26.10.16 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Brisbane / Free / Incorporating
HAWAII, US RADIO PLAY AND LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM
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130
2 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 3
SAT 29 OCTOBER
27TH OCTOBER
SHOKU BEATS NIGHT Polish off the weekend with a good dose of free live music every Sunday from 3.30pm.
THE LAURELS
DROP LEGS, DREAM THIEVES, JUXTA THOUGHT
29TH OCTOBER
LOADED 4TH NOVEMBER
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STONEFIELD
SUN 30 October FEATURING EMMA DEAN, LUCINDA SHAW and ELLEN REED Brisbane Airport is keeping this event free.
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SEA GYPSIES SAT 5 NOVEMBER
3RD NOVEMBER
MIXTAPE
FRI 4 NOVEMBER
28TH OCTOBER
SAMPOLOGY
On the last Sunday of every month Mixtape brings artists together to discuss & perform the music that drives them.
THE HALLOWEEN HOTEL, MESA COSA, DUMB PUNTS, MINI SKIRT, GALAXY GIRLS
THU 10 NOVEMBER
THE DELTA RIGGS FRI 11 NOVEMBER
THE LAURELS SAT 12 NOVEMBER
BERNARD FANNING FRI 18 NOVEMBER
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BOOTLEG RASCAL FRI 25 NOVEMBER
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RTO No. 6124
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 5
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
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Glitoris
Lloyd Cole
English singer-songwriter Lloyd Cole will be returning to Australian shores in January, with a run of ten shows across the country to celebrate the release of his new anthology, The Retrospective.
Gliterati Assemble Feminist powerhouse group Glitoris have just announced a run of shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra this November and December, in support of the release of their debut EP The Disgrace.
Glades
Q: Why was Fetty Wap jealous of Desiigner A: Because he has two “i”’s Give me 30k followers again please @bloodhaiI 6 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
It’s Like This Sydney-based alt-poppers Glades have released This Is What It’s Like. The trio have also detailed an east coast tour for the highly anticipated debut EP, with three dates lined up in early December.
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Eyes On The Prize
Ascendant melodic punks Trophy Eyes have just dropped their second full-length Chemical Miracle to huge acclaim and to celebrate they have penciled in an east coast album tour in February.
Trophy Eyes
FRI 28 OCT
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE Smoking Martha
FRI 28 OCT
HALLOWEEN PARTY
SAT 29 OCT
THE DANDY WARHOLS
SUN 30 OCT STEVEN WILSON
TUE 1 NOV
METHODMAN REDMAN
FRI 4 NOV VENGABOYS
TUE 8 NOV SCHOOLBOY Q
FRI 11 NOV TECH N9NE
17 & 18 NOV ARJ BARKER
WED 23 NOV
THE CULT
SAT 26 NOV
JOHN WILLIAMSON
All Yours Brisbane punk and rock outfit Smoking Martha have a sizzling new single in Say You’re Mine. The five-piece have already kicked off an east coast tour for the track which will keep them on the road until December.
WED 30 NOV 2CELLOS
FRI 2 DEC BASSHUNTER
9 & 10 DEC THE USED
FRI 23 DEC IAN MOSS
SUN 1 JAN
NYD FOAM PARTY
TUE 31 JAN
PANIC! AT THE DISCO
Easy Air Sydney synth rockers Mansionair have just dropped new single, Easier, from their upcoming debut record. The three-piece have also announced that they’ll be touring the country with the track in November.
SAT 18 FEB B*WITCHED
(07) 3325 6777 TICKETS & INFO GO TO: EATONSHILLHOTEL.COM.AU EATONSHILLHOTELPAGE Mansionair
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THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 7
Lifestyle Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Vague Joys
French pop royalty Nouvelle Vague has announced that when they return to Australia to tour their latest album I Could Be Happy they will stop at Brisbane Powerhouse for a one-night-only show in January.
Nouvelle Vague
0 The number of dollars live music export body Sounds Australia will receive from the government after the end of this year.
Boney Up Bands are firing Bluesfest sideshow announcements out all over the place and St Paul & The Broken Bones are no exception. The big, fiery soul band are coming with their new album Sea Of Noise in April.
Teenage Fanclub
Forever Young
theMusic.com.au: breaking news, up-to-the-minute reviews and streaming new releases
8 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Lauded Scottish alt five-piece Teenage Fanclub have revealed plans to return to our shores in March for their first Aussie headline shows since 2005. While here they will also be performing at Golden Plains.
e / Cultu Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Fallrat
Brisbane’s own genre-blending hip hop maven Mallrat has joined the ranks of St Paul & The Broken Bones, Childish Gambino and The Avalanches with the announcement that she’s joined the Falls Festival bill.
Mallrat
Green Day
St Paul & The Broken Bones
No Dookie So punk princes Green Day’s American Idiot: The Musical is getting an Australian premiere in Brisbane. The rock spectacular based on their Grammy Awardwinning album will come Down Under in February.
Amanda Palmer
Summer Thaw Melt, Brisbane’s celebration of queer arts and culture, has launched this year’s January/ February program. It includes events across an extraordinary spectrum of mediums from talks with Amanda Palmer to Queer Comics. THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 9
Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
Lucky Day Lucky Number
Horrorpunk king and Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 is bringing a unique unplugged show to Australia in March that will encompass audience Q&As and ‘stories behind the songs’. He’s even bringing Rayen Belchere to play Bourbon Crow sets.
Wednesday 13
Thelma Plum
Wood Folk
248,994 The number of songwriters, composers and publishers that were paid for their works by APRA AMCOS duting the 2015-2016 financial year. Hey Ho, Let’s Go Lauded Ramones drummer Richie Ramone nailed it when he visited earlier this year, so much so that he had to come back and do it again. His tour wraps up in Brisbane on 5 & 6 Nov.
Woodfolk Folk Festival have pulled together a seriously impressive collection of Aussie and international talent for this year’s December and January line-up. Thelma Plum, The Bamboos and Buffy Sainte-Marie only scratch the surface.
Warpaint
Richie Ramone
Painted Heads Warpaint announce their third tour of Australia in support of their latest release Heads Up. The Los Angeles quartet will be bringing their moodiness and bumped-up beats to Australian shores in February. 10 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture
City Living
Sydney’s Betty & Oswald have released dates for an east coast single tour. They will pack new track Stuck In The City and put rubber on the road this next month before appearing at Lost Paradise.
Betty & Oswald
theMusic. com.au: breaking news, up-to-theminute reviews and streaming new releases
Last Skydance In Hearts Wake are ready to move on to their next chapter after a final tributary trio of shows for albums Earthwalker and Skydancer this December. Colombus and The Brave will join them.
Kurt Vile
In Hearts Wake
Vile Animals Off the back performing some beautifully picturesque summer shows as part of the Zoo Twilight series next March, singersongwriter Kurt Vile has also slated in a headline show in Brisbane that same month.
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 11
Music
Empire Of The Sun recruited Lindsey Buckingham for their new album and the band’s songs are (finally) being played on American radio. Nick Littlemore tells Bryget Chrisfield he’s “like a lightening rod” for inspiration.
W
e find him in Sydney today, but Empire Of The Sun’s Nick Littlemore explains that these days he’s “based in Los Angeles with all the other celebrities”. When asked how he finds life over there, Littlemore muses, “I find it rather strange, but we have a beautiful garden and I spend most of my time in the garden so that’s great”. The presser for Empire Of The Sun’s new Two Vines album features a quote attributed to Littlemore that details the inspiration behind the title track: “... this image of a modern city overtaken by jungle, almost like mother nature taking back the planet.” Littlemore explains how this image landed in his brain box: “I guess things and ideas that I have come through me, I would say — like a kind of channelling, for want
12 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
of a better term — and I think that it came through in a dreamlike state. You know, I’ve recently had an awakening of sorts and I started meditating, and listening to the planet, and this record is really an extension of that awakening, for me. I wanted to take the opportunity that I have now — and it’s a privileged one... And I wanted to have something to say rather than just act like a crazy person and talk about colours all night. So what I wanted to say was that we need to return to nature, that we need to start listening to it, and I thought, ‘What better way than to make a record about that and just how wise and beautiful this planet is?’ And let’s stop ignoring it and trying to build car parks on top of it and start actually loving it!”
Does Littlemore meditate in his “beautiful garden” in LA? “I do indeed,” he confirms. On whether these meditation sessions sometimes offer up songs, Littlemore offers, “All my ideas have always come through some kind of open channel, with the collective unconscious or the cosmic consciousness.” So does he feel like a conduit in a way? “Yeah, like a lightening rod,” he suggests, which definitely sounds a lot sexier. Empire Of The Sun’s third album Two Vines was recorded in Los Angeles and Hawaii, and Littlemore shares, “We went to Hawaii twice and it was Luke [Steele]’s idea, ‘cause he’s an avid surfer. And I had been to Hawaii once before on a layover to London many years ago, and didn’t love it and was a little nervous about it. But then being there was utterly beautiful, wonderfully wonderful and, I dunno, it changed a lot of things, y’know? It’s a very magical place, especially away from all the built-up areas; just into nature.” Although Littlemore says he doesn’t surf (“I’m not that coordinated”), he adds, “I love swimming but, yeah! I think I’ve been on a surfboard once... it wasn’t really for me.” They recruited an impressive slew of guest artists for Two Vines, including Wendy Melvoin (best known for being part of Prince’s backing band The Revolution) and the inimitable Lindsey Buckingham. “We always approach people continuously, whether we’re on an album cycle or not... some people come back, often people don’t and occasionally they’re available,” Littlemore tells. “And Lindsey Buckingham — who obviously was a very large part of our sound and our influence, or sphere of influence — came down to the studio and it was incredible! I mean, it was like he was a member of the band and played music with us; it was so easy and so natural. The only other artist that I’ve worked with of that calibre — who’s been as generous and easy as that — is obviously Sir Elton John.” Sir Elton John “is still, in part, managing” Littlemore, who confirms, “He’s a part of
my life”. John first discovered Littlemore after coming across a copy of his danceduo outfit Pnau’s self-titled third album. “He became quite vocal about it,” Littlemore fondly remembers. “I found out through Toni Collette, who is represented by my agent. Toni was having dinner with Sir Elton, and Pnau came up, and she passed along my number and then, yeah! The rest has been history. And it’s been quite a marvellous journey, I must say, from then ‘til now.” So is there some new Pnau on the horizon as well? “We have a song called Chameleon,” Littlemore enlightens, before sharing some specifics: “We have a wonderful singer we’re working with, who’s a Guyanese girl, a wonderful voice... I just shot a video in Los Angeles and it’s pretty wild. I think people are gonna be excited, you know; Pnau has always been pretty bonkers and this I don’t think will let people down on that front.”
At this point it’s really Luke’s baby; he’s very particular about that, so I’m allowing them to just do their thing.
When asked what his role is in Empire Of The Sun’s live shows these days, Littlemore reveals, “At this point it’s really Luke’s baby; he’s very particular about that, so I’m allowing them to just do their thing and, you know, I just stay home and just love my wife and compose with other people and try and, you know, pay it forward in different ways.” After acknowledging “music has been so incredibly giving” to him, Littlemore says he’s “trying to give back now”. “I’ve just started a small independent record label and I’m starting to make collaborative albums with all sorts of people from Australia and the UK, and United States and other places too,” he divulges. Littlemore is speaking of The 2 Leaves Project (“I’ve done a number of albums now, I’ve done about ten”) and Every Ocean Tells A Story — the debut LP from this collaborative project, for which Littlemore worked with Vera Blue (Celia Pavey to her pals) — is out on 11 Nov. “I know that her music, that she pursues, is — I mean it’s beautiful; it’s more on a commercial end and I wanted to do something that was purely artistic, but still very listenable.”
What: Two Vines (EMI) When & Where: 7 Jan, FOMO Festival, Riverstage
American Dream You ve pr You’ve proba obably bly se seen en tha thatt iincr ncredi edible ble 20 2016 16 Hond da Ci Civiic commercial i l (calllled d ‘T ‘Th he Dreamer’)) that features Emp pire Of The Sun’s Walking g On A Dream. Even thoug gh the song g was released back in 2008,, this sync y saw the electronic duo’s hit crack the US Billboard Top 100 th this his Feb Februa brua ruary ry. “T ry Th hat’s a good hat’ hat d ex examp amplle amp le off a song that h feells like it’s ’ still ill living, i in some weiird d way way”,” Lit Littl tlemor tle more e expllain ains i s of of Wal W lkin Walki king g On A Drea Drea ream m’s s lon longev gevity gev ity. “We nev never er had an anyy radio rad io pla playy in in A Amer merica mer ica ou ourr enti enti ntire re car career eer an and d then the nn nine ine ye years ars — or eig eightht and and-aa hal halff yyear ears s —a afte fterr we we rrele elease ased d tthe he alb album, um, we we’re re fi findi nding ng ourselves on the radio! I’m g getting g into taxis in LA,, or in New York,, and there’s Walking g On A Dream Dre am.. IIt’s t s a biz bizarr arre e ffeel eeling ing.. “Th That at son song g is is all all abo about ut lov love ea and nd lig light ht and it it’s s wond derffull to share h more goo g d th hought gh s wiith h the universe, y’know?” Littlemore enthuses on said track, which “opened the door” for Empire Of The Sun to be added to Stateside radio playlists. “They’ve taken on High And Low [from Two Vines], which has been wonderful,” Littlemore extols. Every artist/ band secretly hopes to make it in America and Littlemore considers, “It always felt impossible to me, but it was somewhat of a dream to, you know, conquer the largest market in the world and just reach all those beautiful people.”
