It's not too late to take a chance on Perth's Volcanics

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

This man needs to be Instutionalised

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

Honestly, Pat Todd and The Rankoutsiders' "I'll Dream Alone" is a record you need

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

Mick Medew and The Ursula 4 ask: "Are you Crankin' It Up?"

“Crankin’ It Up” is the new single from Mick Medew and The Ursula 4. It debuted on Brisbane radio station 4ZZZ today and is now procurable via the I-94 Bar Records Bandcamp  or streamable on all platfoirms. 

But wait. There's more: The Tracey Walker flimclip for "Crankim' It Up" goes live here at 7pm (AEST) on Monday and if you want a reminder, there's a Facebook event. 

"Crankin;' It Up" was recorded by Jeff Lovejoy and Jonah McLaughlin, and produced and mixed by Jeff Lovejoy at Black Box Studios in Brisbane. Music is by Mick Medew and lyrics by Ursula Collie.

Mick tells the backstory: "Ursula started writing the lyrics, thinking of all the things that annoy her and realised that its sounds like she’s complaining. But she then thought: 'Hey! It’s not complaining - it’s all true so I’m gonna crank it up and tell you all about it!'

"The band had such a great time recording with Jeff Lovejoy and that groove and feeling comes across loud and clear in the song. Crank it up to 20!!!!"

• i-94 bar records
• mick medew and the mesmerisers
• crankin it up

John Kennedy returns with new album, Australian dates

Australian singer-songwriter John Kennedy has survived a stroke, crossed continents, and emerged with an album on I-94 Bar Records that sounds nothing like business as usual.

"The Berlin Trilogy (And Other Collaborations)" is released on 25 September and pre-sales are open on Kennedy's Bandcamp and the label Bandcamp. 

Following his stroke in 2025, Kennedy relocated to Berlin, where former bandmate Moe Jaksch challenged him to leave his familiar pop-rock territory behind. Their Rocking Chair Studio sessions produced three songs Kennedy dubbed "The Berlin Trilogy", a tongue-in-cheek nod to David Bowie’s Berlin years.

The project grew after Kennedy moved to Spain, bringing together an international cast including Peter Loveday, Paco Peneranda, Frank Kearns, Paul Scott, Hybride Goldking, Peter O’Doherty and Hunting At Dawn. 

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

We're all Not That Way Anymore

Not That Way Anymore 
By Frank Secich
(High Voltage Publishing)

Circumstantial Evidence
By Frank Secich
(High Voltage Publishing)

So my good friends, I'm having some medical problems that are slowing down my productivity in every area of my life; I don’t get around much like I used to. So sorry I'm late, all my brothers and sisters and friends of the Revolution, but here in the shadows of balls-out, flock camera, no-due-process concentration camps, evisceration of the Fourth Amendment, torture gulags where underage immigrant girls are being impregnated by the homegrown masked Gestapo, tech Fascism and WW 3 - and pretty much everything Lords Of The New Church and The Wanderers spent all their most vital life force trying to warn us about, so it could all be avoided - is coming to life all around us.

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• dead boys
• stiv bators
• frank secich
• circumstantial evidence
• not that why anymore

Vale Cheetah Chrome: Frank Meyer remembers

_{Sylvain, Sylvain of The New York Dolls, Cherie Curire of The Runaways, Cheetah Chrome of Dead Boys and Frank Meyer. Photo: Frank Meyer supplied.} 

I met Cheetah Chrome in 2003 when Monte A. Melnick and I were writing the book “On the Road with the Ramones”. Cheetah was a treasure trove of wild stories about his beloved NY music scene.

A year later, myself and his former Jeff Dahl bandmate, Bruce Duff, did a tour with Cheetah in Spain, where we were joined by his old Dictators pal Andy Shernoff. It was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had in my life.

Bruce and I played in his band for many years after that — soooo many Dead Boys songs — culminating with a 2014 tour with him and our band, The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs. Lots of miles, lotsa van talk, lots of Sensational Alex Harvey Band, lots of backstage hangs, soundchecks, incredible shows, and mainly just lots of friendship and good times.

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• james williamson
• dead boys
• cheetah chrome
• cherie currie
• andy shernoff
• frank meyer
• streetwalkin' cheetahs
• sylvain sylvain
• bruce duff

Pete Ross and The Sapphire take stock with self-ttiled album

After nearly a decade living in and touring Europe, Pete Ross and The Sapphire return to Australia with their self-titled album — a collection that traces the band’s journey through their years overseas. 

The self-titled album is released 1 October 2026 o through  Australian labels Outtaspace Records (vinyl) and CD on I-94 Bar Records. Pre-orders for the CD are open here.

Formed in 2011, the Australian and New Zealand duo of Pete Ross (guitar and vocals) and Susy Sapphire (bass and vocals) is now based in Sydney after performing extensively across France, Spain, Germany, Italy and beyond.

Their music found a home with acclaimed French label Beast Records, releasing “Rollin’ On Down The Lane” (2012) and “The Boundless Expanse” (2015), while continuing to build a reputation through live performances and festival appearances.

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• i-94 bar records
• outtspace records
• pete ross and the sapphire
• pete ross
• susy sapphire

Ghost in the machine: The Darts overcome adversity to score a bullseye Down Under

The Darts (US)
+ The Spivs
+ Jollee
Vinnies Dive Bar
Southport, Queensland, Australia
Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Words: ANGELA EVOL
Photos: MARK CHANDLER

Wednesday nights are not traditionally the stuff of rock ’n’ roll legend, particularly at a venue that doesn’t usually put bands on midweek. Someone forgot to tell the Gold Coast.

The opening night of The Darts’ first Australian tour sold out Vinnies Dive Bar and filled the room with a crowd ready to make a night of it. By the time the headliners appeared, there was no standing around waiting to be convinced. Vinnies was hot, packed and ready for trouble.

There had already been plenty of trouble before anyone played a note, although nobody in the audience would have known it.

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• australian tour
• the spivs
• 2026
• the darts
• Jollee
• vinnies dive bar
• southport