The Ocean

You like metal? You like good progressive metal? Well watch this video:

And if you do, come to the Zoo with me on the 24th of May. Supported by local bands I like, such as Nuclear Summer (sunshine metal) and No Anchor (two bass guitars playing sludgy metal).

Congratulations!

As long term readers probably know by now, I don't really listen to Triple J much anymore, except for my weekly Doctor Karl, and sometimes Short Fast Loud and Full Metal Racket.

And now, there's a new host of Full Metal Racket, their weekly metal show. It's this guy:

 

Yep, Lochlan Watt. Local lead singer of Nuclear Summer and Iron Hide. Two of my favourite heavy Brisbane bands that I've photographed many times over the last year or so. Congratulations dude. I've read many of your interviews in zines over the years (especially Death Before Dishonour). I think you'll have me listening to the radio a heck of a lot more!

Review: Pallisades/Quiet Steps/Nuclear Summer/Loma Prieta/Raien, Sun Distortion Studios, December 31 2011

I've had such a bad run of New Year Eve parties over the last few years that I decided to do something compeltely different: stay sober and watch some great bands play the last ever show at Sun Distortion Studios. There's been so many great shows there, but I probably won't miss it at all; probably because of the black-eye incident.

At least on NYE I got a good spot on the balcony area to photograph the bands without getting punched in the face. I can't really be bothered writing words for this, so here's some photos of what was a damn good night of scramz (and Quiet Steps) on NYE spent with some of my new friends I've made throughout this year.

Quiet Steps

  
Nuclear Summer

Loma Prieta

Raein

Free Music Friday 33!

I've been waiting for this album for what seems like forever now. And finally, it's here. And even better, it's free! The band is Nuclear Summer and they are from Brisbane. And I took this picture of the guitarist doing some finger tapping at Fat Louies.

I've been raving about this band for the better part of the year now, with their mix of noodly riffs, clean harmonies and thrash-like vocals (not surprising, given their lead singer is one of the two from Ironhide). They dub this sound Sunshine Metal... I like that tag.

Their first album is pretty damn good. Get it for free (or give them some a donation) over at Bandcamp.

You can also catch them touring around supporting this album on the following dates:
December 26, Billionaire (18+ and with Mourning Tide!)
December 30, House Show, Sunshine Coast
December 31, Sun Distortion Studios, supporting Raein and Loma Prieta (all ages)

That las tshow is one you do not want to miss out on. Seriously. I just bought my tickets today. It's an all ages show, so it should be done well before midnight so you can still go off and party for NYE and kiss your girl. It also features to great skramz bands, Raein from Italy and Loma Prieta from the USA. It's also the very last show Sun Distortion Studios will host. Which is sad, as it has been an amazing all ages venue in Brisbane.

One sentence album reviews (#19)

Zebrahead - Get Nice! (2011): Just a fun pop/punk/rock album that doesn't take itself seriously at all, making it enjoyable to listen to 4/5

The Living End - The Ending Is Just The Beginning Repeating (2011): I promised not to write a review saying I miss their rockabilly days. So... um.. yeah. Very mainstream rock 3.4/5

The Horrible Crowes - Elsie (2011): The Gaslight Anthem's lead singer creates a stripped back folk album that is just beautiful 4.6/5

Saves the Day - Daybreak (2011): A surprising upswing in mood from their last 2 albums sees them lapse back in time to sound like 2003 4/5

Engineer - Crooked Voices (2011): Sludgy hardcore that seems to want to be metal, but just can't quite get there with it's vocals 3.6/5

Powerman 5000 - Copies, Clones & Replicants (2011): sounds like a bad nu-metal band butchers good songs to sound like bad new wave 2/5

VA - A Tribute To Alkaline Trio (2011): 39 mostly unknown mediocre artists for the most part butchering Alkaline Trio songs 2.2/5
There are a few good songs in there, but after a while they have the sameness that 90% of Alkaline Trio songs already have

Kevin Devine - Nevermind (2011): Sounds like a note for note copy musically of the Nirvana album, but with K-Dev's less gravelly voals. 3.9/5

VA - SPIN Presents Nevermind (2011): An interesting mix of different interpretations of Nirvana. Falls short on all but a few tracks 2.5/5

