The Flood

I bang on and on about the local music scene, but for good reason. It's bloody good up here in Brisbane. A bunch of rad people in rads bands making rad music. And they know this, so together, they've put together a collective and called it the Flood.

And to celebrate, they're having a show!


I feel as if I've gone on and on about these bands before, I love so many of them. So really, there's no excuse not to go if you like anything about local heavier music.

EDIT: Apparently demand is strong, so it's been moved to the Morningside School of Arts Hall, cnr of Thynne Rd & Wynnum Rd

Totally Unicorn

My only Totally Unicorn experience involved me being absolutely wasted, umbrellas and naked fat men slithering on the ground beneath me.

Which is why I totally want to do it again.


These crazy New South Whalian hardcore dudes are coming back up to Brisbane for a show featuring the best local bands that you can get in Brisbane.

To the North.
Marathon
Nuclear Summer

April 16th, Sun Distortion Studios in Albion. It'll be a great little show of great Australian "heavier" music.

I just hope it finishes early-ish so I can still go see Frank Turner at Thriller.

Totally Unicorn

The Chariot

Well it's not official yet, but the Marathon boys said they were playing this show on their Facebook. And that's as official I need to be to get excited. Coming in at Number 9 on my best of 2010 album list, the Chariot are a chaotic noise/hardcore/mathcore/who-knows-what-core band.

They were originally only playing one show in Queensland as part of their Australian tour, and that was at Easterfest in Toowoomba. But luckily they have seen the outcry of their fans in Brisbane, and have organised a club show here.

An all-ages club show too!

April 20 at the Fort, with the awesome locals Marathon.

I'd recommend pre-buying a ticket for this. It'll be full.

The Chariot

Review: La Dispute/To the North/Marathon/Quiet Steps/Ironhide, Burst City, January 26 2011

In the last week of Burst City's short life as a music venue, I can't think of a better gig to have as one of the last ones. It was definitely one of the most memorable for me. It was Australia Day, it felt like one of the first real days of summer, I just came from a BBQ and there was great music. And Australia flags abound:


We get there at 3, but it turns out the doors didn't open until 4. No problem, plenty of time to get an ice cream and some beer to cool off. As we came back Ironhide had taken the stage, but most people were still hanging outside. When I go in and feel the heat, I see why. Bloody hot outside, no fans or air conditioning inside, but Ironhide still put on a great show.

Featuring the lead singer of Nuclear Summer and another singer I simply dub the "Umbrella Dude", they played some very hard and heavy music. And I enjoyed the shit out of it. For the end of their set they pulled the singer of To The North and some other dude out of the crowd to sing for them.


We all went outside, had a few beers, and tried to cool off and dry the sweat off before Quiet Steps came on.


I featured these guys a while back as part of my spotlight on Brisbane bands, but this was the first time I was able to see them. Although their recordings are a bit more screamo, at Burst City they came through as a more indie band. Regardless, they were awesome. And their bass player was the bass player for To The North.

And that was really the running story of the two days. Despite the main band being from America, they love Brisbane. And they assembled the best of Brisbane's music family. Most of the guys in these bands performed in two bands over the two days of the La Dispute tour. It just goes to show how amazing it is for music in Brisbane and how much of a family they really are. Even with our adopted friends in La Dispute.

At this point, it was too hot. We ran off to the cinemas to buy slurpees only to come back towards the end of Marathon. They weren't as tight as normal, maybe the heat was getting to them. That didn't stop them giving it a go, but they really fell apart towards the end, especially when playing their cover of Iggy Pop & Peaches song Kick It. I love what they do with it normally, but they were having a bit of an off day.

The heat was starting to get to everyone, but no one was going anywhere. To The North were the last of the locals and they got a much better reception at Burst City than the night before at the Zoo. However, at this sweaty point, you know everyone was just waiting for La Dispute. I even snuck into an elevated corner point in preparation, ignoring the waterfalls of sweat coming off me.

A little procession of an Australian Flag was made from the back of the room to Adam's bass amp and then things got underway.


They played a very similar set to the night before, with only a few minor changes. The main one for me was out with the Last Lost Continent, and in with Said the King to the River, the song I was most keen to see.


When most bands play Burst City, they tend to play a bit on the floor as well, due to the smallness of the stage. Unfortunantely this wasn't the case for La Dispute, as every available inch was crammed with bodies scrambling to see what could be one of those bands that on their next tour will probably be too huge to play small venues.


All up, it was a great two days of seeing great bands. I could not have asked for a better way to spend my Australia day.


And if La Dispute love Brisbane as much as they say, hopefully we'll see them again very soon.

Local music day!

