Heavy Heavy Low Low farewell tour

Heavy Heavy Low Low are an American thrash/mathcore band. I'll be honest, I had never really heard of them until a few weeks ago. Mainly because with a name like that, I will tend to ignore you. But then in one day my mate asked me if I was going and I saw this kick ass poster hanging off the walls at the Jubilee.

So I checked them out. And realised they are everything I like about that style of music. They combine all of the different heavy genres I adore: grindcore, thrash, mathcore and hardcore. Luckily I got on the band wagon with enough time to spare, literally a few days.

Because they are breaking up. This is their first and last tour ever down under. They'll be playing the Jubilee on December 16th (18+) and Burst City on December 17th (AA).

They are supported by NSW crazy grindcore guys Totally Unicorn.

MySpace

Eddie Vedder

Do you know the name Eddie Vedder? If not, let me give you some help. Pearl Jam. He's the lead singer. He's got a good voice, and he does solo stuff. Including the soundtrack for the movie Into the Wild.

But when I think of Eddie going solo, I can't help but think of this song (written and performed by one of Australia's all time great songwriters, Mark Seymour):

I'm trying my best not to make a Holy Grail joke right now... I really am.

Anyway, Eddie is coming out by his lonesome and playing two Brisbane dates.
March 10 & 12, QPac.

Jimmy Eat World

For any of us that grew up in the "emo" world of the the last decade, Jimmy Eat World was one of those big bands that we all listened to religiously. And who of us can't remember when we first saw this video with all the scanitly clad beautiful people?

Earlier in the year we were all blessed to have them come out and play a great selection of new and old tunes at the Soundwave festival. To me, the outdoor stage and mixed crowd really let the performance down and I left feeling slightly disenchanted with Jimmy.

But now, with a new album under their collective belts, they are coming out to do a club tour, which will hopefully redeem the Soundwave performance.

Catch them April 9 at the Tivoli. 18+.

MySpace

Rumours are abound that other emo heroes, and Soundwave alumni, The Get Up Kids will be supporting. That could make it very interesting, given my love for all thing James Dewees. On my old blog I had a huge rant about his awesomeness, but I lost it in some copyright issues. Too bad. He's the man.

Tegan and Sara headline shows

The Canadian sisters are out here supporting Jack Johnson in December, playing the Riverstage on December 13th. As an early Christmas gift to us, they've decided to do a few headlining shows as well.

I was lucky enough to see them about a decade ago, when they opened for Ben Folds, in one of my first concert experiences. Their indie-pop music is beautiful, despite whatever NOFX says about them.

Catch them the day after their Jack Johnson show, playing the Tivoli. December 14.

MySpace

Belle and Sebastian

When I got this news today at work, I actually emitted a little scream in excitement. The last time Belle and Sebastian came around was over 5 years ago and at that time I thought they were just a little two piece band with the names of Sebastian and Belle. Oh how times have changed.

My current obsession with the 7 piece Glaswegian juggernaut that is Belle and Sebastian knows no bounds. Their legendary catalogue of twee and baroque indie pop just has me spellbound. I am trying to collect all of their vinyl and one of their CDs is generally always in my car. And this song is always stuck in my head. And their new CD, Write About Love is amazing.

They announced a southern states festival show a few weeks back, and I just kept my fingers crossed and my prayers directed towards a show in Brisbane. And it turns out my prayers have been answered. And at what is probably the best venue for them in Brisbane, the Tivoli.

March 7. Tivoli. Tickets on sale 2nd December.
Website

*squee!* I'm now going to get my nerd on and relocate to the couch to relisten to my If You're Feeling Sinister vinyl on 180 grams.

One sentence album reviews (#5)

My reviews have slowed down a bit, mainly because I'm now dedicating a huge chunk of my day to listening and watching the cricket. But since that ended in a draw today, here's some reviews!

Lantlôs - .neon (2010): German black metal that swings between crushing heaviness and soft ambience 3.5/5

Mark Ronson - Record Collection (2010): Amazing, if not downright unusual, collaborations of random artists makes for a great pop album. 4/5

Outkast - Whatubeenwaitin4 (2010): Is it an album or bootleg? Is it B-sides? All I know is it's the best Outkast release in a decade. 4/5

Neil Young - Le Noise (2010): Neil stripped back to a distorted guitar and his wavering voice. Haunting and beautiful. 5/5

Of Montreal - False Priest (2010): this album sees them get even funkier and the vocals get even more falsetto, but nicer to the ears 3.5/5

Ooga Boogas - Romance And Adventure (2008): an excellent noisy mix of Australian surf and garage rock 4/5

Russian Circles - Stations (2008): I'm waiting for the day when you can tell the difference between post-rock bands. This sounds generic. 2/5

Sea of Bones - The Harvest (2007): 3 songs, 53 minutes of such bleak doom metal that makes me want to go to Norway and burn churches 2.5/5

Phantoms - As Above, So Below (2010): Excellent hardcore-punk album release from one of my current favourite Australian bands. 4/5

My Disco - Little Joy (2010) - Minimalist band gets even more minimalistic with an album of almost pure rhythmic music. 4/5

Marnie Stern - ST (2010): Female singer/songwriter with a twist, she does math-rock: fast guitars and female vocals = yes. 4/5

The Measure [sa] - Notes (2010): reminds me of the Epoxies, but without the synthesisers and a splash more punk 3/5

All the news in one

I've been neglecting my blog most of this week as life has been busy (as it always is in pre-Christmas/party/cricket season). So here's the condensed news I've been meaning to post here:

Toro Y Moi
... is generally one man making electronic/lofi/chillwave music. He's put together a small band and is coming down under for his first tour, playing Woodland on February 24.

MySpace

Helmet
Page Hamilton of hardcore masters Helmet have said they are coming out here in April/May. I am looking forward to this, Meantime is one of the best albums ever made that started the whole hardcore genre.

That was probably my first introduction to hardcore, late one night as I was watching it on Rage. About the same time I saw a Toe to Toe video actually.

Jason Collett
The name is probably not familiar, but he's one of the guys in the Canadian indie powerhouse that is Broken Social Scene. He does a lot of solo work too, and he'll be coming down under to play that (and I'm hoping a few BSS songs).

January 13, the Zoo. 18+.

MySpace

(hed) P.E.
These guys were one of the early bands about a decade ago, in the rap-rock movement. And they had a few good songs (Bartender still gets played by me a lot). They've just released a new album, which I've queued up but yet to listen to, and are doing a run of tour dates.

