Review: Iron Hide/TesseracT/Periphery, the Zoo, July 29 2011

The guys over at AltMusicHub asked me to take pictures of this gig for them. Since it was my first time taking pictures for any reason more than fun, I was nervous as all get out. The nerves were also compounded by the choice of venue.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the Zoo. They are the perfect medium-sized, yet still intimate, venue in Brisbane and they'll host any genre or event there. I've seen some of my favourite bands there and it's great, there is almost no separation between audience and band.

Taking photos there is another story though. The no seperation thing means you, as a photographer, have to get there early and muscle through the crowd to score a spot at the front of the stage. If the venue is full, like it was for this gig, there's no chance in hell of moving around and getting different angles. If the crowd is really into the music and moving around, like at this almost at capacity gig, you'll lose your position quite quickly and end up taking photos from a few people back while trying to protect your equipment from beer and mosh. The lighting is pretty shocking too. Up front of the stage it's mainly red and dark, and all of the good lighting seems to be in the middle of the stage where no one stands. But all up, it's quite a fun challenge and can lead to some great angles and pictures.

The full gallery can be found over at AltMusicHub's facebook page. This blog post is for supplementary pictures that didn't quite make the cut.

An advantage of being in early was the chance to see the local openers: Iron Hide. I love this band and think they are one of the best Brisbane bands at the moment (click the link to check out their music). Although I'm not always a fan of their technical metal genre, this was an excellent chance to see them play with a great PA system. And as expected, they blew the crowd away. The two-singer style they have works so well. It also makes me swoon a bit for Lachlan, who is also the singer of one of my other favourite Brisbane bands, Nuclear Summer. I hope they won over more people in the crowd during the gig, as they deserve to be bigger.


Next up were TesseracT. Although I knew nothing about them, a fair majority of the crowd were very keen to see them. I was a bit dubious at first, with their 7 string guitars (do you really need that extra string?!) and more singing-than-screaming metal style (deep down I'm a really heavy music kid) but they won me over within a few songs.

Like every band tonight, their skill at their instruments was phenomenal. It was really a day for technical metal heads to rejoice.

I'd seen Periphery before. But I'll be honest, I don't remember them. They were opening for Dillinger Escape Plan, who eclipse everything and anything in their wake like a bloody black star. So seeing them this time was basically like seeing them for the first time.

Despite not knowing any of their songs, I enjoyed it. They seemed to have the perfect balance between heavy and soft, including what the singer dubbed "the faggoty emo parts".

I was pretty excited, as I've never gotten good pictures of a lead singer before at the Zoo. However, the Periphery guy was a great model.

Don't forget to check out the full gallery here at AltMusicHub.

Free Music Friday 25!

I really wanted to post this last week, but hey, I was in Melbourne for Modest Mouse. So I think I had my priorities straight. But it gave me a lot more time to listen to this band on the plane, and I can't stop listening to it.

The band is Monument and this year they realeased an album called Sweat Pants Fever. You can stream it here:

It's 90's style emo, with a way more heavy rocking edge. The album is half covers. But that doesn't bother me. The last two covers just make the album even stronger (Descendents and Braid).

Now, streaming isn't free. I know. But if you follow the stream link to their Bandcamp (or you can click here) you can get some of their EPs for free. Just click the album covers on the right hand side of the page.

With the Get Up Kids coming out in 2 weeks and Braid about to release a new album, this has really got me back into my 90s midwest style emo.

Mr Maps

So a few weekends ago, me and Nabil headed into Brisbane's latest guerilla gig: Mr Maps at the tennis courts at New Farm Park.

Who are Mr Maps? Think of instrumental post-rock with huge overtones of twinkly emo guitar but much more densely layered. Does that description confuse you? Well head on over to their Triple J Unearthed website to get some tracks for free to check out.

The band was started by the guitarist, after he wrote most of the songs for his university honours project. The end result was way more impressive than my final uni project! The rest of the band came together to help him and the guerilla gig was for them to film a music video for their new song Tennis Party. Whenever it comes out, hopefully you'll see my and Nabil's beautiful beards in the music video. Or at least us trying to catch some tennis balls in a bucket.

