Back in the ‘90s, Darren Smallman was immersed in the fertile Geelong-Melbourne punk rock scene in Australia as a player, label head and manager. These days, the ex-member of Toad, Warped, Thee Vinyl Creatures, The Wells Collective and The Sound Platform lives in the UK, working in the charity arts sector and producing his own music under the moniker Dez Dare.

Dez Dare and Melt Citizen (El Paso, USA) have unleashed a DIY fuzz EP , "Spl;itz", that they promise will “melt your brains and hearts”. It’s available through Bandcamp with a crowdsourcing campaign underway to get it out on vinyl.

In the pair’s words: “Hidden away in spare rooms and makeshift studios while in very different pockets of the earthly domain, there were two who worshipped at the altar of guitar pedals and heavily discounted recording plugins. This split EP digs deep into the cacophonous divide between reality and the two countries entrenched in denial, grasping to find a way out of the long grass. Back into the light.”

Better late than never, Melbourne’s the Casanovas will get back to doing what they do best – rock ’n’’rolling under lights, on a stage, in front of an audience – when they launch their much-acclaimed fourth album “Reptillian Overlord” at Richmond’s Corner Hotel on March 6.

Released back in August 2020, Reptilian Overlord was the Casanovas’ first album in five years and arguably the best-reviewed album of their 20 year career.

Produced by iconic Oz Rock engineer/producer Mark Optiz (AC/DC, Angels, Chisel, Divinyls), and featuring singles “Hollywood Riot” (which was appropriately picked up by legendary LA DJ Rodney Bingenheimer) and “Lost and Lonely Dreams”, it attracted plenty of attention and thoroughly deserved a live launch. Our Man in Dimboola Ron Brown's review is here.

Danny Kroha, founding member of highly-influential Detroit minimal garage rock trio The Gories, has today released his second album of acoustic folk-blues entitled “Detroit Blues” via Third Man Records, and has premiered a performance video of the title track.

Kroha will be performing songs from Detroit Blues and more on a Bandcamp Live performance slated for February 20 at 11am AEDT (February 19 at 6pm CT in USA). Tickets are priced at $10. Find more details here.

Kroha spent the late '80s and early '90s playing alongside Mick Collins and Peggy O'Neill in seminal Detroit garage-blues combo the Gories. The Gories, who were championed and produced by Alex Chilton and who released hugely influential recordsjack whiteon labels like Crypt and In The Red, were the prime influence on the subsequent blues-influenced garage rock scene in Detroit, out of which came Jack White and the White Stripes. 

One of our favourite Aussie rock and roll cartoonists, Rick Chesshire, is a man of many talents - as this filmclip for "Right On" by Melbourne three-piece The Dive Bombs shows. The Dive Bombs are a new-ish band whose members have a solid pedigree and their releases so far have all been digital and are on Bandcamp. Check them out on Facebook and hit up Rick here for your cartooning, artwork and filmclip needs. 

Featuring tracks from Molting Vultures, Datura4, The Stooges, The Dry Retch, Peter Black, Mick Medew,  Johnny Casino, Smalltown Tigers, The Bot Bots, David Johansen, Paul Collins’ Beat and Sunnyboys.