Now we’re just gotta know what became of all those fabulous Pnau character suits. “I know! I loved all those” Littlemore extols. “I don’t know where they are. I think we tried to give them away, we tried to do charity with them — all these things — and I don’t know where they are right now. The Strawberry’s probably getting up to no good wherever that is. They really... have [minds] of their own, you know?” We propose that locating all of these different characters, scattered all around the globe, would make an awesome music-video premise and Littlemore laughs and plays along. “I occasionally get postcards from The Lightning Bolt. I mean, I think last time he was in Bolivia or something, but there was some fuck-up with his visa.” Steele co-wrote and supplied vocals on the Pnau song, With You Forever, but Littlemore also took on lead vocals with this outfit. “I’ve never really loved my voice,” Littlemore confesses. “I mean, I’ve been doing a lot more singing of late and I think... it’s getting better. I don’t know if it’s a great voice; it’s certainly not in the calibre of, say, Luke’s voice, but I’m really enjoying singing and I would like to do more of that.”
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 13
Music
Remember Her Name “No one knew who I was,” Tkay Maidza tells Bryget Chrisfield of her humble beginnings, when Killer Mike referred to her as “Tkay something” during a lecture. Fast forward a year and a half and the Adelaide singerrapper’s working alongside people she’s “always wanted to work with”.
W
hen asked whether she knew she was onto something with her 2013 single Brontosaurus, Tkay Maidza replies, “It was more just, like, I didn’t know what would happen with it because, when I was writing those songs, I was also learning as well.” On this breakout release, the singer-rapper admits to “not really knowing how much power it had or who would listen to it, really”.
It’s a really cool feeling when you become someone who people go to.
Fast forward to 2016 and her debut album TKAY is ready to drop. We’ve already been blown away by its lead single, Carry On (featuring Killer Mike); all badass beats, sirens and fierce flow. Killer Mike first discovered Maidza when Run The Jewels were in Australia touring with Falls Festival in 2014/15. The Adelaide rapper was also on the Falls line-up and, when Killer Mike gave a lecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in April, 2015, he was full of praise for the young star-in-themaking. In the middle of a bit of an Iggy Azalea diss, Killer Mike championed, “The person that all the Australians were talking about was a black girl! Her name was Tkay something; I saw her perform, she rocked the house!” Wait ‘til you hear another standout track from TKAY 14 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
called Tennies!? Here, Maidza adopts a more nonchalant flow that calls to mind MIA for this pair of ears. On how this particular track took shape, Maidza enlightens, “I used to play tennis a lot when I was younger and my producer who I worked with, his manager really liked tennis. So when I first met them he was wearing a lot of tennis gear and I was like, ‘Oh, you’re wearing this brand,’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah, how do you know?’ And I was like, ‘I just know, because — tennis,’ and then, yeah! We were all just playing around, hanging out one day and the chorus to Tennies just came to mind as a joke, and then we were like, ‘Oh, this is actually kinda cool!’ And then I just built up on it and then he added more production and the rest equalled the song!” Maidza describes her collaborative songwriting approach as “kind of varied”. “It could be an instrumental sent to me before,” she clarifies, “or they start with me from scratch... the producer starts the instrumental himself and I’ll just be saying, ‘I like this or I don’t like that,’ and then I’ll write with him. But usually, you know, I’ll do my thing and he’ll do his.” When Maidza was about ten years old, she studied piano for a couple of years. “I can’t read [musical] notes at all, but I have the knowledge to, like, know the melodies and what should come next,” Maidza explains. “Or usually I can sing melodies as well, so I’ll be like, ‘Oh, this feels like this comes next almost’.” On why she stopped taking lessons, Maidza recalls, “I came second in an eisteddfod and I think that made me really sad and so that’s why I stopped playing.” Sad because she didn’t win? “Yeah, and I think my mum was like, ‘Oh, you should’ve practiced more,’ and I was like, ‘I did!’ [laughs]. And then, yeah! I think I was just really upset.” We discovered Maidza’s parents have impeccable musical taste via the presser for TKAY, which reveals Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was often pumping through the family’s car stezza. So how old would Maidza have been around this time? “2002/3, I would’ve been, like, seven.” On whether she’d try to learn the lyrics and rap along, Maidza shares, “Because I was a lot younger it was almost sorta like an achievement if I could remember all of the words so, yeah! I would try to coul remember it and then be like, ‘Look what I remembered!’” reme While discussing what Andre 3000’s been up to lately, Maidza points out, “He features on a lot of albums. I think Maid he’s just doing whatever he feels like doing [laughs]. He always pops up and the songs that he features on — they alwa sound like his songs... Like, when he was on the Frank Ocean song [Solo (Reprise)], it feels like a Andre 3000 song almost... It’s just, like, a set-up for him to just blow [it] outta the park, basically.” She’s racked up an impressive amount of feats herself this year, including Martin Solveig’s Do It Right and Down Like This by Motez, about which Maidza enthuses, “It’s just exciting if it’s people that I’ve always wanted to work with. I think when I first started it was harder to work with a lotta people ‘cause no one knew who I was, but it’s a really cool feeling when you become someone who people go to.”
What: TKAY (Dew Process/UMA) When & Where: 3 Nov, The Triffid; 2 Jan, Falls Festival, North Byron Parklands
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French pop royalty, Nouvelle Vague make their long-awaited return to Brisbane to perform a one-night only concert.
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Music
Stirring The Pot Ahead of their A Day On The Green tour Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey and You Am I’s Tim Rogers reveal that it can be hard work not stirring the pot when everything’s going a little too smoothly. By Sam Wall. Pic by Giulia McGauran
“I
’m never one to complain about weather but that’s maddening,” puffs You Am I frontman Tim Rogers once he’s safely inside the cafe and has shared a quick hug with Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey. “Do you know the Mistral wind in the South of France?” We can’t say we’re familiar. “If the Mistral is blowing for more than nine days in a row, ah, I’m not sure how contemporary this law is, but a murder charge can be demoted to manslaughter.” “Similar thing, the Santa Ana wind in southern California, when that’s blowing the murder rate goes up,” shares Dempsey. “Sort of charged emotion. But it’s a
I thought by the time we hit Spain there would be less of a theatre crowd, but no, we’re definitely theatre.
significant statistic because of the fucking wind.” It’s not all ill winds though, far from it. Dempsey has only recently wrapped a national tour for his second solo album, Strange Loop, and You Am I spent last month in Europe with Porridge & Hotsauce. Rogers’also has a plate full of “writing books and theatre things”, as well as being the go-to guy of the “tribute phenomenon”. Things won’t be moving any slower in November, when their two outfits will tour Australia’s wineries for A Day On The Green alongside the classic line-up of Jebediah, Spiderbait and The Meanies (“Were you at Homebake ‘08?” quips Dempsey). 16 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
“We both played with Hunters & Collectors a couple of years ago when they did their sort of re-formation tour as a bunch of Day On The Green shows and You Am I and Something For Kate were both on those,” says Dempsey. “It’s great... it’s just such a cruisy tour. It’s so well run and all the people are great... everything’s taken care of. It’s actually dangerously - that’s the thing about it - it’s so well run, it’s so cruisey that it’s hard to keep it together.” (“There’s a temptation to fuck it up,” grins Rogers.) “And you’re at a fucking winery and you know... you’ve got to keep it together ‘til you go on stage, at least, to some degree,” finishes Dempsey. They’re a dapper pair of gents, Dempsey in a neat blue button-up and Rogers in a dashing cream suit coat. But even with no prior knowledge of the two it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine them causing mischief together. “That temptation is strong as well when you’re not the headliner and it’s not necessarily ‘your crowd’, as was the case when we were playing with Hunners. There’s the temptation to, you know, unsettle things a little bit,” confirms Dempsey. “And there’s always those people down the front who’ve paid more to sit in a white plastic chair,” he adds. “So you can see there’s people sort of a few rows back... with their picnic blankets and they’re, you know, pissing on and having a great time. And then there’s the sort of, zone of privilege between them and the stage and you kind of want to throw yourself over that.” “I remember the first time I actually played in front of a sitting crowd was in Florida,” says Rogers, “and we were playing with Soundgarden, we were playing this big sort of lecture theatre... but people would come in with things of popcorn [there’s a chuckle from Dempsey]. It kinda made sense, I mean you feel like a bit of a zoo.” By Dempsey’s own admission Something For Kate have become pretty used to being gawked at, even if it’s taken 20 years. “We’ve got a running joke in Something For Kate that our audience is a theatre crowd, ‘cause they just stand there... Even when we started as a kind of young three-piece, very noisy, abrasive sort of scre screamo band,” he tells. “They just stand dead still, eyes th stage, mouths kind of...” - “Trying to catch up,” to the help Rogers. helps “We used to worry that they were bored or, I dunno,” shru Dempsey. “But it’s just going to be funny, you shrugs kno ‘cause obviously [with] these shows the audience know, is co coming to see all the bands - like, all the different ban bands; all their fans are sort of coming and stuff like that So we’re kinda like, ‘I wonder how the Something that. For Kate theatre crowd is going to mix in amongst a Spiderbait crowd, a You Am I crowd?’” “The You Am I crowd is quite a theatre crowd,” assures Rogers. “We were just in Europe, last month, and I thought by the time we hit Spain there would be less of a theatre crowd, but no, we’re definitely theatre.” “That’s good, that’ll work well,” Dempsey acknowledges. “It’s a good thing I’ve got a character actor’s face.”
When & Where: 6 Nov, A Day On The Green, Sirromet Winery, Mt Cotton
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THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 17
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— Brisbane
18 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Progressive rock has flirted with chart-bothering success previously, but has it become, dare we say it, cool again? Caligula’s Horse vocalist Jim Grey and Brendan Crabb discuss Jethro Tull.
C
aligula’s Horse frontman Jim Grey is understandably exultant. Firstly, the Brisbane prog-rockers are set to road-test new material. Their next record remains in its embryonic stages, but attendees at upcoming headlining shows may just get an earful of a new opus; a four-part, 16-minute behemoth entitled Graves. Said shows will also introduce and assimilate new drummer Josh Griffin into the ranks. “He’s definitely changed the way that Sam [Vallen, guitars] and I are approaching parts, because we know he’s got a certain set of skills,” Grey enthuses. However, the clincher may be landing the support slot that any self-respecting, forward-thinking act would pawn their Marillion LPs to secure: opening for Swedish maestros Opeth on their 2017 Australian run.”We played with Opeth, I think last time they were out, but it was just the one show in Brisbane. We were all stoked, one of those bucket-list shows that you always hope you get to play,” the singer laughs. “The fact that we now get to tour the country with them on Sorceress, which has done so well as an album, and go to New Zealand with them as well. It’s our first shows in New Zealand too. Totally stoked, man.”
Opeth’s broad following seemingly belies their boundary-free, non-conventional approach to songwriting, and they have perhaps instilled among wider audiences that it’s permissible — almost trendy — to embrace progressive music nowadays. “Prog’s been cool since forever, brah,” Grey jokes. “If you look back in the past, bands like Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and stuff like that, those bands were massive. They were in the pop scene, just doing their thing... But there are bands [today] that have crossed genres enough that there’s crossover appeal between them. If you look at a band like Karnivool, they’ve got massive crossover appeal between fans that are into prog or altrock, or even pop-rock fans love Karnivool. “I think Opeth is sort of doing that thing now, they’ve developed their sound and Mikael [Akerfeldt] is so confident in himself and what he wants for his project, and the way that he writes he doesn’t cave to people’s desires. So they’ve just got this unique sound that’s coming out, and I think that’s what people are attracted to. We don’t keep the idea of what people want to hear in our head necessarily. There’s definitely a core Caligula’s Horse sound and we do that but, at the same time, we want to write the music that reflects us and that we’re proud of.” The quintet possess other lofty ambitions; namely, a return to Europe midnext year. The aforementioned Jethro Tull will even headline a festival they’re playing in Barcelona, Be Prog! My Friend. “Hopefully that’s the start of something for us. We’re going to go over and play a bunch of shows. [That festival’s] another one of those that’s bucket-list stuff.”
When & Where: 4 Nov, The Triffid
Brendan Gallagher
Sonofobituary EP LAUNCH FRI 4 NOV • JUNK BAR • BRISBANE TIX www.thejunkbar.com.au
SAT 5 NOV • BISON BAR • NAMBOUR TIX www.thebisonbar.com www.brendangallaghermusic.com
GLASSELLLAND A U S T R A L I A N
T O U R
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 19
Music
Frontlash Happy Valley Don’t forget this weekend’s Valley Fiesta celebrations, which, among other things, will see the legends in Violent Soho nab a tile on the mall’s Walk Of Fame. Get out and support it!
Next In Line
Being Sad = Good Times Camaraderie and community hung thick in the air at Hannahband and Oslow’s scrappy show at The Foundry – check out our rundown in the Live section.
Election Of The Year
Lashes
Entries have opened up for next year’s Qld Music Awards & Billy Thorpe Scholarship; you have until 4 Dec to get your submissions in at the event’s website.
Welsh metal mega-stars Bullet For My Valentine return to Australia still riding the momentum of a #1 record. Frontman Matt Tuck tells Brendan Crabb about the next generation of headliners.
Violent Soho
Backlash
Sounds Like A Bad Idea The government will not guarantee funding for Sounds Australia past the end of this year. Have they not noticed what that organisation does around here? Talk about planning to fail...
Late To The Party
The UK Singles Chart saw the ignominious distinction of netting its first female-led #1 of the entire year at the weekend. That’s... really not good enough.
Are You Not Entertained? Not remotely music-related but that footage of a big ol’ spider dragging a mouse across a guy’s fridge door is fucking nightmarish and it’s unsettling how many people are into it.
