Looch's Gangsters cook up an earwig

Jessie - Looch Lewis & The Press Gangsters (Stanley Records)

Three minutes of surging, earwig pop rock that’s best taken with a wee dram of whiskey. Sydney's Looch Lewis qualifies for veteran status these days, and his side trip is drumming for country rockers Dave Favours & the Roadside Ashes. He's also played guitar for bush folk punks, Handsome Young Strangers.

Like many drummers, there's a solo artist inside just waiting to bust out; if the single is an indication, the debut album's gonna be a goodie. "Jessie" urgently does its business and moves on. It's lyrically dark but the melody line and chorus mean it's made for broad radio airplay.

Looch's strong vocal and six-string picking with fellow guitarist Tomson Sowonja is leavened by neat mandolin from Drizabone Dion Dixon that adds something of a Celtic touch. Catchy as all get out so hit up your favourite streaming service or listen after the MORE button.

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• jessie
• looch lewis and the press gangsters

Let Flippin' Kick Outs steer you through the Sonic Maze

Sonic Maze – Flippin’ Kick Outs (self-released)

The splintering of what used to be called mass media has put a universe of sounds at everybody’s fingertips and they only need to pay a pittance - if anything at all. The onus really is on you and me to step carefully. lest we tread in dog shit.

It really is a maze out there – as the title of the second album from Sydney’s Flippin’ Kick Outs attests.

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• flippin' kick outs
• johnny gretsch
• sonic maze

FEAR to make Australian debut, courtesy of Thrashville

The first bands have been announced for Thrashville, the boutique festival  in the lush bushland of Dashville at Lower Belford in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, and heading the bill is veteran American punk band FEAR,
 
Thrashville is on Saturday, June 27. The line-up so far is:

FEAR (USA), Disentomb, The Bennies, Dregg, Hybrid Nightmares, Turtle Skull, Good Sniff, Private Wives, Couch Wizard, Catpiss, Purple Disturbance, Pyrefly, Whisperhead, Shacked, Happy Fuckin Family, Immortal Within and I Hate People.



No word on sideshows by FEAR but stay tuned.
Tickets for Thrashville are on sale here.

Formed in Los Angeles in 1978, FEAR didn’t just help shape punk rock - they defined its confrontational spirit.

The band made history in 1981 as the first punk act to appear on national TV in North America with their infamous Halloween performance on “Saturday Night Live”, courtesy of John Belushi. The chaotic set left the studio in shambles, landed the band on a permanent ban list.

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• thrashville
• fear

Boris and Merzbow - and the best Adelaide Festival review you'll read this year

_{Boris in full flight (with Merzbow lurking far left).}

"The Molly Fet Circuit Catches Boris at the Adelaide Festival"
Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide
Thursday, February 26, 2026

By Shaun C. Duncan
(with photos and intrusions by Robert Brokenmouth)

It must have been satisfying to curate an arts festival back in the bad old days when luvvies held the whip hand, when they could simply TELL the great unwashed what was good - and damn them if they didn’t agree.

Indeed, the fact that no-one showed up to see your revisionist production of “A Doll’s House”, performed by an all-female troupe of Inuit puppeteers was proof of its worth because we all know the plebs are ignorant slobs anyway. 

Better yet, if the proles complained that you’re wasting taxpayers money, then you could dine out for weeks on your coveted status of being “controversial” because we all know the point of ART is to offend the sensibilities of those footing the bill for it. 

[Brokenmouth interjects: my understanding was that in the earlier years of the Festival (and Fringe) the events were usually packed ... but, by the mid-80s there was definitely a "here come the Festival 'controversies'" ritual - controversies over things which wouldn't be controversial without 'The Agoniser' telling us they were controversial.]

[Shaun continues]:

I’m sure it was a good grift while it lasted, but the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and the era of austerity changed all that: bums on seats became the order of the day and the festivals have been forced to cast their nets a little wider – not TOO wide, mind you – in search of people who will actually PAY for culture, and in this day and age there’s virtually one demographic left: middle-aged record snobs. 

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• boris
• merzbow
• adelaide festival
• Masami Akita

Don't use The C Word (that'd be cabaret) on The Tiger Lillies

The Tiger Lillies
Adelaide Festival
Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide
Thursday, March 5, 2026

Promoting their current album “Serenade from the Sewer”, British punk trio The Tiger Lillies come to Adelaide courtesy of the Adelaide Festival. It's a delight to see such a high quality act play in such a lovely setting (the revamped Maj is wonderful in the theatre part, but boy, is the downstairs section kinda shit and unwelcome-y or what?).

There is a lot of guff written about The Tiger Lillies, and since this is my first time seeing them, I'm going to add to it.

