Teen Guerrillas launch a strike that hits home

I Cyclops b/w Pride of the Savanna – Guerrilla Teens (Heavy Medication)

There’s a certain irony in three-fifths of a Long Beach, California, relocated to Portland, Oregon, putting out a single on a label run by an expat American based in Warsaw, Poland, when you realise that the first recording of the original group from which the trio sprang came out on a label in Yugoslavia back in the late 1990s. Confused, much? Let’s make it simple…

Guerrilla Teens feature ex-The Humpers singer Scott “Deluxe” Drake up front, aided and abetted by old bandmates Jeff Fieldhouse and Saul Koll on guitars. The Humpers were up with the best of a crop of Sympathy For The Record Industry labelmates like The Lazy Cowgirls, out of L.A. Bill Connolly (bass) and Anna Anderson (drums) make up the Teens’ line-up. Ex-Lazy Cowgirl Pat Todd hipped me to a copy of their album so the ears were receptive to hearing thie single.

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• heavy medication records
• guerilla teens
• the humpers
• i cyclops
• pride of the savanna
• scott "deluxe" drake

A hint of the old days but Superchunk are very much in the here and now

_{Matt Allison photo}

Superchunk
+ Smudge
The Sydney Crowbar, Leichhardt
Friday, December 13, 2024

1991 has gone down in folklore as “The Year That Punk Broke” and in many ways it’s true. A wave of underground music swept across music channels - in particular in the USA.

It’s also that there was a surge in guitars being bought and we can attribute this mostly to Nirvana. Scratch under the surface, and a crop of new bands had been springing up like green shoots across America for years. Releasing records on labels like Matador, SST and SubPop, they’d been criss-crossing America in broken vans, living on pills, booze, junk food and small shows  

All the action was being documented in fanzines and the underground bible Alternative Press. For me, it was even cooler than the British wave of punk as it was more street-level and organic. Names like Afghan Wigs, Sonic Youth, Babes in Toyland, Laughing Hyenas, Mudhoney, TAD, Pixies and Lemonheads were the staple diet in the period prior to Nirvana releasing “Nevermind”.

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• sydney
• smudge
• crowbar
• superchunk
• mac mccaughan

The Beasts still breathe fire on their studio swansong

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.

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• beasts of bourbon
• the beasts
• still here
• ultimo

John Kennedy announces Aussie dates to support his live album

Urban and western troubadour John Kennedy kicks off his Australian run to promote “Live At The Marrickville Bowl” (I-94 Bar Records) this weekend.

Now living in Spain, Kennedy will play band gigs with his all-star The New Originals and solo/duo shows, hitting New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

First cab off the rank is an in-store thjis Saturday afternoon at Egg Records in Newtown - fittingly, just off King Street, which is a location Kennedy has immortalised in "The King of King Street". Most of The New Originals will join him. Full dates and ticket links after the fold. 

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• australian tour
• John Kennedy and the New Originals
• live at the marrickville bowl
• 2024-25
• egg records

There's starpower to burn on Starcrazy's debut album

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.

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• album
• starcrazy
• self titled
• debut

Stems announce short run of shows in 2025

They could have called it the Back By Popular Demand Tour: The Stems made a triumphant return to the live stage in August and September 2024, celebrating their 40th Anniversary with a series of sold-out shows across Australia and Europe and they're back home to do it again in 2025.

The band - featuring original members Dom Mariani, Julian Matthews, and Dave Shaw, along with acclaimed guitarist Ashley Naylor (Even/Paul Kelly/The Church) - are set to hit the road once more with a limited series of shows along the east coast of Australia in April. .

Following the release of their Top 20 single "Falling From The Sky" and live album "The Stems - Official Live Recording" (Cheersquad Records & Tapes), fans can expect to hear some new music from the band in the lead up to their 2025 tour. In the meantime, don't miss out on snapping up tickets for the upcoming shows.

THE STEMS - EAST COAST AUSTRALIAN TOUR APRIL 2025
WEDNESDAY APRIL 23
NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB, Melbourne VIC

THURSDAY APRIL 24
CROWBAR, Sydney NSW

FRIDAY APRIL 25
GUM BALL FESTIVAL, Hunter Valley NSW

SATURDAY APRIL 26
OLD MUSEUM, Brisbane QLD

*Tickets available from the venues or via www.lunalivepresents.com

• dom mariani
• the stems
• australian tour
• 2025

Superchunk say you'd be Foolish to miss this tour

It’s been 30 years since North Carolina indie-rockers Superchunk released their classic fourth album, "Foolish", and they're bringing it and the rest of their bulging back catalogue Down Under.

Produced by Brian Paulson (Slint, Beck, Wilco, Dinosaur Jr) and mixed by the legendary Steve Albini, it was just one of the band’s many releases that resonated with musicians, critics and music lovers alike, and became one of Merge Records’ biggest releases.

Written following the break-up of Mac McCaughan (guitar and vocals) and Laura Ballance (bass and vocals) who both remained in the band and co-founded Merge, its powerful and catchy melodies and raw emotion still make "Foolish" stand out as one of the band’s best albums.

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• australian tour
• 2024
• superchunk
• foolish

The existential return of John Dowler's Vanity Project

_{John Dowler's Vanity Project live.}

Iconic Sydney label Half A Cow is releasing the new album by equally iconic Melbourne-via-Adelaide power pop exponent John Dowler and his band John Dowler’s Vanity Project. "Existential Friend" is the third long-player by the Melbourne-based vehicle for singer and songwriter, a key figure in Australia’s alternative rock’n’roll scene of the ‘70s and ‘80s.



He and the band will launch Existential Friend at The Catfish in Fitzroy in Melbourne with guests Mark Stinson and the Simon Juliff Band, on Saturday January 25.


John Dowler's Vanity Project is a culmination of Dowler's previous work that touches on the art-pop rock of the first band Spare Change and the pub folk-rock of his ‘80s band The Zimmermen. At its heart, however, is the melodic pop rock of his late ‘70s band-most-likely, Young Modern.

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What Ash Naylor does on his days off

Is Ash Naylor Australia’s busiest musician? With a solo acoustic song “A Blue Sky” presaging his forthcoming solo acoustic album, the Melbourne guitarist will sandwich his current duties with The Church with solo shows in Sydney and Melbourne and a solo band gig in Adelaide.

"A Blue Sky" is the second preview of Naylor’s next solo album, and follows "Donovan Dreams", an ode to the legendary '60s Scottish psychedelic folkster Donovan (of "Mellow Yellow", "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Sunshine Superman" fame).

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• paul kelly
• the church
• the stems
• ash naylor
• rockwiz
• ashley naylor
• ashley naylor spaceship