After the Fall

Being Australian, this tour announcement today made me go meh. After the Fall? Washed up Australian radio rock I first heard when I was like 12?

But no, I just had to read a bit further. After the Fall... from the USA. Melodic-hardcore-punk of awesome.

Seriously, would the Australian After the Fall wear a Black Flag shirt? I doubt it. I gave these guys album from 2010 a 4.5/5. It was damn good punk.

I wasn't expecting this at all, but they're coming out to Australia! Touring with Melbourne's punk rockers Anchors. It's going to be a great show. The Jubilee, November 17, 18+. You've probably never heard of them, so head to their MySpace to hear many songs, including one featuring Make Do And Mend.

Free Music Friday 30!

Ahhhhhhhhh... Chino Moreno. I musically man crush on this man:

Lead singer of the Deftones. Although I like their first album the best (Adrenaline... so good), their musical output has always kept me entertained, even in recent years when it's become almost ambient electronica with overtones of heavy rock.

For anyone that has listened to the Deftones over the last few years, or Chino's side project Team Sleep, this Free Music Friday will be something you embrace. It's ††† (Crosses) his collaboration with a few other artists. Like other Chino work, it's very beautifully constructed almost ambient electronica, but with overtones of hard rock (less so on this EP). He's obviously onto a winning formula here...

You can grab their EP for free at their Facebook page. It sounds very similar, but goshdarn if I don't enjoy it...

Massive update

It's been such a long time since I've done this, but because I've fallen behind, I think it's time I updated my blog in one huge hit. So here's all the tours and news I've been saving over the last 2 weeks to blog about.

Coal Chamber are playing Soundwave 2012
Yes, one of those first nu-metal bands that got me into heavy music are reforming and coming out our way for Soundwave next year! I'm actually quite excited to see them...

Other bands confirmed for Soundwave next year include: Trivium, CKY, Shadows Fall, Devin Townsend, Gojira, The Used, Hellyeah, Dillinger Escape Plan, Dashboard Confessional, Hole, Machine Head, Hatebreed, Kvelertak, Mastodon, Zebrahead and Saves the Day (including a second set of them playing Weezer songs). Wow. Already looking to be a big festival.

Foxy Shazam 
One of my favourite bands from Soundwave this year have pulled out of the Harvest Festival to focus on the UK.

Vasco Era
Noisy indie rockers the Vasco Era are heading out for an Australian tour, playing the Coolangatta Hotel on October 29 and the Zoo October 30.

Vanilla Ice
He's too legit to quit and as such he will be playing Jupiter's Casino, on the Gold Coast. November 13.

Opeth
The Swedish progressive-death-metal-rock band will be playing the Tivoli on December 15. Expect lots of long hair, black shirts, and extended solos to fast drumming.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
These indie-rockers are coming out for the Harvest festival, but have also decided to play an intimate sideshow at the Zoo on November 20.

Free Triple J concert
Triple J, to celebrate the launch of their new digital radio station playing "unearthed" Australian music, are having free shows Australia wide on October 5. Ours will be at the Arena, featuring Bleeding Knees Club, Emma Louise and The Medics. Doors are at 7pm, it's free, but it's first in best dressed.

Valley Fiesta
Free music will be invading the streets of Fortitude Valley on October 7 and 8 with two stages playing great music. For FREE! You can catch Hungry Kids of Hungary, Kidney Thieves, Laneous and the Family Yah and much more. Head here to find out.

Incubus

The second concert I ever went to. The first band t-shirt I ever bought. Formed a band based on mutual love of them. Own every CD. One of the big motivators to buy a bass guitar. Incubus is one of those few bands that have been there through my entire life.

And it's not hard to see why. They are a good music factory. Churning it out for over a decade.

Starting as funk metal (dear to my heart at that young age) they were one of those few bands that matured on each album, trying new things and actually succeeding with it most times. Although their departure from the faster and funkier sounds towards a more alternative/indie sound didn't strike the same chord with me, they still put out music I enjoyed. I kept buying their albums. They lost Dirk (the bass player) and I was heartbroken. I thought there'd be no more funk. But then they brought in Ben (from the Roots) who added his own style and continued their growth.