VA - Kerrang! Presents Nevermind Forever (2011): Heavier bands covering the Nirvana legacy. Some of the metal interpretations put a new spin on it. 4/5

Bombay Bicycle Club - A Different Kind Of Fix (2011): I'm definitely getting a Coldplay meets Radiohead and goes hipster vibe from this 3.7/5

Wilco - The Whole Love (2011): An uncharacteristically noisy, electric and long opening song gives way to the classic Wilco sound 4.5/5

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011): 70 minutes of lush and beautiful shoegaze. This will be my future album for long hot baths 5/5

Tokyo Police Club - 10 Days, 10 Covers, 10 Years (2011): When they cover indie bands they sound okay, but there's some horrible song choices 2.4/5

Ryan Adams - Ashes & Fire (2011): He's about 1 album and a few whiskeys away from being Neil Young now. 4.4/5

I Am The Avalanche - Avalanche United (2011): I was not expecting this to be the fun punk album it is. Preconceptions can be very very wrong 4.3/5

Bjork - Biophilia (2011): typical Bjork: layered, quiet, weird, discombobulated and full of odd instruments and wavering vocals 3/5

This Is Hell - Black Mass (2011): it truly is a strange time we live in when one of the best thrash albums this year is by a hardcore band 4.2/5

Kevin Devine - Between The Concrete & Clouds (2011): More of his style than his Nirvana album this year, but nothing that really stands out 3/5

Northington - Borrowed Time (2011): An orgcore album that harks back to some of the punk of my earlier years 3.8/5

Polar Bear Club - Clash Battle Guilt Pride (2011): Solid, but doesn't make me pump my fist in the air and sing along like their 1st album 3.3/5

Chuck Ragan - Covering Ground (2011): He was one of the first punks to go folk-country, and he's still the best 4/5

The Medics - Dance Into The Dark (2011): I dub these boys the Two Door Cinema Club of the Netherlands. But better. 4/5

 

Misfits - The Devil's Rain (2011): Sounds like they haven't changed sound in 20+ years. Which is not a good thing. 2.4/5

Star Fucking Hipsters - From the Dumpster to the Grave (2011): A great mix of old school punk, hardcore and ska. It's me, in an album 4.3/5

The DC3 - The Future Sound Of Nostalgia (2011): The song "I Was the Guy in TISM" sums up this album perfectly. Best TISM spin-off yet. 4.7/5

Skalapper - Go Along Sing Along (2011): Japanese ska-punk in poor English. Or is it just bad Japanese? I can't quite tell. 3/5

Jane's Addiction - The Great Escape Artist (2011): Unlike their previous albums, I like all of the songs on this, not just one good song 4/5

Dude Jams - How To Abuse Everything (2011): raw, rough and edgy punk which tips its hat to the sounds of the 70s and 80s 3.6/5

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Hysterical (2011): Another album of weird falsetto-vocals indie music. 2.8/5

 

We Were Promised Jetpacks - In The Pit Of The Stomach (2011): Embracing more of a post-rock sound on this album really pays off 4.3/5

Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - IV (2011): stepping away even further from their hardcore roots, this album is very mainstream US radio rock 3/5

The Kooks - Junk Of The Heart (2011): Embracing a 1960s Brit-pop sound, they've finally produced an album that lives up to their hype! 4.4/5

Andrew Jackson Jihad - Knife Man (2011): Quirky, acoustic-folk-punk. Although a common genre now, their more comedic take is a good spin 4.7/5

Nuclear Summer - ST (2011): locals' noodly heavy band's 1st album is good, with some ex-Ironhide thrash vocals thrown in for a surprise 4/5

Screaming Trees - Last Words: The Final Recordings (2011): a soft, for grunge, recording from the late 90s, highlighting Lanegan's brooding vocals mainly 3.6/5

Local Brisbane Music extravaganza

Every few weeks I harp on about this, but goddamn Brisbane has some of the best local music around. So much good stuff is happening lately that I just have to share it with you all.

