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in the manifesto

  •  sc garry gray

    WORDS: ROBERT BROKENMOUTH
    PICTURES: THE BARMAN

    Some myths should be forgotten. As an AFL-denier, Melbourne's St Kilda/Collingwood rivalry has always smacked of juvenile footy gibberish. Besides, Sacred Cowboys were no strangers to Collingwood back in the day, and what was then remains then (and that's Zen) and what was then is certainly is not now (and that might be Zen, too). 

    Then and now, from my own window Sacred Cowboys still embody so many of the varied aspects of Melbourne culture - their performance of “Nothing Grows In Texas” on an industry-led TV show I loathed (yet watched religiously), “Countdown”, showed them successfully crossing Melbourne's apparent “dividing rift” - as did The Models.

    Some myths should be rediscovered, dusted off, celebrated and redressed, and we should dance with them around a maypole. 

  • The resonstituted and resolutely edgy Sacred Cowboys from Melbourne have released a disigital single as a precurosor to their forthcoming album, "In the Manifesto" which will be out on vinyl and CD in late January on Beast Records in France and Torn & Frayed in Australia with gigs to follow.  Buy the digital single as a download here.


    Now comprising co-founders Garry Gray and Mark Ferrie with Timothy Deane, Anthony Paine and Damian Fitzgerald, they will launch the album at the Tote in Melbourne on February 14. Supports are Roller One and DJ Mike Mulholland. Dress code is Valentines Day" “funky but chic”. 

    Garry Gray says of the singte: "Our heroes are cosmic circus escapees shunted through time and space from the dead desert sands of 1980s Texas and dispatched into the gritty city scape of an alien world – or are they just returning home to a dystopian future?"

    ‘In the Manifesto’ was mastered by Mikey Young, who worked on the last six Mark Lanegan records and plays in Eddie Current Suppression Ring. All new songs are written by Garry and the band. "In the Manifesto" is said to be "a complex, atmospheric soundtrack with Gray’s uber cool delivery over sometimes sparse, sometimes weaving guitars and rich harmonies. Think a Sonic Youth ethos and grinding the gears in the engine room of the Cosmos Factory". 



  • in the manifestoIn The Manifesto - Sacred Cowboys (Torn &Frayed/Beast Records)

    It’s cause for a celebration whenever Sacred Cowboys release a new album. Principal member Garry Gray holds his freak flag high in a fight against mediocrity in music, and he’s now reunited with a fellow founding member in Mark Ferrie.

    I have long argued that the Celibate Rifles captured the frantic and wild, surf-meets-Detroit Sydney Sound with their own laconic touch. Sacred Cowboys are a shining light of what the best of the Melbourne Sound. They play rootsy bar room blues, swampy while embracing post punk's excursions and maintaining a sense of punk's urgency.

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The Living Eye


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Pre-sale: Wednesday April 22d at 9:00am Local
General Public: Friday April 24 at 9:00am Local

 

 

 

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