I've only seen them twice, which given my concert frequency and time I've been in love with this band, is quite sad. But they are finally coming back out to Australia, almost 4 years since they last came out.

February 10th, Convention Centre.

Be there to watch girls my age swoon, as Brendan Boyd will undoubtedly take his shirt off at some point.

A weekend (in pictures)

Well, what a weekend for me musically (and photographically). 2 gigs, 1 festival, 17 bands and me lagging all my camera equipment around.

First up was Every Time I Die/The Acacia Strain/The Word Alive at the HiFi on Friday night.

Every Time I Die as always had great energy and put on a killer set. You can view the full gallery of all three bands at AltMusicHub (click here).

Saturday was the Soundwave Counter Revolution festival at the Riverstage.

Highlights include Scott Ian's beard (see above). Lowlights include my camera dying halfway through the day. I was so bummed. I had never photographed a music festival before, let alone bands in the daylight. Looking through my photos of the day, I think it's some of the better ones I've ever taken. And then my camera had to die. Enjoy the gallery over at AltMusicHub of the first 11 bands (of 19) (click here).

Sunday, after a lot of crying over my dead camera, I managed to secure a loaner camera and headed into the Tivoli to see Architecture in Helsinki.

They are currently at the peak of their hipster stage, that's for sure. Doesn't that picture above look like a clip from Revenge of the Nerds? Anyway, the full galleries are over at ToneDeaf.
Mitzi
Oscar + Martin
Architecture in Helsinki

The camera is currently in for repairs, so I guess it's a forced 10 day vacation for me from gigs.

The Getaway Plan

The Getaway Plan were one of those bands that just seemed to have existed in my youth. Whenever I went to some sort of "heavier" music show they would always be there, opening, even though they weren't from Brisbane. The first time I saw them was in 2006, opening for From Autumn to Ashes were I recognized this song:

For you radio-listeners of that era, it actually got quite a bit of play on Triple J 5 years ago. From that point onwards they got a bit more alternative-rock, lost a few members, gained a few members, gained some popularity (apparently) and broke up.

Well like any band these days, you're not really ever broken up, are you? So it was not really a surprise when they announced they were back together, recording an album and playing shows. They were up for Big Sound a few weeks back, but they are about to head out on a full Australia tour. We'll have them stopping by the HiFi on November 23. It's 18+, with supports from the always good West Coast hardcore band Break Even.

Rob: a mixtape

The blog's been even quieter of late, but this time it's for a reason. A very sad reason. Rob, a long-time blog reader who's greatest complaint to me was "you post too much, I can't keep up. Just tell me the good parts" passed away in a skiing accident last week.

Not only was he a blog reader: he was a close friend, one of the first people I met at university, and he also slept mere metres from me as he was my housemate. Not as close as this picture... which sees me passed out at a friend's 21st.

Rob had a varied taste in music, almost as much as mine. We went to a tonne of concerts together: Presidents of the USA, Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Get Up Kids (a few weeks ago), Mars Volta, and many more than I can remember. We were even going to go to Dropkick Murphys/Lucero in the next few weeks.

So for some odd reason, it fell on me and a few close friends to pick out the music for his memorial. It was tough to shortlist it all down, but we finally put together a mix tape for him. RIP Captain.

1. Audioslave - I Am the Highway

As I helped clean out his room the other day, I found tickets for Chris Cornell in a few weeks. He was a huge Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine fan, so this song combined both perfectly (and with that little bit of sombre edge too).

2. Incubus - Wish You Were Here

Well... we do Rob.

3. Pearl Jam - Black

If you get the feeling that Rob liked his 90's alternative rock bands... well you'd be right. And this song is just bloody sad. I can't hear it now without getting a little teary.

