Frenzal Rhomb play even more shows

It seems Frenzal has been a constant touring since they dropped their last album, Smoko at the Pet Food Factory. Being the hard working Australian punk band they are, they don't just hit up the major venues in major cities. In fact, they're coming up for some shows in Queensland and aren't even going anywhere near Brisbane.

While I'm on my nostalgia kick, there's a Recovery video of them. Including an interview conducted by Dave McCormack of Custard fame.

June 8, Kings Beach Tavern Sunshine Coast

June 9, Parkwood Tavern Gold Coast

Australian music! Tours! NOW!

San Cisco

They're going around plugging their Awkward EP again. Here's a song from it and it's not hard to see how their indie-pop is slowly taking over the airwaves and becoming ear worms stuck in your head for days.

May 10, Elsewhere, Gold Coast

May 11, The Zoo

Dappled Cities 

This one is courtesy of Darcy, probably their biggest fan. First off, they have a new song in anticipation of a new album very soon. Check it out:

They'll be playing this and hopefully a whole lot of new songs as well at Oh Hello on May 24.

The Medics

The best band to come out of North Queensland? Probably (I don't know many). In the past I've gotten them confused with the Dutch band of the same name. But not for this post. No. The Dutch Medics do zany rock, the North Queensland Medics make some beautiful indie-pop. Which they'll show case for you on April 21 at the Zoo. Get some free MP3s of them from here: http://www.triplejunearthed.com/themedics

Free Music Friday 36! The father-bonding edition

My dad is the man to thank for all of my music tastes. He has influenced me over the years. And the thing he's big on is blues inspired rock. And zydeco, which may be where I got my ska love from.

I got a CD the other day that I just had to make him listen to. They're called Guthrie. And don't even think I'm going to post a picture of them, because it's a Google nightmare. So many musicians in the world with the name Guthrie.

What Guthrie, an Australian two-piece, do is make real raw and gritty blues-rock. It's almost downright dirty. These boys from Tasmania play the blues-rock you'd expect to come out of the dirty south of America, not Australia. There's a bit of lewd subject matter, but that suits them perfectly. You can draw many parallels to the White Stripes, Mess Hall and the Black Keys (all two-piece blues-ish inspired bands), but Guthrie just makes it heaver and dirtier. Which, if you look at a lot of what I blog, appeals to me.

So head on over to their Triple J Unearthed site and get all the free music of theirs that you can handle. I'd recommend a nice jug of whiskey to go with it.

Hoodoo Gurus

I unashamedly love 80's Australian rock. Maybe it's part of my upbringing, but if you go through my record shelf you'll see lots of 7", 12" and casettes of great Australian pub rock bands of my dad's youth. A lot of it are Hoodoo Guru's 7" singles too. There's something about them I just love.

And it's not just their great fashion style.

Recently they've been still doing the pub-rock circuit, so it was with surprise that I saw an announcement today for them playing a very large Brisbane venue, the Tivoli. And then looking at the lineup, it's because it's going to be the ultimate retro-garage rock tour!

Brisbane's date includes the Sonics and that band best known for their catchy song in Kill Bill, the 5.6.7.8's. It's a good line up, but I feel we miss out on the retro vibe, with some other cities getting the Hard-ons, Royal Headache, Died Pretty and members of Radio Birdman! And if you don't know most of the bands I'm talking about, you probably think classic Australian rock is just about Cold Chisel, nothing else. If that's the case, I pity you.

April 20, The Tivoli.

Free Music Friday 35!

Today's free music friday is inspired by Adam Collins, the rad dude who drums, amongst other things, for a band named Japan For. He asked me the other day for some new ska recommendations. I must admit, I was stuck for a while.

Ska is my favourite genre. Well it was, but it's taken a back seat lately for no apparent reason. Sure I still listen to it, but I don't go and actively search for it like I used to. Luckily he rekindled my yearning for it, in conjunction with the radio station 4ZZZ.

You see, just the other day I was blaring 4ZZZ while driving around doing chores and they had a visting Sydney band do an acoustic set. And that set was awesome acoustic ska.