HiFi, January 28. 18+

MySpace

Cam/Mikey (Cola Wars/Bodyjar) Acoustic Tour
These two are the main drive behind the Australian punk bands Cola Wars and Bodyjar. They've jumped on the "old punk bands' lead singers doing acoustic tour" bandwagon and are heading out to play all of their classic Cola Wars and Bodyjar songs on acoustic guitar.

Boys & Girls (X&Y), December 16, 18+

ZZ Top added to Bluesfest
There's really nothing else to say here. It keeps getting better.

And girls go crazy about a sharp dressed man.

The Like
The all-girls garage rock band the Like, fresh from supporting the Strokes on their last tour (which missed Brisbane, bastards), are coming back for a solo show.

February 18, the Zoo. 18+

MySpace

Thank God It's Monday
Carlton Dry are sponsoring Monday night shows all around the country. First up for Brisbane will be local boys Hungry Kids of Hungary, fresh from playing the sold out Triple J Aus Music Month a few weeks back.

December 13, Birdee Num Num, 18+

MySpace

I Exist/Phantoms Wet n Wild Split
It's not really news, but I like it. One of my favourite gigs of 2010 so far has been the little basement show in West End featuring Phantoms and I Exist. Apparently they enjoyed that tour so much, especially their side trip to Wet n Wild, that they are currently recording a split EP with songs based and named after the rides. Awesome.

(Thanks JHat for the photo. He goes to a lot of gigs (some I'm at) and takes way better photos than I can ever hope for. http://www.jhatphoto.com/. Although I think he cheats with his careful placing of flashes, and knowing the bands).

I Exist
Phantoms

Kings of Leon

It's official: these guys have gone big/sold out. I still remember the first time I saw them, playing very early in the day at Big Day Out, with very few people in the crowd caring.


I did. I loved their dirty and obscene southern blues rock. But their last 3 albums drifted horrendously away from it, trying to be some sort of shoe gaze weirdness, which made me sad. But apparently everyone else loved it as evidence by their next tour: a stadium tour.

They'll be playing the Queensland Sports and Athletic Centre on March 6th.

Shihad

The most excellent Kiwi boys Shihad are having a busy last half of the year. They recently sold out their run of dates, they are about to come back as supports for KoRn and now they're announcing yet another run of shows.

As seen on the drum kit above, they were also known as Pacifier for a while, to try and avoid conflict with the term "jihad". I still consider their album the General Electric one of the finest rock albums to be ever made in the Australasia region. Big call, I know, but I love it.

Come January, we'll have 3 shows in our area:
6th - Beer Gardens, Surfers Paradise [18+]
7th - Villa Noosa, Sunshine Coast [18+]
8th - The Zoo, Brisbane [18+]

Make sure you catch them, they're still writing and producing excellent music after all these years.

MySpace

The Getaway Plan are back

The Getaway Plan are one of those Australian bands that I just used to see everywhere. No matter who was touring, they generally opened for them. In fact, the last times the Ashes was in Brisbane, I saw them for the first time, opening for From Autumn to Ashes and the Bled.

They became quite popular as a band playing a mix of emo and alternative rock stylings. Then a while back, they broke up. They got back together for a charity gig at the start of the year and it seems that they liked it so much that they are back as a band.

They'll be playing two shows on this tour, in quite big venues. Which is odd for me, because the biggest venue I ever saw them play before they broke up was Rosies as part of the Boomtown tour.

February 12, HiFi, 18+
February 13, HiFi, Under 18 Afternoon show

Check out their MySpace. It has my favourite song of theirs on it, If The Suspense Doesn't Kill Us, Something Else Will.

Free Music Friday 5!

I've skipped a few weeks of Free Music Friday, to let the awesomeness of Bomb The Music Industry sink in. And because I've been busy. I guess I could have done Girl Talk last week, but that album is so awesome I couldn't wait. This week, it's a band who's name I've yet to figure out how to pronounce: Noumenon

Hailing from my old neck of the woods/favourite city of Chicago, they combine two things I've been in love with for the last few months: garage rock and math rock. Lot's of jangly, quick guitar work (the math rock) with lots of overdrive and some more crushing guitar work (garage rock).

I could explain it to you, or you can just go to their bandcamp website and download their new EP for free. Or for money. That's the beauty of Bandcamp. If you like it you should put some cash on it.

Do it.

Here's their MySpace if you want more stuff about them.

Paul Kelly, the slightly OCD tour

Are you Australian? Yes? Well good. I don't need to introduce Paul Kelly to you.
Just in case you're not Australian, or heaven forbid, don't know who he is, just know that he is one of Australia's greatest (if not the best (John Williamson may have something to say about that though)) singer-songwriters.

Everyone knows this song:

He's coming to Brisbane for 4 nights. Playing all of his songs in alphabetical order. That appeals to the little OCD person inside of me. He's playing the Powerhouse 30 November to 3 December. Get in quick, it's selling like hot cakes! Tickets here

No Trigger/Such Gold

I had only started listening to one of these bands mere minutes before this tour was announced.


Both Such Gold and No Trigger are doing this genre crossing thing, where they mix pop-punk with melodic hardcore punk. And both do it pretty bloody well. Better than a lot of other bands (especially ones I saw at Soundwave, no names here).

If you can't see the poster, catch them at the Step Inn on January 27. The day after La Dispute. Make it a trifecta of great punk/hardcore shows! Unfortunately, it's 18+. Which is a pity, I'm sure a lot of kiddies will love this.

Such Gold
No Trigger

Doves tour

Before you read this, start playing this song:

Now that the mood is set, let's talk about the Doves. That song, Fire Suite, was a favourite of an ex of mine years and years ago. People of my vintage probably remember this song from 2005, it had a huge rotation on Triple J.

Their dreamy indie-Brit-pop was celebrated earlier this year with a best of album. If you haven't much by the Doves, get it. It's great mood music. To celebrate, they are touring all of their 'hits' down under. It's the 15th of February, at the HiFi. 18+

Week of concerts (a photographic review)

So last week turned into a mega week of local and Australian bands. I ended up 4 gigs, 3 of them in 3 days, seeing about 15 bands. And it was a whole lot of fun. Two of them were at the HiFi, which for the first time ever did not allow me to take my SLR in. Boo. But here's photos of the gigs I managed to get.

