Ramblin’ gamblin’ guitar man Johnny Casino is taking leave of his adopted home of Spain in October to play two shows in Australia. 

Sunday, October 8 he and The Secrets play Petersham Bowling Club on a tribute to late Asteroid B612 bandmate Scotty Nash.

Support will come from The Carrie Affair, The Escapes, Dave Favours and The Roadside Ashes and Scotty and the Family Nash, a supergroup of Nash musical mates.

The handful of tickets that remain for the 4pm gig are here. 

In Melbourne, Johnny and The Secrets will play one night only at The Old Bar, Fitzroy, on Friday, October 6. Special guests are the Simon Juliff Band and Rockin' Pelmets. Tickets for that one can be had here.

Singer-songwriter Louis Tillett has died in a Sydney hospital after lengthy health struggles, aged 63. The announcement was made online today, a week after his passing, by partner Rachael Slattery:

I am very sorry to have to pass on the news. One week ago Louis Tillett passed away. Jack and I were with him to the end. We thank Royal Prince Alfred and Concord Hospitals for allowing Jack and I to stay for days and weeks at a time leading up to his passing. 

Please remember him as he was, in the words of Hellen Rose, a Cheeky Druid. He brought joy to our pain, light to our darkness, and a good dose of mischief. I have gone to great lengths to make his Music available everywhere possible. I will leave links in the comments for you to find them. Louis has donated his body to Science. There will be no funeral as such. But please stay tuned for news about his Memorial.

Louis Tillett will be remembered as one of the most talented songwriters of the Australian underground scene of the 1980s and ‘90s. 

Tillett released nine studio albums and a live recording in a career that started in Sydney in 1977 with an experimental version of the Wet Taxis. That band finally coalesced as a more conventional ‘60s punk-influenced outfit in the mid-1980s and supported an Australian tour by Nico. 

_{Ron Peno with his most recent co-writer Cam Butler at his last Sydney show with The Superstitions in November 2022.}

Died Pretty, The Superstitions and Darling Downs frontman Ron Peno passed away at his Melbourne home on Friday night after a four-and-a-half-year fight against cancer. He was aged 68.

Died Pretty announced the news earlier today. The band’s statement reads:

With great sadness we announce the passing of our singer Ron S Peno who left us peacefully on Friday evening in the presence of his loving wife Charity and his son Zebadiah, at his home in South Yarra, Melbourne. 

For the last four-and a-half-years as he battled cancer, Ron displayed a resolute positivity and a profound depth of character that has proved inspirational to his fellow band members, manager and many friends. In the face of adversity he was towering.

Resurgent Ausitralian label Dog Meat Records is thrilled and proud to release a new album by a resurgent rock 'n' roller and an old friend Pat Todd and his band The Rankoutsiders.

“Sons Of The City Ditch” is the seventh album by LA's finest rock'n'roll band and comes some 36 years after Dog Meat’s first dalliances with Pat, back when he fronted the legendary Lazy Cowgirls. 

The new album shows that Pat’s voice and songwriting have only gotten stronger, and that he's got another killer band behind him, one that mixes classic '70s punk rock roots with country, blues and rock'n'roll in a manner that sits somewhere between “Exile on Main Street” and “LAMF”.

Pat Todd will be touring Australia solo, in a double-bill with Mad Macka from The Cosmic Psychos and The Onyas in late 2023. Stay tuned for details.

The new album is highlighted, as usual, by Todd's fantastic songs. A prolific writer with an eye on life in the margins - whether they be in small towns or the big sprawling city he has called home for 40 years - Todd routinely hits the mark where youth and the advancement of age find common ground in alienation and wilfulness. 

Japan’s premier exponents of voodoo rock, Baitones, are heading to Australia in October, playing shows in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

With two decades of rocking in their home country under their belts, Bailtones will be making their first foray overseas.

Likened to the Birthday Party crossed with Gun Club and the Cramps, Baitones recall all of the above but still manage to remain uniquely creepy and glitteringly sexy, as well. 

Ugly Things magazine says:

“If you're into Nuggets, Pebbles, The Sonics, The Cramps’ ‘Gravest Hits’ or ‘60s garage punk in general then you really should pick up this record, a Japanese band that takes this style and make it their own. This music has never sounded that hot before.“ 

Our spy who has caught them in the flesh in Japan adds:

“If Las Vegas was an outfit, these guys would be wearing it. Holographic gold lame, leopard skin, fishnets, abundant bare flesh trimmed with bones and fur adorn Baitones, like some mutant Mae West cannibal from the year 3000.

"Baitones create a fashion all of their own, part burlesque cutie, part jungle beast and part sci fi villain.”

Judge for yourself at these shows:

Bailtones (JPN) Australian Tour
OCT
4 – Old Bar, Fitzroy, VIC
5 – Brightside, Fortitude Valley, QLD
6 – The Duke, Enmore, NSW
7 – Zombie Cannibal Stay Gold, Sydney Road, Melbourne, VIC

Sydney teenage powerhouse rock trio pocketwatch, will mark the release of their debut EP, "It's Time" in their home town on Friday. Rock along to Marrickville Bowling Club and you’ll receive a CD copy as part of your admission.

“It’s Time” will also be on all major streaming platforms from August 4. Support acts are Polly and Vertigo and tickets are here.  Accompanied under 18s will be admitted.