4. Rage Against the Machine - Beautiful World

Rob was a huge Rage fan. I remember going with him to the Big Day Out to see this band. The gates to the D were closing early and it was a crush to get in... Unfortunately I was the only one to get in at the time. Tim and Rob had to sit on the outside and watch it. I still kind of rubbed that in to him every now and then. As for this song, it is a Devo cover, but the only really soft song Rage have.

5. The Mars Volta - Televators

One of the first (if not the first) gigs I went to with Rob was the Mars Volta at the Arena. 3 hours of the Mars Volta. I had a swollen head and had just gotten out of the emergency room, but dammit, nothing was going to stop us. We saw the Mars Volta a few times together over the years.

6. The Roots - Don't Feel Right

This was a recent addition to Rob's musical collection. Only this year did he start listening to rap music, I think from the suggestion of his workmates. He borrowed my Roots CDs and apparently this was one of his favourite songs.

7. The B-52's - Rock Lobster

As long as we were going to pubs, we'd always put this song on. And drink during the "down, down, down" part.

8. Frank Sinatra - Come Fly With Me

Rob was a huge "Frankie" fan (as he would say). He would always ask for Frank Sinatra to be put on when I was digging through my vinyl. And of course, the Captain was a pilot. So this song is doubly fitting.

9. Queen (ft. David Bowie) - Under Pressure

Not much can be said of this song. It's another one we always put on the jukebox.

10. Sarah Blasko - Always Worth It

Amongst us, Rob will forever be known for his love of female singer-songwriters. I am not sure, but I have a feeling Sarah Blasko really started it for him. He loved her music.

11. Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song

Another of that great era of 90's bands he loved.

12. Bjork - Hyperballad

His love of female singer-songwriters had nothing on his love of Bjork. I struggle to understand her at the best of times, but I was with him when he finally saw her and her magnificent stage act.

13. David Bowie - Starman

I couldn't help but sneak another Bowie song in. Although it's about flying to the stars, it can still apply to our favourite pilot.

14. Muse - Feeling Good

One of the modern bands Rob loved was Muse and I was also lucky enough to see Muse with him. A lot of their "space jams" aren't too appropriate, but this cover is.

Rob, there was hundred more songs I wanted to put on here, but I hope this does you some justice mate. Miss you already. RIP.

Free Music Friday 29!

I love pop-punk. But not in the style that most people think pop-punk is these days. None of that scene crap with breakdowns and whiny singing. I just like punk that's a bit upbeat and fun. Because that's the way pop-punk should be.

Tim Blood and the Gutpanthers are the kind of pop-punk I like.

I can't find many pictures of them, but their promo picture is fun. Like they are.

Their style of pop-punk is just playing fast and hard, with a bit of distortion and yelling to give it a lo-fi edge. I don't know why, but to me it makes me thing of punk bands in the style of Defiance Ohio, but with 80% more punk.

Of course, their album is free. So check it out.

This is Fucked Up

Regular readers of my blog will know that I love the Canadian hardcore band Fucked Up and their genre I like to consider "smart" hardcore.

Their live shows are legendary, with the singer Pink Eyes going nuts in the crowd. I was lucky enough to be next to him as he lost his shit at Soundwave this year.

Taking all of that into account, it's kind of weird that they have been announced as the support for the Foo Fighters tour. Less than a year after coming out, they'll be playing in giant stadiums. It doesn't seem like their thing, but goddamn I want to go to this show. Foo Fighters, Tenacious D and Fucked Up? Will they even be allowed to advertise their name on the posters? Why can't they play some club shows in Brisbane?! Please.. Please.. I'd consider even financing it out of my own pocket if I knew how to. But no, as always, the only Fucked Up sideshows will be in Melbourne and Sydney. I don't think I can afford to travel for that.

December 10, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast.

*runs away to cry*

Harvest Festival, it gets better

I am so stoked for this indie festival already. I bought tickets on early presale. Who would've thought that the brains behind most hardcore and punk tours could do a great indie and arts festival? Check out the original lineup here and then brace yourself, because this second announcement is just as good.