First up was Friends with the Enemy/In Trenches/Anchors at Fat Louies on the 13th. I've already blogged it, so you can see it here: http://moshpitson.blogspot.com/2010/11/in-trenchesanchors-fat-louies-november.html

Here's In Trenches:

On the 18th I saw the Triple J Aus music month show, which was at the HiFi. That included Ball Park Music, Hungry Kids of Hungary and John Steel Singers playing with special guests such as Dave McCormack and Robert Forster. I put a video and a gig review up here: http://moshpitson.blogspot.com/2010/11/triple-j-aus-music-month.html

Friday saw me back at the HiFi for the Howl/Philadelphia Grand Jury show. The Philly Jays now have Brisbane drummer Suzie (from I Heart Hiroshima) and this was her first show back in Brisbane in ages. It started with her standing right behind me, rapping 99 Problems. They put on a short, but excellent, show playing most of their songs. It ended up almost where it started, back in the crowd near me.


Always an enjoyable party band.

The next day, after an unsuccessful fishing trip, we decided to hit up Punkfest at the Jubilee. We got there just in time to see the Black Market play their Rancid inspired punk. We even got to see what it would be like if Bob Dylan played bass guitar for a local punk band:

Yes, that's a harmonica.


A lot of other local bands played, including the hardcore boys Wheatpaste and Mouthguard, who were supposed to be playing no shows for the rest of the year. LIARS!

It's not often I'm the youngest person at a punk gig, but Punkfest always brings out the best of Brisbane's old school punk scene. Everywhere you looked were amazing tattoos, torn denim, girls in hot dresses and crazy-ass hairstyles. And of course, lots of mohawks:


But the highlight of the night was most definitely Melbourne's celtic-punkers, the Go Set. They started with a bit of a parade from outside, led in by bag pipes. Like any good folk-punk band, they had an arsenal of unusual instruments, including an accordian and tin whistle:


These guys were great. The crowd loved them too, with lots of skanking and moshing:

All up, it was a great night of local punk, ending an excellent week of Australian music. And there was even a drummer that looked like ?uestlove from the Roots

As always, you can see my gig photos at my Flickr. I like to think I'm getting better at this after a few weeks of practice.

Misfits tour cancelled

I am quite disappointed to tell you all that the Misfits show at the HiFi, slated for February 6th next year, has been cancelled.

According to the HiFi website:

New Noise Agency sadly announces that the Misfits Australia/New Zealand tour is cancelled. Due to timing and our current situation, we are unable to run this tour.

We sincerely apologise to those who have bought tickets, and all the fans of Misfits for this news. Please watch the Misfits website for updates on future tours. Refunds for pre-sales are available from point of purchase.

Misfits will be releasing a new album in 2011 and look for them to return to Australia and New Zealand at that with a new promoter at that time.

I take that to mean that New Noise Agency is going out of business maybe? Or just can't afford the Misfits price.

Royal Crown Revue

Do you like your music smooth, your suits matched with fedoras, your bass doubled up and your women dancing in dresses that rise up when they spin across the dance floor? Then you probably like swing music. This is Royal Crown Revue:

They were one of the first bands to kick off the swing music revival scene that fostered bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Cherry Poppin' Daddies, as well as kickstarting the careers of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn in one of my all time favourite movies, Swingers (see the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy video I linked).

Suit up, grab your girl and head on over to the HiFi on January 20 to get your dance on to these guys.

Weird Al Yankovic

He may be a little dated, but Weird Al is the musical parodyist of our generation. He's parodied hits into songs such as:

• Eat It
• Girls Just Want to Have Lunch
• Like a Surgeon
• My Bologna
• Pretty Fly for a Rabbi
• The White Stuff

And who could forget this classic:

Weird Al Yankovic - Amish Paradise
Uploaded by Mourisse. - Click for more funny videos.

Weird Al will be bringing his parodies, his accordian and his penchant for polka to our area for two shows:
Monday 14th March – Jupiter’s Showroom, Gold Coast
Tuesday 15th March – QPAC

One sentence album reviews (#4)

Some more album reviews from the last week or so:

From Monuments to Masses - The impossible...(2003): Noodly instrumental post-rock with way too much overdubbed political speeches. 2/5

Islands - Vapours (2009): Disappointing: they've lost their sounds of the first 2 albums and become generic indie-electro-pop. #yawn. 2/5

Kings of Leon -Come Around Sunset (2010):wasted potential; like most of my classmates that are now drug dealers or managers at Woolies. 1/5

Kerouac - Cold and Distant...(2010): Dirty, angry, hardcore and invokes violence and hatred with their music and lyrics. Yet oh so good 4/5

Forest City Lovers - Carriage (2010): Upbeat indie folk pop music, with vocals that sound a little bit like Lily Allen 3.5/5

Gayngs - Relayted (2010): Electronic folk music that is very chill and perfect for a Sunday lying around relaxing, even with a hangover. 3/5

Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (2008): Very quiet ambient music, I actually didn't notice the album playing a few times. 2/5

Marc Houle - Drift (2010): minimalist techno; cross between nintendo music and 90s neo-gothic apocolyptic movie soundtracks. Amazing. 4.5/5

Girl Talk - All Day (2010): If nightclubs in Brisbane played this music, I'd never stop clubbing. 71 minutes of amazing mashups. 4.5/5

Grown Ups - More Songs (2010): Math rock collides with pop-punk; two guilty pleasures rolled into one. 3.5/5

Koalacaust - Koalaaust (2010): Makes me thing of old school Against Me!, less angsty but with lots more accordians. 3.5/5

Interpol - Interpol (2010): Everything they do is ultra-criticised, but I find this their darkest and most brooding album to date. 3.5/5

Jeremy Messersmith - The Reluctant Graveyard (2010): peaceful poppy folk singer-songwriter, this album is almost like lullabies. 4/5

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow (2010): Amazing sludge metal album that is not too heavy and quite accessible. 4.5/5

Magic Kids - Memphis (2010): It's as if 1960's pop-rock is reborn in an indie band (4/5)

Triple J Aus Music Month

So last night I went along to the Australian Music month show at the HiFi, put on by our youth network, Triple J. It was an amazing night of Brisbane music. First up were Ball Park Music, playing their funky rock.

They rocked pretty hard, but I about lost my shit when they bought out a special guest for a song: Dave McCormack (of Custard and the Polaroids fame). Sure, he just played percussion and a single song, but it was amazing.

Next up were the Hungry Kids of Hungary, who my friends were excited to see. I've seen them a few times before, and their live set was slightly less exciting than Ball Park Music. However, for a few of their tracks they bought out a bunch of friends to play extra instruments and sing the backing vocals for a Kylie Minogue song. That was definitely the highlight of their set.