On Saturday I went to a superb local fundraising gig (I may even call it a mini festival) at Burst City full of local bands. And it just reminded me of how good the music in Brisbane is. I know I go on and on about it, but we have always had a great music scene. Like it or not, great bands have come from this city. Bands such as Powderfinger, the Go Betweens, Custard, the Saints, Regurgitator, Savage Garden, Wolfmother and tonnes more have all started within our city's confines, probably in the Valley. So I'm dedicating today to be Brisbane music day! Where I celebrate all things good about Brisbane music.

To kick things off, here's a highlight video of the benefit gig from the weekend:

Another lazy post!

Yes! I know you're excited, it's another one of those posts where I just list off a bunch of shows and news, because I haven't had time for anything else.


Belle and Sebastian new song
My favourite Scottish indie-pop group have released a new song, for free, from their new album due out in October. Download here. I love Belle and Sebastian and their take on 60's style pop/twee. I'm on my way to slowly getting all of their releases on vinyl, so you know for sure I'll be pre-ordering their new record Write About Love (also the name of the free track).

U2 sells out (in the 80s), but adds a new show for their Brisbane concert sell out
Yep, not just their music, but their shows (surprisingly) sell out amazingly fast. They've added a second show with Jay-Z at Suncorp on the 9th of December.

Die! Die! Die!
New Zealand's best noise/gaze/random band are putting out a new album soon, so they'll be doing the tour of our country playing their noisy garage rock, which I love. October 14 at the Club House (Tempo Bar). If you like a noisy and energetic great live show, do yourself a favour and go!

Soundwave bands
Added to the lineup we now have:

• Bring Me the Horizon
• Bullet for My Valentine
• H2O
• We the Kings

I've seen the first two and have no desire to see them again. The only one I'm keen (actually really excited about) is H2O, one of those few old-school straight-edge hardcore bands still kicking.

The Mess Hall
A great Australian two-piece garage-rock band, had a pretty big song with Metal and Hair in 2005 and a great album in 2007 with the Devil's Elbow, are going out on tour. September 17 at the Zoo. 18+

Philadelphia Grand Jury
Although they packed and moved to London only a few months back, they are coming back for their biggest run of shows yet. Catch their garage-party-rock November 19th at the HiFi. 18+. This is sure to be close to selling out, like their last show did at the Zoo. They are just a fun band to listen and dance to.

Fat Louie's Local Hardcore Gig
September 25, at my favourite pool bar/after work place, catch a great hardcore show and get some cheap drinks. Between the Devil and the Deep, Marathon, Headaches and the Quickening. All great heavier (mainly local bands) at my favourite haunt. 18+ of course.

More local All Ages Hardcore shows!

So it seems that Burst City may now be the place to go for all ages shows. Sure, it hasn't had as many big bands as the Fort, but it's getting more and more of the local stuff, which can be just as good. Case in point:

I've waxed lyrical on at least one of these bands before, Marathon. I really dig their new EP and they are a bunch of great guys. They play in a style similar to Cursed and seem to be playing any hardcore show I've been at this year.

Fires of Waco and Headaches are two newer locals that are starting to get their names heard a bit. Fires of Waco have a more of a post-rock sound (think old At the Drive-In or the Plot to Blow up the Eiffel Tower) while Headaches have spawned from the band that was the Gifthorse.

The one band that I've heard so much about but have never seen is Dick Nasty. I've been wanting to catch these guys for years, given the way they are spoken about and revered on 4ZZZ. They've apparently been kicking around Brisbane for years, playing a sublime mix of hardcore punk. So I guess this show will finally be the excuse I need to get off my ass and listen to them.

Marathon new EP tour

Marathon are one of those local bands that you always see opening for everyone. And when you don't see them playing, you see them at all the shows you go to. And you even share beers with them at Rosies. They've got a new EP out, which is currently sitting in my inbox, waiting for me to listen to. I know, I'm slack, but I've been busy.

To launch the EP they'll be playing an all ages show at Burst City this Friday. This is also the kick off of their Never Safe Tour. They'll be playing with Thick Skin, Vassals, People Rain and Lo!

They've also been added to the Snitch show tomorrow night with I Exist/Extortion/Sex Wizard. Tomorrow will be amazing local hardcore.

MySpace

Graf Orlock/Dangers/Infinite Thought Process/Marathon (Tempo Bar, 17 June 2010)

I had been waiting a long time for this show, so it was with great expectations that I walked into the Tempo Bar this afternoon. The Stage Door at Tempo Bar seemed a strange place for a hardcore show, it was too nice and brightly lit. Way too classy and it even had clean toilets!

