Gentle Ben & His Shimmering hands urge you to splash on some "Brut"

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 August 2024

Hits: 1885

_{That's Gentle Ben on stage at Binic last month or The Bubble Boy from Seinfeld. You be the judge. Photo by @dujouraulendemain}

It’s a line in the media release that we just have to use: “Like the one-night stand you hoped to never see again, Gentle Ben & His Shimmering Hands are back to ruin your life, break your heart and make your loins quiver”.

The Brisbane “haute couture swamp rockers” (their words again, not ours)  left France a few days ago in a smouldering, postcoital ruin, after smashing out 13 shows over 15 days, playing at a former tobacco factory under a big-top, in a 14th century pub, and in front of 10,000 fanatical French fans at Binic.

Gentle Ben turn their sights to the East Coast of Australia this month to unleash their new album, “Brut” on French label Beast Records. It's available in Australia through Spooky Records and it's procurable here.

• beast records
• spooky records
• australian tour
• gentle ben and his shimmering hands
• brut

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Brisbane to say farewell to Fred

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By The Barman

The Barman

05 August 2024

Hits: 1035

The Brisbane music scene was devastated by the loss of stalwart performer Alan "Fred" Noonan in May 2024 following a long illness. Fred’s extensive community of bandmates will come together for ‘and event, "Rocky’s Boogie", at the Tivoli in Brisbvane this Saturday, August 10 to celebrate Fred’s legacy from the last 40-plus years.

It is no exaggeration to say that Fred was a Brisbane punk rock legend. Prior to co-founding Blowhard in 1989, Fred was a member of pioneering punk bands Brothers Of Feedback, New Improved Testament and Public Execution (who supported Dead Kennedys in 1984).

Fred was with Blowhard from 1989 to 1993 (and intermittently since). In 1991, via his cowpunk alter-ego Rocky Outcrop. He formed side-project The Fred Band, which ended up being one of Brisbane’s longest-lasting musical legacies. After leaving Blowhard in 1993, Fred co-founded Sixfthick, another enduring Brisbane institution.

Fred also took Brisbane punk's status to the international stage, undertaking several overseas tours with Sixfthick and The Jim Rockfords and finding a second home in France's Brittany region.

• brisbane
• sixfthick
• public execution
• fred noonan
• fred band
• tivoli
• blowhard

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Japan's The Fadeaways leave a stunned Australia in their wake

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By Edwin Garland

Edwin Garland

04 August 2024

Hits: 1962

_{The Fadeaways at The Crowbar the night before. Shona Ross photo.}

The Fadeaways (JP)
+ Jupiter 5
+ Dirtbag
MoshPit Bar, St Peters, NSW, Australia
Sunday, July 14 2024

Sometime in the 1970s, American garage rock started to become in vogue among a hip crew that lived in a few households of each other in the inner city of Sydney.  It was an area that was home to Deniz Tek, a medical student from Michigan, Rob Younger and John Needham among others.  Their reference point was the ”Nuggets” compilation, put together by Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group.

In Australia, the album’s availability coincided with us taking a  fresh look at our home-grown ‘60s bands, many of them also purveyors of perfect three- minute slaps of attitude and beat that were recorded with amps about to blow and guitars that could be purchased for 20 pounds.

The Purple Hearts, Missing Links and The Creatures were the more obvious names to drop. The more obscure a single you could talk about, the cooler you were, and the actual items became the Holy Grail, to be played while you read your imported copy of Creem magazine.

• jupiter 5
• moshpit bar
• the fadeaways
• dirtbag

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The Stems issue a cracker of a single to kick-off their 40th

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By The Barman

The Barman

01 August 2024

Hits: 1598

The Stems have kicked off their 40th anniversary year with a new single ahead of their national tour, a live LP and dates in Europe.

“Falling from the Sky “is the band’s first recording since their 2007 album “Heads Up”. Recorded at Revolver Studios and mixed at Pet Rock studios in Perth, it features original members Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, Dave Shaw and current guitarist Ashley Naylor (Even, The Church, Paul Kelly). 

Dom: “I’d written the song about five years ago and had always envisaged the Stems doing it if we ever had the opportunity to record it. Lyrically, it’s a commentary on how attitudes change as one gets older and a little more cynical about things with the hope of love as the redeeming theme in the choruses.

“Dave and I initially tracked the song with Dave suggesting the groove and fuzz tone idea.

:It worked great and we sent it across to Jules to add his distinctive bass and backing vocals.

• dom mariani
• the stems
• australian tour
• falling from the sky

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Hard-Ons hit the silver screen to mark their 40th anniversary

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By The Barman

The Barman

30 July 2024

Hits: 2116

Hard-Ons are celebrating 40 years of punk rocking in public with tours of both Australia and Europe, and the release of new music - and the release of that stalled full-length feature film, The Most Australian Band Ever”. 

The single "Buzz Buzz Buzz"is out today on Cheersquad Records & Tapes and is the first taste of the current Hard-Ons line-up's yet-to-be announced third album. It's a Tim Rogers/Peter Black co-write and a promise of great things to come. 