Finally were local boys the John Steel Singers (plus a chick from Little Scout playing glockenspiel. I totally swooned for her). These guys get better everytime I see the, and I am just sad that their recordings don't do the grandeur and large sound of their live set any justice what so ever.

And the best part? They bought out Robert Forster (from the Go Betweens) to play a few songs. He played about 3 covers with them, and even did a stint on acoustic guitar.


The whole night was an amazing show of just some of the talent Brisbane has on offer. But it didn't end there. Oh no. All of the artists came back out for an encore, including Robert Forster. Massed on stage together they covered the Saints' Know Your Product. And I recorded a crappy quality version of it:

Once Triple J post the recorded audio for the night, I'll redub it to have it sounding awesome. Great night.

EDITED: For the redubbed video

Cyndi Lauper

When I think of Cyndi Lauper, I think of this:

My Name Is Earl - Anche I Gatti Piangono (Randy Canta Time After - The top video clips of the week are here

Granted, because Fox are heartless bastards they've blocked and removed all but the Spanish versions, but you get the point. When Randy from My Name is Earl gets sad, he plays Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time. And what a beautiful and perfect song it is.

These days she's lost the 80's pop and is doing the blues. The Memphis blues in fact. I'm not sure how her voice fits it, but check out her first single for yourself here.

She'll be playing the blues for us on March 28th at QPac. I'd warrant a guess that there's no 80's pop being played there.

Joe Cocker

Stop everything. Now go watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RnjWLVyMps

That's Joe Cocker. An English blues/rock singer from the past 50 odd years. Amazing, innit?

He's got a lot less hair now, but luckily that doesn't affect his voice. He's coming down to play his string of hits (Mustang Sally, With a Little Help From My Friends and You Can Leave Your Hat On you probably know) for yet another Day on the Green show. This one is not happening at Sirromet (SURPRISE!) but at Royal Pines Resort on February 4, 2011.

Supporting him is a band I actually saw when I went to a live taping of the Jimmy Kimmel show, Georege Thorogood and the Destroyers. If you don't know this song, you don't listen to music ever.

Edit: SHIT! Same day as Laneway. Grumble

The Troubadour last show

Well it's upon us. The Troubadour's last days. After this Sunday, it will be no more. But they've got a concert to go out in style with! Playing the last show in the 21st of November will be:

• Los Huevos
• “Mystery Band 1”
• “Mystery Band 2”
• Texas Tea
• Mexico City
• Ed Guglielmino & The Show
• P-Uke
• Cori
• DJ El Norto

I'm not sure who the Mystery Bands are, but I guarantee it will be someone from the lush history of the venue. I have a few ideas, but I'm not going to say them on here.

Get along and see it, say goodbye to Brisbane's best little folk-indie spot.

Free new Girl Talk album!

If nightclubs in Brisbane played music like Girl Talk, I would go clubbing way more often.

Girl Talk is the ultimate mash-up artist. He takes samples of songs you probably already know and mixes them all together into unbelievable new songs. And he does it so damn well. Whenever I listen to him I find myself trying to guess each and every track he samples. His samples tend to only last about 10 to 20 seconds each, so it can be quite the game.

Today he put out a new album called All Day. And it's completely free. Right here: http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/ It may take a while (it took me about 3 hours) as the server is experiencing quite heavy loads, due to how freaking awesome it is.

The album can be downloaded as one track, or 12 individual tracks. You'd want to experience the whole thing as one track. I did, and listened to the whole album on the way home from work. I found myself quietly dancing on the train. Something I never do.

All Day opens up with Ludacris over War Pigs/Luke's Wall by Black Sabbath. It's an interesting combination, but Girl Talk makes it work. And that's the beauty of Girl Talk, he doesn't stick to one generation or even one genre of music. He mixes everything and anything. It's eclectic, just like my music tastes.

It's free. Get it. It may be just your party album of the year, if not the album of the year.

Free new British India Track

British India have become a fairly leading indie band in the Australian scene, ever since their single Tie Up My Hands came out a few years ago.

Hell, they've even played on the TV show Neighbours.

They're off overseas trying to get more attention, but they've put out a new free song on their website for our Australian fans! It's still a bit rough (they're calling it a demo) but it gives us the chance to see what they are working on before they return home in the new year. Get the song on their website here: http://www.britishindia.com.au/

Disturbed

Disturbed are most immortalized for the most memorable syllables-that-aren't-words lyrics in a song ever with Down With the Sickness:

Disturbed - Down with the Sickness

***** | Myspace Video

(The runner-up is Korn with Twist)

Disturbed are coming out to play their heavy nu metal to us on a large venue tour in 2011. What makes it a pretty good tour is their touring partners: Trivium and As I Lay Dying.

I would normally do descriptions and junk, but if you don't know or like any of these bands already, it may be hard to convert you. Even with the cheesy-nu-metal factor of Disturbed, and Trivium losing their screaming edge of earlier albums, it could be one of the heavier shows of the year.

(NB: although I said Trivium got quieter, I still enjoyed the shit out of their 2006 the Crusade. It was one of my favourites of the year.)

Brisbane Entertainment Centre, April 30.

I can only hope that the As I Lay Dying guy does a few sideshows as Austrian Death Machine, his Arnold Schwarzneger tribute-metal band, where every song is an Arnie one-liner song in an Arnie accent. It's amazing stuff.

Doobie Brothers

I love this time of year. Just when I'm starting to think "crap, what do I get my Dad for Christmas?" an awesome band of days gone by announces a tour. And it's always something my Dad and I like. In previous years it has been Neil Young, Mark Knopfler and America. This year, it's something very close to my heart: the Doobie Brothers.


About the time I really started paying attention to music I had an American History teacher that leant me a Doobie Brothers CD. I listened to it at home for a bit before my dad leant me some Doobie Brothers casettes for my car. It's as roots American-rock as you can get. They had so many hits: China Grove, Black Water, Listen to the Music, What A Fool Believes (when Michael McDonald was the singer), Taking it to the Streets, Jesus is Just Alright... Ok, many of you Australian's won't know those songs, but you'd still hear a few on Triple M every now and then.

I wanted to embed a video, but the 'tube wouldn't let me. So just click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqZ95a249p0. Come March 24th I plan on being one of this middle-aged people you see dancing in that video. But younger of course.

