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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

04 October 2026

Hits: 906

• i-94 bar records
• john kennedy
• The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)

The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations) - John Kennedy: (I-94 Bar Records)

These days, when I hear the little box of CDs clunk into the mailbox, I react with a sense of awe. What, more people out there pouring their hearts and souls into a couple of handfuls of songs, putting them out in a physical format and launching them out into the world like coracles attempting an Atlantic Crossing?

How can this be? How can they be so determined, so optimistic?

Yeah, well. This time, I'm looking at the new release by a legendary Sydney “urban cowboy”, an architect/musician who just won't be forced off of the stage. Apparently, apart from a brief stint in Berlin (hence the title), he's putting his socks over the hearth in Spain these days.

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

29 September 2026

Hits: 1273

• iggy and the stooges
• metallic ko
• head on
• michael bengal
• bimbo's
• Victory Burlesque

Head On 1974 - Iggy & The Stooges (Easy Action) 

Yes. It's the Stooges. Live, rude, raw and crackly, murky and full of the crowd. Of course it's an essential purchase - and this one is special for a host of reasons.

So, full disclosure, I am a Stooges fan so I'm probably not able to be impartial here. (ED: What’s up with that?) However, if you're not sure who or what I'm talking about, google "Iggy and the Stooges", have a listen. Read a bit on Wikipedia. And come back before you read on.

Let's assume you've either investigated or don't need to. Easy Action have form. Big Stooges form. They've tidied and released a lot of original, primary-sourced Stooges material, from unreleased studio recordings to live material, much of which was not thought to exist. What's more, they righteously pay royalties.  Quite a few of their limited run items sold out long ago, including the famous six-disc "Heavy Liquid" box set. That one included three-and-a-half discs of studio and rehearsal material.

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

28 September 2026

Hits: 2324

• the fall
• ed blaney
• post script
• simon "ding" archer
• cog sinister

Post Script - The Fall (Cog Sinister)

If you knew nothing about The Fall and you put the "Post Script" album on your turntable, it's like your first listen to Joy Division's "Unknown Pleasures". You'll just keep getting up and turning it over and over and over, for most of the day. 

It really is very difficult for humans to take a step back. Especially if we have expectations. While various hideous and disgraceful wars have been hammering on, for the best part of the last four months, Fall fandom has been a-gurgle and a-splutter onlibne over "Post Script", the band's 32nd record. 

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By The Barman

The Barman

20 September 2026

Hits: 1130

• ghost highway
• jim diamond
• the volcanics
• too late to run

Too Late To Run – The Volcanics (Ghost Highway)

Perth band The Volcanics are Australia’s Best Kept Real Rock and Roll Secret. This is their seventh album in 19 years, but if they walked down a city street on the country’s east coast they wouldn’t get arrested (although in Sydney, they’d run the risk of a local council fine for treading noisily without a permit.)

Seven albums. Most bands are lucky if they make one long player, let alone the difficult sophomore effort. Three of The Volcanics’ records were produced by Rob Younger. So was one by Civic and they got to tour with the Sex Pistols.. Yeah, but they don’t come from Perth. 

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By Robert Brokenmouth

Robert Brokenmouth

19 September 2026

Hits: 763

• sacred cowboys
• garry gray
• suburban urchins
• urban fringe compound
• ernie o
• The Institutionalist
• ed garland

All The Bridges Burned - The Institutionalist (Self-released)

The media photos of Australian underground multi-instrumentalist and producer The Institutionalist (aka Ernie O) resemble a bloke auditioning for the next season of "Underbelly". Either that or he's lining up a few of the lads to tidy you away.

His biography reveals an extraordinarily busy bloke:

His audio production skills – recording, mixing, mastering, remixing, songwriting and playing – have been heard on close to a thousand releases in the Australian scene since the early 1990’s, from punk, metal, pop, indie rock and folk metal to downbeat, electronica and dance, on labels such as Grown Up Wrong!, Off The Hip, Popboomerang, I-94 Bar Records, Savage Beat, Vicious Kitten and Sound As Ever.

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By The Barman

The Barman

19 September 2026

Hits: 868

• lazy cowgirls
• hound gawd records
• pat todd and the rankoutsiders
• i'll dream alone

I’ll Dream Alone – Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders (Hound Gawd!)

A poster for the band’s current European tour bills Rankoutsiders frontman Pat Todd as “the most sincere man in rock and roll” and who are any of us to argue? He’s an unfailingly nice guy in person, too. The ninth album from the Los Angeles outfit fronted by the ex-Lazy Cowgirls singer finds him and his bandmates in compelling form as they deliver a dozen superbly crafted songs about life’s twists and turns.

Honesty is a much-used descriptor in music that’s hard to pin down. On the surface, it infers an absence of trickery. At its core, it means the ability to be relatable, connecting directly because a band is speaking the same language as its audience. Many try and most fail but Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders do this consummately.

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