the on and ons

CHRIS “KLONDIKE” MASUAK’S TOP SEVERAL FOR 2021

What’s another year without the obligatory screed from Klondike? 

You know that my tongue is firmly in cheek but my heart unashamedly on sleeve when wishing you all as peaceful, calm, and rockin’ a Christmas as is possible to the human mind! 

 _{Mark Fraser with Blackie of the Hard-Ons}

Ten best albums for 2021… no particular order.

HARD ONS- “Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken”
Is it pop? Is it Punk? Who cares, its fkn perfect.

THE QUICK SIXES – “Swamped”
Swampabilly meets surf in the most perfect of ways.

GIGS:

Adalita - Melbourne Town Hall
Adalita performed in the magnificent space of the Melbourne Town Hall, with J.P. Shilo playing the four storey-high Grand Organ. They were accompanied at various stages by Adalita's band, plus backing vocalists Charm of Finches and The Letter String Quartet. Adalita's emotive and well-crafted songs were driven home by her powerful guitar playing and the brooding sound of the swirling organ. A contender for one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen in my life.

Ed Kuepper and Jim White  - Rising Festival
Ed Kuepper and Jim White opened the ill-fated Rising Festival in Melbourne at the Comedy Theatre and what a show it was. It felt pretty exciting to be at a gig in another iconic building. There was also an element of fear - in this seated though crowded space, was I going to get out of there virus free? All in the name of rock ’n' roll!!!

The Rising Festival had an eclectic, artistically challenging and ambitious programme of events but unfortunately was closed down on the second day due to you-know-what. Another one bites the dust.

Liz Reed photo

R.I.P. Ed Yonker. At the time of his passing earlier in 2022, I was going to write a few words about this legend of the Australian music Industry.

This quiet achiever in an industry full of sycophants, where inflated egos don’t match their mediocrity.

There few gems I have encountered in “the industry” like Ed Yonker. He was one of the good ones. A hip cool cat with his leather jacket who, as a teenager, had seen the Beatles, Rolling Stones and The Animals in Holland in 1963-65. At first, he was not that impressed by what he found in the Australian musical landscape when he migrated here.

Ed was of the one first attendees at Beatle Village on Oxford Street in Sydney. He used to catch the train, avoiding the bogans who wanted to fight a cool kid in what was the early days of the Bohemian inner-city music scene. He was often at the gigs by The Easybeats , The Creatures and The Missing Links.

MARVELLOUS MUSICAL MOMENTS OF 2022 AND MORE MUSINGS:

Firstly, thanks to The Barman and I-94 Bar contributors Keith Claringbold, Dylan Webster, Matty Ryan and Edwin Garland who included my shows with my band in NSW and Melbourne in their Top Tens for 2022. That is so cool and greatly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who came to these shows! It was fabulous to see so many “old” friends there!

Thanks to the musicians who played in my band – Tim McCormack on bass, Jason McGann on drums, Julian Held on guitar, Sam Billinghurst-Walsh on guitar and Ryan Oliver on keyboards. They are worthy of the attention they have been getting.

In fact, thanks to all the musicians who performed live on the indie rock circuit in 2022. These are not easy times for many musicians, and it’s been fantastic to see so many artists back in action on stage, in the post lockdown world. Often, I cross paths with them when they attend other people’s gigs as well. It’s a wonderful thing to behold - intrepid rock’n’roll soldiers leading the charge to bring live music back into the forefront of our hearts and minds! 

Thanks to all the punters who have been supporting live gigs. Thanks to the music journalists for reviewing our shows and new releases and to the radio presenters who have been playing our music. Thanks to the venues and the promoters, with a special thanks to The Barman for his tireless efforts to keep our rock scene alive and well.

2023 Top Ten(ish)

Gigs

The Smart Folk/ The Golden Rail/ The Autumn Hearts, Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW. A bittersweet occasion for me as a member of The Smart Folk but it was a great night thanks to the stellar support of The Golden Rail and The Autumn Hearts.

The Apartments/Halfway - The Great Club, Marrickville, NSW.