The Doobie Brothers. March 24th. Convention Centre. Featuring half of the very original lineup (not that it means much, they've changed pretty constantly for the last 30 odd years) but the original lead singer. Not Michael McDonald. So probably no What A Fool Believes.

In Trenches/Anchors, Fat Louies, November 13 2010

Due to a late dinner and the Rugby game at Suncorp clotting my train ride, I arrived at Fat Louies pretty late to catch this free hardcore and punk gig. As I walked in, I caught the last half of the set from a band I had never heard of before, Friends With the Enemy.

I instantly liked them. Playing a melodic style of hardcore punk, they musically sound a lot like two of my favourite bands: A Wilhelm Scream and Strung Out. But this Gold Coast band does something a lot different, which in my books make them more awesome: they have an amazing female singer (check out their MySpace or get a few free MP3s from their Unearthed).

The temperature was building to a ridiculous level in the little band room at Fat Louies by the time In Trenches took the stage. I saw these guys open for Cancert Bats not too long ago, but due to my increased level of intoxication and a late arrival because of events leading to that increased level, I don't remember seeing much of them. Which is a pity, because they are a very tight and amazing live band.

Despite the oppressive heat and humidity of the room, they put a lot of energy into their set, jumping around the room.

Their metal/hardcore style was luckily fairly free of breakdowns, although a few of the punters thought they'd have a bit of a hardcore dance. At the last song, In Trenches put everything into it, with the guitarist and the singer ending up on the floor in exhaustion, probably from the heat.

The quality of their live show was apparent when Anchors came out to play, as the lead singer mentioned that they shouldn't be the headliner, following the quality of the acts before them. Although the lead singer's voice wasn't keeping up too well, with quite a few adolescent voice cracks. But he still gave it his all, dancing around and jumping off the kick drum. So much so that I struggled to get pictures of him.


The crowd didn't respond well at first, but they found their groove as the set played out. They also lost a lot of clothing with each song due to the crazy heat in the room. Being from Melbourne, I'm sure they had never felt anything like this before. It's unfortunate it took them most of their set to get a sound together, but their last few songs (including a couple of new ones) were great, especially with the punk gang vocals.


Despite me visiting a lot (it was the third time this week alone) it was the first time I had gone to Fat Louies purely for a gig. And despite the heat, it was a great show, highlighting the talent that abounds in the Australian hardcore and punk scenes.

All of these pictures, plus heaps more I took of this and other shows, can be found on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nunchukakatta/sets/72157625075862092/

The Vasco Era

Do you like your rock tinged with blues and a lot of noise thrown in? I sure do. I really do. Which is why I dig this Australian band:

Ahh, the Vasco Era. They first came to my attention in 2004, when their song Kingswood got massive rotation on Triple J (back when they played good music believe it or not). As time went on they put out two great albums, including the awesome album Lucille this year.

As part of their ungoing album touring, they're coming back from China of all places and heading back around Australia. Catch them December 3 (wow, that day is crowded for gigs!) at the Clubhouse at the Tempo Bar. 18+ of course.

MySpace

Surf rock tours

2010, without doubt, has been the year of surf-rock-indie-pop. I have no idea why, but I must say I'm not a huge fan of it. It seems we have been overwhelmed with bands playing bright guitars and dreamy vocals, with happy melodies and lyrics that just make us want to go out to the beach. Well I don't want to go to the beach, that's skin cancer central!

And if I do go to the beach, I'm bloody well listening to this:

(If any of my friends from 3 years ago are watching this, you know the rules, finish your drink while listening to that song).

Splendour this year seemed to have a fair share of it's surf rock bands and it seems Australia's late summer festivals are getting even more. Luckily, we don't get all of those festivals up this way, but we do get their sideshows. And two surf-rock bands are playing Brisbane in March:

Best Coast, March 10, Woodland
Wavves, March 8, the Zoo

Both shows, being at bars, are definitely 18+

I'll probably hit up Best Coast, as they feature a cute girl on guitar and are playing Woodland. Which is an intimate little indie bar.

The Chariot

The Chariot's new album, Long Live, is definitely a contender for my album of the year.

Formed by the former lead singer of Norma Jean, this band is somewhat similar, playing a very ecletcic mix of what could almost be mathcore with hardcore music. They are not one to shy away from shifting time signatures mid-song or trying something new.

Much like Norma Jean, I've been waiting for an Australian tour of the Chariot for such a very long time now. And there was a little slither of news that came to me yesterday which may finally sate my thirst for the Chariot live. The Chariot were added as headliners to Easterfest, the big Christian festival up in Toowoomba (April 22-24).

There's been no other shows announced yet, but the organisers have said that they

are touring The Chariot!! They will be part of the massive Easterfest. Full dates soon.

I'll have the full tour ready for you the second I hear about it.

MySpace

Gang of Four

So I normally rant on and on about how when festivals come through the country, we in Brisbane seem to get shafted by getting zero to very little in the way of sideshows. The lovely AJ of the Soundwave touring company is giving it a pretty good effort so far for 2011 though, so god bless his cowboy-hat wearing soul. He's said we're getting 3 or 4, but there's only one announced so far.


The first one we get is a classic band, that most of us probably haven't even heard of. Gang of Four originally surfaced in England in 1977, making them one of the original post-punk bands, up there with the mighty Joy Division (although with much less moody music). They've reformed a few times, but their latest reformation is going to take part of the Soundwave festival. And you can catch them the Friday before the festival (25 February) at the HiFi.

The Hold Steady

It's a sad state in the world where good song writing has slowly disappointed. Ever since the beginning of music, it's always told a story. There's a few songs of our modern times that you can sit down and listen to and at the same time form this image in your mind of the story in the song, with characters in full.

Luckily for us, some bands still do that. One of those is the Hold Steady.

The above song, Chips Ahoy, is one of my all time favourite songs. Just the simple melody, the lyrics, the images it never fails to produce in my head, the story of frustration and an organ solo. Amazing.

The Hold Steady always make me thing of being in a bar in a dingy back street of New York, drinking bourbon by yourself. And having the guy at the bar next to you, who's also alone and drinking bourbon, turn around and start telling you his depressing life story. Craig Finn's lyrics and vocal delivery just turn every song into a story.

I missed out on seeing them on Laneway a few years ago (because like every Laneway ever, I only liked the bands after the festival). I'm pissy at myself for it. So with a new tour announced, I'm getting in early and buying tickets and not missing out on what will be an amazing show in one of my favourite and most intimate venues.