Yep. Mogwai. The band that most people think of when they think of post-rock. Joining them will also be TV on the Radio, Kevin Devine (off the back of his cancelled Soundwave Revolution appearance) and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

I am so incredibly excited for this day. I've wanted to see so many of these bands for so long.

Misfits

It was almost a year ago when the legendary horror-punk outfit Misfits announced they were coming out to Australia, only to cancel on us. I had some friends that were distraught by this.

The Misfits now are without the lead singer Danzig (sad) but includes members of Black Flag (yay!). And they will finally be touring as promised, December 2 at the HiFi. This is all in celebration of their new album which is supposedly out later this year.

I know everyone says this, but without Danzig, it's not the Misfits. What this tour should be instead is the best damn cover band ever. Imagine if they just split a set of Black Flag and Misfits songs?! I would totally pay to see that. We could call them the Misflags. Or the Black Fits (which sounds like a racist slur to someone with who has seizures). A boy can dream...

If I ever write a song with a comedy title, it will be "no one ever remembers the third member of Nirvana"

Nirvana.
Everyone says they started the push of alternative rock to the mainstream. They kickstarted grunge. They made heavy music more accessible to the world. To this day there's arguments over everything to do with Nirvana in the history of music, but we can all agree on one thing: they made great music, that to this day still speaks heavily to us.

Next week it will be 20 years since their groundbreaking album Nevermind was released. 20 years. Gosh, I feel old. To celebrate this anniversary, there will be a worldwide one-night-only screening of the only live Nirvana show recorded on film. Included with the ticket will be a double CD re-release of Nevermind with a tonne of extras on it.

On September 23, for $35, you can catch this one off event at any Birch Carrol and Coyle in Brisbane, or at Dendy Portside or the Blue Room in Paddington.

You get to experience the magic yourself. And see Dave Grohl with ridiculously long hair.

Arrows

So many of my friends are obsessed with Arrows.

I can understand why. If you're into that noodly style 90's emo stuff that is having a popularity resurgence right now you would dig Arrows too. What makes it better is they are a band (mainly) from Brisbane. My roomate even works with one of the dudes. I keep saying it, but we do have some of the best music in the country right in our city.

I saw them once, in Melbourne of all places, opening for This Town Needs Guns. A perfect combination for a perfect noodly concert. They are a very hard bunch to catch live, as they don't play a lot of shows. However, we're going to get our second Arrows show in the last few months very soon.

October 1st, at Thriller. This will be my first time heading to Thriller since they moved from Rosies. It's now halfway between the Valley and the city at Hotel Orient. I'm hoping this venue is better than Rosies was for quieter bands. During Frank Turner all I could really hear was the music from the dance floor one room over.

Opening for Arrows is the always wonderful Jamie Hay. A former hardcore singer, he now does his own style of acoustic folk rock. But which former hardcore singer doesn't do that these days?

Arrows (with free MP3s)
Jamie Hay

Review: Title Fight/Touche Amore/Break Even/Headaches, Old Museum, September 8 2011

The Old Museum. Is there a stranger place for a hardcore show? For what could possibly be the best hardcore/punk show of the year? There probably is, but I can't think of any more odd than a 120 year old heritage building that used to hold a museum and is used mainly for orchestral stuff now.

That being said, it was a bloody nice and big venue inside. A huge stage, great lighting a more than adequate PA and lots of space in front of the stage. The problem was, being the kind of building it is, they took the "no moshing" rule to an extreme. Throughout the course of the night we were repeatedly warned that if one person stage dived or got out of control, the show would be over immediately.

Locals Headaches were up first and played to a fairly big crowd (of people wearing mainly La Dispute shirts). They were solid as always, but played only about a 20 minute set.

Break Even are the Australian band doing the whole tour with the Americans. They put on a solid set with the crowd really getting worked up and into it.

The crowd participation was closely scrutinised by the security on the stage. If it looked like one person was even close to getting out of control, they bore down on them like a hawk. At one point, someone jumped up to sing along and grabbed the lead singer's shirt. He was ejected quickly.