“The Most Australian Band Ever” is directed by Jonathan J. Sequeira for production companies Living Eyes and Play Vintage. Sequeira made the acclaimed 2017 Radio Birdman documentary, ”Descent Into The Maelstrom”.

 The film will premiere on October 16 at SXSW in Sydney with a screening and Q&A at the Dendy Newtown. Here's a taste:

Perfectly timed with the band’s anniversary, “The Most Australian Band Ever” offers insight into the band's long existence, with plenty of live footage and interviews and guest appearances from Dave Faulkner (The Victims, Hoodoo Gurus), Ross Knight (Cosmic Psychos), Jerry A (Poison Idea), Steven Hanford aka Thee Slayer Hippy (Poison Idea) and Rob Younger (Radio Birdman).

The film has a particular focus on the Hard-Ons' early days, the obstacles - some self-inflicted - which they've had to overcome, and the legacy they've built.  

The Hard-Ons' 40th Anniversary Australian Tour Oct - Nov 2024
OCT
18 - Soapbox, Brisbane
24 - Sussex Inlet Tavern, Sussex Inlet
25 - La La La’s, Wollongong
26 - Paddo RSL, Sydney
27 - Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle
31 - Altar, Hobart
NOV
1 - The Tote, Melbourne
2 - Singing Bird Studios, Frankston
3 - Red Hill Hotel, Castlemaine
4 - Barwon Club, Geelong
7 - Amplifier, Perth
8 - Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough
9 - Froth & Fury, Adelaide
Tickets

• hard-ons
• 40th anniversary tour
• the most australian band ever
• Jonathan J. Sequeira

The Strike-Outs' home run

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By The Barman

The Barman

28 July 2024

Hits: 1419

The Strike-Outs – The Strike-Outs (Evil Tone Records)

The debut LP by Sydney duo The Strike-Outs is the duck’s nuts, the bees’ knees and all the other animal physiology that lies between. Twelve songs in 24 minutes, so brevity is at its core. But so are dynamics. a feral energy and a musicality that divorces it from standard two-chord thrash punk.

The Strike-Outs-are brothers Simon Vines on guitar and vocals and Adam Vines on drums. They used to be Thee Evil Twin until they shed a bassist. No bottom end? No problem. Simon’s tone and a kick drum high in the mix compensate just fine.

• sydney
• garage punk
• evil tone records
• the strike-outs
• buck biloxi
• 37 moves

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Appeal launched for James Baker

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By The Barman

The Barman

23 July 2024

Hits: 4271

Australian music industry charity, Support Act, has launched an appeal on behalf of iconic Perth-based punk/garage-rock figure and drummer James Baker, founding member of legendary outfits The Victims, The Scientists, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Beasts of Bourbon and The Dubrovniks. 

James was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer nine years ago and now requires constant care, which means his partner Cathy has to give up full-time work to support him. James and Cathy have been working with a specialist medical team to keep James around for as long as possible. A target of $50,000 has been set to assist with medical and household expenses associated with James' palliative care.

You can donate here.

• scientists
• victims
• james baker
• appeal
• hoodoo gurus
• support act

Messin' With The Drummer: A pot of tea with Ivor Hay

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

18 July 2024

Hits: 3060

 
Take a look at the photo. There they are. The original Saints, outside their Brisbane share house, Club 76. Now a posh real estate agent's rather scrappy-looking digs, the house still stands. 

Queensland does have a heritage register: the Saints' Petrie Terrace share house should surely be on the list, but it's not. Queenslanders, make it happen!

It's mid-winter in Adelaide, and I'm reflecting on the passage of time. As I get off the bus, I pass the new and improved Her Majesty's Theatre on the corner of Pitt Street and Grote, adjacent to the shop I worked in for a year nearly 30 years ago. A few doors up Grote, toward Victoria Square, was the one building I worked in periodically over 22 years, The Antique Market, run by Dean Donovan and his wife, Kathy.

Quite an awkwardly-designed building, after Dean sold all the stock in 2018, it was sold, remodelled and occupied for a few years, then finally emptied and demolished; today a huge hotel or somesuch is heading upwards with a great deal of clamour, gusto and grunt. 

• ed kuepper
• peter oxley
• mark arm
• chris bailey
• the saints
• mick harvey
• the aints
• ivor hay
• (I'm) stranded
• the saints '73-'78

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A small part of Adelaide's underground music mosaic

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

17 July 2024

Hits: 1530

The Beautiful Black – The Beautiful Black (self released) 

Before we start, perhaps I should explain. This article is not just a review, but a homage to Ross and Caz. As the Barman politely explains to me, “Uh, Robert. ...Who ...? Context?”

Right, then, context.

First, like so many other large Australian cities, Adelaide has had a strong and diverse music scene for decades. There was a distinct hand-over of the baton, too. You could see it in the composition of the audience which rolled out to see XTC on their first tour compared to their second the following year: the first tour, it was mostly older folks (I was 15, so everyone was older than me, but I'm talking 30+ here).

• the beautiful black
• ross martin
• caz ward
• dave ormsby
• shane rowe
• neil mackenzie
• naomi cain

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