Snitch

I stole this picture from Jess. Sorry, but it was the only one I could find of the month's poster. I'm normally not a fan of any Destroy All Lines clubs. They have good bands ocassionally, but the crowd of scenesters isn't my favourite at all. They just kind of annoy me. But this month I'm going to have to make an exception with so much good music coming up at Snitch, their Thursday nightclub.

This Thursday, the 3rd of November, old Brisbane punk rockers The Gifthorse will be playing an acoustic set, while two of my favourite (and not to mention great) bands Fires of Waco and Quiet Steps will be playing full sets.

Then come 24th of November, my friend's band Castles Sunk Below the Sea will be playing their post-rock/emo stylings alongside Jud Campbell (former singer of the Disables doing acoustic), Fires of Waco and Perth's hardcore giants Break Even. It is two great Thursday night gigs of great Brisbane bands. Get on it.

Quiet Steps
Speaking of Quiet Steps, they will be playing the last ever show at Sun Distortion Studios. Come New Years Eve, they will be playing a show with Nuclear Summer as well as the awesome Italian screamo band Raein.  I may have squee-ed out loud when I heard of this show.

Lofly records
Also on this Thursday night (but at the Zoo) the local record lable Lofly will be putting on a showcase of their local acts. Included on this will be Mr. Maps (who's new music video you can see me in) and Re:Enactment.  It's $10 for great indie and post-rock.

Quiet Steps

I may almost be too late for this, but I got sidetracked with life/work/free tickets to Mono last night. I bang on and on about how good Brisbane bands are, and some of my favourites are playing tonight at Snitch at X and Y. Quiet Steps and Nuclear Summer to be exact. Rad dudes, good music, not too expensive drink prices.

If it's too late notice (and I don't blame you if it is) never fear, you can still catch Quiet Steps playing the afternoon of October 16 in the 4ZZZ car park in Bowen Hills.

As for Nuclear Summer, this may be the last chance you ever get to see them, as one of their members is off overseas. Which sucks, because they are about to release their debut album. So let's hope it's just a temporary thing. Here's a track off it though:

Endless Kickflips Forever (unmixed/unmastered) by Nuclear Summer

Fat Louies: a tribute

For years, every Monday night, you'd find me and my mates at Fat Louies, throwing down half price drinks during happy hour, playing our own version of pool and getting so pissed off at the jukebox playing bad Asian rap that would waste our money playing the only good songs on there, which happened to all be 80s ballads.

Ah yes. It's my kind of bar. Dingy, pool tables, cheap drinks and not many people around to bother you. Heaven.

Then I found out they did shows. The first one I went along to was In Trenches and Anchors. A great hardcore and punk night. And I got some great pictures.

I didn't realize it was a common thing. But then one night, I got dragged there for some karaoke with the girl's friends. On the way into the booth I noticed a grindcore band playing. Which to me is about 100 million times better than karaoke. So I just sipped my beer and watched the bands instead. A great night was had.

See Fat Louies on weekends transforms into something else. It becomes a venue for great Australian music. Screw the crappy DAL clubs that are full of scene kids that don't give a rats ass about the music (even though the clubs get better international bands) you'll find the real punks, the real hardcore guys, the real music fans of those scenes in Fat Louies most weekends. It's all free and if you don't like the music you can just go around the corner and play some pool. Or around the other corner and make your own music in the karaoke booths.

The best part of these Fat Louies shows is that they feature the best of Australian bands, especially Brisbane bands. If it's an Australian band I've raved about, chances are I've seen them in Fat Louies. It's a great place to find new music, because you don't have to pay anything beyond the drinks you purchase. And they are reasonably priced.

I wish I was getting paid for this, but I'm not. I was just there on Saturday night, after watching my West Coast Eagles win their AFL game, sipping a whiskey and watching Headaches when it dawned on me how awesome Fat Louies is, and how encouraging they are of the music I like.

Check out their facebook for upcoming gigs, or just show up on a Friday or Saturday night. Not too early on the Friday though, their happy hour is becoming quite popular and packed.

Thursday night you can see Waiting Room and Nuclear Summer
Next Thursday you can see Stolen Youth
October 15th the Mercy Beat are playing there

Already, that short list has some of my favourite local bands. Fat Louies, how I love you.