Raising Ravens/DOWNGIRL/Gaia Rising: Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW.

The On and Ons/ Penny Ikinger Band: George Lane, St Kilda. Great venue, great bands, great company.

The Silversound - Brunswick Ballroom, VIC: Mind blown, album immediately purchased.

Snarski Circus Lindy Band - The  Great Club

Jo Meares’ Silver Bullets - The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville, NSW:  Jo brought his Melbourne combo with him and wow, did they deliver.

Dane Blacklock and the Preacher’s Daughter: The Duke Hotel, Enmore, NSW: Satanicabaret!

Australian underground elder statesman and co-founder of The Stems, Richard Lane, has passed away in Fremantle. An announcement has been made via The Stems’ Facebook page.

Richard had lately been a member of The Painkillers, the hard-rocking garage outfit formed by James Baker, and rehearsed with them last Saturday.

Richard and Dom Mariani formed The Stems in 1983 and went on to have a fruitful if tumultuous musical partnership. Lane was a driving musical force behind the band’s early garage sound, epitomised on their early singles. He also played guitar and keyboards on the debut album “At First Sight Violets Are Blue” and the 2007 reformation record, “Heads Up”.

The band dissolved in 1987 but has reformed a couple of times. Richard was not a part of the line-up that was reconstituted in 2013.

Richard spent time living in Perth and Sydney. He formed a small record label,  Idaho Records, in Perth in the 1990s and played in a number of other important bands including The Chevelles, The Rosebuds and The On and Ons.

Richard founded Penny Lane’s Music Workshop in Fremantle in 2003 as a community-based outlet to teach music. He is survived by second wife Cathy and daughter Penny.

T_{he On and Ons Glenn Morris and Jon Roberts with guest guitarist Murray Cook . Shona Ross photo}

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, this was a night of three contrasting but not dissimilar bands when The Smart Folk, Loose Pills and The On and Ons weaved their guitar pop web over Marrickville Bowling Club. It was also the album launch for The On and Ons' wonderful CD "Welcome Aboard".

These sorts of night are infrequent in Sydney these days. Ones where the bands on the bill complement each other and the venue doesn't turn people off, so they turn out in good numbers.

You’re here to read a live music review? Hang in there. There's a bit of preaching to go through, first...

Sublime Sydney pop-rockers The On and Ons are preparing to unleash their second album, “Welcome Aboard”, this month on the redoubtable Citadel label.  They’ll launch it at Marrickviille Bowling Club in Sydney’s inner-west on August 26 with special guests, Loose Pills..

With a line-up of Glenn Morris (guitar-vocals), his brother Brian (drums/vocals), Clyde Bramley (bass/vocals) and Jon Roberts (guitar), this is a band with a musical pedigree that includes the Hoodoo Gurus, the Screaming Tribesmen, Paul Collins Beat and The Barbarellas.

Great guitar pop is timeless and that’s what Sydney’s The On and Ons have delivered (again) on their second long-player. 

Well established on the strength of their 2015 debut, “It’s The On And Ons Calling”, Morris and Co have doubled down on the pop factor on “Welcome Aboard”. The rock is turned down just a tad and (to these ears at least) it takes a few more listens for the songs to take hold.

Truth-be-told, I almost marked it down half-a-beer for not rocking as much as the debut - but the pop smarts won out. 

^{Glenn Morris of the The On and Ons.}

The On and Ons
+ The Amazing Woolloomooloosers
Marrickville Bowling Club
Sunday, 12 December 2021
Photos: Shona Ross

Sometimes things are just obvious. Like using the term “pop music”.

It’s an archaic phrase and more than a little quaint, with its origins way back in the mists of time. Probably severely devalued, too, due to its prolific over-use in modern times. 

According to the The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, it originated in Britain in the mid-1950s as a description for rock and roll and the new music styles that it influenced.

Last Sunday afternoon-evening at Marrickville Bowling Club in Sydney’s inner-western blues delta was an occasion for pop music fans. And whether it was a breaking of the lockdown drought or an appreciation that this was an album launch, they turned out in their droves.