20 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
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ecovering from a show in Indiana on the US Vans Warped Tour, vocalist/ guitarist Matt Tuck seems in a reflective mood when conversing with The Music. Although only appearing as special guests on a handful of dates this year, it’s the first time Bullet For My Valentine have played the festival in a decade. That previous stint must seem like a lifetime ago for the Welsh metallers, but the typically laid-back frontman has fond recollections. “When we did that [tour] the band was relatively unknown in the US, our first album [The Poison] had just come out. We were a lot more rowdy and loved to party a lot more when we first started getting success and touring, but these days we’ve really toned it down and we run a really slick ship... We tend to stay out of trouble these days.” The aforementioned grind of playing truncated sets — sometimes at 11am — eventually paid dividends, helping The Poison attain gold status in America. The band became a full-time occupation after their initial EP spawned an exhaustive touring schedule, with an ensuing multi-album major label contract offering relative security. They recently inked a new deal with Search & Destroy/Spinefarm. What did their families
make of initially leaving day jobs and doubling down on a collective goal? “My parents especially were always supportive of me, would always take me to rehearsals and come to shows. They knew it was a dream of mine since I was 14 years old, and they saw how hard we’d worked for it, how much shit we got over the years by being turned down and no one coming to gigs. Experiencing everything a band needs to experience actually, to toughen them up and let them know what it’s really like.” Meanwhile, 2015’s Venom debuted at #1 in Australia, indicating their international longevity. “We never really dreamed that anything like that was possible,” Tuck enthuses of such achievements. “We were just chasing a dream. Thankfully Sony Records gave us an opportunity to do that, and we haven’t looked back really.” As for the future, ambitions remain lofty. The quartet are often name-checked during conversations regarding who will lead the next crop of metal/hard rock festival headliners once the current heavyweights retire. One wonders if Bullet For My Valentine and peers like Avenged Sevenfold could assume the mantle? “It’s definitely something we’ve always had our eyes on since the band started blowing up. We’ve ticked [many of] the wish list boxes, but being a legitimate headliner at these massive festivals across the world is definitely on that list. It’s something we’ve come near to since the [2008’s] Scream Aim Fire days. We’ve headlined the second stage of Download twice, been one from the top of the headline slot of the main stage at Download three times I think. Rock Am Ring recently we headlined the second stage. We’ve definitely had experience of these festivals, of big stages and big crowds and I think should that opportunity come to us then we’ll gladly grab it with both hands. I think we’re definitely ready for it. It’s just waiting our turn I guess.”
When & Where: 28 Oct, Eatons Hill
r food fros 20t%icokfeft holde until able up e Redee7mpmigonnigthht g
OCTOBER WED 26
TRIFFID ACOUSTICS - FREE IN THE BEERGARDEN W/PHIL SMITH THU 27
BAD MANNERS & THE SUNNY COAST RUDE BOYS FRI 28
DOPE LEMON - SELLING FAST & JACK RIVER SAT 29
HALFWAY - THE LONGPLAYER SESSIONS W/LUKE DANIEL PEACOCK SUN 30
TRIFFID STRIPPED - FREE IN THE BEERGARDEN W/CHRISTIAN PATEY
OZOMATLI W/TRUE HIBERNATION & ELECTRIK LEMONADE
NOVEMBER THU 3
TKAY MAIDZA - LICENSED / ALL AGES W/SABLE & MIDAS.GOLD FRI 4
CALIGULAS HORSE W/OSAKA PUNCH, DISSIDIA & KODIAK EMPIRE SAT 5
DARREN MIDDLETON & FRIENDS W/WE ALL WANT TO & EDEN MULHOLLAND SUN 6
TITS UP - A SPECIAL FUNDRAISER FOR JACKIE MARSHALL W/THE BOAT PEOPLE & MANY MORE WED 9
DAN SULTAN W/CAITA BAKER & MORGAN BAIN FRI 11
THE DELTA RIGGS - SELLING FAST W/GIDEON BENSEN & THE VANNS SAT 12
THE MISSION & SPECIAL GUESTS FRI 18
NORTHLANE - SELLING FAST W/HELLIONS & POLARIS FRI 25
BRITISH INDIA & SPECIAL GUESTS SAT 26
HOLY HOLY W/I KNOW LEOPARD & ALEX LE’STRANGE WED 30
BAND OF SKULLS & SPECIAL GUESTS
SPECIALS WEDNESDAY Mates dates 2 beers + 2 burgers from 5pm THURSDAY $1 poppers and wings from 5pm
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THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 21
A Day On The Green returns with a massive line up ready to deliver a dose of Australian rock culture to fans, at one of Queensland’s most idyllic wineries. Heavy weights You Am I, Something For Kate and Spiderbait are set to share the headline spot with the addition of Jebediah and The Meanies. The show will be held at Sirromet Wines in Mt Cotton on 6 November.
In Focus A D ay O n
The Green Pic: Giulia McGauran
22 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Music
Poon-Twang The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer’s Shawn Hall promises a primal, skanky, greasy Australian tour, writes Samuel J Fell.
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band with a name like The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer is always going to command attention. Whether or not they can keep it, however, is a different story. This Vancouver duo has no trouble with that though, their deconstruction of the blues form, the subsequent warped reconstruction, the power and passion they exhibit — well, that’s what’s going to hold that attention and keep it firmly in place. Guitarist and foot percussionist Matthew Rogers and vocalist/harmonica player Shawn Hall met in the mid2000s while recording an ad jingle, bonded over common musical tastes and the rest is history. Four records later and this duo are in demand the world over, next month heading to Australia for their first extended tour. “Yeah, we’re finally comin’ down man,” enthuses Hall over a scratchy Skype connection. “We were there three years ago [showcasing at Brisbane’s BIGSOUND conference] and, nothing against Brisbane, but it’s like coming to Canada and just seeing Ottawa. We want to be able to see much more of the landscape, not just [be] stuck in the centres. “Everyone has told us about the Mullum Music Festival [too],” he goes on, referencing one of the festival slots they’re playing while here, along with Queenscliff and a few sideshows. “They’ve said it’s a pretty eclectic festival... it sounds great. [So] we’re coming down with a well-seasoned, well-oiled, really primal, skanky, greasy, love machine of a blues vessel. “We’re also coming with a third singer — from a vocal powerhouse from Winnipeg called Chic Gamine — her name is Andrina Turenne, she’s fantastic. She’s kinda got more of a — not country music but country/soul, she adds that to the band. She’s been on our last two records, and has been out on the road with us for only the past nine months.”
We’re trying to do a different thing, and we’re involving a much larger community of musicians that we’d been influenced by...
Speaking of records, the duo’s last was 2014’s A Real Fine Mess, which they’re currently in the process of following up on. “Yeah, we do have a new one, coming out in February next year,” Hall confirms. “We’re trying to do a different thing, and we’re involving a much larger community of musicians that we’d been influenced by and have invited into the project.” He goes on to explain, “The record and the live set are always two different bodies... so when we do a record, we’ll have full drums, we won’t do a foot-drum record for example. We usually have a bass player [on the albums], we’ve hired three singers... it’s a wonderful relationship, they’ve made me become a better singer because we sing together on the records. I try to keep up with them — whatever I’m trying to capture, needs to be captured with them in person, rather than me laying down my stuff and then bringing them over the top. “It was a conscious decision to bring in extra people whose heart and soul we dug,” Hall adds, an ethos which has thus far worked and looks set to continue.
When & Where: 19 & 20 Nov, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 23
Music
Old Beginnings
Here’s a wrap of who’s just announced a new release: Austra
Austra has announced the release of her third LP Future Politics for 20 Jan via Domino/EMI. New Zealand’s great Bic Runga’s new album Close Your Eyes will be released via Sony on 18 Nov. Disturbed have announced a new live album – Live At Red Rocks – which will drop on 18 Nov via Warner. Grammy winner Miranda Lambert will release The Weight Of These Wings on 18 Nov through Sony. Nightmares On Wax’s first full release for Warp in over four years, Ground Floor EP, is out on Warp/Inertia on 25 Nov. Lambchop are returning with Flotus on 4 Nov on City Slang via Inertia. Brisbane’s Aversions Crown will release a 7” featuring tracks Erebus and Parasites on 25 Nov via Nuclear Blast, with a new album due in 2017.
24 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Brisbane country rockers Halfway are about to explore the bookends of their lauded career. Frontman John Busby tells Steve Bell about exploring the road less travelled.
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risbane-via-Rockhampton country rockers Halfway are preparing to undertake an exercise that gives them the perfect opportunity to take stock of their 15-plus-year career to date — playing their first and fifth albums in their entirety on the same night. To celebrate the impending release of new single Three In And Nothing But The Stars — the latest offering from their recent album The Golden Halfway Record — the band are going to play that latest effort in full, alongside their acclaimed 2004 debut Farewell To The Fainthearted. Looking back at the decision, frontman and chief songwriter John Busby struggles to even recall the rationale behind holding up these bookend albums alongside each other. “I guess we haven’t played a lot of those songs [from Farewell To The Fainthearted] for a while — we only play one or two songs from it these days — so it’s probably the album we play least, and it’s a bit of nostalgia,” he shrugs. “It’s cool to revisit the songs, and we thought that maybe people would want to hear it. That’s all it was really — it’s probably just nostalgia, but we would have been happy to do any of them. It’s 12 years now I guess and ‘older’ makes it a bit more interesting.”
Halfway was born in 2000 from the ashes of indie outfit St Jude and Busby recalls that they had a new direction in mind from the get-go. “I think there was a general idea to make it more of a Dylan thing, because we’d always loved things like Dylan and Steve Earle all along, so there was definitely an idea to go towards a rootsier path,” he tells. “And then also we listened to The Band a lot and they had a big expansive sound with a lot of members, and Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips and Sparklehorse, so we just wanted to take the same pop sense and make it a big awkward band. That was always the idea, have a big fucking band but keep the songs simpler. Keep the songs straighter but have more people to fill it out, with less indie-rock. “We weren’t in a rush to make a record, I remember that — we started in 2000 or thereabouts and we didn’t make the record until 2004. We were just playing around Brisbane. It was quite fun, I remember playing some shows and we were playing rootsy stuff at indie-rock places like The Healer and The Chelsea, and people would be, like, ‘Oh fuck, these guys are playing country music!’ That was kinda fun for a while, because it seemed like something that no one had had a go at, at least not in a serious way — people like Dave McCormack had done it in a pisstake-y way — but we were doing it with no punchline.”
When & Where: 29 Oct, The Triffid
Music
Democratic Experiments
The Laurels have re-emerged from the studio with an adventurous take on their brand of psych-rock that takes influence from both Primal Scream and Public Enemy. Singer and guitarist Luke O’Farrell takes Chris Familton inside the creation of Sonicology.
“I
went a bit nuts, we all went a bit crazy in the studio working on these songs,” says The Laurels’ Luke O’Farrell, describing the long and intensive process of writing and recording their new album Sonicology. They set up their own studio and “started getting samplers and experimenting with junk shop records, sampling them and making beats” before spending numerous hours recording and sampling themselves to avoid copyright issues. “It is very much a studio album. The guitar took a back seat on this album. If anything samplers were the main instrument. Even the guitars were fed into samplers and triggered and sequenced. It still sounds like us and is guitar heavy, but the way we approached the recording was completely different to what we’d done before,” explains O’Farrell. The genesis of the new album reaches right back to before the band started recording their previous record. “With Plains, we were playing those songs for six years before recording them and then you have
to play them on the road for another two or three years. We really adjusted to that way of working as a live band. With this one we started getting into hip hop influences just before we started recording Plains – a lot of Public Enemy, a lot of funk and soul, stuff like James Brown. That was the headspace we were in after the Plains tour finished and then it was a matter of convincing the other guys to try something really different in the studio this time around.” Between albums, drummer Kate Wilson (The Holy Soul) decided to leave the band and Jasper Fenton was drafted in. “It wasn’t easy, it was very sad to see Kate go after that amount of time. We’re still mates and we still love her. With the new tracks and the way we wanted to approach them in the studio, that wasn’t what she wanted to do with the band. Jasper is also a multi-instrumentalist and a producer which really helped the recording,” says O’Farrell. One hurdle to overcome after making an album steeped in studio production and different technology is how to present the songs live. O’Farrell explains that they’ve got their head around the songs now. “It’s taken us a few months going back and re-learning and adjusting songs. Their entire life has been in the studio, they weren’t really made for live performance but we’ve figured out a way to represent them live. There are three of us triggering samplers now but we’re not tethered to a click track, we want to still keep it loose and free and incorporate the samples from the album.”
What: Sonicology (Rice Is Nice) When & Where: 28 Oct, The Foundry; 29 Oct, Sol Bar; 11 Nov, The Northern, Byron Bay
Pod People
Podcasts have surged in popularity over the past year or so thanks to cracking true crime series Serial, which boosted the profile the format. There’s now a vast number of podcasts to tune-in to. Here are our favourites.
The Combat Jack Show Reggie Osse, aka Combat Jack, is a master of all things hip hop. Also featuring co-host Dallas Penn, this podcast is must for rap devotees.
Mystery Show This show solves the world’s most banal mysteries so you don’t have to. Don’t expect to discover the meaning of life, but these trivia titbits will make you a gun at the pub quiz.
The Read Keep abreast with the highs and lows of pop culture with this weekly digest of current affairs, hosted by Kid Fury and Crissle in a refreshingly bullshit-free style.
This Week In Tech This is a one-stop shop for bleeding edge news on the latest gizmos and gadgets you never knew you needed. TWIT cuts through the marketing buzz and gives it to you straight.
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 25
Music
Sob Stories
Taking Flight
Borrowed Time
We’re hooked on Pixar, and unless you have a heart of stone, we’re betting you are too. The studio’s latest short, Borrowed Time, is a dark, beautiful, heartbreaking tear jerker. Here are some of our favourite sob-worthy moments:
Ellie & Carl’s montage from Up We saw Ellie and Carl’s life flash before our eyes, from childhood to old age. It’s a perfect nut-shell love story, but Ellie’s death without ever seeing Paradise Falls had us reaching for the Kleenex.