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

Brisbane: great bands, free samplers

I've said it over and over again on this blog, but Brisbane has one of the best live band scenes in Australia, maybe even the world. And it's really pretty at night:

No matter what kind of music you're into, there's a handful (or more) of people making it in Brisbane. Most of them aren't that well known; but for every Regurgitator and Custard we get a band like SixFtHick, who've been playing just as long, put out as much good music and are chronically underappreciated. But that's not stopping them, they still keep making music and playing shows.

And shows is really what Brisbane is all about. I'm constantly surprised that when I head to a local show how the crowds can be bigger than a lot of international touring bands I've seen. How these bands from Brisbane end up being more well known in other places (like the Saints and the Go-Betweens anyone?) but still call Brisbane home.

This love of the Brisbane musical scene and local bands is obviously not just shown by me, as two free music samplers have been released highlighting some of the best bands Brisbane has to offer.

The first is Sounds Like Brisbane. A mix for more of the hipster side of Brisbane. It has everything: hip-hop, indie, electronica, mathrock, punk, folk, even old school rock and roll... everything that appeals to the hipster in you and me. It also does a great job of showing how diverse Brisbane's musical side really is.

You can get it for free right here.

It features some of Brisbane's best bands; Texas Tea, Regurgitator, I Heart Hiroshima and the Medics to name a few. But the highlight to me would be the instrumental mathrock magic that is Mr Maps. I've heard this name bandied around Brisbane and the internet for the better part of 6 months now, but I've not been motivated to listen to them. Luckily they have a track on this compilation and now I'm hooked.

The second free sampler appeals to the 50% of me that isn't hipster: it's punk and hardcore. Brisbane's punk and hardcore scene is second to none. I'm going to shows almost weekly in this scene, and that's just a small fraction of it.

You can get the link, and a nice little blurb, from this Swedish Hardcore blog (now there's a blog post I've been writing slowly for the past year or so: Swedish music (particularly hardcore)).

I've seen 90% of those bands live, most more than once. With most of them I've yet to hear recordings of their music. So this was an excellent chance to listen to them in a more quiet setting than the multitude of venues I've experienced them all in the past. The mix was put together by a dude in Fires of Waco, who's band really stands out as a highlight of this mix (and their album came out last week too, get on it). There's even some classic Brisbane hardcore on the mix, in the form of Dick Nasty, who've been playing together since before I first moved to Brisbane as a pre-pubescent.

These two samplers are really just the tip of the iceberg. I can think of so many other bands that should be included in this. And it just makes me proud, as a music fan, to be living in such a great city.

Fat Louies Saturday night, in pictures (Downpour/Nuclear Summer/Castles Sunk Below The Sea)

Here I am, sitting around listening to some new music and playing with some photos. So I thought, hey, why not share the ones from the weekend's gig with you. It was a free gig at Fat Louies and half the crowd was made up out of people from other bands in Brisbane. I think Clus and I were the only ones not in a band.

One of the guys there was recording it all, so hopefully we'll get a nice EP or something come out of this gig soon.

I'd write a review, but being Fat Louies... well... I was a bit more than tipsy. Which may also explain the quality of some of these.

Downpour
These guys came down from Rockhampton for it.


Joel... you have something in your eye? Or just concentrating hard?

Nuclear Summer


I've seen these guys a lot recently, and I am constantly enchanted by this guitarist. He gets some great sounds from just hitting the guitar a lot. And some good finger tapping too.



Castles Sunk Below the Sea



Jake gave me the finger a lot while playing.

Of the 20 odd pictures I took of Zach, this may be the only one where he had a different facial expression.

This was normal for him. Good posture though Zach.



As always, there's lots more gig photos on my Flickr.

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

Intentions

All of this local music I've seen lately must be affecting me. I've been listening to a lot more local bands, especially in that style similar to Quiet Steps, Nuclear Summer and La Dispute. And lo and behold, there's a band from Sydney that does the same thing. And they're named after a Mclusky song that they cover (a song that Future of the Left played live a few weeks ago).

They're journeying north of the border for the first time in February and playing two shows with some of the bands I saw over the last few days.

