Balance and Composure

For people that go around in my circles (at least the punk/hardcore one), Balance and Composure is one of those big buzz bands for the year. My one sentence review on Twitter compared their sound to as if a young Silverchair decided to do an emo album. And I stand by that. It's definitely not an insult. Frogstomp is a classic album and I see Separation by Balance and Composure being a big winner in best of 2011 lists.

So when a band is hot, of course they're going to go on tour to Australian.

On Thursday the 18th of August we will be blessed with two shows in Brisbane. One, a free acoustic one at Kill the Music, the best store for punk/hardcore in Queensland. And then that night they'll be playing Boys and Girls at X&Y (18+).

Touring with them will be the Brisbane band Fires of Waco, who, based off the number of national supporting slots they've nailed in 6 months, are going to be very big very soon.

Balance and Compsoure MySpace

Free Music Friday 12!

I meant to post this band a long time ago. A long long time ago. Especially since they were touring and played a little show at the Zoo. But no, things happened and I never got around to it. I ended up going and having a great time, so I think it's time I shared with you.

This is Defiance Ohio.

And yes, they are actually from Ohio.

They play folk-punk. It's punk music, with a hint of acoustic and a fiddle. And she's a very attractive fiddler.


But the best part of their punk, even including the fact that it is good and makes you want to get up and jig, is the fact that they release everything for free. Absolutely everything. And then sell their vinyl records at ridiculously cheap prices when they do play. You can get absolutely every song they've ever recorded at their webpage: http://defianceohio.terrorware.com/audio/

I feel horrible for not posting this earlier, as they deserved a way bigger turnout than they got a few months ago.

Tim Barry

Number 5 in my top five gigs of 2010 was the Revival Tour. The punk guys doing folk music was just amazing. And one of the 4 guys participating was Tim Barry, former lead singer of Avail.

Going in, I knew nothing about Tim Barry. But watching him behind an acoustic guitar, I swooned a little. He was just so goddamn emotive and his voice and music so powerful. He's coming back in 2011 for a show by himself; well him and his acoustic guitar. If you like the punk guys doing acoustic stuff that's been touring a lot lately, do yourself a favour and see this. You may not know all of the songs, but his performance will be amazing.

April 2. Rosies. 18+

MySpace