All of Toy Story We swear the Toy Story writers intentionally try to break our hearts in every film. The touching comradery in the face of a fiery death in the final instalment had us bawling.
Joy’s breakdown from Inside Out All she wanted was for Riley to be happy, but when she ends up in the memory dump with no way out, Joy breaks down and as her tears flowed so did ours. *sniff*
26 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Comedy maestro Arj Barker reckons Flight Of The Conchords are more likely to make a movie than another TV series and hopes they read Daniel Cribb’s feature containing hints that he’s available.
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ustralia’s adopted son, Arj Barker, is pretty much a fully-fledged citizen at this stage. He even has a voicemail greeting to prove it. “G’day, mate,” a robotic, ocker voice begins, “Leave a bloody message after the bloody tone, bloody drongo. Too easy.” Barker’s quick to call back, on the road to a gig in regional NSW. He’s had a hectic schedule as of late, still touring Get In My Head, but the ideas rolling around inside Barker’s mind are beginning to shift. “I’m just trying to learn new skills; that’s where I draw the greatest joy from now,” Barker begins. “I’ve always fantasised of being able to build stuff. Even though I had wood shop when I was a kid, I just screwed around and didn’t pay much attention; now as I get older I think how cool would it be to build a chair, or build some shelves.” Although on the surface comedy and woodwork don’t seem to have much in common, they’re both about creating something. “One of the things comedy taught me is how exciting it is to get into something I know nothing about, and to really try to learn it,” he explains. “I’m still learning [comedy] and
it’s still challenging, but now I’m at a point where I want to branch out, just for hobbies, because otherwise, what do you do in life?” A series of upcoming gigs dishing out The Classic saw Barker go through his past works to pick his favourite material, which was a good chance to reflect on other lessons that comedy has delivered. “I think [comedy] is important for people in general; it’s healthy for people to laugh,” he tells. “Sometimes I forget that’s the whole point. I sometimes think of it from my own perspective, sometimes I forget the main reason I’m there is the people are there; they’re laughing and having a good time. It’s a funny feeling to look out and see people laughing — it’s a happy moment.” It’s easy to see why he might fall into that mindset from time to time, with the prolific individual rarely slowing down. But back in June, he had a more easygoing run of shows around the US, reuniting with and supporting comedy superstars Flight Of The Conchords. “It’s one of the funniest things to work with those guys because the pressure’s not really on me” so I can soak it up, enjoy it and work on my jokes,” he says. “I don’t anticipate they’ll bring the TV show back,” Barker adds when the HBO hit series is mentioned. “I believe at some point they’ll write a Flight Of The Conchords movie, because that’s the logical progression” I don’t know if it will necessarily be the same world they inhabited in the HBO series, so I can’t say for sure if I’ll be involved. I would love to be, and I hope they read this and take it as a subtle hint that I’m available.”
What: Get In My Head When & Where: 17 & 18 Nov, Eatons Hill Function Centre
Eat / Drink Eat/Drink
Fright Night Fright Nights have run every Friday and Saturday through October and The Final Party is on 31 Oct. Stumble screaming through horror mazes based on classic nail biters From Dusk Till Dawn, The Conjuring 2, Friday The 13th and cult Aussie zombie apocalypse flick Wyrmwood. You will also get access to the rides, make-up tutorials so you can look like a proper lil’ horror and unlimited soft drink - because we all know sugar is the real monster. 31 Oct, Warner Bros Movie World
According to the internet, clown swarms are abandoning their native heavily wooded areas now that their king is about to conquer the Free World. Since this might be your last Samhain we’ve got a few suggestions so you don’t spend it standing ‘round a punch bowl in a mullet wig like a big Halloweiner.
Butcher’s Burrow
Exitus Escape Rooms
You liked Saw right? Of course you did, it was a genre-changing piece of cinema. Well now escape rooms are all the rage and you can have your own lockedroom experience without doing any surgery. Exitus do a range of themed head scratchers, but on Halloween you can go past Butcher’s Barrow where “you’ve been kidnapped. Everything is black. Only darkness surrounds you... There’s a severed hand on a plate. You might be next. Now is not the time to be afraid. Now is the time to make your escape.” Brutal. Exitus Escape Rooms Wintergarden
Halloween
Double Double Feature One-man retro film revival Kristian Fletcher has disturbed the resting place of some long forgotten horrors for two nights of old school Halloween screams at New Globe Theatre. The show starts 27 Oct with Grindhouse Double Feature where you can see Blood Feast (1963) and Pieces (1982) uncut and uncensored. Then on Sunday Fletcher has lined up two ‘70 classics in Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He’s even thought to throw a holiday appropriate party at Padre Bar on the Friday in between since you won’t be sleeping anyway. 27 New Globe Theatre; 28 Oct, Padre Bar THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 27
Indie Indie
The Outdoor Type
House Hounds
of music. So many great songs that bring back good memories. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Probably our first show together at The Zoo. Being on the same stage we’ve seen so many great band grace and playing to a room full of our friends was pretty tops.
Have You Heard
“I
’ve always felt attracted to rough, vibey records,” says singer-songwriter Zack Buchanan, of Sydney’s indierock outfit The Outdoor Type. “I find it’s difficult to get anything meaningful across if the music is too plastic — in my music anyway.” Although he does add, “I’m a bit of an obsessive perfectionist, so it takes a stern producer to keep my fingers off the AutoTune button.” The sentiment goes some way to explaining how the band got its name: “I conceived the project in 2014 after hearing The Outdoor Type by ‘90s Sydney band, Smudge.” And it didn’t take long for Buchanan to get things rolling from there. “I then recorded the debut EP [2015’s self-titled release] with Colin Leadbetter [Whitley], put a band together and have since recorded two new singles, signed with North American label Nettwerk and signed a management deal with Wonderlick,” he confirms. That leads us to The Outdoor Type’s latest single, Rumination, which was “recorded with John Castle at his home studio in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne”, explains Buchanan. “It was tracked fairly quickly over the span of two days. It was then mixed by Steven Schram (San Cisco, Paul Kelly) about eight months later.” Although Buchanan says it’s “sort of a stand-alone track”, he is working towards an album. “But that may not be out for a little while yet.” There wasn’t anything in particular ‘inspiring’ him, but Buchanan clarifies, “There were plenty of things weighing on my mind at the time. Nothing too drastic, just your classic mid-20s drama. “Rumination’s arrangement and vibe was always sort of ambiguous. To be honest, I really owe it to John for pointing the song in the right musical direction.”
When & Where: 29 Oct, Black Bear Lodge 28 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Answered by: Keelan Callaghan When did you start making music and why? As a band we’ve been playing together for three years. We all have a love of alternative rock and grunge that our music stems from. I’ve personally been playing guitar and writing songs since 2000. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Less pretentious Smashing Pumpkins.
Why should people come and see your band? We play a tight, energetic set but like to keep things fun by not taking ourselves too seriously. When and where for your next gig? 29 Oct, Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar. We’re launching our new single Middleman with Junior Danger and Belligerent Goat. Website link for more info? facebook.com/ HouseHoundsTheBand
If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Internationalist — Powderfinger. One of the first albums I listened to and started my love
Brendan Gallagher
on listening to just drums, bass and David Bowie’s voice while I recorded all the guitar parts for his 1999 single Survive (produced by Marius De Vries). Why should people come and see you? I know where the big river is and me and my guitar will take you there.
Have You Heard When did you start making music and why? Age 13. Home sick from school I commandeered my bro’s guitar, it was a natural fit. Sum up your musical sound in four words? The music knows me. If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Steely Dan’s Aja. The apogee of analogue recording — street smart, sophisticated, wryly amusing and beaucoup deep. Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Sitting in a studio with headphones
When and where for your next gig? 4 Nov, Junk Bar; 5 Nov, The Bison Bar, Nambour. Website link for more info? brendangallaghermusic.com
Music
Boy Band Crush
Hannah Crofts tells Liz Giuffre that her band All Our Exes Live In Texas are grateful to Courtney Barnett for paving the way and also admits they miss Backstreet Boys “every day”.
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his time last year All Our Exes Live In Texas played Small World Festival, taking the stage after an AC/DC cover band. Hannah Crofts of All Our Exes Live In Texas recalls a punter describing their sound and style as being “like a spongecake after a bag full of drugs”. Take that, iTunes genre categories! Don’t be deceived, though, the awesome lady foursome are not all sugar. All Our Exes Live In Texas have such a smooth effect because they are also wicked, hilarious and damn fine musicians. Taking the murder ballad genre back from Nick Cave and co for new single The Devil’s Part from debut album When We Fall, the group has finally got their firecracker essence down in long form. “When we started this band, we picked up our instruments - well, we bought instruments and we learned how to play them for the band. Because we didn’t expect it, as a band, to keep going,” begins Hannah Crofts, vocals and ukulele. “Singing, we all went to university and did that so we were all really on top of that, but instrument-wise... we compensated a bit for our playing with our banter, having a really good time on stage. And then over the last three years we’ve all had heaps of lessons in our instruments - and writing a lot specifically for them and together - so
for us this record is something we’re really musically proud of. Hopefully the energy and our personalities will really come through, but we’re really proud of what’s down musically on this record too.” Crofts’ modesty about the band’s process of learning their craft is endearing, but far from an uncommon story in popular music. Artists like Paul Kelly still admit, decades into their careers, to learning more as they go. What makes All Our Exes Live In Texas particularly interesting is their scope and breadth of musical style and influences. While sounding indie-folk on the surface (think the McGarrigle sisters times two), their indie-rock and contemporary pop influence is not far away, either. Crofts praises Courtney Barnett, who she says “has paved the way for everybody, she’s so good”. As part of their journey to debut album status, All Our Exes Live In Texas also supported ‘90s bubblegum greats, Backstreet Boys. “We miss them, we miss them every day. What’s Howie D thinking right now and is he thinking of me? Because I’m thinking of him,” laughs Crofts. On how they secured this support slot, Crofts says, “We just got an email from the promoter, and we had emailed them and told them that we’d love to do it... and we do that for all tours, actually. When we saw Taylor Swift we’re saying to our booking agent, ‘Please put us forward [for support], singing with Tay Tay would be sick’.” While All Our Exes Live In Texas are more than worthy headliners in their own right, their willingness to be unlikely-but-awesome supports does open up new possibilities. Have they contacted the Guns N’ Roses crew to offer a little sonic spongecake for their 2017 tour? “That’s awesome, Exes and Guns N’ Roses - it’s a good combo!” Crofts swoons. Are you reading this, Axl?
When & Where: 28 Oct, Princess Theatre; 17 Nov, Miami Marketta, Miami
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Coolest Cooler Say goodbye to the sad ol’ Esky and hello to the pimped out Coolest Cooler. This has it all: blender, Bluetooth speakers, USB charger and bottle openers. coolest.com
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 29
Music
Fangin’ for a drink?
Cone Of Silence
Here are a few haunts where you can get into the spirits this Halloween.
Which Witch? There’s a whole Halloweek at The Brightside. Geek Night have a Halloween-themed D&D campaign Thursday, Girlthing/The Coven are celebrating femmepowerment on Friday and Saturday’s Frightside Horrorfest will wake the dead.
Dog Days Greaser Bar are going for a slam dunk with their Teen Wolf party on 29 Oct. There are prizes for bestdressed, you can get your fortune told and The Strums will be sure to get everyone howlin’ at the moon.
Carnival Of Horrors With its mounted hunting trophies, dangling chandeliers and candle-lit booths, honkey tonk saloon Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall is a setting that can’t be beat this time of year. Their annual Halloween Bash on 29 Oct is a guaranteed scream.
Pure Bedlam Bedlam Records’ third Deadlam Halloween extravaganza has a veritable army of damned bands. It’s spread over The Brightside, The Foundry and Black Bear Lounge on 4 Nov and The Drones are headlining.
30 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Guitarist Dan Donegan’s own father wasn’t even aware that Disturbed were secretly recording their latest album, Bryget Chrisfield learns.
O
n “a night off”, Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan tries to make sense of The Sound Of Silence effect. Since the band performed their version of the classic Simon & Garfunkel song on Conan, the endorsements have flooded in. “It’s reached all the way to the point of Paul Simon himself sending a message back, emailing David [Draiman, vocals] actually, the other day, saying that he loves the version and [it] got his blessing,” Donegan marvels. “And he actually reposted it on his social media page telling people to check it out! And then to the point of even Russell Crowe commenting on his Twitter page.” Donegan reckons Crowe’s post — “His comment was something like, ‘Every now and then somebody comes along and does something genius like this,’ and then he posted our video for The Sound Of Silence” — also extended the song’s natural reach. Another legend, Heart’s Ann Wilson, also gave Disturbed’s The Sound Of Silence the double thumbs up, Donegan points out. “Somebody had asked her a question in an interview, if she’s heard anything that has inspired her lately, and she said our version of The Sound Of Silence. So this whole past week has our heads spinning just ‘cause it’s exciting to see that it’s kind of reached three huge-name people that are probably typically not Disturbed fans before this.”