But first, if you've not seen them before, go. You simply must see them.

If you have seen them before, go again. Also, buy a handful of tickets, give them to friends, relatives, strangers. And go again and again.

Because: they're extremely good at what they do, they're involving, moving, entertaining, and super-real. Context: this talented mad bastard, Martyn Jacques, has been doing The Tiger Lillies with several equally talented mad bastards, So think - are you ready?

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Hugh Can It Be Now? Ex-Stranglers leader returns to the Land Down Under

This June, promoters Troubadour are bringing Hugh Cornwell, the original singer, guitarist and principal songwriter of The Stranglers, to Australia.

Their events page rightly states: “As leader of The Stranglers, Hugh was the main songwriter of all the band’s most memorable songs across 10 stellar albums, all of which consolidated Cornwell’s stature as a unique songwriter and musician.

“His lyrics to 'Golden Brown', from the 'La Folie' album, and their multiple meanings, are a songwriting masterclass. Widely regarded as the poet laureate of punk, Hugh Cornwell has also built a substantial and singular body of impressive solo albums."

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• australian tour
• the stranglers
• hugh cornwall

Hard-Ons to share spotlight with TV Smith

They’re still pinching themselves, but evergreen fans The Hard-Ons have been announced as punk pioneer TV Smith’s backing band for his April Australian tour.

Yep, Ray, Blackie and Murray and TV Smith will be powering thru 21st century renditions of The Adverts’ seminal punk rock catalogue including the 1977 classic “Crossing The Red Sea” album. Here's what two of them have to say about it:

Blackie: "As a young little fart being blown away by the shock horror of punk rock it seemed like every record I brought/heard was better than the last! Of course years later you shift back and forth and some lose a little power..

BUT a few stay with you .. you know every nano second of an album.. not just a track but an entire album!! That’s what Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts is to me!! This tour coming up with TV Smith is a constant “pinch myself” moment. Excited!!!"

Ray: "TV Smith's songs always made a great impression for me. Passionate and intelligent social and political critique and observations that made me dance and think at once.

"The Adverts were the perfect band from 1977. That their songs do not sound dated at all is a testimony to their unique greatness. Words can't express how honoured I am to be able to be TV SMITH's bass player for one crazy Australian tour."

Read our TV Smith interview here.

TV SMITH'S ADVERTS
LIVE IN AUSTRALIA APRIL 2026
APR
2 - Young St Tavern Frankston  
3 - The Tote Collingwood (w/Alien Nosejob)
4 - Barwon Club Geelong (w/ Handgrenade Hearts) 
5 - Last Chance Rock'n'Roll Bar, Melbourne (matinee) 
8 - Hamilton Station Newcastle 
9 - Link and Pin, Woy Woy 
10 - Lansdowne, Sydney 
11 - La Las Wollongong -
(w/ Cammy Cautious and the Wrestlers)
Tickets

• hard-ons
• australian tour
• tv smith
• adverts

Noir troubadour Michael Plater hits Sydney

Renowned Melbourne indie/noir/neofolk troubadour Michael Plater is doing a four-date tour of Sydney this week and you’ll find dates at the end of this article. 

He’ll be accompanied by Adam Geoffrey Cole (Trappist Afterland) on the Thursday and Matt Malone & the Holy Spirits on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. His Saturday gig is the single launch for Dave Favours & The Roadside Ashes.

Plater has been compared to Berlin phase Crime & the City Solution, as well as “Burning World”-era Swans. In a world where there are far too many would-be Ed Sheerans, Michael Plater is a darkling glint of reality wrapped in a shivery, somewhat eerie cloak of familiarity.

While fans of the dark folk sub-genre have claimed him as one of their own, like Adam Geoffrey Cole, such claims are as foolhardy as they are confining.

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen Plater - in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney - and I find his performances to be mesmerising if not outright addictive.

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• dave favours
• michael plater
• matt malone
• sydney tour

Sacred Cowboys announce Sydney and Canberra shows

_{Mauro Trentin photo.}

Molly Meldrum’s worst nightmare, Sacred Cowboys, are playing rare shows in Canberra and Sydney in April to launch their new album “In The Manifesto”, out on Torn & Frayed (Australia) and Beast Records (France). 

Sacred Cowboys play Smith’s Alternative in Canberra on Friday, April 17 with hard psych prog rockers ZZG, and Marrickville Bowling Club on Saturday, April 18 with Belle Phoneix and her band and Beast Records labelmates Pete Ross & The Sapphire.

Presented by I-94 Bar, tickets go on sale at 9am (AEDST) on Friday here for Sydney and here for Canberra. Read our album review here.

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• sydney
• sacred cowboys
• garry gray
• canberra
• marrickville bowling club
• smiths alternative