Here's some pictures I took of the day.

Animation of Nabs not catching the ball:

Me not catching the ball:

One sentence album reviews (#16)

Here's some more one sentence reviews. I've got to say, it's really hard to condense my feelings down to 144 characters without just saying "I like it" over and over again. Especially when some of these band names/album names are just way too fucking long.

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys (2011): Ben Gibbard shows off his amazing songwriting with their most accessible album yet 4.3/5

The Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction (2011): Reminds me of the firstime I heard Buckethead: crazy non-sensical songs of metal awesome 4/5

Fireworks - Gospel (2011): Nothing as catchy as their old song Detroit, but they are evolving to sound a lot like early Fall Out Boy 3/5

Flogging Molly - Speed of Darkness (2011): My favourite Irish-folk-punk band have moved away from punk to a folk style that I'm unsure of 3.6/5

I Exist - II: The Broken Passage (2011): Not the best production, but excellent Australian hardcore/sludge with some amazing acoustic work too 3.7/5

Boris - Attention Please (2011): Their 2nd album this year sees them make stripped back, yet bloody catchy, J-Pop, still with overtones of heavy rock 4.7/5

Boris - Heavy Rocks (2011): their only album of the 3 this year that channels their older metal sound, but with a garage rock twist 4.3/5

Abbe May - Design Desire (2011): Australian whose album starts as a blues-rock explosion, but slowly becomes regular female singer-songwriter affair 3.5/5

Adolescents - The Fastest Kid Alive (2011): Although an old punk band, this album still sounds rather childish and thrown together 2.5/5

Cults - ST (2011): The ultimate hipster-indie-female-singer-lofi-pop album, but Christ it's good 4.5/5

Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones (2011): It's hard to imagine this almost British-folk album is the work of a former hardcore man 3.8/5

Arms Exploding - Ruminari (2008): Amazing post-hardcore/noise band that reminds me of the glory days of post-hardcore in early 2000s 4.5/5

Mr Big - What If (2011): The original lineup returns to show us how to make a good rock album, in an 80s style that doesn't feel dated 4.1/5

Sharks - The Joys Of Living (2011): a punk album by a band that really misses the 70s style of the Clash, Buzzcocks, etc. 3.4/5

Taking Back Sunday - ST (2011): The old lineup sounds great at the start of the album, but it drops off rapidly 3.7/5

Foster the People - Torches (2011): Definitely flavour of the month Triple J "indie" music, but it's kind of damn catchy 3.5/5

Kaiser Chiefs - The Future is Medieval (2011): Novel idea, make your own album from 20 songs. Too bad only about 3 of them are good songs 2/5 (What sucks about Kaiser Chiefs is that their 1st album was so awesome, every other one sounds as if they're as bored as I am listening to it)

Memphis May Fire - The Hollow (2011): Title of this album should be "generic metalcore album of 2011 #69". But it's still reasonably good. 3/5

Monument - Sweat Pants Fever (2011): An excellent, heavier 90's style midwest-emo album. The four covers on it are just amazing 4.7/5

Panda Bear-Tomboy (2011):he must be the guy that writes the stretched out & boring Animal Collective songs. This album droned me to sleep 2/5

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers-Rare Bird Alert (2011):the comedian makes an accessible bluegrass album with plenty of wit 4.3/5
(Who knew he was such a good banjo player?!)

Of Mice & Men - The Flood (2011): Perfect combination of really heavy music, with clean parts and just the right amount of breakdown 4.3/5

Thee Oh Sees - Castlemania (2011): lo-fi pop music, sounding as if those surf bands of last year decided to do drugs and write psychedelia 3/5

This Will Destroy - You Tunnel Blanket (2011): Cinematic instrumental post-rock that in my head is the perfect soundtrack to a thriller alien move 3.5/5

Rod Fucking Stewart

Like I need to fucking introduce Rod fucking Stewart. If you don't know who he is, ask your mum.

For those of you playing for extra points at home, he even wrote the song that was the theme for the British tv show the Office.

