One man's Mantovani is another man's "Theme From M*A*S*H*" so I just want it known that Bob Short's review below is a tad harsh. "Just Want To Be Friends" isn't as good as "Four Flights Up" but it ain't a pile of steaming donkey turd either.
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- By The Barman
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A few people have a problem with Screamin' Stevie's brand of idiosyncratic garage-soul - and that's fine. You can't please all of the people all of the time and Stevie ain't no choirboy. But it's the fact that sometimes (vocally) this Brisbane veteran can't carry a melody to save his life that's at the heart of his artfulness. Putting this quirkiness to one side, most of "She Just Likes To Dance" is poppy garage prime-time.
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- By The Barman
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Brisbane institution Screamin' Stevie announces the opening title track of his fourth album in as many years with a trademark "Heeyyyy." There's a blues-rock vibe running through this album that'll hit the spot with old fans and pique the interest of the curious potential new ones.
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- By The Barman
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Psychobilly meets burlesque on this eight-song, 10" mini-LP from Danish duo Java Skull. It's a simple formula that exudes cool, thanks in no small part to the melodramatic vocals of Marco Burro. Mixing sparse keyboard and guitar arrangements and the swing of Uncle Jakob on drums, it's a satisfying combination.
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- By The Barman
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It's winter in Australia so it's time to launch a surf album. Not sure of the logic of that but "Underwater Casino" is not your average instro' surf effort.
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- By The Barman
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Canines chase cars and humans drive them, so I’m not sure where the name comes from for this second album for Dom Mariani’s instro/surf music offshoot. It is probably just a signal that they’re not taking it all too seriously. It’s doubtful the disc contains sounds with frequencies too high for all but animal ears, but it sure sounds damn fine when you’re behind the wheel.
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- By The Barman
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Star billing for Mr Mariani in the band name these days is no surprise. He's been leading this diverse and floating crew for years and they've never failed to deliver on a promise of broadening the limited palette of traditional surf music. Putting Dom's moniker on the cover won't hurt sales and most of the playing is his own work.
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Been on a Humble Pie trip for a bit around the I-94 Bar and it struck me that the less pastoral and more excessive they became, the better those guys got. This Mississippi-via-Memphis trio Dirty Streets is coming from the same place and despite their album's misnomer of a title (there's no sign of rolling fields and English countryside here) they purvey a fine line in swaggering rock.
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Like what we all think of as ‘the '50s’, ‘the '60s’, as far as I can see, lasted from about 1963 to 1969. Unlike the preceeding decade, the breadth and scope of the musical landslide was so utterly extraordinary that bands are still borrowing and leaching off the period today.
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- By The Barman and Robert Brokenmouth
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More Articles …
- Showdown 2: The '90s - The Nomads (White Jazz)
- Solna - The Nomads (Devil's Jukebox/Career)
- A Defeat Of Echoes - Donovan's Brain (Career Records)
- Fires Which Burnt Brightly – Donovan’s Brain (Career Records)
- Turned Up Later - Donovan's Brain (Career)
- Cookin' Up A Party/Can Your Monkey Do The Wurst? - King Salami & The Cumberland 3 (Dirty Water/Off The Hip)
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Artifacts and reviews from days gone by.
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