March 9, the Zoo. 18+

MySpace

(Oh wow, I was just Googling them, and found out they are signed to Vagrant records. One of my favourite labels for sure, but generally more for their emo/post-hardcore/punk bands. Awesome)

Kyuss Lives!

Queens of the Stone Age used to have this amazing interactive graphic on their website back in the day. It was their family tree and showed how many amazing bands they were all part of. There were hundreds. But at the very top of it was this one little band named Kyuss.

They were the catalyst for it all. Featuring most of the member of QOTSA, they even released an EP entitled Queens of the Stone Age. If you scrutinize the above video, you can easily make out Josh Homme, but it's harder with Nick Oliveri, as he has a lot of hair unlike his more modern bald look. And he's wearing clothes for once.

The sound that Kyuss makes can best be described as stoner rock. And I love it. It reminds me of a mix of Monster Magnet and Ministry, with their sludgy and fast guitars and cleaner vocals.

Kyuss Lives! is the reformation of the band with almost all of the originals, except for one glaring omission, Josh Homme on guitar. But without him, it's still three-quarters of Kyuss playing Kyuss songs, I doubt much will change.

Get your old inner stoner rocker out on:
May 4, the Coolie
May 6, the Tivoli

Both shows 18+.

If you want to listen to their music, your best bet may actually be searching for them on You Tube. Which I've done for you.

Free Music Friday 4! (THE BUMPER HOLY-CRAP-THAT'S A LOT OF MUSIC EDITION)

This week's free music Friday comes courtesy of Kasun, he reminded me just how much I used to love this band. Introducing, Bomb the Music Industry!

Apart from having an awesome name they also have awesome song names, such as:

• "I'm Too Cooooool For Music"
• Never Trust a Man Without a Horribly Embarassing Secret
• Showerbeers!
• Side Projects are Never Successful

Their style is a mish-mash of punk, ska and hardcore punk. They will play anything that they feel like and they'll always do it having fun. Hell, their first music video was an acoustic style of mainstream radio alternative rock song.

These guys are also the epitome of independent, DIY punk. They play shows for less than $10. They record and put everything out themselves. They probably even make their own goddamn merch. And the best part is, they've always released their music for free. Every song ever. On their website: http://bombthemusicindustry.tumblr.com/ Just scroll halfway down and every album is on the left.

Their live show is crazy fun. They got voted best live act at The Fest this year. And if you don't know the Fest, well check this out: http://www.thefestfl.com/ So many bands I've been hyping lately. I wish I was in Florida for it.

Big Day Out Sideshows (I am going to for sure)

So this year's Big Day Out has seen Queensland being forgotten about when it comes to sideshows. No surprise there, every festival tends to do it. The only 'official' one is for Tool. But we're lucky enough to get two unofficial ones which I bloody well want to go see.

First up, Ratatat.
Two guys. Guitars. And an audio-visual experience you must witness. I saw them play the HiFi not long after the venue opened, and I was blown away. These two don't just make music, they put on a whole act. The stages of the Big Day Out will not do them any justice, so take the opportunity to see them do it properly, in a club. January 24 at the HiFi.

The second band is another two piece: the Black Keys.

Two guys playing blues inspired garage rock. Amazingly so. They've put out so many good albums over the years, and toured countless times, but I've never actually gone and seen them. And I regret that, a lot. January 25, at the Tivoli.

Both bands are much better suited to club shows, so if you like what you see at BDO, catch these two shows!

Joanna Newsome

Joanna Newsome is an American pianist and harpist. Most of us know her from this ad for beautiful, beautiful Melbourne:

Such beautiful music. She's got a massive new album, Have One on Me, which is a triple vinyl album. Over 2 hours of amazing music. She's coming down for a few festivals, and we're lucky enough to get her play a venue which I think will suit her perfectly, the Tivoli. Catch her on the 4th of March.

Sufjan Stevens

A few weeks back I had a good old whinge, because apparently Sufjan Stevens was out touring and coming to Brisbane on the same day as the Laneway Festival. That would be an absolutely horrible idea, because they are the exact same type of crowds. Luckily, someone was a little smarter than that.

It's now the 30th of January at the Tivoli. Get your inner-hipster on and see what is supposed to be an amazing live show by what many label a bloody genius of indie music. Now I've just got to figure out if I want to go to the Opera House in Sydney to see this tour...

One sentence album reviews (#3)

Here's the last few I put on Twitter:

Good Cean Fun - Between Christian Rock And A Hard Place (2006): Positive/straight edge/vegan/Christian hardcore punk; it's so much fun 4.5/5

Dear Landlord - Dream Homes (2009): Awesome & simple classic punk rock from Chicago (my favourite punk region) 4/5

Cower - Land Before Time (2010): Bluesy sludge metal has a baby with a hardcore band with a speech impediment; vocals are hard to hear 3/5

Departures - EP (2010): Excellent hardcore EP, with vocals that border on screamo/scramz (3.5/5)

Japandroids - Post-nothing (2009): simple yet noisy two piece garage rock with simple and fun lyrics and a beat that makes you move. 5/5

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue (2009): The bastard child of a folk album and an 8 bit electronic album; Bibio swings between the two. 3/5

Big Troubles - Worry (2010): Two of my favourite things: lots of fuzzy guitars and lots of fuzzy vocals; channeling My Bloody Valentine 4/5

Titus Andronicus - The Monitor (2010): It's as if Bruce Springsteen hit the drugs and formed an indie garage rock band tinged with country. 4.5/5

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest (2010): Lo-fi shoegaze that just spaces you out as you get lost in the music; could not stay awake at work. 3/5

Everything Everything - Man Alive (2010): Vocals and pop-stylings of Coldplay get a bit more indie with a splash of Radiohead. 3.5/5

Gin Blossoms - No Chocolate Cake (2010): The 90's called, they want this album and this band back. It's at least 15 years too late. 1.5/5

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

You probably don't know this band. Which is sad. They've been out a few times, even playing a Big Day Out. This is just a good introduction right here:

If after watching that you don't want to see this band, well I don't think we can be friends. They are just an amazing rock and roll band, keeping it real after almost 20 full years of playing. I mean, for christake, halfway through the video Jon rocks out a theremin. A THEREMIN! That's rock and roll right there.

If you want to experience this amazingness of awesome rock for yourself, head to the Zoo on January 11 2011. 18+ of course, purely for the sexiness.

Website

Gorillaz support/Little Dragon sideshows

Oh Sweden, how come you make such good music? It's criminal how much good music of all genres comes from your cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold country. The latest is this very mellow electronic band, Little Dragon.