The guitarist from Fires of Waco was standing in front of me in the crowd and Break Even passed the microphone down to him to sing a song. The security didn't like that either. They kept trying to grab it back out of hands, despite the band reassuring him it was okay.

Touche Amore was the band I was really excited for. Their unique style of hardcore lends so well to a live setting and they just blew everyone away.

The set was quite heavy with songs from their latest album Parting the Sea Between the Brightness and Me, which I managed to pick up a special Australian tour 12" press of at the show for $20. In fact, all their merch was $20. Good on them!

The crowd was very well behaved following the repeated warnings by people before and during the set. But then again, they didn't need to get on stage to get involved, because the lead singer kept coming down to the crowd for sing alongs.

It was great to watch from the side of the stage. If you turned away from watching the band at any point and saw me, you would've seen a guy holding a camera and screaming along to the lyrics while pumping his hands in the air and occasionally taking a photo. To say I enjoyed it was an understatement.

Everyone cleared out after Touche Amore. I honestly thought they wouldn't come back for Title Fight, but as the guitar started swelling up, you could see everyone running back in. I don't know much about this band having only listened to their album Shed once or twice, but they were goddamn enjoyable live. Their punk/hardcore/orgcore style was great fun and led to a lot of guitar jumps. A lot.

I was standing next to another photographer on the side of the stage and we kept having competitions to see who could get the better guitar jump on film. It was a tough contest, but I like to think we both won, by just watching this band.

By the time they announced their last song, you could tell that things were about to get hectic. The crowd had been fairly well behaved but they were itching to really get into the music. Apparently Title Fight are always about stage dives.

When they started playing YoureYeah everyone started bumrushing the stage. People started jumping into the crowd and moshing like crazy. Security tried to stop them and it got quite physical. One of the "volunteers" (not one of the security guards) picked up a kid and tried to throw him off the stage to get him out of the way. The band manager did not take kind to this and tackled this volunteer. Right in front of me. The volunteer looked so scared and took off running.

Needless to say, halfway through the song the power was cut and all you could hear was the drums. The bass player threw down his guitar in disgust and the show was over.

I tried to get some photos of it at this point, but my flash ran out of batteries and it was dark. Of course it would happen at this point.

I have no anger towards the security at this gig. They did their job well. Moshing and stage dives were banned and they enforced it well. The crowd went along with it fine too. It was actually a job well done by all to keep a hardcore show in quite good check. My beef goes to the organiser. Why choose this venue? You know that the crowd was going to behave exactly like it did. And you know the venue bans it. So why have the show there? We were actually just lucky that everyone was so well behaved and the gig went as long as it did.

Still, a great night all around. So happy to photograph it. You can view the full gallery over at AltMusicHub.

Blog Update

Apologies readers. I've been a bit slack lately with blog updates. As I'm sure you're aware, I've started taking concert photos more often for more than just shits and giggles. The result of this taking up a whole bunch of my free time, coupled with work, travelling for work, girlfriend and napping has seen me not update as often as I would like.

It's not that I don't want to. I have a "To Blog" list in my email drafts box that's huge. It'll get done soon. I promise. I'll still bring you all the concert announcements. They won't be within 2 minutes of the announcement, like other music blogs, but I'll put them up in plenty of time. I'll still post all the rants, mix CDs, photos, reviews and other goodies whenever I get a chance too. Especially Free Music Friday. I love that.

So no, I haven't forgotten about you. It's just I get to go places now and take photos of people playing instruments. And jumping. While playing instruments.

Stay tuned this week. I'll be pumping through my "To Blog" list. Which will hopefully also include some web page improvements all around.

Meanwhile, enjoy my recent galleries for AltMusicHub.

Title Fight/Touche Amore/Break Even/Headaches, Old Museum, September 8 2011
Man Overboard/I Am Villain, The Globe, September 3 2011
Jim Ward/Jud Campbell, Alhambra, August 13 2011
The Get Up Kids/City Riots/We Set Sail, August 5 2011
Periphery/Tesseract/Iron Hide, July 29 2011

The Arena: a tribute

Last night's Teenage Bottlerocket and Frenzal Rhomb gig was a blast from the past. Not because of Frenzal Rhomb (although they did play a plethora of really old songs) but it was because it was the first time the Arena has played host to a concert in years.