Further investigation, and hastily written notes on my hand while driving, lead me to find out this band was called Steppin' Razor, a punk-ska-reggae band from down south. And although they aren't as active these days, they have released every song they've ever done for free on their website. You can get it all by clicking right here.

If you're a fan of Rancid, Operation Ivy, Star Fucking Hipsters or anything of that vein, I don't see any reason why you wouldn't love this as well.

Free Music Friday 32!

Almost exactly a year ago to the day, I was in a very hot and humid Fat Louies on a Saturday night, camera in hand.

 

And I took some really awesome photos of the Adelaide band In Trenches.

These guys have a pretty good heavy music pedigree, featuring members of I Killed the Prom Queen and Day of Contempt. With the history of those two bands, it's not surprising that they have a very metal sound influenced by a fair bit of hardcore too. It's the kind of heavy music I like, mixing together the best of both worlds.

Their debut album came out a few years ago and is not the easiest thing to buy. But luckily they've put it up for free on their bandcamp. So get over there and get it.

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.

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.

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)

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+

Bastardfest

I say it all the time, but we are blessed in Australia with some amazing local bands. And one of my favourite ones, who are also probably one of the best bands in their genre worldwide, is Extortion.

Granted, their genre isn't exactly popular. It is however, powerviolence: short, brutal, insanely fast songs. It's not often we get them up to Brisbane anymore, and last time we did my roomate Ed got carried off by the cops while trying to break up a fight in the mosh... unlucky bugger.

We are getting them soon for Bastardfest: a celebration of all things Australian loud and heavy. I'm not the biggest fan of heavy music, but I'm pretty damn psyched for this lineup. Bands I want to see include

Extortion
I Exist (I love these guys way too much)
Ironhide (great local band I've plugged before who released an astounding album this year)
Psycroptic
Pod People
Blood Duster

There's way more bands than that, so you'll have to get your ass down to the Jubilee Hotel on September 3rd

Brisbane Garage Rock, the festival

Is there anything better than garage rock? That raw sound of distorted guitars, not-so-clean bass and fast drum beats with not quite sung, not quite screamed vocals? I think not, I love it to bits. And so does Brisbane, as we're having a full day festival.

On July 9th, from 4pm to 3am, make sure you bring your ear plugs to Woodland, because it's going to be loud, oh so loud, for the Flavours of Skuzz festival.

Highlights for me are the ever funny hardcore boys Dick Nasty (whose song titles are longer and 80% more funny than their songs), Velociraptor (whose band members chop and change each performance, but can include 12+ people) and Undead Apes. For only $25, you're basically paying a dollar for each band. In this post-GFC climate, you won't get a better deal than that, not even on Cudo or Catch of the Day or any other cheap skate website.

Hipster tour, take 2

It just seems like the other day that Architecture in Helsinki toured, but... well.. it was. Obviously they really love their new album, because they're coming back around again! September 25 at the Tivoli.

I was going to make some sort of smart-ass comment and make fun of them, but then I remembered exactly how much I do enjoy their music. Dammit.

Mercy Beat

Brisbane is home of some of the best music in Australia right now, especially if you like your music heavy. And one of my favourite local bands is the Mercy Beat. Imagine if Queens of the Stone Age still had Nick Oliveri singing all the songs and played even more hardcore style.

That's these guys. And they fucking rock.


Last year they put out a tops CD called How To Shampoo a Yak. And although they plugged it a lot then, they've decided to do the whole East Coast run to play it to the whole goddamn country.
We get 3 shows out of it.
July 15 at Kings Beach Tavern in Caloundra
July 16 at Runaway Bay Tavern on the Gold Coast
July 29 at the Beetle Bar

I've blogged about these guys plenty of times before, and there's a reason for it. They're awesome

The Living End tour

Ever since I was yay-high (points to stomach) I've been a huge fan of the Living End. Going through my CD cabinet, you'd probably see they're the only band I own every release of. And what a collection of albums.