This man has been getting girls naked only using his voice for longer than you've been around. I swear it, you get him in a room and bam, underwear goes flying, as if by magic.

So come February 22nd 2012, lock up your daughters, mothers and sisters and keep them away from the Entertainment Centre

Harvest Festival

Not too long ago I stoked the flames of the rumour pit by mentioning the Harvest Festival, an indie/arts festival that was (rather surprisingly) being down by the Soundwave team. All that was known then was a small release asking for potention artists to help fill the event sites with life.

And while I was gone on holidays, it was announced. And it's going to be quite the awesome indie festival.

Below is my reaction as I read the line-up for the first time:

• Portishead. Finally. I was wondering if they were ever going to come out. I know a tonne of people who will lose their shit over this.
• The National. Wow. So good earlier this year, but it will be amazing to see them without the crappy Sunset Sounds crowds and the pouring pre-flood rains
• The Flaming Lips. HOLY HELL I FINALLY GET TO SEE THE FLAMING LIPS! *swoon*
• Bright Eyes... not my thing, but I know a lot of indie kids that just wet themselves in excitement
• Holy Fuck. 2nd best band of Laneway this year. Their electronic noise will hopefully find a better crowd here than in a little shed full of hipsters
• The Family Stone... Where's Sly eh? Did he get kicked out of the family?
• The Walkmen! I get to overcome one of my greatest non-Weezer concert regrets, when I decided to not go see them in a little venue in 2003, instead I did an assignment.
• This Town Needs Guns were so good at the Toff this year, will be interesting to see them on a big stage.
• Foxy Shazam, 2nd best band of Soundwave and I'm looking forward to see them funk and rock their way back into my pants.

The details. $135, 18+ (no annoying kids). Botanic Gardens/Riverstage, November 19.

EDIT: the logo and the name is just really making me want to listen to Neil Young.

Cold Chisel

Is there anything more Australian than grabbing a tinnie of VB, winding down the windows of your Commodore and blaring some Chisel out the windows? Probably not.

It's been years (decades even) since these guys pioneered the Australian pub music scene and style and become the anthem to drunk bogans Australia (and Bali) wide. Last year they got together for a one-off for a V8 race, but now they're back for a fully fledged 28-date Australian tour.

Rather unsurprisingly, it's sponsored by Triple M.

For only $99.90 you and your dad can go see them at either the Gold Coast Convention Centre October 30 or November 1 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

A stranger combination you may never find

What does Kimya Dawson, a happy quirky folk-style singer-songwriter who was thrust into the spotlight with her songs featuring heavily on the Juno soundtrack...

and Aesop Rock, a Jewish feel-good alternative rapper, have in common?

The only thing I can think of is that they both do more upbeat song stylings. Oh, and they happen to be doing a show together in Brisbane. That's about it really.

But holy heck, this could be a good night of great fun music. I can just imagine the two will play off each other quite well.

October 16, the HiFi.

Triple J Hottest 100 Australian albums of all time: Why "mainstream" radio is crap

Yes. I called Triple J mainstream. These days it's basically a feeder station for Austereo. If a band makes it "big" on Triple J, it becomes high rotation on the other networks. And Triple J is almost fully a playlist station now. You can turn it on at any time and hear mostly the same stuff. The same crap stuff.

But the farce that has my blood boiling is the Hottest 100 Australian albums of all time. This is where we, the voting public, got to choose the best albums to ever come out of this country of amazing music.

You can read the results here. And while you do, imagine me hanging my head in shame. Maybe even shaking it slowly side to side looking wisftul.

Did you digest that list? Do you feel shame at some of it? I know I do. Before I rant any further, here's my contributions to the vote, and why:

Carpathian - Isolation (for a country of great hardcore, this album truly stood out and showed what we know at all of the local shows we go to)
Gerling - Children of Telepathic Experiences
Gerling - When Young Terrorists Chase the Sun (These two albums still get played by me a lot, pure gutiar pop (with a bit of electronica too)
Grinspoon - Guide to Better Living (It's the album that started it all, even if they sing about dead cats. Three times)
I Heart Hiroshima - Tuff Teef (raw indie-pop, experimenting with a non-traditional band format and having some catchy hooks)
INXS - Kick (One of the greatest Australian albums ever, massive international success combining funk and rock)
Living End, The - The Living End (punkabilly at it's best. How many of us didn't shout out the lyrics of Prisoner of Society to any teachers/power figures after this album?)
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Murder Ballads (not his best work, but probably the most successful album from Australia's king of goth, culture, art, music and basically everything. It even almost made me like Kylie Minogue)
Silverchair - Frogstomp (it's where it all started. The angsty teens)
Testeagles - Non Comprehendus (joke vote, at this point there wasn't many albums left in their list I'd consider. And 12 years on I still love this album with it's weird nu-metal vibe)

Right, so here's what's wrong with the list that actually made it:

1. Nick Cave only got 2 mentions, all in the bottom 50. He has a body of musical work that should elevate him above legend status, to some musical-god status. But no, he gets shunned.
2. The following bands should not be in it at all: Gypsy and the Cat, Sleepy Jackson, Art vs Science, Karnivool, Birds of Tokyo, Temper Trap, Empire of the Sun, Tame Impala, Josh Pyke and Angus and Julia Stone. They are good bands on their own merits (well, some of them), but the albums aren't old enough to be "BEST OF ALL TIME"
3. The Saints. Number 80? No. Top 30 at the worst.
4. Cold Chisel at number 65. Sure, this isn't the Triple M countdown, but Cold Chisel did a lot more for Australian music than nearly any other band.
   
5. Some of the bands are right, but the albums are so wrong. Spiderbait? Ivy is awesome, but where's Grand Slam, the album that made them almost as popular as their later days Black Betty cover? How did Something For Kate's breakthrough (and most stunning) album Beautiful Sharks end up 32 spots below it's more recent and meh release? How did Sarah Blasko's newest album end up higher than her amazing debut?
   

Actually, you know what? I quit this rant. I could keep going on and on and on and on. Does this make me a musical elitist? Probably. I think the problem is that the Triple J public have short term memories and short attention spans. The public being those that vote and participate. Those of us that grew up on Triple J and miss the days of old left years ago. That's why I love 4ZZZ. They'll play anything and everything if you just ask nicely. And they're not afraid to play something new and out there that doesn't pander to the general audience.

But for something completely different, I agree with their number 1. Powderfinger's Odyssey Number 5 is just a great album in its whole. I imported it to the USA when I lived over there. That's how much I liked it.

(Oh, and PS, any Triple J hate does not extend to Short Fast Loud. I love that show and Stu covers all the bases with the diversity and constant shifting of his weekly playlist)

Lucero/Dropkick Murphys

It's that time of the year again when I trot out my most over-used picture on the blog (I think this is my fourth time now).


Yes, that's me, the lovely Bek, Ben Nichols and Frank Turner. Last time I used it was for Frank Turner, this time it's for Ben Nichols. Because his band, Lucero, are finally coming out to Australia.

And most surprising of all, they're opening for the Dropkick Murphys.

This should be called the "cigarettes and alcohol" tour I think.

Lucero is a southern alt-country/punk band whose beautiful music just invoke images of long nights in dark bars sipping whiskey.

Unfortunately, a lot of their songs are dark and sad. But gosh, it's just beautiful music.

Dropkick Murphys, of course, are the ultimate beer-in-hand, shoulder-over-another-mates-shoulder shouting-songs-at-the-top-of-your-voices Boston Irish working-class punk band. They have a huge back catalogue of great albums, including their new release, Going Out In Style, which I think may be their best album yet.

This will be a great show in a great venue.

October 19 at the Tivoli. Be there, drink in hand. Watch me fan boy over Lucero before we all sing along to the Dropkicks.

Dennis Lyxzen

Everyone should watch this video. Shot before coming on stage at the Zoo. It was a great set by them and this video has a bit of insight to Dennis Lyxzen as a man. And by man, I mean a legend.

A Few Minutes With AC4 from A FEW MINUTES WITH on Vimeo.

You can see me in a lot of the live video taking photos for my review that's right here.

Free Music Friday 24!