Mmmm, dreamy. And wouldn't you know it, they are coming out to play with the Gorillaz! I believe their role is to be the band behind the band. But at the same time they will be part of the opening band. And by part of the opening band, I mean they are doing the music for De La Soul who will be rapping as the openers, before joining back in with the main Gorillaz show.

They'll also be playing a set at Woodland (it's a new indie bar upstairs from the Mustang, enter via the alleyway behind the Family) on December 18th.

Little Dragon MySpace

Of course, I'm seeing the Descendents at the No Sleep Til festival, so I will probably head to Woodland to catch Little Dragon.

RIP (the Troubadour)

It's not been a good few months for Brisbane live music. First off, the Lofly Hangar is shutting down. It's also rumoured that the Globe is shutting down. But the one that is definite and sad is the home of Brisbane's acoustic and alt-country live music, the Troubadour.

We're not sure why yet, but apparently it's because of the old building or high costs or something like that. All we know is, it's sad. There were a raft of shows coming up, most of which have been moved to the Zoo (including the Jezabels/Two Hours Traffic).

Apparently there will be a final goodbye show on November 21st, with artists to be announced. I guarantee this will be huge, so when it goes on sale, get in quickly!

Fat Louies Hardcore!

Last night I went drinking. In Fat Louies. I also listen to hardcore music. So put those two together and you get this:


In Trenches recently opened for Cancer Bats. They rocked. Hard.
Anchors have a free track at their Bandcamp. They rock less hard, but that's only because they are more punk.

Get to it, it's 18+, cheap drinks, cheap pool and free entry. AND BLOODY GREAT MUSIC. It's also this Saturday.

In Trenches
Anchors

The Jezabels/Two Hours Traffic

Over the last few weeks I've been blaring a very nice little indie release from the great Snow Mexico (aka Canada). The band, Two Hours Traffic, does very awesome upbeat indie-pop. It seems to be what Canada does best: happy guitar-fueled indie.


So needless to say, I was a little excited when I found out they were coming over to Australia to tour with another great indie-pop band: the Jezabels. This tour is to celebrate the new Jezabels EP, Dark Storm. This new EP is amazing. So much so that it's even charting on the ARIA charts. After the debacle that was the award show the other night, I'm not sure that it means anything, but it surely means that there is something good about it.

The show was scheduled for the Troubadour on the 4th of December, but it's now moved to the Zoo on the 5th. If you like indie, you'd best be there with me.

Jezabels
Two Hours Traffic

Minimalistic indie/folk/electronica tour!

Electronica is a very broad and alienating genre. I know that most of the time I struggle to get through it. There's only a handful of bands I like that do it well and I am lucky enough that two of them have decided to tour Australia together next year.

Caribou and Four Tet are joining forces to come play for us on the 15th of February at the Zoo (18+).

Both of these bands do a very stripped back electronica. It doesn't overpower the senses like most other electronic bands, but is more for a lazy day lying in bed listening to the rain (or reading a book, or just relaxing). I am not sure how to explain their folk style of electronic music, so just go and check it our for yourself.

Four Tet
Caribou

New the Walkmen song!

I would just like to add, that on my last post, on the Triple J website, there was also a link to a new song by the Walkmen.


The Walkmen has to be one of my biggest missed concert regrets ever (next to Weezer, which I skipped to go to Prom in 2002 and ended up breaking up with the girlfriend the next day). It was 2003, I was in first year in university, and the Walkmen had just released their critically acclaimed debut album Bows + Arrows. I don't remember why, but I skipped it, and the next day my team project partner heard me listening to the amazing song The Rat and asked why I wasn't there. I'm still bitter about it. It was apparently $5.

The Walkmen are more easy listening these days, and their new song is good. It's called Angela Surf City and you can get it here. I hope I get to see them one day soon.

Jebediah Tour

I am scared by the fact that a lot of people may be too young to remember the awesome indie days of Australian music in the 90s, especially Jebediah.


This Perth band was the epitome of Australian 90's indie. Recently I linked to a new track of their's but now we are blessed with another track. You can get it here at TripleJ. Although it's not as good as their other track (in my opinion at least) it still transports me back to a day when Australia made great indie rock. And after a day spent listening to Gerling, that's not a bad thing.

And to top it all off, Jebediah are going on tour for the first time in over a half of a decade! December 10th, at the Zoo.

Born Ruffians change date

When Born Ruffians announced their tour at the start of next year, the first thing I thought was "these guys are idiots. It's booked the same day as Sunset Sounds." Turns out I was right.

They've moved the date up one day to the 4th of January. It's still at the Zoo.

But now, I have an indie week of awesome:
January 2, Built to Spill, the Zoo.
January 3, Future of the Left, the Zoo.
January 4, Born Ruffians, the Zoo.
January 5, Sunset Sounds.
January 6, Sunset Sounds.

Just wow. What a start to 2011.

Free Music Friday 3!

For the last few days I've been saturating myself with garage rock, mainly in the form of Post-nothing by the Japandroids (amazing!) and interspersed with some of my Strokes' vinyl. Life is good. So to keep the mood going, today's free music Friday is garage rock!


The band today is Weird Korea. And if you try to Google search for images, you get stuff like that crazy picture above. But no band shots. They're a New York band and have played with one of my other new favourite bands, Titus Andronicus. And according to my lame-ass internet research, their first gig was at an art gallery playing Velvet Underground covers.

So I think that establishes their garage rock credentials. They've barely been around for a year but already they're looking to be a good garage rock band. Lucky for us, they've also put out their EP No Art//No Trade for free on their Bandcamp! Download it here

I'm calling it right now. Garage Rock is coming back big next year. Hopefully hot on the heels of a new Strokes album.

La Dispute tour

If you've talked to me about music in the last 4 months, I've waxed lyrical about this band over and over again. I've probably talked your ear off about them. They've just fit in perfectly to my current situation in life and their music has just been oh so agreeable to me.

For some reason I missed them on their DIY tour last year and I'm still hating myself for it. Luckily, they're going to be making up for it. Unfortunately, it's a much bigger tour this time around.

We'll be getting two shows in Brisbane.
18+ will be at the Zoo on January 25
AA will be at Burst City on January 26

I will be ditching all Australia day plans this year and going to both without fail. I am incredibly excited about this.

If you haven't caught my earlier rants about this band, they do a sort of hybrid spoken-word style post-hardcore with noodly indie math-rock style guitars at times. They also have much more engaging lyrics which has caused some people to dub them "literate". Get in and see this, or you'll probably regret it in a few years when everyone is talking about this band.