The Sound Of Silence is the third single to be lifted from Disturbed’s sixth studio album, which landed almost exactly five years after its predecessor, post-hiatus. When Disturbed were writing and recording Immortalized, Donegan reveals, “We didn’t even tell a lot of our family.” So were confidentiality agreements involved? “Only the [people] that needed to know knew,” Donegan confirms, “and we made them sign confidentiality agreements... I didn’t even tell my own father, um, there was my brother, sister — none of them knew. So we were trying to do our best to trick them. “For a very long time we kind of had to — I don’t wanna say lie to our friends, but we withheld the truth,” he laughs. At times, Donegan noticed his nearest and dearest “were getting suspicious”. “And I felt guilty of not telling them,” the guitarist admits. Withholding this information on a night out after “a couple drinks” required even more willpower, but Donegan stresses, “We didn’t wanna ruin it. We thought it would have a way bigger impact if we just kept it a secret.” Disturbed flew in and out of Vegas to record Immortalized and Donegan says the band used social media “as a tool” to help guard their secret. The guitarist would try to make sure he was home weekends: “I would check in and I would post stuff, ‘I’m with my kids here at the park in Illinois,’ you know, and, ‘Mike’s with his kids in Wisconsin,’ and so when people were getting suspicious they would go on our Facebook page and... someone would say, ‘I think they’re recording,’ and then somebody else would respond and say, ‘Well I just [saw] Dan was at the park with his kids at home, how could he be recording?’ So we would kind of use it as a tool to trick them and luckily it worked [laughs].”
When & Where: 15 Nov, Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Music
Free As A Bird Returning to Australia Andrew Bird shows no signs of slowing down, as Samuel J Fell discovers.
A
ndrew Bird, it would seem, rarely sits still. At least musically. Earlier this year he released Are You Serious, his 13th solo record, extending a run which began in 1996 with Music Of Hair. Add to that a string of EPs and singles, six live albums and dozens of appearances on other artist’s albums (including, perhaps most notably, with Squirrel Nut Zippers), and you’ve got a man whose creative spark is hardly dying out. “Yeah, I like to stay active,” muses the violinist/ guitarist over the phone from Los Angeles, his home base these days. “I think I get better at what I’m doing when I keep doing it. So every four years or so, I put out an ‘industry record’ let’s call it — like Are You Serious or Break It Yourself (2012), and in the interim, I kinda teach myself how to make the next record. “And sometimes my best records are those in-between records, honestly, because the pressure is off and I’m experimenting. But if I just did these ‘industry records’, I wouldn’t be exercising all my [muscles], so it’s just important to me.” The experimentation Bird utilises on his inbetween records certainly serves to broaden his musical palette, setting him up nicely when it comes to the ‘industry’ albums. Not that he puts any less weight on an ‘industry’ album, but they’re certainly all the better off for the work that’s happened in the interim. Are You Serious is a fine example — while a fairly eclectic affair, it’s also extremely considered, Bird and producer Tony Berg literally going “through every part of every song, every note, scrutinising the voicing of the chords, finding melodically interesting ways to
Some of the earlier records... sound so subdued and mild compared to our live show, so with this one I wanted to close the gap and make a real visceral record.
move from one chord to the next.” They wouldn’t have taken this path had it not been for the experimentation exhibited on the previous three albums. “I was pretty thirsty for that,” concurs Bird on this method of production. “Not that things weren’t considered before, but the last couple of records have been a little on the scrappy side... by design, I got tired of production for a while. I just wanted to capture a real thing, and with this one I kinda wanted to close the gap between the live performance, and that’s been the quest over all these records. “Some of the earlier records that were popular or successful to me sound so subdued and mild compared to our live show, so with this one I wanted to close the gap and make a real visceral record.” Bird says he feels he and Berg managed to close this gap, although the proof will be in the pudding as Bird and band head back to Australia to play Bluesfest next Easter. And by then, who knows? Perhaps the musically enigmatic Bird will have another record on the go, another live album up his sleeve, another collaboration in the can. He’s a man who doesn’t stop, which for fans of his music, isn’t a bad thing.
When & Where: 13 Apr, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 31
Music
Survival Of The Best The Dandy Warhols’ Courtney Taylor-Taylor gasbags about tough guys, the terrible music from the ‘90s and being disappointed by Lou Reed with Anthony Carew.
T
he Dandy Warhols are survivors. Despite a well-earned reputation for being bon vivants, the Portland rockers have yet to crash and burn. Now 22 years and — after the release of 2016’s Distortland — ten albums in, the band show no signs of slowing down. Which is surprising to everyone save frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor. “We felt that from the start this is it, this is the band’,” says Taylor-Taylor, 49. “This is the band to end all bands. We just felt like, somebody has gotta do this. There weren’t that many good bands back then. Music was terrible in the ‘90s. Rap-rock. Dramatic metal. Teen pop. Pop punk. It was a really awful, awful time. That was
We knew we would be able to collect anyone with any fucking taste.
pop music back then: these million sellers that were all just fucking terrible. Not even cool at all. Nothing smart or interesting or advanced or clever. It was bizarre. “So, I figured that if I made a really beautiful band — got together to make some art — that there would be people out there who’d care. We were just ourselves. We weren’t trying to be these tough guys, with tattoos up their legs and giant black shorts. Tough guys don’t learn to play guitar! Tough guys don’t write songs! God, that was just so fucking stupid. These metal guys who took this rap influence, but basically just took the misogyny. Aside from the Beastie Boys, every single rap-rock group from the ‘90s was just idiotic. So, in the face of that, it was really easy for us to take that leap of faith. We knew
32 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
we’d be able to collect anyone with any fucking taste, with half a modicum of a clue. Anyone with a three-digit IQ would be so fucking glad this band exists.” The Dandy Warhols first Australian tour came in 1998, behind their breakout second LP, 1997’s ... The Dandy Warhols Come Down. Their first local show was — if Taylor-Taylor’s admittedly vague memory is correct — at Livid Festival in 1998. “We went on and played Rave Up, which is like this 15-minute two-chord jam from our first record, and the whole tent went fucking bananas. It was just this wild mosh pit, stage diving, pogoing. We thought no one was gonna care; we were halfway across the world from home, no one knew who the fuck we were. And then it was just fucking bonkers.” While he was excited about the Dandys’ reception, the headliners were less so. “Pulp played on the main stage. It seemed like it was mostly pre-recorded, like digital backing tracks. It was very weird.” Two years later, The Dandy Warhols returned to Australia, again played Livid, and again had a disappointing experience watching rock royalty. “Lou Reed played after us. He wasn’t what we were hoping for, at all. He was very professional, very slick. He was trying to get things really tight with his band. It was all ‘1, 2, 3, 4’, with the big shimmer at the end, and he was pumping his fist. It was all very bizarre.” Taylor-Taylor is gasbagging in his Portland studio, where he’s installing a wine bar, though it’s yet to reach the liquor-licensing stage. “Really, I’ve gotta be a grownup about this? That’s gonna suuuuck,” he says. He’s been collecting wine for ten years, after someone gave him a ten-year-old bottle of Bordeaux. “I had an absolute epiphany, almost a religious experience. I stopped drinking beer and hard liquor, which is a great thing. The cost/benefit analysis is highly in favour of fine red wine. The high is incredible, and then the hangover is merely clement.” Taylor-Taylor then details the various varieties of hangover, clearly an expert on the subject. “Can you imagine how much I know about hangovers? It’s absolutely sad. I’m amazed I accomplished anything, really. I drank so fucking much! We partied so much. It was crazy.” The band’s wild salad days are enshrined, for eternity, in Ondi Timoner’s 2004 documentary Dig!, which follows the Dandy Warhols and their fucked up friends, The Brian Jonestown Massacre. “I don’t know if you can quite call it a documentary,” Taylor-Taylor says. “It was totally made up. All the times [Timoner] was asking us to do this, or say this, none of that’s in the movie. Her voice is never in the movie, but it’s all told in her voice. She put us in it to make it a movie, basically, to generate this story. We’re part of the machine that Anton [Newcombe of the BJM] can rage against. Anton is spectacular in it. He’s just out-of-control, drinking two-fifths of vodka a day, showing off for the camera, making it happen. He was totally committed to making this some legendary, out-ofcontrol rock’n’roll movie. And, it lives on. But it’s got very little to do with us, either who we were back then or who we are now.”
When & Where: 29 Oct, Eatons Hill Hotel; 30 Oct, Parkwood Tavern
Music
Step Ball-Change Julia Jacklin is trying to stop writing in 3/4 time. She talks to Brynn Davies about letting go of love, over-achieving and the waltz.
T
A lot of the songs I write seem to come out as a waltz... I find that every time I sit down at the guitar I write ‘ dun dun dun, dun dun dun’ I’m like ‘NO, change!
he first time anyone heard Julia Jacklin’s voice it was on national radio, but not in the way you would expect. “[I sang] Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps on 702 [ABC] — my mum called in because it was Doris Day’s birthday and she’s like ‘my daughter can sing a song’. I was six. I sung on the phone — I don’t think I realised what I was doing. And they used that snippet of me singing for the promo of the radio show for six months,” Jacklin laughs heartily. “It would be me singing ‘you won’t admit you love me’ in this tiny, squeaky voice, and then it would kick in to Doris Day singing the chorus, and then it’d be ‘you’re listening to 702, bla bla’. I really wanna find it, I don’t know how to find it though. I would just love to hear that again.” Maybe it was that early taste of radio play thrills, but in the subsequent years of her childhood in the Blue Mountains, Jacklin struggled with the sense that, even as a primary school student, she hadn’t accomplished enough in her life. With the release of her debut album Don’t Let The Kids Win in October, she’s starting to settle in. “It’s definitely not as intense as it used to be. I feel like once you start to get a bit of recognition you can kind of relax a little bit. But then I guess I feel like it’s one of those never-ending things really,” she muses. “Because the album cycle is so long, you know; I recorded it last year and I’m releasing it this year and I’ll be touring the rest of this year and next year, and then I’ll record an album the end of next year or the middle of next year, you can kind of just see time slipping away. But I’m trying to not let it get to me because it’s not productive.” Jacklin manages to balance an album steeped in love and loss with a broader focus on coming-of-age, something she attributes to the journey she undertook during the writing process. “I started writing it while I was in a relationship and I finished writing it when I was coming out of that relationship... I kinda thought the record was gonna reflect that relationship and be a time capsule documenting that experience,” she explains. “But I think that the experience changed me in many ways personally, which is why I ended up writing about a lot instead of writing about that relationship in particular.” Love’s delicate push and pull is captured beautifully in Jacklin’s debut video clip Pool Party, which stars Jacklin as a ballroom dancing enthusiast who struggles
to connect with her gym-obsessed boyfriend. It’s heartbreaking stuff. “I was trying to get across a living situation where two people don’t understand each other and aren’t willing to compromise what they want to do. She’s a dancer, and he’s into fitness. Initially I had visions of getting a really, really massive guy in it — a really bulky bodybuilder — but I couldn’t find one. But I’m glad I didn’t in the end because Tom [Stephens] my drummer ended up being in it. And I think it was good because I think it may have been comical in the first. It was my first music video, I was super nervous about it.” Obsessed with Strictly Ballroom as a child, it’s no wonder some of Jacklin’s music and clips feature waltz time signatures or ballroom dancing. “A lot of the songs I write seem to come out as a waltz. I honestly don’t know why it happens. I’m trying to get out of it now; I find that every time I sit down at the guitar I write ‘ dun dun dun, dun dun dun’ I’m like ‘NO, change!’” she laughs at the observation. Now on the brink of success, Jacklin feels she is able to start letting go of the anxiety that stemmed from a need to achieve. “It’s definitely changing, but it is still difficult to not be affected by it. I feel okay about it, but definitely people say to you ‘oh who cares, it doesn’t matter, age is just a number’ bla bla and you’re like ‘yeah, totally yeah!’ then five minutes later you’re going ‘oh god!’” she animates. “Don’t Let The Kids Win — That was the last song I wrote for the record. I felt like it kinda summed up everything that I was feeling in those two years I was writing. Acceptance of it and not getting down about certain things that were happening and just getting over yourself and not getting stressed about running out of time, just getting on with it.”
What: Don’t Let The Kids Win (Liberation Music) When & Where: 17 Nov, The Foundry; 18 — 19 Nov, Mullum Music Festival; 26 Jan, Laneway Festival, Brisbane Showgrounds
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 33
Music
Sex With Sticky Fingers Labradorable Leotards
Dog leotards are a thing and you need them in your life, STAT! The insanely cute canine activewear was originally invented by Tyson Walters as a way to reduce the amount of hair left around the house by shedding dogs. Of course, the internet has lost its shit over the amazingness of the so called Shed Defender and it’s easy to see why. Dogs and spandex, together at last.
34 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Brynn Davies tries to keep a straight face while Seamus Coyle and Paddy Cornwall of Sticky Fingers talk about their band-saving exploits in the sex capital of the world.
I
t was only last year that Sticky Fingers took a step back from touring and cancelled most of their UK dates with the intent of freeing up time for some much needed man love. And yet during their short hiatus they managed to produce their third LP Westway (The Glitter & The Slums). The key? A month in Thailand. “Everybody sort of felt that we kinda needed a break, but we’ve found in the past that when we stop doing what we do we either [get] horribly depressed or get into trouble,” explains Paddy Cornwall. “So we saw the opportunity to go to this amazing studio in Thailand as a working holiday.” Seamus Coyle nods in agreement. “We can say and do a lot of really nasty things to each other, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that we mean any of these things. We’ve just sort of been together for a long time so it’s kinda like five dudes in a relationship but without the sex. Getting in these pathetic punchons on the bus about who was next in the microwave with the mac and cheese, or who drunk the last beer, so on and so forth. We’re pathetic really. The music sounds good, so the music is the sex.” While we’re on the topic of sex, STIFI had a few, ahem, wild moments while in the sex capital of the world — Pattaya. “It’s not
really a sexy city at all... It’s sex tourism. Sex tourism — key word there,” Coyle differentiates. “Rich Russian one percenters trying to get their load off kinda vibe,” elaborates Cornwall. “I sorta fell into the mix of that. We didn’t, like, get down with the lady boys or anything like that, but we did go to this bar where the centrepiece of entertainment was a boxing ring where these Muay Thai fighters were fighting each other. So we paid off the fighters to give us their shorts and their boxing gloves so that we could create a tournament of our own.” “We’ve got the footage,” Coyle laughs at our disbelief. “It was absolutely pathetic fighting. It was me verses Beaker [Best] and we were kinda playing around,” Cornwall says by way of an explanation. “Being the rhythm section in a band, we already have a fairly turbulent relationship so we didn’t really feel the need to beat the fuck out of each other. But then [Freddy] Crabs jumped in the ring, our keys player, with our producer Dann Hume, and then I think Crabs got a bit too excited and basically beat the crap out of Dann. Dann could hardly walk!” “He was fucking paralytic,” cracks Coyle, and Cornwall continues: “Then following that we went to this bar with a covers band playing everything from Evanescence to Green Day, Bon Jovi. And I think we kinda Elvis Presley-style managed to steal the show and take all the instruments off them and play this absolutely terrible gig. So that was a great night. Then we went back to making music again.” How’s that for an anticlimax?