Bandcamp.
Is there a better website for discovering new music? I think not.
You can get free albums, unlike MySpace where you have to stream one song at a time.
You can download the whole album and keep it. Once again, MySpace streams.
You can buy it directly from the band if you like their shit.

If it wasn't for Bandcamp, I wouldn't have done Free Music Friday. About 70% of this stuff comes direct from Bandcamp. And it's generally some random band that has absolutely no info and I have no idea how I stumbled onto it.

Which brings us around full circle to this Free Music Friday. It's a band called Step Dads. And the only picture I could find is from their Facebook.

There is apparently a very attractive female in this band, according to the picture. Which of course means I like them a lot already.

But in a non-sexist way, I decided I liked this band way before I knew that. You see, they are that noisy type of post-hardcore that I love. Post-hardcore to most of the young generation is just synth/breakdowns/bad-core music (think Bring Me The Horizon etc), so it always irks me that the old/good style of post-hardcore is lost. That's another rant for another day though.

The last few weeks I've been blasting a lot of the Black Powder and Black Eyes and really any of that good old-style of Dischord records style of music. Also the amazing Arms Exploding album that someone over at Phatry Records was nice enough to package for free in a vinyl order for me. Basically old-school amazing post-hardcore. And it's made me so nostalgic that I've also been blaring a lot of At the Drive-In. The point is, I've fallen back in love with the more "classic" style of post-hardcore, especially the times when it just disintegrates into a very noisy-style.

Step Dads are that style. I wish I knew more about them, but so far apart from their Facebook and Bandcamp, I've seen nothing. Except they're from Indiana. Go the midwest! (my old stomping grounds).

Over on their Bandcamp, you can get their EP for absolutely free. Chuck it a listen if you like the sound of anything I've mentioned so far this blog post, or you just want some excellent, noisy and slightly chaotic music.

They also have a song called Legos. I basically want to be in this band.

Man Overboard

If you've gone to any punk-related gig in the last year or so, I guarantee you've seen a plethora of these shirts:

Heck, I even took a photo of the ever lovable Adam Vass, bassist of La Dispute, wearing a similar one at the Zoo.


So if you're like me, you've probably wondered "Who the fuck are Man Overboad? And what exactly are they defending pop-punk from? Bad riffs? Shitty hair styles? Breakdowns and bad x-core style music?"

I'd imagine the answer is all of the above.

In my opionion, they're not the best, but no one can really beat New Found Glory's Sticks and Stones for the ultimate in pop-punk. But they're not the worst, they're definitely miles ahead of any of that generic mix-in-hardcore-crap-music that's being passed off as pop-punk these days.

I'll get a chance to defend pop-punk myself soon, when they play the Globe on September 3. 18+.

Wait... the Globe? How odd. Doesn't seem like a good match. Neither does an 18+ tour. Weird.

MySpace

Times New Viking

I'm on the Woodland newsletter list, and once every week or so I get a newsletter where I see the name of DJs and electronic artists that I don't know and click 'next'. About once a month I get something which makes me sit back, stop, and say "OH GOD YES I WANT TO SEE THAT!"

Well today I got one of those emails. Although, it had a typo. It said 'New Times Viking.' I had to stop for a minute and think about it, is this a band I saw in NYC years ago, Times New Viking? When I got home and could follow the links and see the pictures, it was confirmed. Yes, it's this band. And here's the proof with a picture I took of them in Coney Island in 2008.

Granted, not a good picture, but that was back in the day before I had a good camera. In fact, it was like 4 cameras ago. But they were still good, and their name stuck with me for a few weeks until I flew back to Brisbane and checked out more of their music.

So what are they? Think lo-fi noisy indie with a female singer. That's them. And I enjoyed the shit out of them live, as well as their album this year called Dancer Equired.
Chuck them a listen on their MySpace and if you like it, join me on August 26th at Woodland. 18+ of course, it's a nightclub silly.

Def Leppard

I wonder how many people of my generation know of Def Leppard purely because of their reference in this song:

And yes, it's true. The drummer from Def Leppard only has one arm.

Unknown to most people, is the fact that this 80's glam/hair-rock band is also responsible for the worst karaoke perfomance known to man: me doing Pour Some Sugar on Me in 2002.