That aside, about 150 punters half filled the basement venue. Most got in early to see local boys Marathon take the stage. This was their unofficial new album release show and they played a few tracks of their recently completed (days ago) album. One of their friends took the second microphone to add vocals to one of the closing songs and the crowd had obviously seen them before, as they joined in with singing some of the songs.

Sunshine Coast boys Infinite Thought Process were next, playing their progressive hardcore and metal. Their guitars were fast, the singing was heavy and the songs were long; none of which is a bad thing. They were all talented musicians, but at no point did they try to out play each other, instead creating complex yet beautiful melodies, interspersed with breakdowns and lightning fast solos. This was best demonstrated in their instrumental song, when the lead singer sat down for a breather. The remaining musicians played a lush sounding song, slowly building it up, until it eventually ran into their next song which happened to be the heaviest of the set.

Dangers started by thanking us for showing up, as they weren't expecting more than maybe 5 people. They came out hard and fast, within one song there were already monitors tipped upside down and clothing lost. The passion and energy exerted by the lead singer was amazing, he put his entire being into singing each song. He explained to the crowd that despite the overly depressing and suicidal themes of their music, it was really about a celebration of life and living, before dedicating the song Cure for Cancer to his grandfather who had a long battle with cancer.

The small, yet energetic crowd was given a masterclass in hardcore music philosophy. The entire band played as hard and as heavy as they could. The singer spent most of his time in the crowd, fighting and dancing with the few brave souls at the front that kept colliding with each other, and to the lesser extent the floor. A healthy mix of both of their albums was played and a few explanations were given for the newer songs as well.

Obviously more than a few of the crowd were in for Dangers only, as their was a lot less people by the time Graf Orlock took the stage. Not that there was much of a changeover, with the guitarist being the same for both bands and all of the same equipment being used.

Graf's cinematic grindcore is an experience in itself. Their soundcheck was the theme from Predator, which got me and Clus quite excited. Every song was introduced with samples from movies and the guitarist would also stop mid-riff to press the button to play more samples.

The volume and intensity was cranked up, with the Tempo Bar flooded with feedback the entire time. My poor ear plugs barely drowned out the noise. But this suited their grindcore sound. The band played to the smaller crowd on their first visit to Brisbane, with both guitarists and the singer coming out to the floor and throwing themselves into the few of us standing at the front of the stage. They closed their too short set with the Dream Left Behind, the sounds of Jurassic Park converting Clus into their new biggest fan.

If you get the chance, you can see Graf Orlock and Dangers again on Saturday at Burst City or Sunday at Shed 5. Both all ages shows. I'd recommend going to see them, as this was an amazing gig. And Dangers, if you are reading this, play Stay at Home Mom next time please.

Dangers

If you have talked to me about music in the last few months, you know I won't shut up about this band. For good reason. Dangers have put out one of the best hardcore albums of the last few years. And we are lucky enough that they are coming to spend a few weeks in Australia, touring with grindcore band Graf Orlock.

The opening track from their new album (called Stay At Home Mom) should get you into it:


It's also the song that I got the name of the blog from.

The shows:
17 June - Tempo Bar (former Bar 288), local supports are Marathon and Infinite Thought Process. Both great bands that I've seen. Marathon are hardcore, Infinite Thought Process channel Between the Buried and Me. Like a Xerox machine. 18+. $10.
18 June - Northern Rivers Sound, Lismore. AA
19 June - Burst City.  This show starts at 4pm, leaving plenty of time to go see Carpathian at Thriller (Rosies) that night. $15. AA
20 June - Shed 5, Gold Coast. AA

If you like hardcore, do yourself a favour. Go see these shows. They are cheap, so I don't really hear any excuse why you shouldn't. Even if you are going to Strung Out or Carpathian during that weekend, make the effort. I'll at least be at the Tempo Bar and Burst City shows.

Graf Orlock
Marathon
Infinite Thought Process

Extortion/I Exist

This could be one of the loudest, heaviest and best Australian local hardcore tours of the year. Extortion, I Exist and SXWZD (sex wizard) are bashing around the country for a few shows.

Both Extortion and I Exist do fast and heavy grindcore style music. I've had the pleasure of drinking with/seeing I Exist a few times and I've only recently got into Extortion. It's not really everyone's cup of tea, but if you like your really heavy and brutal music, I'd suggest you go to this.

August 19th, at Snitch (Club 299) with Marathon. 18+
August 20th, at Black Box (Sunshine Coast) with Abraxis. All Ages
August 21st, at Shed 5 (Gold Coast) with Ghost Town. All Ages.

Brisbane locals Marathon will support at Snitch. I've seen them with I Exist the last 2 times. Although not as heavy as the other bands, they are still a good local hardcore act.

Extortion
I Exist
SXWZD