What: Westway (The Glitter & The Slums) (Sureshaker) When & Where: 4 Nov, The Tivoli; 5 Nov, Night Quarter
INCLUDING
MURDER BALLADS THE LADY OF THE THU 24 NOV HOUSE OF LOVE
WILD HEART— ELLEN REED
EMMA DEAN IN CONCERT
TRANSFORMER
THU 24 NOV–SUN 27 NOV
SAT 03 DEC
SMOOTH CRIMINALS
WED 30 NOV
WED 07 DEC
SUN 04 DEC
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 35
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Album OF THE Week
Empire Of The Sun Two Vines EMI
★★★★
Tkay Maidza
Empire Of The Sun haven’t strayed far from their comfort zone on their third album, and why would they? By their own admission they make music that stands outside of time, and the shimmering dreampop that is again on display here sounds like it could have been made at any time in the last two decades. It’s been a winning formula for the duo of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore since debut album Walking On A Dream. Two Vines is the same dream, and they are still walking on it. Inspired by a vision of Littlemore’s - of a city reclaimed by nature – Two Vines is replete with bright, primary colours and visions of transcending the human form: Steele hums along with the universe on the dancefloor-ready title track, and finds himself simply flying on the New Romantic throwback There’s No Need; while “Together we can do it” is the catch cry of Ride – a song whose stolid doof-doof foundation is given gorgeous texture by Prince’s guitarist, Wendy Melvoin. It’s unashamedly feelgood, in a good way. Empire Of The Sun have gone a step further than assimilating their influences on the album, enlisting the support of Tim Lefebvre and Henry Hey – members of Bowie’s Blackstar band – along with Melvoin; while no lesser luminary than Lindsey Buckingham shows up to lend some wondrously sleepy guitar work on closing song To Her Door. The album is a luminous pop gem. Tim Kroenert
TKAY
FRANK IERO and the PATIENCE
Dew Process/Universal
Parachutes
★★★½
Vagrant/Cooking Vinyl
At 20-years-old, Tkay Maidza drops her first full-length album, TKAY. Despite her age it feels like this has been a long time coming. Nonetheless, TKAY positions Maidza as one of the most promising artists going around. While Nicki Minaj, Beyonce and MIA have established themselves as role models for a new generation of female rappers and singers, now Australian females have their own local star to follow. And even if the production and all-round quality of TKAY doesn’t hit any great heights, her vocals are delivered with unadulterated conviction and intent. By throwing down spitfire verses like in the opening Always Been and the dubby State Of Mind and embracing her inner pop diva on lead single 36 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
★★★½
Simulation and the soaring Follow Me, Maidza refuses to be pigeon-holed. In terms of production, there’s a heavy lean towards dancefloor-filling bangers, which - across the album’s 14 tracks - can mean at times it feels repetitive (see You Want, at the very end of the record, which feels like it’s making up the numbers). But overall, and especially across the first half of the album, TKAY hits many more targets than it misses, and heralds the proper arrival of the future first lady of Australian music. Dylan Stewart
Frank Iero (My Chemical Romance, Leathermouth) has gradually been positioning himself as one of the most consistent songwriters currently working within the punk rock spectrum. Even more impressively, he’s done so while exploring a markedly different sound with each release. Parachutes is as sonically removed from his scuzzy solo debut Stomachaches as that album was from Leathermouth’s blistering XO and is probably Iero’s most commercial sounding release since emo heavyweights My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers breakthrough. Initially, this can lead one to dismiss the record as a lesser version of Iero’s prior accomplishments. But, a little
perseverance reveals an album that is as deep, personal and distinctive as any of Iero’s prior efforts. There’s something both anxiously vulnerable and unrepentantly rambunctious to Iero’s work on this goaround - songs like I’m A Mess and I’ll Let You Down feeling both powerfully anthemic and painfully broken. Despite a greater sense of polish and a more accessible direction, Parachutes is not as immediately accessible as Iero’s earlier records, but it ultimately continues his increasingly remarkable streak of strong punk albums. Matt O’Neill
EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews
Lou Barlow
Foreign Fields
Near Myth
Soft Hair
Apocalypse Fetish
Take Cover
Idiot Mystic
Soft Hair
Domino/EMI
Communion/Caroline
Independent
Domino/EMI
★★★½
★★★★
★★★
★★★★
A lo-fi, beauty-in-ugliness ethos has long defined Barlow’s musical outlook and as a title, Apocalypse Fetish sounds like his ultimate incarnation - and it may be. Barlow has said he’d be proud if it was his “final record”. For the occasion of this EP Barlow re-strings and re-tunes a ukulele to prove that nothing really is as nice as it seems: Barlow’s Franken-instrument is decidedly unlike its original, hopeful whimsy. Barlow’s ukulele is dark, brooding and ominous. The sound it produces gives a medieval quality to his already quasi-mythic, stepped-melodies and unsettling half-rhymes.
Nashville duo Foreign Fields tighten their focus on their second album, yielding a sound that’s more momentous than on their dreamy debut Anywhere But Where I Am in 2012. Such indulgence impresses but leaves the listener bereft of something to hook into. Not so with Take Cover. The 12 tracks carry us through a less expansive landscape and into something more urban and personal. The dark tone of I Killed You In The Morning is offset by its lilting keys, Weeping Red Devil’s high warbles and vinyl clicks are textural and interesting, but the pop-imbibed highlights like single I bind this album into a cohesive whole.
Recorded in a suburban studio won by drummer Joe Hammond in a magazine competition, Melbourne art-pop five-piece Near Myth’s debut LP is oblique but intriguing. Skittering, syncopated percussion and precision bass lines interlock with prickly guitar and unnerving synth trimmings, while singer-songwriter Marcus Teague’s talky vocals lend a dazed quality to his spaced-out lyrics: “Lost the scent in the fur of your neck / picked it up again at drinks on the deck,” he caws on We Can Have A House. Talking Heads and Flaming Lips are obvious influences, though the sparse, murky arrangements more immediately recall Portland, Oregon eccentrics Menomena.
Soft Hair get pretty freaky on their debut album. The eccentric duo slip and slide into soft cruisy psychedelic electro-pop and funk that feels like early Prince in chilled, slow, wonky motion. This project is a collaboration between the charismatic Connan Mockasin and LA Priest/ex Late Of The Pier frontman Sam Dust. Mockasin, whose falsetto brings to mind Prince’s helium phase, has made sure that this album feels like a natural progression from Caramel. Dust provides tasteful bubbles of pastel coloured synths. A playful album cheekily delivered by a couple of charmers from the indiepop underground.
Samantha Jonscher
Carley Hall
Guido Farnell
Tim Kroenert
More Reviews Online Anaal Nathrakh The Whole Of The Law
theMusic.com.au
Miriam Lieberman Trio Full Circle
Serpentine Dominion Serpentine Dominion
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 37
Album / E Album/EP Reviews
Tigertown
Helmet
Ulcerate
Superheist
Papernote
Dead To The World
Shrines Of Paralysis
Inertia
earMusic/Sony
Relapse/Rocket
Ghosts Of The Social Dead Dinner For Wolves
★★★★
★★½
★★★
★★½
What’s that? The sun’s up? It’s warm outside? Papernote is on the speakers? Unabashed bliss is served up all over this three-track EP (plus a remix of the title track by BORNS thrown in for good measure) via an infectious mix of electronic and analogue instruments, singalong choruses and catchy-as-fuck melodies. There’s more than a hint of early (read: world-conquering) MGMT and even mid-’00s NZ wunderkinds Naked & Famous combined with the free-wheeling attitude that a young band with the world at their feet should have. Listen out for these tracks to be plastered all over your summer.
Back in the day Helmet were an influential group for a lot of bands - and a fair amount of angry youths - but it’s hard to see that same creature in their latest effort. While utterly professional, it’s both juvenile and archaic in a way that nullifies the niche value of either. It’s also pretty bland, with the exception of Green Shirt, which is also part nursery-folk. Dead To The World isn’t totally rotten, the guitars are appropriately thick, the percussion carries its weight, and Page Hamilton’s voice hasn’t lost any of its meat, but it feels like having not released an album in six years means they haven’t grown either.
Dylan Stewart
Nic Addenbrooke
This is the fifth album from these profoundly grumpy, technically minded death metal kiwis and the initiated will know what to expect. Packed with disorientating time signature switches, overwhelmingly thick sound design and bovine death bellows, Shrines Of Paralysis is an impressively accomplished work where the speed and precision of drummer Jamie Saint Merat is frequently breathtaking. Aside from some effectively slower, atmospheric passages on the likes of There Are No Saviours, there’s not a great deal of forward progress from 2013’s Vermis, hampering Ulcerate’s chances of breaking through to new audiences.
Arriving after a decade-plus hibernation, Ghosts Of The Social Dead is like metalcore, deathcore, new thrash and djent never happened. The Melburnians’ new efforts are often rooted so firmly in numetal’s heyday it ought to arrive with accompanying wallet chain. Irrespective, the reconfigured incarnation does execute with conviction. New vocalist Ezekiel Ox’s idiosyncratic rap ‘n’ croon infuses Sweat/Swing and Back To Base with noticeably greater energy. At times Superheist tip the scales too far into radio-rock territory at the expense of the bass groove thrills and mosh riff moments diehards will crave, but those hooks may provide scope beyond initial fan sentimentality.
Christopher H James
Brendan Crabb
More Reviews Online Agnes Obel Citizen Of Glass
38 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
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Live Re Live Reviews
Hannahband The Foundry 21 Oct
Hannahband @ The Foundry. Pic: Mitch Knox
Hannahband @ The Foundry. Pic: Mitch Knox
Hannahband @ The Foundry. Pic: Mitch Knox
Hannahband @ The Foundry. Pic: Mitch Knox
Hannahband @ The Foundry. Pic: Mitch Knox
40 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
The back room of The Foundry is a funny little space, its diminutive size and relative obscurity in the shadow of its bigger, betterknown front-room cousin both a blessing and a curse for acts who end up performing in its cramped confines. Tonight, it proves far more the former than the latter, as intimacy and warmth — and an indelible sense of inclusion — reign supreme among a highly loveable and eminently communal line-up of acts that have gathered to celebrate a joint tour between cult Sydney outfits Oslow and Hannahband. Cast against a competing gig in the front room (punters are free to flit between the two as they please), the evening opens with the attitudinal abandon of Brissy songstress Kate Woodhouse, boldly stepping out tonight without the safety net of her band, Self Care, as they’re presently navigating some line-up issues and rebuilding the machine. A few false starts and fingerslips aside (punctuated with the odd frustrated enunciation from the trooper behind the mic), she does a supremely admirable job. It’s a pity to have not seen these songs, including sublime closer Oak Tree, in their fully fleshed-out forms, but Woodhouse can walk away deeply proud of her contributions to tonight’s proceedings. The ball keeps rolling with sort-of-kinda-but-apparentlynot-on-hiatus locals In Real Life, who have emerged from the wilderness to say farewell to their synth player, Amber, tonight, and are joined by Chris Langenberg (Vulture Circus, Sweater Curse and more) on drums. Sure, they arguably skew a little young for their often world-weary lyrics (“Any pub’s a good pub if you
drink there for years,” opines one particularly memorable refrain), but they’re a tight and engaging group of performers, particularly given the wider bittersweet context surrounding their outing tonight.
