moot

Cultural Treason - Moot (Riot Records)

The sleepy resort town of Forster on the New South Wales Mid Coast might be an unlikely place to find a punk band, but never forget that Jello Biafra grew up as Stanley Boucher in nondescript Boulder, Colorado. Moot have a little Jello in the musical DNA on their debut EP - plus a whole lot more.

It’s said mainstream Americans don’t “get” sarcasm. Aussies do and Moot is dripping in the stuff. “Fake News” is a blast of bile with lots of dynamics, directed at you-know-who. "I Hate Hippies" channels a show at The Grand Hotel in Sydney in 1980 with its nod to Johnny Dole and the Scabs and is a punked-up attack on hipsters. Simple and simply effective. 

Loathing, Self And Others – Moot (self released)

They’re from Mid Coast New South Wales (that's be north of Newcastle) and this seven-song CD is as old school protopunk as you’re going to find in those parts - or almost anywhere else these days. Moot don’t tell it like it is as much as speak it as it should be. In other words, their language is straight-up, rocking and simple.

Record Collector Scum call this sound KBD (“Killed By Death”) after the ‘80s bootleg series of the same name that documented the burgeoning American punk scene. Most of it was uncompromising, politically charged and energetic, but with a sense of musicality. Moot has it nailed but they pack their punch in a variety of stylistic gloves and add a decent whack of Aussie sarcasm for good measure.

A Crowd Pleasing Extravaganza – Moot (Outtaspace Records)

It's a point hat has been made here before: Mootcomes 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.

Short Fuse 3 - Various Artists (Wreckless Enterprises) 

Fifteen songs from as many bands in 11 minutes. A punk rock barrage. Sounds like fun - and it is. 

As you can tell from the name, this is the third in the series of concise and imperfectly formed, all-Australian compilation EPs from Wollongong label Wreckless Enterprises and it doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t in its headlong rush to the finish line: It’s a punk rock speed dating party and you wouldn’t want to be left on the shelf, would you?

They were Australian rock and roll’s undisputed Kings of Cowpunk in the 1980s and broke house records around the country. Four decades later, The Johnnys are out to show they’ve lost none of their edge when they rock Manly and Elizabeth Bay in New South Wales this month, presented by The I-94 Bar.

The Johnnys will play The Old Boat Shed at Manly with locals DISGRACELand on Friday, February 16 and Pacific Palms Recreation Club with Mid North Coast rockers Mooton Saturday, February 17.  Tickets for Manly are here and Pacific Palms Rekky here.

It’s a bill to have fans of lysergic acid punk reaching into the cupboard for their paisley shirts and Cuban heeled boots, when the Green Spiders pair with old school punks Moot and garage throwbacks The Jane Does at Marrickville Bowling Club on Friday, February 24.

The Green Spiders come from the DNA of the Lime Spiders, Adolphus and The Most – all staples of the Strawberry Hills-Sydney Trade Union Club circuit in Sydney in the early ‘80s. They play the songs of the Lime Spiders that Green Spiders members penned.

Lime Spiders members Ged Corben (guitar), Tony Bambach (bass) and Tom Corben (drums) are joined by Ripley Hood (Mushroom Planet) on vocals to deliver a potent parade of hard rock and ‘60s punk gems.