Come On In – The On and Ons (Jem Recordings)

It’s only January but “Come On In” is already a contender for 2025's Record of The Year.

Granted, it’s not a “new” album as such - more a compilation of the band’s best songs from The On and Ons’ five previous releases with three new tracks appended - but don’t let that stop you. Odds-on that it’s going to smoke any other rocking pop you’ll hear in 2025.

“Come On In” is the American debut release for the Sydney band on Jem, an imprint established on 1970 and since revived by one of its founders, Marty Scott. It’s also home to the likes of power-pop king Paul Collins, The Grip Weeds and Richard Barone.

Live at The Marrickville Bowl. - John Kennedy  and the New Originals (I-94 Bar Records)

Lately, I have been thinking about the Australian movie “Death in Brunswick”, a bona fide classic and a brilliant black comedy. It features a kitchen from hell in a decrepit nightclub, populated by the dodgiest of characters. The smell of rat poison and mouse shit, and there’s a cockroach invasion that resembles an army removing food scraps. 

Now, I once worked one night as a kitchen hand at the notorious Kardomah Café (aka "The Dark Coma") when I was living in Kings Cross. The kitchen was not as horrifying as the one as in the movie, but I did feel like the Sam Neil character, channeling Dostoyevsky as I chopped onions, prepared soggy fries and tried to cut over-ripe tomatoes to sit forlornly atop nondescript cheeseburgers. 

Under Northern Lights – Little Murders (Off the Hip)

Nine studio albums in and Little Murders might have this rock-pop caper nailed. Again.

“Under Northern Lights” showcases what songwriter, band leader and sole constant member Rob Griffiths and his current, and most enduring, line-up do so well.  So that’s a wrap for this review. 

No, you don’t get off that easy. At least not until you’ve been thoroughly sold the virtues of “Under Northern Lights”. It should be an easy task if you set the tracks running in the background on Bandcamp. Let’s get stuck in. 

Megaflower - Full Flower Moon Band  (Silver Arrow)

Full Flower Moon band as a concept has been ongoing for almost a decade. It was a project created by songwriter, filmmaker and musician  Kate Dillion. Early gigs in Brisbane were more of an experimental affair, playing at fringe music venues around Brisbane as a duo but sometimes supplemented by other musicians.

Dillion’s masterwork of a few years ago was her ambitious sci-fi  film, “Chinatown”. She wrote the script, played the lead and wrote the soundtrack that became her debut album.  A critically-acclaimed, intellectually-layered short film, it was an incredible achievement.

Ultimo - The Beasts (Slick Productions)

"Ultimo" by The Beasts is the final nail in the Beasts of Bourbon's recording coffin.  As Tex Perkins told bandmates in an email proposing its release, the title's definitions include -Finale, Conclusivo, Defenitivo, The Last.

As if you didn't know, The Beasts comprise former members of the Beasts of Bourbon and were conceived to record one more time with an ailing Spencer P Jones while honouring fallen bass player Brian Hooper. The "Still Here" album was spawned and toured before The Beasts lost drummer Tony Pola, also to cancer.

Re-convening with founding Beasts of Bourbon drummer James Baker, now also terminally ill, doing more shows was a way of connecting the historical dots and keeping him on the planet. Call it musical therapy. A couple of gigs led to an extensive national tour earlier this year.

Starcrazy – Starcrazy (self released)

As the lights fade on 2024, it would have been a travesty not to review “Starcrazy” in full instead of just including the album in a Top Ten list. Glam rock with a touch of Van Halen isn’t the usual fare around these parts but stay with us because the debut LP for this Sydney band is one sweet ride.

My first glimpse of Starcrazy in the wild was during capacity-constrained COVID, in the confines of The MoshPit, the cosiest drive bar in Sydney. The band were then aged in their early to mid-20s. I remember being in awe at their skill levels but being confused by the range of their set and thinking how great they would be if they worked out their band identity.