Come October 27, at the Entertainment Centre, you'll be able to embrace your denim vest and your British flag bandanas (holding back your bad perm maybe?) and rock out to Def Leppard. Supporting them are other classic rockers of that era: Heart and the authors of one of Australia's most widely recognized non-ACDC riffs, the Choirboys.

The Tallest Man On Earth

He's really not that tall. And he's Swedish.

But as you listen to his folk music in the above video, you can't help but come to the conclusion that pretty much everyone else has: he sounds like old school Bob Dylan. I've yet to read a review that doesn't make this link. It's not a bad thing at all though. His song-writing and his singing is very similar in both style and absolute awesomeness.

Come October, he'll be down under playing a show at the Powerhouse. When it comes to venues to sit down and listen to a man play his guitar and serenade me, I can't think of many other perfect venues. Maybe the Troubadour or the Globe.

This is not a show you want to miss. October 21, Powerhouse.

Monster Magnet

Following on from the last post, I thought I'd keep the good stoner/doom music tours coming your way. This one is a band I've been a fan of since the 90s as an awkward pre-teen, but only just saw this year for the first time at Soundwave.

It's Monster Magnet.

They felt a bit out of place in the middle of a summer day on a stage with mainly "popular" "core" bands, but to me, they were one of the highlights of the day. Perfect for relaxing in the shade and just letting the music wash over you.

This year they've decided to play one of their classic albums, Dopes to Inifity, in full. Their lead singer explains:

When I wrote ‘Dopes…’ in 1995 I envisioned a hard-rock, tripped-out journey exploring the many sounds and styles of the great psychedelic era of 1968-1974. I carefully sequenced the album to take the listener on a roller-coaster ride of engaging words and music. I sang songs of love, hate, lust, joy and desperation in a style I hoped would fire the listener’s imagination, bringing the everyday emotions that we all share to mythical heights. Thankfully, the fans and critics told me I succeeded. Now I’d like to bring that experience to the stage. ‘Dopes To Infinity’: Live! In it’s entirety. A complete trip from beginning to end. I can’t wait!

September 17 at the HiFi. 18+

Church of Misery

Japan.
It's a country of great music. There's no doubt about it. So many great bands, of every genre, seem to come out of there. I think of it as Asia's Sweden. Both countries just export such quality music.

One Japanese band I stumbled across this year is Church of Misery. Imagine, if you will, some 1970s Black Sabbath. Now take that, mix it up with some Kyuss and Oliveri-era Queens of the Stone Age (fuck he made that band) and while you're at it, throw in some dirty southern rock (in a Maylene and the Sons of Disaster style) and just a pinch of the Melvins.


Finding all of those videos for those bands mentioned above has made me excited for this. They are just truly awesome doom-metal. So it's not surprising that they're headlining Doomfest this year. October 14 at the Jubilee.

If you like only one or two of those bands I listed above, do yourself a favour, head over to their MySpace and chuck a listen. Don't let the band name or the genre fool you, it's just great rock and roll.

EDIT: According to the festival's Facebook, Church of Misery are out. Stay tuned to see who the replacement is

The greatest band on earth, touring Australia as a support band

I first heard about this tour back in February. I've been sitting on it a while, waiting for confirmation, etc, but I can now tell you that the greatest band on earth, Tenacious D, is heading to Australia. Amazing! Yes!

However, they're hitching their tour on a much larger wagon, who they once helped film a music video with:

Yep. That's right. It's the Foo Fighters, supported by Tenacious D. December 10th, at Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast (that's the old Carrara Stadium, just in case you were wondering). Foo Fighters did a quick stop in Brisbane at the start of the year for a flood fundraiser, and by all accounts, they are back on top of their game as one of the best modern rock bands.

I've never seen them, so I guess this may be the time to do it. Especially since there's more bands to be announced and the major rumour is (from someone in the know who's right about 90% of the time) its the Strokes.