Guitarist Nathan Martin and drummer Marnie Vaughn — and their obviously deepand-beautiful friendship — utterly shine as beacons of DIY damn-the-man freewill. Next up, we’re treated to a polished showing from ascendant Brissy trio Sweater Curse, who instantly win over the audience with their deadpan, unabashedly dorky aesthetic. Unsure whether the band knows their name is shared by a track on Tape/Off’s 2010 LP Unreel Unravel (it’s entirely possible it’s intentional), but that’s probably beside the point. Either way, Langenberg shows no sign of fatigue from his stint behind the kit for IRL, stepping into his guitarist role with Sweater Curse with aplomb, and they show themselves to be a remarkably talented young outfit doing extremely good things in the world of introspective, slightly sparkly indie-rock. Despite being the second-last act of the night, noodly feelingsrockers Oslow end up garnering the biggest crowd of onlookers of the evening, filling out the back
room nicely as they dexterously cut their way through a swathe of dynamic, deliciously layered tunes. They’ve been away from the spotlight recently hard at work on their debut LP and, if the sounds we’re greeted with tonight are any indication, this is a band that you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the very near future. Punk and its surrounds are competitive, crowded arenas, and Oslow demonstrate tonight that they absolutely have the chops to rise above the chaff with an unrelenting set of tight, thoughtful and technically proficient compositions. The crowd shrinks somewhat for Hannahband’s closing set, although that’s a loss for those who departed, because those of us who remain are ultra-keen and super-ready to experience an earful of the duo’s dynamic, gloriously cacophonous and fundamentally explosive tunes. Championing their brilliant recent album, Quitting Will Improve Your Health, guitarist Nathan Martin and drummer Marnie Vaughn — and their obviously deep-andbeautiful friendship — utterly shine as beacons of DIY damnthe-man freewill throughout. This goes beyond the mere musicality of the endeavour, although, yes, the frantic, fuck’em-all energy that emanates from both Vaughn and Martin goes a long way towards making this show as special as it ultimately ends up being. But it’s more than that; having dressed up the room in aluminium foil for added visual effect (Vaughn briefly wraps herself in the shiny material before deeming it way-too-the-fuck hot for that — fair enough), their banter game is also strong — admittedly, occasionally aided by one particularly vocal guy in the audience who is just super-happy to engage clearly rhetorical questions and drag us all along for the ride. Still, Martin and Vaughn remain affable, open and upbeat throughout and it helps
eviews Live Reviews
keep us energised right through to the closing strains. Clear crowd favourites both old and new make appearances, with particular highlights including the shouty iconoclasm of Burn It Down, the unusual accessibility of Terrified Of Everything, the four-to-the-floor creep-up of Accommodations and the much-appreciated appearance of perennial favourite I Will Let You Down, from 2014 LP Retirement. During their set, Martin laments that he and Vaughn don’t have many friends in Brisbane; however, one suspects that, after tonight’s brilliant display, they can absolutely count more than a handful of new additions to that estimation for the next occasion they find themselves in our neck of the woods. Come back any time. Mitch Knox
Good Boy The Foundry 22 Oct It’s been a hectic week of events in Fortitude Valley this week and, in particular, a busy weekend for The Foundry. Following sizeable gigs on Thursday and Friday night — both of which sprawled across multiple rooms — tonight’s show features only one stage, but has managed to completely sell out: the ever-delightful Good Boy, bringing with them a score of friends to support them in their home-town show, on the final night of their Plum EP tour. Starting off the night with some feelgood vibes is ‘80s electro-pop artist Simi Lacroix. For just one person, he sure knows how to throw his weight around. With bouncing dance moves and an almost Singstar approach, Lacroix belts out number after number to an already intimidating crowd. Self-described as ‘terrifyingly scintillating pop confectionery’,
this one-man music machine enchants everyone in the room, his pop’n’bop music tearing the place apart before we’ve even had a chance to settle in for the night. Following Lacroix is brightrock trio Make More. With sunny guitar riffs and beautiful, melodic bass lines, this band brings the room to life in an awe-inspiring way. Their music brings to mind a very Brisbane-esque scene, with nonchalant vocals and a breezy, catchy feeling following them, evoking broad suburban landscapes and sunny weather, walking barefoot down the streets to the local shops after a big night out. Zefereli are a lush dreamboat of optimistic pop and feelgood vibes (sound-good, too). The duo embraces their eclectic sound, with both Alistar Richardson (The Cairos) and Clea Pratt (Clea) both excelling in their own separate musical
These boys are an iconic Brisbane band in the making if ever we’ve seen one, and the voice of latterday Gen Y.
endeavours. The beautiful vision of Richardson’s performance and Pratt’s harmonies serenade the overwhelming room. And now — oh boy, oh boy, oh boy — Good Boy take the stage. These boys are an iconic Brisbane band in the making if ever we’ve seen one, and the voice of latter-day Gen Y, with catchy, jangly riffs and tantalising bass lines. Upon the release of
their fantastic new EP Plum, the good boys (pun intended) from Brisbane are settling in for a sold out home-town rock show, on the final night of their six-stop Australian tour. Frontman Rian King exudes a happy-go-lucky attitude and a contagious smile, but the music he makes tells a different story — one of adolescent woes, wasting time, and struggling financially. Despite the incongruity, amidst the singalong songs such as high-rotation singles Transparency and more recently Poverty Line, fans dance and shout all over the venue. This writer even spies bartenders bopping along as they pour drink after drink throughout Good Boy’s set, a testament to how casually but comprehensively charming the members of this band really are. Carly Packer
Old Fashion, Sundown Jury, The Lyrical The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar 15 Oct The intimate setting of The Milk Factory holds no firm ground for Old Fashion, a band better suited to a larger venue and who seem intent on rocking down the walls. According to their Facebook page, Old Fashion have been categorised as “Japanese pop” by Spotify. Really they’re a Brisbane four-piece making ballad-rock best suited to a Sunday shift of outdoor beers. Tonight, though, they’re indoors on the high stage putting out their Sunday best on a Saturday night. Even the bar staff are rocking their Old Fashion tees for the long-awaited launch of the band’s EP, What Were We Thinking. However, before them we are delighted to watch Sundown Jury and The Lyrical (Karl Smith), the latter a rare gem of reggaeroots beatboxing who, after a last
...ballad-rock best suited to a Sunday shift of outdoor beers.
minute cancellation, saved the moment by taking on the support slot. And the room shows its appreciation. Old Fashion open up with new tracks She’s A Believer and Caroline off the EP before heading back into some oldies and even a few Rage Against The Machine covers (Guerrilla Radio). As if their set needed the extra push in volume to reverberate through this South Brisbane corner room. The riff-heavy band shifted gears through the set from sweet folk to balls-out rock, lead singer JJ Cole whipping his long hair about, never letting the bedroom venue impede the grandeur of his rockstar stage presence. Nice way to cap off the man’s birthday, also. Old Fashion rocked The Triffid last month and tonight they hit The Milk Factory with much the same moxie — their music unconstrained to the confines of their surroundings. Expect to hear them ring out even more in the near future. Good job, guys. Rip Nicholson
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 41
Arts Reviews Arts Reviews
with it beyond the obvious. Honestly, the movie doesn’t much of anything beyond the obvious, making Never Go Back feel like an episode of, say, NCIS with a bigger budget and a smidge more brutality. That’s too bad, because 2012’s Jack Reacher was a terrific action-thriller with some surprisingly sophisticated plot twists and some fine work by Cruise, who reshaped his trademark intensity into something a bit nastier. He displayed both a white knight moral code and a pitch black mean streak. For Reacher, those traits come in handy in Never Go Back when he’s investigating a conspiracy involving a private military organisation that has resulted in the murder of two US soldiers in Afghanistan. But they’re not so effective when he has to work alongside Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who’s been framed as the mastermind of the crime. And even less so when he has to deal with Samantha (Danika Yarosh), a surly, sassy teenager who’s allegedly Reacher’s daughter. The trio is being pursued by a skilled, sadistic mercenary known only as The Hunter (Patrick Heusinger), and it becomes a bit of a running joke that Reacher is almost eager to square off against The Hunter and his henchmen rather than contend with Turner and Samantha. Sadly, that is about as fun as Never Go Back gets. It’s competently put together by director Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond) but it lacks the blunt-force elegance of its predecessor — the car chases and fight sequences here feel like they were choreographed with caution rather than chaos in mind. And the supporting performances are fine — Smulders’ Turner has a no-nonsense attitude that matches Reacher’s, and Yarosh is appealingly scrappy — but lack pizzazz. As for Cruise, he’s, well, interesting this time around. He’s not as lean or spry as he’s been recently, and it’s a judgement call as to whether that’s simply time catching up with him or a conscious decision to display the wear and tear of Reacher’s violent, solitary life. Chances are it’s a bit of both.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Black Mirror: Season 3
Jack Reacher:
Never Go Back Film In cinemas now
★★★ Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, the second movie starring Tom Cruise as the terse, tough hero of Lee Child’s series of bestselling books, takes the title character out of his comfort zone by placing him in what many people would consider a comfort zone. That is, lone wolf Reacher, a former military police officer who has voluntarily taken to crisscrossing the country with little more than the clothes on his back, finds himself part of a makeshift family. It’s not how Reacher — who usually solves problems or resolves disputes with a snarled threat and a clenched fist — tends to operate, and you could expect that to bring some fish-outof-water fun to Never Go Back. But the movie doesn’t do much
Guy Davis
42 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Black Mirror (Season 3) Television Streaming now on Netflix
★★★★ The most disquieting aspects of Black Mirror have never been future-shock predictions about where we’re going, but rather present-shock recognition about where we’re at, as tends to be the case with the best examples of socially-aware science fiction. Brooker himself summed it up nicely in a recent Guardian interview where he called Black Mirror “the way we might be living in 10 minutes’ time if we’re clumsy”. So, yeah, watching Black Mirror has very, very rarely been what you could call fun. And the idea of having six new episodes available all at once on Netflix, where devotees of the show can mainline a huge hit of Brooker’s vision in one binge, seems like a shortcut to emotional and psychological despair. Interestingly enough, there’s a lightness — even a slight but evident feeling of optimism — in the first couple of episodes of this new batch of Black Mirror, maybe due to the introduction of new collaborators in the scripting stage. But fear not, pessimists, the show still has plenty for you as well. Online dating, virtual reality and one’s social-media profile go hand in hand with tried-and-true tropes like the war story, the police procedural and the haunted-house chiller in these six episodes of the new season (another six are due in 2017). And while Shut Up and Dance is bleak in the best Brooker fashion and Playtest is scary as hell, it’s the funnier and, dare we say, sweeter episodes that initially come off best. San Junipero, for example, brings together the shy Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and the outgoing Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) in a neon-saturated California beach town straight outta 1986. It is unexpectedly warm and touching, which in its own way is surprising in the best Black Mirror tradition. Guy Davis
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THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 43
Comedy / G The Guide
Wed 26
Dope Lemon
The Walking Dead Trivia: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Ruckus! Slam! October! Halloween with Syntax Junkies + more: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Caligula’s Horse
Katchafire: Shamrock Hotel, Toowoomba Bad Manners + Alla Spina: Solbar, Maroochydore
The Music Presents Caligula’s Horse: 4 Nov The Triffid
Triffid Acoustics with Phil Smith: The Triffid, Newstead
A Day On The Green: 6 Nov Sirromet Wines
Thu 27
Dan Sultan: 9 Nov The Triffid Mullum Music Festival: 17 - 20 Nov Mullumbimby
Senor + Trails + Modern Day Merlin + Nomad: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Thierry Fossemalle Trio: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Angus & Lemon Stone
Taasha Coates & The Melancholy Sweethearts: 19 Nov The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar
Gian: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads The Owls: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley
The Triffid will play host to Angus Stone’s new vehicle, Dope Lemon, on 28 Oct. Dope Lemon are out on a national tour in support of their new album, Honey Bones.
Ne Obliviscaris: 3 Dec The Brightside
He Danced Ivy + Red in Tooth + Mofo Is Dead: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Bad Manners: The Triffid, Newstead
Ben Lee: 19 Nov Old Museum
Laura Mvula: 15 Apr The Triffid Mesa Cosa: Greaser Bar, Brisbane
Wildlife feat. Donny Love: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Graeme James: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Crystal Cities: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley
Fri 28
Tiki Taane + Luka Lesson + Dubarray: Solbar, Maroochydore
Pop Cult + Edward R: Bistroteque, Brisbane
Bart Thrupp: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Some Jerks + Sabrina Lawrie & The Hunting Party: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Orb
Slipknot + Lamb Of God + In Hearts Wake: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall Screen Sinatra with Dorian Mode: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Mesa Cosa: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami Electronica meets UQ Big Band: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Amy Shark + City Over Sand: Night Quarter, Helensvale The Screaming Jets + Chelsea Rockwells: Parkwood Tavern, Parkwood All Our Exes Live In Texas + Clea + Miss Eileen & King Lear: Princess Theatre, South Brisbane
Mesa Cosa
DJ Massroom: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads Indie Kunst with +Cedarsmoke + Vaguely Human + The Rocketsox + Zedf: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley
UFOrb Fuzzy psych rockers Orb have already had an album tour for their Birth album, but why not have one more before the year is over? They’ll be stopping by Woolly Mammoth on 5 Nov.
The Dominiques + Concrete Surfers + Dave Is A Spy: The Bearded Lady, West End Geek Night: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Kudos: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Kaytranada + STwo + Lou Phelps: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
44 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Largerstein + Band of Islidur + Valhalore + Dragonsmead: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Bullet For My Valentine + Atreyu + Cane Hill: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Halloween with Tenzin + Emily Scott + Horizon + Benibee + Jakey J + Hynzey: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill Yes Sir Noceur + Lotus Ship + Stone Witches: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Valley Fiesta feat. The Vines + Yacht Club DJs + Harts + KLP + Jess Kent + Joyride + Hey Geronimo + Morning Harvey + Polographia + These Guy + Nyck + Yuuca: Fortitude Valley Entertainment Precinct, Fortitude Valley Halloween Spectacular feat. 70s vs 80s Classic Rock: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton Ben Ely + Tylea: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Luke Morris: Miami Marketta, Miami
Get Mesa Mesa Cosa will be venturing to The Northern on 29 Oct for the festively themed Halloween Hotel. Other guests include Dumb Punts, Mini Skirt, Galaxy Girls and DJ Chris Bradley.
Violent Soho + The Bronx + Luca Brasi + Tired Lion: Riverstage, Brisbane Floyd Vincent & The Temple Dogs: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Whiskey & Me: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Gigs / Live The Guide
Morning Harvey
Indie Kunst with Nila Bonda + Doozy Daze + Ravens Lair + Something Something Explosion + Chesterfield Music: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley Halloween with Psycroptic + Chronolyth + Hadal Maw + Departe: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Baltimore Gun Club + Kobrakai + Goatzilla + Fly Agaric + Stone Witches + Monster Fodder + more: Currumbin Creek Tavern, Currumbin Waters
Dandy Mornings The Dandy Warhols are on the Oz leg of their Distortland tour, and joining them on the road is the drone pop and mood rock of Brisbane’s own Morning Harvey. They’ll be at Eatons Hill Hotel on 29 Oct.