Ahh, the Arena. For 5 years it was a second home for me. One of the first shows I ever saw after moving back to Australia was Cypress Hill there. Inside the painted black walls with the sticky floor and the slightly dive-bar atmosphere, it just seemed right that everyone would light up joints right in front of security. Because that is the beauty of the Arena, no matter the band, they never seemed out of place. Over the years I saw indie, hip-hop, metal, punk... I pretty much was able to satisfy all my musical desires in the one venue.

Walking back through the thick red doors last night, it all came flooding back to me. I felt bad for Michael, my friend who was with me, as he moved up from Adelaide after the venue shut. As such, he had to listen to me ramble as I strolled down memory lane. I had to explain to him about the low ceiling in the men's toilet, and how the air conditioning vent at one corner meant you had to limbo to get to the urinal. About the dancer's cage on the second floor that used to be able to hold people, but would probably collapse now. The beauty of having bars both upstairs and downstairs and how they would only open the upstairs ones during all-ages shows. The two giant poles in front of the stage, right in the mosh where you don't want to get pinned to it. The couches hidden at the back and the even more secret back room on the second floor, full of couches and away from the noise.

But you can't blame me for this old-man reminiscing. I've seen so many good shows at the Arena that for a person like me, with such a religious-like link to music, it is my temple. I still can't forget when the Norma Jean lead singer climbed up to hang off the roof in their final song (Memphis May Burn maybe?).

Or the first time I saw Rise Against. I lost my belt in the mosh, then my pants, but I stayed up the front singing along to their acoustic cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I was probably the only person in the crowd who knew the song.

Or the very first time I saw Frenzal Rhomb and was in fact pinned up against the pole on the left side of the stage.

Or the very first time I saw NOFX. Phil got knocked out in the first song, but I had my shirt torn off me by the third song by a violent mosher and the rest of the night was a blur of a minor concussion.

Or the entire crowd singing Sink Florida Sink while impatiently waiting for Against Me to get on stage.

Or how the dickhead Frenzal Rhomb crowd kept spitting on the Lawrence Arms to get them off stage so Frenzal could play.

Or the epic 3 hour Mars Volta set (no opening act) with one of the first times they ever played the song Frances the Mute live.

Or when the firehose got pulled out during Less than Jake and sprayed all over the crowd and stage, shorting out the equipment.

Or when Moneen joined Alexisonfire on stage to sing Accidents together. After that song I lost Phil, only to find him walking the streets of the valley wearing only a single sock.

And especially who can forget the Parkway Drive show. The one that supposedly sounded the death of the Arena and the changing of the all-ages licensing laws in Queensland, seeing the demise of all-ages shows in licensed venues. The riot police, the fire alarms, the little kids going crazy and apparently the fire lit in the venue that started it all.

After that night, the venue was doomed to shut down. A few months later Frenzal Rhomb played the last show there. It then became an R & B nightclub. Oh how my heart ached at the misuse of the venue! All the shows that would normally play there got moved to the HiFi. The HiFi, don't get me wrong, is a lovely venue. It's just too nice. It lacks the gritty character and even to this day, after the amazing shows I've seen there, it still doesn't seem to have a connection with me. It's a great venue, but it has no soul or spiritual signifigance to me. It's just a venue.

I hope now the Arena comes back in some form. Walking through the doors last night you could tell things had changed. The walls had satin material. The dance floor had been relaid. The toilets fixed (and a bloody odd mirror placed directly above the urinal). The couches were nice and new. There were plants inside! The bar fixed. New lighting! Most importantly, a working air conditioning system. But under that slight face lift, it was still the Arena I know and love. That little bit of botox and cosmetic work could not hide what the venue truly is. As I moshed along to Teenage Bottlerocket, continuously slipping on the floor, I couldn't help but smile. The old girl, she's back.

