Mr Junior has a hell of a quirky appetite, ranging from dirty ultra-hawkwindish rawk to a dirtier electro punch in the head (‘Jetzt’ is killer) some sort of hip-hoppy thing. He’s a former boyband member (!) from Switzerland who plays everything himself.

This is a man who covers a lot of ground in a very short space of time, forcing your feet onto the floor at the same time. If you bought “Max Q”, get “Dr S and Mr P” right the hell now. If you like Ollie Oleson, Culturcide, SPK, Iggy and the Stooges, nasty soundtracks…

(ED: Urban Junior has shared stages with John Spencer Blues Explosion, Bob Log III, John Schooley, Jack Oblivian, Iggy Pop, G. Love & sSpecialSauce, Thee Oh Sees, King Khan, the Pussywarmers and Reverend Beat-Man. That might give you some more clues.)

This is dead dirty rock’n’roll and it’s like being seduced by an oil-stained camel in Doc Martin’s boots (not the star of the TV show Doc Martin, tho, …)

Three-and-a-half bottles. Oh, fuck it, four bottles.

Recently I saw Lilith Lane perform as part of the Murder Ballads evening in Melbourne; there were many performers, but Lane was one of a handful who impressed. She’s sharp, smart and has a terrific voice.

"Pilgrim" was Recorded live at Sónica, Madrid, Spain, in October 2012 and released in 2013, It is  a rather wonderful live recording, and shows off the great control and power of Lillith's voice; what I like about her is that she’s so natural and approachable with her gift.

The guitarist, (one "Pedro") is damn groovy. It’s a kind of oddly Spanish-flavoured blues '50s rock thing, but you don’t really pay that much attention once Lilith starts singing. You’ll be dancing in a graceful, bopping way.

Beast Records on the Web

Lillith Lane on Bandcamp

What's it worth? Four bottles if not more. 

Melbourne's Burn In Hell has a hell of a rep on the live circuit, both in Australia and overseas: it’s easy to see why. "Monkey Bones" (uhm, 2014) is world-class rock’n’roll which jangles your fillings and fills your jangles. 

The Black Tambourines are from Cornwall in England. This is one of a series of short reviews of discs which should have been reviewed upon release but, for a number of unfortunate reasons (including at least one huge horrifying house-move) was not reviewed in what public servants like to call "a timely manner". This is the band's fourth full-length album.

The Black Tambourines. By god they’re good. Big, bastard, scratchy, messed-up, four-dollar bourbon, filled-ashtray rock’n’roll. I damn wish they were playing at my local, but folk used to say that about AC/DC and (the admittedly godawful) INXS and such musicians are now no longer lesser mortals like you and I, but ROCK-GODS.

As The Black Tambourines should be.

Finally, here’s the definitive collection that does the Fuzztones justice.

There have been numerous re-issues, the odd compilation and a tribute record. There’s even a 2CD set of rarities. But packaging the first three of their seven studio albums - plus their debut live EP bulked-out to album length - in a box set, with bonus vinyl and a DVD tossed in - was an inspired idea.

The Fuzztones sprung up in New York City in 1980 and were the vanguard of the garage rock revival wave. Along with the California-based Bomp label, the Cramps and Lenny Kaye’s seminal “Nuggets” compilation, the Fuzztones opened ears to a whole new (old) world of Farfisa organs and distorted Vox guitars.

The Boys rode the original wave of UK punk in the ‘70s, missed the crest and ended up in the shallows; it wasn’t their fault. They suffered from poor distribution after signing to a second-order record label, but in the end they were far too musical to be lumped in with most of their contemporaries.

The Boys - specifically singer-guitarist Matt Dangerfield - had their origins in England’s most celebrated non-functioning band, the London SS, whose ranks included Mick Jones (later of The Clash) and Tony James (who went on to Generation X.) Both their subsequent outfits and the Sex Pistols made their first recordings in Dangerfield’s rented Maid Vale basement. Talk about being at the scene of the crime. Casino Steel did time in a glam band the Hollywood Brats who almost out-pouted the Dolls.