You have to hand it to the guys at Melbourne label Buttercup Records - they do vinyl re-issues right. Their latest effort, paying homage to seminal Melbourne 1977 punks Babeez, might be their most audacious yet.

An LP that encompasses all the band’s known studio recordings is one thing - producing it in limited editions with tailored covers is another.

_{Emmy Etie photo.}

It will be an all-supergroup affair when the eminently well-credentialed Joeys Coop (pictured) launch their debut album in Sydney on April 8 with help from an all-star supporting cast.

The On and Ons (featuring ex-Hoodoo Gurus, Screaming Tribesmen, Kings of the Sun and Stems members) and Cub Calloway and The Revolutionaries (featuring ex-New Christs, Saints and Died Pretty members) will join them at The Factory Floor in Marrickville.

“Service Station Flowers” is the forthcoming album on CD on the Citadel label.

Joeys Coop was formed by Mark Roxburgh (ex-Decline of the Reptiles) who co-wrote the album with bandmate and Died Pretty guitarist Brett Myers. It will be the first record with Myers credits in almost 10 years and the band includes past and present members of The Barbarellas, The Visitors, Deniz Tek Group and Loose Pills. You can score tickets here. 

It’s not every day you see bands from Australian underground rock’s halcyon days (that’d be the ‘80s) rubbing shoulders with mainstream chart-toppers but that’s what’s looming.

“The Golden Days Of Aussie Pub Rock” is the first volume of a series through major label Festival/Warner that boasts four (count ‘em) CDs of Down Under backyard barbecue listening fodder.

Cool lesser lights like Sydney’s suburban pop-rockers The Lonely Hearts (“The Spell”), the unstoppable X (“Dream Baby”), The Numbers (“The Modern Song”), The Hitmen (“I Don’t Mind”), Huxton Creepers (“I Will Persuade You”) and the Screaming Tribesmen (“A Date With a Vampyre”) sit alongside heavyweights like Jimmy Barnes, Mental As Anything, The Angels, Cold Chisel and (gulp) Boom Crash Opera.

But wait, there's more. Boys Next Door, Sunnyboys, The Elks, The Boys and XL Capris fly the flag for independent bands. Stevie Wright, Finch, Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs and Angy Anderson (no, not “Suddenly”, thank fuck) represent the old guard. 

The 91-song package includes comprehensive liner notes, with a track-by-track commentary and essay by key ‘70s Australian RAM magazine founding editor Anthony O’Grady. It’s out on April 1.

Here’s the new video from Archie and The Bunkers, the "teen sensations" from Cleveland, Ohio, whose debut album is out now on Dirty Water Records. Read our review here and follow the link at the bottom to buy it. 

Spain's premier garage party band Los Chicos is heading back to Australia for their fourth tour.

Dates are mostly in Victoria with the boutique Boogie festival the centrepiece but Sydney punters are lucky to have scored a show at Marrickville Bowling Club where they'll be supported by a specially-reformed 300 StClaire. 

If you haven't experienced the frenetic mobile party that is Los Chicos then you need to get your sorry arse to a show.

Think of them as something like The Fleshtones on sangria.

Los Chicos Australian Tour
MARCH
Friday 18 - Marrickville Bowls Club, NSW
Saturday 19 - The Tote, Collingwood, vic
Sunday 20 - MEMO. St. Kilda, VIC
Wednesday 23 - Sooki Lounge, Belgrave, VIC
Thursday 24 - Baha, Rye, VIC
Good Friday 25 - Eastern Hotel, Ballarat, VIC
Saturday 26 - Boogie! Festival, VIC
Sunday 27 - HOLA!, Barwon Club, Geelong, VIC

This short film made the finals of Tropfest and was screened under the stars in Sydney last night. Hopefully, the soundtrack rocked some hipsters out of their stupor and made a few old music industry people squirm. Tropfest is the world's largest festival of short films and "Into The Maelstrom"  was produced by John Meredith. 

A full-length documentary by another film-maker is in the works. Stay tuned for more details.