Cancelled: Monster Magnet

I was really looking forward to this gig next week: Monster Magnet playing their great album Dopes to Inifinity in full! But nope, it's been canned. Here's the statement:

A number of circumstances have conspired to form the perfect storm and we are disappointed that this planned tour has been a casualty. The Monster Magnet “Dopes” tour will visit Australia at a more appropriate time. We appreciate
your continued support.

Considering they were out here in February, maybe ticket sales weren't as good as they had hoped? It's sad the amount of international tours getting cancelled in the last year or so. It breaks my heart.

Refunds available from the point of purchase.

A musical tribute to god

When I say god, it's obvious I mean the god of Australian music, Mr Nick Cave.

I'm pretty sure if there were some sort of statistics about the song most people commit suicide to in Australia, this would be number one. Heck, it even featured in He Died With A Felafel in His Hand as the suicide scene.

He's been one of our country's best performing artists for almost 40 years, across everything from his early post-punk music, his sad singer-songwriter stuff, his movies, his books and even some gospel and pop music. This man is good at everything he tries. Right now he's kicking ass with the garage rock band Grinderman.

It's good to see that I'm not the only person that thinks this, as Triple J are putting on a Nick Cave tribute concert to celebrate his career. The artists performing in the tribute includes:

Abbe May
Adalita
Alex Burnett (Sparkadia)
Ben Corbett (SixFtHick)
Bertie Blackman
Dan Sultan
Jake Stone (Bluejuice)
Johnny Mackay (Children Collide)
Kram (Spiderbait)
Lanie Lane
Lisa Mitchell
Muscles
Tim Rogers (You Am I)
Urthboy (The Herd)

I'd pay money to see a lot of those performs together, but with the musical catalogue that is Nick Cave's entire career? This will be one spectacular night.

November 20, the Tivoli.

One sentence album reviews (#17)

After some constructive criticism over drinks this weekend about my Twitter reviews, there may be a change soon. But for now, here's the ones I've posted recently:

The Vines - Future Primitive (2011): It's been 11 years since they were hailed the future of rock and they still sound the same: Whiny. 2/5 

The Weeknd - House of Balloons (2011): a modern RnB album with a lot of dub/electro overtones. Great rainy day  or laid-back romance music 4.7/5

William Elliot Whitmore - The Death Valley Sessions (2003): Sounds like Woody Guthrie soundtracking O brother Where Art Thou in an open field 5/5

The Wonder Years - Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing (2011): A pop-punk album with a theme. The songs show depth not known to the genre and aren't generic or whiny. 4.5/5

Noah and the Whale-Last Night On Earth (2011): He seems to be much happier than his last album and thus migrated to radio friendly rock 3.6/5

Wugazi - 13 Chambers (2011): It's Wu-Tang songs mixed with Fugazi songs. This does not need a description to why it's amazing 4.4/5

The Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once (2011): At stages sounds like AFI, The National and Titus Andronicus. A bit confused, but well rounded indie 4/5

Big D & The Kids Table - The Damned, the Dumb & the Delirious (2011): An album where they finally balance their ska-punk & dub-reggae sides 4/5

Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra (2011): The musical trip down nostalgia lane is quite excellent... until Fred opens his mouth. Worst. Lyrics. Ever 3/5

Junior Battles - Idle Age (2011): yet another Canadian band that sounds similar to Billy Talent, but a hell of a lot more pop-punk! 3.9/5

Portugal. The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud (2011): an indie album that sounds dangerously like a 90's pop album 3.7/5

August Burns Red - Leveler (2011): a rare "metalcore" album that is composed of more than just breakdowns and screaming for no sake 3.8/5

Algernon Cadwallader - Parrot Flies (2011): fairly lo-fi midwestern emo album. The lo-fi makes it more raw and shows more emotion 3.4/5

Cake - Showroom Of Compassion (2011): Without the wit and comedy of their old stuff, it just sounds like a poor man's Presidents of the USA 3/5

