Beasts documentary in the pipeline

Written by The Barman on 30 July 2014.

Adelaide author and I-94 Bar staffer Robert Brokenmouth has been busy producing a movie. Here's a sneak preview of his Beasts of Bourbon documentary, "The Brass Ring".

Rx - Loose Pills (Off The Hip)

Written by The Barman on 21 July 2014.

With a band lineage like The Eastern Dark, the New Christs, Orange Humble Band, Happy Hate Me Nots, Lemonheads, Pyramidiacs, The Scruffs and Eva Trout among others, you’d have high expectations and “Rx”, the debut album for Sydney supergroup Loose Pills, matches the label on the bottle.

The Wayback Machine aka Hoodoo Gurus live in Sydney

Written by The Barman on 24 July 2014.

_{Steven Danno photo}

The thing with nostalgia is that it never gets old. Like sand through an hourglass, reunions of storied bands are an inevitability. Some are great, some barely tolerable.

The verdict is in on the return to duty by three versions of the Hoodoo Gurus, as a warm-up for an appearance at the Splendour In The Grass festival a few days later. This was a championship-style triumph rather than a chore.

Benefits for Lime Spider Mick Blood after bashing

Written by The Barman on 24 July 2014.

Needing to leave Queensland for a fresh start in March, Lime Spiders vocalist Mick Blood said a sad farewell to his beloved dog, Monty, and set off looking for a new home. After a torrid few months, Mick finally found a new home in Newcastle, NSW, and set about getting back into work and getting on with his life.

Within a few days of moving in, however, disaster struck when Mick was bashed unconscious at a local nightspot, leaving him with serious head injuries. He is now in hospital and requires a long period of treatment, recuperation and life re-building.

New Christs announce full Australian dates

Written by The Barman on 23 July 2014.

The Sydney date for the New Christs launch of "Incantations" has been announced. It's Saturday, August 2 at The Factory Floor (that'd be The Factory Theatre)  at Marrickville. 

Tickets for the show are selling here or you can preach about it on Facebook here. More Aussie dates have been announcec following the band's well-received four-week tour of Europe:

Saturday August 2nd - Factory Floor, Sydney
w/ Johnny Casino + The Escarpment

Friday August 8th - Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
w/ Don Fernando

Saturday August 9th - Cherry Bar, Melbourne
w/ Don Fernando + Grindhouse

Fri August 22nd - Beetle Bar, Brisbane
w/ Hits + guests

Saturday August 23rd - Italo Australian Sports & Recreation Club, Lismore
w/ special guests

Saturday August 30th - The Small Ballroom, Newcastle
w/ special guests

Peter Black is back and he's solo

Written by The Barman on 23 July 2014.

Hard-Ons and Nunchukka Superfly co-founder, Peter Black, (aka Blackie) is launching his third full solo album with an Australian tour that includes a run of dates as special guest support to King Buzzo of The Melvins.

"The Paintings On The Wall Say Gambler! Gambler!" is said to be "a flaming solid ball of creative explosion, whereby storm-trooping guitars and rhythm" that abandons the storm-trooping sounds of Hard-Ons and Nunchukka for "beautiful, introspective and whimsical".

Greetings From Detroit EP - The Rockets (self released)

Written by Geoff Ginsberg on 23 July 2014.

Pssst…Like Rock? I think got something for ya. Like a disappeared postcard that got mailed 35 years ago, this showed up on my porch and promptly blew the doors off. It’s the first Rockets recording since they disbanded in the early ‘80’s.

Monster drummer and songwriter Johnny Bee Badanjek (think Detroit Wheels, Free Ride, Welcome To My Nightmare) has relaunched The Rockets with Jim Edwards - a fantastic singer, and a badass group of Detroit musicians.

BRUCE! The EP - BRUCE (self released)

Written by The Barman on 21 July 2014.

Rising from the ashes of trio Hy-Test, BRUCE! (capital letters compulsory) is a band from the once-industrial musical nursery of Wollongong, south of Sydney, that plays skull-crushing guitar rock with occasionally complex arrangements. This EP showcases four of their simpler tunes delivered to mostly damaging effect.

First Detroit Punks interview series goes live

Written by The Barman on 20 July 2014.

Punk turned peace activist Ivan Suvanjieff - originally known as Mark Norton from the Ramrods - is a former Cream writer and film maker as well. Here's episode one of his series, Detroit Punks, featuring interviews with pre-eminent Motor City music names.

Ivan Suvanjieff and Dawn Eagle head PeaceJam, a multiple Nobel Prize-nominated organisation working for social justice. More information at Peacejam.