My earliest memory of them was on a school bus going somewhere, with all of us singing the lyrics of Prisoner of Society to our teacher's face, as he was getting mad at us. There's nothing better than "WE DON'T NEED NO ONE LIKE YOU! TO TELL US WHAT TO DO!"

Ahh, yes, the good old Living End days. The rockabilly punk days. The days when Recovery was still the best TV show in the world:

These days the Living End are more of the "alternative rock" end of the spectrum, but by no means does that mean they are crap. Or that Chris Cheney isn't one of the best guitarists ever. Hopefully they'll still turn out the hits though, especially on their new album to be released soon.

To support the album, they'll be heading out on tour. September 2, the Tivoli. Supporting them will be one of Ellery's favourite bands, King Cannons.

Regurgitator

Oh hey, it must be that time of year again. Regurgitator's going on tour.

It's becoming an annual event, kind of like that two weeks of freezing cold mornings we get in Queensland when our cars actually ice over. Well it's not that bad, as I actually like Regurgitator. And this Brisbane band is still putting out music, occassionally, and still rocking out.

Sure it's been a while since their heady days of the Unit album, when they'd play Recovery seemingly every few weeks with a new hit single (gosh, I miss that show). Trust my though, I go out and see them every year and they still put on a good show.

There's quite a few shows in our area for this tour:
18th August - Hotel Great Northern, Byron Bay
19th August - Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
20th August - The HiFi, Brisbane
21st August - King's Beach Tavern, Caloundra

Aussie Indie Madness!

So I've noticed lately 2 things:

1. The HiFi has changed ticket providers from OzTix to Moshtix. This blows monkey balls. Moshtix make it ridiculously hard to do tickets (proof of ID, all on the same entry, web only) and charge high ticketing fees. Also, they don't do paper tickets. So no longer do I get the thrill of going to my local record store, buying an actual ticket, going to the gig, and putting the ticket in my collection. I have hundreds of tickets chronicling my entire lifetime of music (hence the background of the blog).
2. Australian indie is on the rise again.

I'll address the second point, as I noticed it after discovering the first point. There's a shit tonne of Aussie indie tours coming up, and a lot of them are upgrading from the smaller venues we've been used to over the years (mainly at the Zoo or even Rics). In fact, a lot are coming through the HiFi right now. Like the following I found while looking for Get Up Kids tickets the other day:

• Gypsy and the Cat, May 14
• Architecture in Helsinki, May 27
• Hungry Kids of Hungary, May 28
• Jebediah, June 3
• Boy and Bear, June 4
• Little Red, June 18
• The Grates, July 1

In slightly over a month, there's 7 Australian bands touring, most of which I'd only expect to play the Zoo or similar. Good for them. Expect hipsters en masse at all of these shows.

Of course they are all 18+, and most of them are less than $30. Should be good fun.

Colin Hay

The bane of my time living in the USA was the band Men at Work. Without fail, at least once a day, I'd hear the song Land Down Under. Every. Single. Fucking. Day.

It's enough to drive you to the point of no-return. But then, the lead singer popped up in a Scrubs (my favourite show at the time) video, which redeemed him and the band for me, and led me to discover that Colin Hay is not a one-hit wonder. In fact, he's a song writing machine.

He's got a new album coming out, called Gathering Mercury. To launch it, he's only playing a select few songs around the country. Queensland's will also be a flood relief fundraiser. It'll be May 20, at Joe's Waterhole in Eumundi. It's a bit of a drive away, but I can't think of a better place for him to play. The crowd won't be your regular city hipsters, but more the kind of people that appreciate Colin Hay, what he's done, and what he continues to do.

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

Architecture in Helsinki

Architecture In Helsinki were one of those pre-hipster hipster bands that emerged from Australia many a year ago. They wrote dancy little indie numbers and everyone loved them.



They dropped off the face of the earth for a few years, but now they're back with a new song, Contact High:

Contact High by Architecture In Helsinki

To go hand in hand with the new song and up coming new album, they'll be touring the country and making us dance like idiot hipster kids.

May 27, HiFi