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

The year was 2002. I was 16. I lived in America. There was a store called Best Buy, and they used to have a $5 section. You could pick up some great new albums by bands not well known and for the price, even if it was bad, you would not feel ripped off. That $5 bin opened my mind to music and exposed me to most of what I listen to today.

One of the greatest albums I got from it was called Source Tags and Codes and was by a band with a most kick-ass name: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Earlier in the year I'd seen the band name on a shirt worn by one of the guys in Brand New, and I thought it was a cool band name with an awesome graphic (side note, I own that same shirt and wear the shit out of it). That, coupled with the weird hardcore come indie come prog-rock sound that emanated from my speakers, sealed it. I was a Trail of Dead fan boy.

I still am.

In 2009 I finally got to see them, playing at the Zoo. Although their sound wasn't great (the levels were way too loud and drowned out most of the sound) I was in heaven. I was going to post the video I took of that night, but because of the high levels it just sounds like distorted noise. Instead, here's one of the same song played live:

Over the years, their plethora of albums came and went across all sorts of sort-of-related genres: noise-rock, prog-rock, hardcore, alternative, indie, but without fail, every album would have lots of moments when I'd just sit back and think, "whoa, this is epic."

They put out a new album this year, which was almost a return to form of the greatness of Source Tags and Code (I gave it a 4/5 in my Twitter reviews). To go on the back of this album, it appears we're getting a tour!

September 9 at the HiFi (18+)

I hope the amazing sound system at the HiFi does justice to this amazing band.

The Beards

I am a man. A man with a beard. Since I was about 17, my face has always been adorned with some sort of hair, except for those unfortunate times when I accidentally trimmed too close and looked 14 for the few days it took me to man back up.


I'm not the only person that enjoys a good Beard. The band known as The Beards have formed their entire musical premise around beards. Well, beards, comedy and folk music. It's bloody hilarious. Click the link above to get some free MP3s from them. I'd especially recommend "If Your Dad Doesn't Have A Beard You've Got Two Mums".

They're playing a show at the Zoo on August 12th. You should see them. 18+

Guerilla Gigs: the Wimbledon Edition

Yes, I ranted on-and-on the other day about how much I hate post-rock, except for a small handfull of bands. And one of those bands, that I forgot to mention at the time, is from our own sweet home town of Brisbane. They are Mr Maps.

I didn't include them because they really aren't that post-rock. I prefer to think of them as just bloody awesome instrumental music. Yes, there's no singing, but my god, what they do is just make some absolutely beautifully layered music.

Their launching their new single soon and it's named Tennis Party. And to celebrate all things tennis, they're going to do a guerilla gig... on a tennis court. On the 17th of July, between 1pm and 3pm, head over to the New Farm Park Tennis Courts (Hopetoun Way in New Farm, next to the park) for an absolutely free all ages gig. I think it's a good excuse for a picnic as well.

They've got a few free MP3s, including the new single, on their Triple J Unearthed page.

EDIT:
This is how excited I am for it

Frenzal Rhomb/Teenage Bottlerocket

I woke up this morning to a very lovely picture message:

Thanks for sending it Ellis. Despite it being blurry as all hell, it's bloody exciting. If you can't read the poster, I'll explain why it's good on two fronts.

1. It continues Frenzal Rhomb's long standing tradition of bringing great overseas bands with them. If it wasn't for Frenzal, I would never have seen the Lawrence Arms. And now, thanks to them, I get a chance to see Teenage Bottlerocket, a great USA punk band. I've been blaring their new EP, Mutilate Me, for the last few weeks, and I love their style of old school pop-punk (pre-2000's, the way it should be).
2. It's bringing back the Arena. THE GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKING ARENA. A place where I have spent most of my life. In fact, I was at the last Arena show, which happened to be Frenzal Rhomb as well. I can't wait to get reacquainted with the sticky dance floor, the upstairs bars and hidden couches, the dancing cage, the giant poles in the middle of the mosh pit and the urinal with no head clearance so I have to lean backwards. I love dive bars. I love places that play good music. And the Arena was just my dream combination of it all.

Frenzal Rhomb/Teenage Bottlerocket
September 9, the Arena.
SQUEE!

Teenage Bottlerocket MySpace, for listening pleasure.