Joeys Coop signal third album wqith "In The Pines":

It will be accompanied by an extensive tour which starts on Thursday June 25 at MoshPit in Sydney, and continues over the weekend of July 11 and 12at Mullum Roots Festvial in Mullumbimby in Far North New South Wales . Expect more dates to be announced.

Not only can you buy the digital single and pre-order the album on Bandcamp, you can purchase the band’s own label wines here. In the words of Mark Roxburgh: “Each bottle consumed will get us closer to paying off our latest release, Sawdust Memories, and move us a little bit closer to another one in a few years’ time. The more you drink the happier you’ll be".

• joeys coop
• in the pines
• sawdust memories

FEAR cancels Oz tour

That first Australian tour we told you about by US punk outfit FEAR has been cancelled on medical advice.

It's understood frontman Lee Ving has an undisclosed health condition. FEAR has cancelled all other 2026 dates.

The band was headlining boutique festival Thrashville in the New South Wales Hunter Region on June 27 and Cosmic Psychos have stepped into the breach

Refunds for other shows are available from the point of purchase. 

• thrashville
• fear
• 2026 tour

Doll parts that fit together so well

After The Dolls – Pat Todd and The Rankoutsiders (Heavy Medication)

On which The Greatest Bar Band In The World pays homage to the post-“Too Much Too Soon” solo music of members of the New York Dolls. Put your money down and you get six songs on a 10-inch vinyl EP (or digital files, if you prefer) and it’s rolled gold greatness.

So what’s here? Six songs split into a Johnny Thunders side and a David Johansen side. “Wreckless Crazy” and “The Rope (The Let Go Song)“ are Johansen solo B sides. “Melody” was a single from his self-titled debut. “Dead or Alive” is from the sessions that produced Thunders’ “So Alone” LP while “Short Lives” comes from his sonically underdone “Que Sera, Sera” album. “Disappointed In You” is a poignant tune that was demoed, bootlegged but never properly released when JT was on this mortal coil.

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• johnny thunders
• david johansen
• pat todd and the rankoutsiders

Sydney braces for the return of the New Christs

The New Christs are playing their first Sydney show in a year at Marrickville Bowling Club on June 19 but if you want to be there, you better move fast as they’re selling quickly. That’s the word from rehearsals in an undisclosed location (pictured above).

It’s a killer line-up deserving of a sell-out. Support will be seasoned veterans Jupiter 5, taking a break from recording their second album, and underground rock jukebox, The Stallers, who have been laying down original tracks of their own.

The band will be selling vinyl copies of the recent compilation, “The Fall Of Rome”, and T-shirts. Hey, gotta make a living somehow, Tickets for the gig are here. If you miss out, don’t say you weren’t warned.

• new christs
• marrickville bowling club
• jupiter 5
• the stallers

No Wave Queen Lydia's return Down Under won't go down in a blaze of glory

 
_{Jasmine Hirst photo}

The Queen of No Wave, Lydia Lunch, returns to Australia in June with two unique shows.

Lydia will perform her no holds barred, spoken word, with support from Tex Perkins in solo mode playing guitar and laptop. Lydia will also team with Andrew Coates of Melbourne band Black Cab to perform the songs of Suicide and Alan Vega. The latter has been a passion project for Lunch, having done the songs of Vega and Suicide for years in the USA and Europe with French experimental musician Marc Hurtado.

Lydia spoke to me via Zoom from her New York pad.

Read more …

• suicide
• tex perkins
• australian tour
• lydia lunch
• alan vega
• so real it hurts

A Jungian and a tofu thief walk into a bar...

Blistersticks - Harry Howard and David McClymont (self released)

It’s an odd thing, creativity. You might recognise David McClymont’s name as the bass guitarist in Orange Juice, who had several bright, accessible pop hits in the late 1970s, initially with the Scottish label Postcard. Orange Juice played frequently with friends like Josef K and The Go-Betweens. The Scottish expats found common ground with the then-plentiful Australian ex-pats such as The Moodists and The Birthday Party. 

Orange Juice weren’t an easy fit with the skinheads of the day; theyd walk onstage to cries of “poofs” from the skins. Their retort? “Hare Krishna!”

Coming within a whisker of serious UK pop stardom (including two appearances on “Top of The Pops”,  David left in late 1983, and the recordings for his own outfit, the brilliantly-named Ape the Scientific, which recorded for Polydor. 

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• harry howard
• david mcclymont
• blistersticks

Jeepers! Those Huxton Creepers are going on tour

_{Huxton Creepers 2026. Photo supplied}

We mentioned that Huxton Creepers are re-issuing their classic debut album “12 Days to Paris” 40 years after the fact on vinyl on Cheersquad on June 5 with pre-orders open now. And we said they'd support it live, in what will be their first full tour since 2011.

The dates are confirmed They'll be joined by old mates Icecream Hands in Melbourne and The Johnnys in NSW and QLD, with former Screaming Tribesmen frontman Mick Medew and his wife, Ursula, also joining the party in Brisbane.

Read more …

• the johnnys
• australian tour
• huxton creepers
• mick medew and ursula
• 12 days to paris
• icecream hands

Now and Zen: Garry Gray and the Sacred Cowboys Manifesto

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. 

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• beast records
• sacred cowboys
• garry gray
• tim deane
• mark ferrie
• in the manifesto
• damian fizgerald
• torn and frayed

Datura4 preview Album Number Six with video single

Four years after “Neanderthal Jam”, Australia's kings of retro boogie-psych,  Datura4, are returning with their sixth album, “High on the Low Brow”, on US label Alive Naturalsound.

Recorded in their hometown of Fremantle, Western Australia, Datura 4 are led by Aussie legend Dom Mariani (The Stems) and “High On The Low Brow” delivers a trademark blend of blues-rock, boogie, and psychedelia. It's due out on June 19. 

Datura4’s records have built a devoted following, celebrated for their authentic throwback to a time when Australian rock was loud and loose.

They're all anchored by Mariani’s unmistakable guitar work and his knack for crafting tunes that really stick.  

Read more …

• alive naturalsound
• datura4
• dom mariani
• the stems
• high on the low brow
• getting through