The first one is February 19 with Quiet Steps at the Sun Distortion Studios in Albion (2/24 Corunna St, Albion). All Ages starting at 7.


The next one is a 4ZZZ carpark show with Nuclear Summer on the 20th of February. This is a Sunday afternoon show, all ages, starting at about 2 pm I believe. (EDIT: as seen in the comments below, there's been a scheduling mix up... so no Nuclear Summer. But heck, still get in and see a good show and maybe get some sun on your pasty skin?) DOUBLE EDIT: But wear sunscreen. We don't want cancer stupid.

You can listen to more of Intentions here.

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.

Review: La Dispute/To the North/Fires of Waco/Nuclear Summer, the Zoo, January 25 2011

After not shutting up about this band for the better part of six months, the day finally arrived where I got to see them.

After a few delicious burritos, we rocked up early to catch locals Nuclear Summer. Their sound was similar to La Dispute in a way, however they took it to a much heavier end result with the singer at times employing an almost metal growl.

I raved about them after seeing them play Burst City a few weeks back, but I was more swept away this time, due to the much better PA of the Zoo. By far my favourite of the opening bands of the gig.


Fires of Waco came in next, showing why they are one of Brisbane's most talked about up-and-coming bands.


They played a fast melodic punk, which all of the scene kids got into. There was lots of dancing and even more sing-alongs with the microphone in the audience. Their stature is growing quite rapidly as a great live band, probably as they have one of the best drummers you'll find in Brisbane:


They finished off their set with a sublime cover of At the Drive-In's One Armed Scissor, getting the crowd nicely warmed up.

The final opening band was To The North, also from brisbane. It was because of them and their friendship with La Dispute that this tour happened. Unfortunately though, they were unable to connect to the crowd. They played a style of punky math-rock but the whole time the crowd seemed rather uninterested and you could hear the talking over the music.

I didn't manage to get any pictures as the crowd was swelling at the front of the stage in anticipation for La Dispute.

There was already a bit of bumping and shoving at the front of the stage when before they came out but it turned into an excited crowd singing and dancing when the music kicked in.

They met every expectation of mine. Although they only played a short set (about 7 songs in under 40 minutes), there was an energy and enthusiasm there that just radiated over everyone. They were truly thankful and excited to be there. Maybe less so when some of the asshole crowdsurfers kept trying to hug the lead singer and steal the microphone.

Sidenote: I'd like to congratulate 95% of the crowdsurfers on their behaviour. Most of them when landing on stage would just walk themselves directly off. That is good form. It's the other 5% that were idiots.


They played songs from their album and both of the amazing songs from their split with Touche Amore (How I Feel and Why it Scares Me). A notable omission from their setlist was the opening track to their album, Such Small Hands. I was non-fussed by this, as I consider it an intro track, but a fair percentage of the crowd (including a few of my mates) went along purely to see this song.

The set didn't seem long enough, but luckily La Dispute decided to do an encore of the song The Last Lost Continent. 12 minutes of pure emotional music. A great way to finish the set.


Do yourself a favour, go this afternoon to see these guys play Burst City. There are a few remaining tickets left at the door. I think in this smaller intimate venue they will truly shine.

Nuclear Summer

The first band in today's Brisbane music special are a band I saw play the Roma House benefit gig on Saturday at Burst City. They are Nuclear Summer and here's a picture I took:


They may actually have been my favourite band of the day. Not taking away anything from the other great bands, but I really enjoyed Nuclear Summer. From their live show, I imagined my description of them to be This Town Needs Guns, crossed with La Dispute with much heavier vocals. Basically indie-math rock with heavy screaming vocals. They had me in at the start of their set though, with their guitarist just hitting his guitar and yet making some beautiful noise out of it.

They were handing out a demo at the gig, for free, which I managed to pick up. But lucky for you at home, they've also put it out on their website, right here: http://nuclearsummer.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/demo-10/

(EDIT: The link may be broken, try this: http://thepeelstreetband.com/ns.zip)

The demo has the vocals a bit more gravelly and punk style, but it still shows off how excellent this band is.

Rather unsurprisingly, they'll be opening for La Dispute on their Australian tour, so catch them January 25th at the Zoo. 18+

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: