncle Fester from “The Addams Family“ with Dave Vanian from The Damned and ex-Dead Kennedy Jello Biafra.  

• aussie
• the owen guns
• sean st leone
• songs about fucking idiots

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The Dogs deliver renewed bite on new 45

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By The Barman

The Barman

31 May 2025

Hits: 1590

Inside Out b/w Nothin’ To Do In Detroit – The Dogs (I-94 Recordings)

MC5 fans who were born in the Detroit suburbs in 1968, punk power trio The Dogs have been calling Los Angeles home for decades after smelling the roses in New York City and the UK. Their modest body of recorded work (two studio albums, a compilation and assorted singles) is formidable despite its skinniness and shows that while you can take The Dogs out of the Motor City, you really can’t do the reverse.

This 45 on I-94 Recordings (not our own I-94 Bar imprint) pairs The Dogs’ take on “Nothin’ To Do In Detroit”, a 1978 cut by late, great and lost Detroit outfit The Ramrods, with their own “Inside Out" on the flip, and is the 17^th in a series of similarly configured 45s.

“Inside Out” is a hard-driving slice of muscular riffing that lifts the roof. Loren Molinaire attacks the vocal and his guitarwork with equal relish and bassist Mary Kay-Dodson’s backing work kicks the chorus into gear before the song slides into before some bluesy lead guitar laced with sustain. The B side is a simple but effective ode to The Dogs’ and The Ramrods' birthplace that’s a tad repetitive - but maybe that’s the point.



Buy it

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• the dogs
• i-94 recordings
• the ramrods
• inside out

Henri Herbert heads to Australia to light some "Fire"

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By The Barman

The Barman

27 May 2025

Hits: 2346

He’s currently on the road in Japan and it’s Australia’s turn in June when boogie woogie and blues pianist extraordinaire Henri Herbert returns for live shows.

He's best known in Australian rock and roll circles for playing with The Jim Jones Revue, on their 2011 shows but on the global stage, the French-born and UK-raised Herbert is recognised for chalking up more than 100 million views on YouTube.

Herbert is now based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is constantly in demand in the USA. He'll mark his Australian shows with a formidable video single, a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic “Fire”, which you can view after the MORE link

• jim jones revue
• australian tour
• henri herbert
• ezra lee

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