Departures - When Losing Everything Is Everything You Wanted (2011): dark and dirty hardcore that just attacks you with raw emotion 4/5

Sublime With Rome - Yours Truly (2011): He has a voice like Brad, but not the lyrical ability or background to write the gritty songs 1.5/5

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs (2011): Ukulele = happy. Eddie Vedder = sad songs. Ukulele + Eddie = a surprisingly odd yet enjoyable serious album 3.8/5

Dead By April - Stronger (2011): An album that sounds like a really shitty techno synthesiser collided with a real crappy metal band 1/5

Farewell To Freeway - Filthy Habits (2011): Alright metalcore, which doesn't have one hint of synthesizer or auto-tune (bonus point!) 3/5

The Fresh & Onlys - Play it Strange (2010): I kept thinking I'd picked up a 1960s garage rock vinyl from a thrift shop 3.3/5

Haram - Drescher (2007): Another good album from the old school of post-hardcore, but with a bit more of a jangly guitar element 3.8/5

Have a Nice Life - Deathconsciousness (2008): a 2 hour trip through a shoegaze, garage rock & ambient landscape that I want to do again 4.7/5

Hold Tight! - Can't Take This Away (2011): A nice DIY styled pop-punk/orgcore band; takes me back to the good old days of late 90s punk 4.2/5

The Hotel Year - It Never Goes Out (2011): This is shaping up to be the year pop-punk gets good again, thanks to great albums like this 4.6/5

Joyce Manor - ST (2011): Quirky and fun orgcore/pop punk. Fun to listen to. 4.4/5

Lionheart - Built on Struggle (2011): The most typical "good" hardcore album ever: breakdowns, gang vocals, catchy lyrics & short solos 3.6/5

Millionyoung - Replicants (2010): I think I finally understand what the chillwave genre is. It's this. And this is happy lofi-pop music 4/5

New Lows - Harvest Of The Carcass (2011): hardcore with a low and sludgy sound that makes you wonder if they used broken recording equipment 3.5/5

Salva - Complex Housing (2011): good dubstep album (it exists!) in that it's more of a minimalistic techno feel than just wub-rinse-repeat 3.8/5

Cancelled: The Casualties

I may be a bit slow on this, but one week out from their gig I was informed that the Casualties have cancelled their show at the HiFi. I wanted to see this, so you think I'd be sad. But, I'm not. You see, it's the same night as Touche Amore/Title Fight, which had precendence for me.

The HiFi says

ALL tickets remain valid from the 8th September postponed event for this show.  Refunds will not be accepted after Fri 16 September 5pm.

So if you want your money back, jump on it this week.

Free Music Friday 28!

What happens when the guitarist of the Gaslight Anthem (the greatest modern working-class punk band with huge shades of Bruce Springsteen et al) gets together with his friends?

Something you were never expecting happens. You get a sludgy hardcore album. Ever since I first heard the band Dangers (at which point I decided to make a blog, name it after them and spread the love of their awesomeness) I've been in love with this style of hardcore. Taking a lot of credit from metal and grindcore, they keep it really low and deep, fast, slightly depressing and full of anger.

This is the kind of band that Something About Death or Dying are. It's glorious to me. Maybe not to all of you.

They have an EP out which you can get for a small donation at their Bandcamp page. Or if you look hard, you can see there is a link for the free copy nestled in their too.

I'm not going to lie, I think I like this more than the Gaslight Anthem.

Jim Ward, August 13 2011

My photos from the Jim Ward gig are finally up online at AltMusicHub. Check them out.

It was a great night. I fan-boied so much over seeing Jim. At the Drive-In and Sparta where such big bands to me when I was younger and his solo stuff is just amazing. Being able to stand less than a metre from him and be allowed to take photographs was a privelage.

Unfortunately, Alhambra is a moody nightclub, and it shows in the pictures. There was only one stage light, from the right hand side and the mirror behind him made it difficult, but I think I still got some good ones in there. The picture above is my favourite, because the lights above the bar can just be viewed and it looks almost mystical.