You can stream their last album on their Bandcamp.

As a sidenote, this may be my gig of next year, much in the same way Dangers was at the start of this year. Both tours are eerily similar. And I hope the gig at Burst City is just as amazing.

Blues-fucking-fest

I'm not normally one to get excited by Bluesfest, but next year, Byron is going to be crazy.

It's already being hyped as the best yet. Here's just the first announcement, the second is meant to be better:

Bob Dylan
B.B. King
Ben Harper & Relentless 7
Elvis Costello & the Imposters
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Rodrigo y Gabriela
The Cat Empire
Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Aaron Neville
Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band
Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Fistful of Mercy
Mavis Staples
Xavier Rudd
Trinity Roots
Little Bushmen
Tony Joe White
Indigo Girls
Kate Miller-Heidke
Eric Bibb
Washington
Ash Grunwald
Ruthie Foster
C.W. Stoneking
Jeff Lang
Saltwater Band
RocKwiz Live

I've bolded the ones that made me lose my mind. Like, wow. That is just amazing. The man himself, Bob Dylan headlining. B.B. King, the bluesmaster himself. Ben Harper, playing in two of his bands (Relentless 7 and Fistful of Mercy with George Harrison's son), Elvis-fucking-Costello, my dad's top 10 band the Blind Boys of Alabama and one of the greatest slide guitarists you'll ever see (maybe the only if you're not cultured enough) in Robert Randolph and his Family Band.

If you can't tell, I'm massively excited. I don't do camping festivals ever, but this may be an exception. See you in Byron April 21-25!

A Family of Strangers

This is what a family of strangers looks like:

I was going to make a bad pun about them not knowing each other, but I really can't be bothered. What you do need to know is that this is the side project of Glenn from the Butterfly Effect, which means they are a local band.

Where Butterfly Effect does heavier music, A Family of Strangers seems to be a place for more melodic soft rock. When listening to their new EP New Techniques for Beginners & Champions, each track presents a slightly different style of soft rock. At times sounding like Jimmy Eat World, other times 30 Seconds to Mars and sometimes just like a soft version of the Butterfly Effect. I'll be honest, I like it better than his original band!

You can score two free MP3's off of the EP here. And you can catch them play two shows this weekend:
November 5 at the Hard Rock Cafe in Surfers
November 6 at X&Y, which will be free entry. It's one of my favourite bars, and just won awards for the best live music venue in Australia, so get your ass there, have a drink and see some good local music!

One sentence album reviews (#2)

So I've migrated my one sentence album reviews across the road to Twitter. You can catch them here during the day: http://twitter.com/moshpitson buried amongst my other ramblings and silliness.

The sentences are a lot shorter now, due to the character restriction. And some albums I just cut the titles out, because they are stupidly long like Bring Me the Horizon's new album. And don't worry, I try my best to keep grammar and spelling perfect.

Here's a summary of the last 2 weeks. If you're too lazy to even read one sentence, I recommend After the Fall, Bars of Gold, Belle and Sebastian and Amanda Palmer.

Bars of Gold - Of Gold (2010): former hardcore kids now mix indie, mathrock, 70's psychedelia (love the synth), punk & Modest Mouse. 4.5/5

Bring Me The Horizon (2010): would be a good metalcore album if they got rid of the electronica and kid's choir; but it's saturated. 2/5

Avey Tare - Down There (2010): What's the use of recording a solo album when it sounds identical to your band (Animal Collective)?! 2.5/5

The Chariot - Long Live (2010): absolute chaotic heaviness that manages to make good mathcore; not for people with weak eardrums. 4/5

Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man (2010): sounds like every other Bad Religion album ever made: as recycled as Gillard ranga jokes. 2.5/5

Amanda Palmer - Performs the Hits of Radiohead on her Magical Ukulele (2010): The title says it all, she nails it with 1 tiny instrument 4/5

Atreyu - Covers of the Damned EP (2010): This has ruined 5 perfectly good songs as well as any lingering respect I had for Atreyu. 0.5/5

After the Fall - Eradication (2010): Not the boring Australian band, but a great old school hardcore punk album from New Jersey. 4.5/5

Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love (2010): Quieter than their last few albums, but it's classic B&S: beautiful music & lyrics. 4.5/5

Abe Vigoda - Crush (2010): Kind of spacey chill music, at times a bit surf rock. 2.5/5

Abandon All Ships - Geeving (2010): generic post-hardcore with too much crappy electronica. 1.5/5

PUNKFEST

Ohhhhhhhh punkfest. There's nothing like it. Cheap entry, lots of great local and Australian punk bands, reasonably priced beer and steak and a bloody awesome time. This year, the big draw cards are Victoria's celtic punkers, the Go Set.

Joining them from the local scene are two of my favourite Brisbane punk bands Mouthguard and the Black Market. Mouthguard do hardcore punk and weren't meant to be playing anymore shows this year. I guess they lied. Black Market do ska/folk punk, much in the style of Rancid. Both have excellent live sets.

All this goes down on the 20th of November at the Jubilee Hotel. $15 entry.

The Go Set
Mouthguard
The Black Market

More Soundwave stuff

Well after announcing an awesome band the other night for Soundwave there's been two more changes to the lineup. And of the 3 bands that are now in (including This Town Needs Guns) I am really excited to see two of them.


Alesana and A Skylit Drive have pulled out. Alesana because of an arrangement with their old band label as they try to escape it and A Skylit Drive because they just don't want to come. Not that either one bothers me, I've never really listened to them.

The replacements are Blessthefall and Polar Bear Club. I was unfortunate to miss Polar Bear Club on their club tour earlier in the year (DAMN WORK TRIPS) so I am mega excited to see them now. They do that orgcore kind of thing I talk about a bit. You know, hardcore punk rock that's a bit dirty and full of guys with beards wearing plaid. Although they are a little more hardcore than other bands.

Both This Town Needs Guns and Polar Bear Club are now in the top 8 of my must-see-at-Soundwave list.

Polar Bear Club

Toe to Toe

One of my favourite 90's hardcore punk bands is Toe to Toe. And they're Australian.

(I was going to put a music video here, but on my search I couldn't stop laughing. See why: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=toe+to+toe+slave&aq=f And then watch the first 3 videos).

They're not on tour, but for some reason or another they've decided to come up to Brisbane to play a show! 17th of December at the Step Inn.

MySpace