Luka Lesson + Kahl Wallis: Dust Temple, Currumbin
Halloween Massacre-ade with Giv + Audun + Six Shooter + DJ Jimmy D + Tiafau + Latour + Noah: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
The Strums: Greaser Bar, Brisbane All Our Exes Live In Texas + Miss Eileen & King Lear: Imperial Hotel, Eumundi
Dirtcaps: The Met, Fortitude Valley
The New Savages: Miami Marketta, Miami
Los Scallywaggs: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Hemingway + Chris Flaskas: Night Quarter, Helensvale
Hannah Macklin + Lachlan Mitchell: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point DJ Nixd: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Brisbane duo Forevr will be bringing their own brand of music to The Foundry on 28 Nov to support neo-psychedelics The Laurels on their Sonicology album tour. Forevr have been gaining traction for their distinctly trippy sound.
House Hounds: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Good Boy + Lifeboat: The Nook & Cranny, Nambour
Hemingway + The Rizlas: Villa Noosa Hotel (The V Room), Noosaville
The Columbus Collective: Bloodhound Corner Bar, Fortitude Valley
4EVR
Sampology: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Carl Barron: Townsville Civic Theatre, Railway Estate
The Outdoor Type + Alex L’Estrange: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Neighbour: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Forevr
Halloween with Birdman Randy: The Flying Cock, Fortitude Valley
Tiki Taane + Luka Lesson + Dubarray: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Sat 29
The Frightside Horrorfest with Various DJs: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Steven Wilson: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Halfway
Dope Lemon + Jack River: The Triffid, Newstead
The Belligerents + Wild Honey: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
The Ruiins: The Bearded Lady, West End
Roundtable + Indica + Therein + The Steady As She Goes: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Alesa Lajana: Magda Community Artz, Bardon West End Festival feat. The Johnson Stompers + Sadie & Jay + Nikolaine Martin + Daryl James: Max Watt’s, West End
Katchafire: Wharf Tavern, Mooloolaba
Jesse Taylor: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
The Ruiins + Khan Harrison + DJ Yagi: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa Heads
Damien Lee: Kedron Wavell Services Club, Chermside
The Laurels + Forevr + Soviet X-Ray Record Club: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Hot Chocolate + The Real Thing: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
The Laurels + Twin Haus + Pop Cult: Solbar, Maroochydore
Sounds On Sunday with Hemmingway + Pop Cult: Broadbeach Tavern, Broadbeach
This Crazy Life with The Wolfe Brothers + Gord Bamford + Caitlyn Shadbolt + Troy Kemp + Christie Lamb + Craig Heath + Jody Direen: Empire Theatre, Toowoomba
The Lamplights: Soundlounge, Currumbin
GirlThing Halloween with Miss Blanks + DJ Black Amex + Sullivan + Sophie Luna + Cunningpants + more: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
30 Year Celebrations feat. Blackbird Hum + Buzz & The Blues Band + The Free Loves + Sarah Denning + Rory & Dave + John Malcolm + more: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna
Brad Leaver: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
The Dandy Warhols + Morning Harvey: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Black Bird Hum: Solbar, Maroochydore
Marshall Okell & The Pride: Southport Sharks, Southport
Going Swimming: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley
Halfway To The Stars
Afternoon Show with Pete Cullen: The Triffid, Newstead
To celebrate the success of their latest album The Golden Halfway Record and their new single Three In And Nothing But The Stars, Halfway are returning to The Triffid on the 20 Oct to play a special hometown show.
Halfway: The Triffid, Newstead
Nicole Millar: Oh Hello!, Fortitude Valley
Horrorshow + Bwise + Omar Musa: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley Dirtcaps: Wharf Tavern (The Helm), Mooloolaba The Superjesus + Valhalla Lights: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Sun 30
Katchafire: Parkwood Tavern, Parkwood
Brother Fox: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
The Screaming Jets: Racehorse Hotel, Booval
Brunch with John Hoffman Duo: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Pop Cult: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami Earcandy #14 feat. The Bear Hunt + Junior Danger + Lunar Seasons + Ghost Audio + She Eats Hearts + more: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley The Dandy Warhols + Morning Harvey: Parkwood Tavern, Parkwood She Cries Wolf + Void Of Vision + Justice For The Damned: Phoenix Arts Theatre, Woolloongabba Open Air Cinema feat. Eden Mulholland: Rainforest Green, South Brisbane The Screaming Jets: Redland Bay Hotel, Redland Bay Horrorshow + Bwise + Omar Musa: Solbar, Maroochydore Jason Daniels: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore West End Festival After Party with Floyd Vincent & The Temple Dogs + Andrea Kirwin + Swamp Penguins + Laneway: Souths Leagues Club, West End
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 45
Comedy / G The Guide
Mini Skirt
Empanic + Rowan Russell: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
The Outdoor Type
Sticky Fingers: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley All Ages Show with Tkay Maidza + Sable + Midas.GOLD: The Triffid, Newstead
Fri 04
Indie
Caxton Street Jazz Band: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Punks Against Pauline: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley
Have You Heard
When did you start making music and why? Mid-2016. Some of us were in bands, some of us had never really played and wanted to. So we thought, let’s go burn some bridges with our mates PLTS and write some songs. Sum up your musical sound in four words? The Renaissance Of Australia. If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Ha! Easy.... the Sex Drive demo.
Destroyer 666: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Ceres + We Set Sail: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Type-A Hype The Outdoor Type is pushing up the east coast with the follow-up to last year’s self-titled EP, his latest single Rumination. He will launch the track at Black Bear Lodge with Cheers G’day on 29 Oct.
Unforgettable: A Tribute to Nat King Cole with Dorian Mode: The Bison Bar, Nambour With Confidence + Roam + Between You & Me: The Lab, Brisbane Eagle Street Group: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Togetherapart + Spirit Bunny + Pale Earth + Cassette Cathedral: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Tue 01 Method Man + Redman: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Wed 02
Why should people come and see your band? It’s usually free entry and 70/30 chicks to dudes.
Battle of The Bands Heat 1 feat. OJ Mengel + The Lampreys + Roadhouse + The Stray Sisters: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Website link for more info? miniskirt666.bandcamp.com
Papperbok + Beneb + Electrified Fooling Machine: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Mick Thomas & Roving Commission: Junk Bar, Ashgrove
Wild Honey
Sweet Honey Wild Honey have been touring since early September with their single Spirit, first supporting The Lulu Raes and now The Belligerents – who have their own new single Caroline. Catch them at Woolly Mammoth on 28 Oct.
Ozomatli + True Vibenation + Electrik Lemonade: The Triffid, Newstead Afternoon Show with Christian Patey: The Triffid, Newstead
Brendan Gallagher: Junk Bar, Ashgrove Yesterday Once More: Classic Carpenters with Dami Im: Kedron Wavell Services Club, Chermside The Settlement: Miami Marketta, Miami Marshall Okell: Night Quarter, Helensvale Method: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Stonefield + White Bleaches + Rackett: Solbar, Maroochydore Whandaland: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore Phil Jamieson + Jud Campbell + The Ruiins: Soundlounge, Currumbin
Tenzin
Thu 03 Moreton: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Jazz Singers Jam Night: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Last Days Here + Fragments: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Russell Morris: Noosa RSL, Nambour Brodie Graham: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore Rick Price + Mitch King: The Arts Centre Gold Coast (The Basement), Surfers Paradise Tawny + Georgia Rose + Maja: The Bearded Lady, West End Geek Night: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley Betty & Oswald: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
46 • THE MUSIC • 26TH OCTOBER 2016
Th’Fika + Aralunar Beagle + Tommy Sheehan: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise The Troggs: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton
Tiki Taane: The Beer Garden, Surfers Paradise
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Reverse headlining Sounds Of The Suburbs Festival the same week the Sharkies got the flag.
When and where for your next gig? 29 Oct, The Northern, Byron Bay (with Mesa Cosa and Dumb Punts); 11 Nov, Miami Tavern (with The Peep Tempel).
Vengaboys + Tina Cousins + DJ Sammy + Crystal Waters + Whigfield + Sonique + Joanne: Eatons Hill Hotel (Outdoor Area), Eatons Hill
Den Of Zin Skull bandana-wearing DJ Tenzin is headlining Eatons Hill Hotel’s Halloween party on 28 Oct, alongside Emily Scott, Horizon, Benibee, Jakey J, Hynzey and Migs. There’s prizes for best costumes, too.
Gigs / Live The Guide
Gill Bates + Tigerilla: TBC Club (The Bowler Club), Fortitude Valley
The Settlement: Brooklyn Standard, Brisbane
Afternoon Masterclass with +Rick Price: The Bison Bar, Nambour
Deadlam 2016 feat. The Drones + Shining Bird + Dorsal Fins + Twin Haus + Astro Travellers + You Beauty + Squidgenini + Bugs + Thigh Master + Romeo Moon + Muddy Chanter + Void + more: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
The Troggs: Caloundra RSL, Caloundra
Stonefield + White Bleaches + Rackett: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Robbie Miller: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley
Kim Wilde + Howard Jones: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Sticky Fingers: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley Caligula’s Horse + Dyssidia + Osaka Punch + Kodiak Empire: The Triffid, Newstead
Peter Joseph Head + Michael Johnston + Tony McCall: Cardigan Bar, Sandgate Phil Jamieson: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Trainspotters feat. Chook Race + Thigh Master: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
The Ruminaters: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Kingswood + Mercury Sun: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Songs In The Key of Motown: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley The Triffid’s Second Birthday feat. Darren Middleton + Friends: The Triffid, Newstead Superheist + Earth Caller + Segression + King Mungi: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Rackett
The End of the Line Festival feat. Fraser A Gorman + Totally Mild + Christopher Port + Banff + Major Leagues + Good Boy + Mid Ayr + Desmond Cheese + Pool Shop + Vulture St Tape Gang + Superfeather + Low Dive + The Francis Wolves + In Caves + Feeding Fauna + more: Woolloongabba, Woolloongabba Orb: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Sun 06 King Social: Bearded Dragon Tavern, Tamborine
What’s That Rackett? After playing alongside big names such as Courtney Barnett and Violent Soho, experimental punk rockers Rackett have now scored a supporting slot for Stonefield. The two bands will hit the stage at The Foundry on 5 Nov.
Elliphant + Golden Vessel + San Mei + Halio: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Crescent City Players: Greaser Bar, Brisbane
King Social: Villa Noosa Hotel (The V Room), Noosaville
Kingfisha: Imperial Hotel, Eumundi
Airlie Beach Music Festival feat. Richie Ramone + James T. + Tim Finn + Tiki Taane + Sandi Thom + Bill Chambers + 8 Ball Aitken + Chad Morgan + Troy CassarDaley + GANGgajang + Daryl Braithwaite + Russell Morris + Phil Emmanuel + Chain + The Potbelleez + Mason Rack Band + Bourbon Street + Electrik Lemonade + Steady Eddy + Chris Matthews + The Hillbilly Goats + Rav Thomas + more: Whitsunday Sailing Club, Airlie Beach 2006: A Year in Dance with Various DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
Sat 05 Yarrabah Band Festival feat. Archie Roach + Montaigne + more: Bishop Malcolm Park, Yarrabah
Escape: Arena with Rekoil + Mantis + Nostalgia + Luude + Seek n Destroy: Max Watt’s, West End
Shining Bird
Bird Braaaiiiins Shining Bird have been added to Deadlam’s four-stage Halloween spectacle next month, with The Drones set to headline. Other guests include Dorsal Fins and Twin Haus. Check them out on 4 Nov at The Foundry. Joe & Caspar: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) (Concert Hall), South Brisbane Open Air Cinema feat. Neighbour: Rainforest Green, South Brisbane
Mark Pradella Band: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
A Day On The Green with You Am I + Something For Kate + Spiderbait + Jebediah + The Meanies: Sirromet Winery, Mount Cotton
Kim Wilde + Howard Jones: Jupiters, Broadbeach
Bart Thrupp + Tom Dockray: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
The Settlement: Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane
Phil Jamieson + Jesse Taylor: Solbar, Maroochydore
Stonefield + White Bleaches + Rackett: Miami Marketta, Miami
Folk Off! feat. The Songs of Tom Smith + Cody Jones + Carrie Henschell: The Bearded Lady, West End
A Conversation on Making A Murderer with Attorneys with Dean Strang + Jerry Buting: Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), South Brisbane
Faleepo Francisco + Dave Is A Spy + The Halls: The Foundry, Fortitude Valley Ziggy Alberts: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba
King Social: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami
Tits Up!! A Special Fundraiser for Jackie Marshall feat. Silver Sircus + Jackie Marshall + Mel Fraser + Sian Evans + Kristy Apps + Chris Dale + more: The Triffid, Newstead
David Bowie Night with +Various Artists: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Tue 08
Sahara Beck
Sticky Fingers: Night Quarter, Helensvale
Dynamo: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall
Richie Ramone: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah Blues Arcadia + Method: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna Jesse Taylor: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore Ziggy Alberts: Solbar, Maroochydore
The Columbus Collective: Bloodhound Corner Bar, Fortitude Valley
Olivia Ruth + Kate Heart + Jimmy Watts: The Bearded Lady, West End
John Hoffman: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Brendan Gallagher: The Bison Bar, Nambour
ScHoolboy Q: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
The Beckoning Sahara Beck is showing her talents as a singer-songwriter right off the back of her stint with Ball Park Music, this time in support of Powderfinger’s Darren Middleton. They’ll be at The Triffid on 5 Nov.
Acoustic Session with Rick Price: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton Frenchy: Ipswich Civic Centre, Ipswich
THE MUSIC 26TH OCTOBER 2016 • 47
“Lush and expansive...unlike anything else to be seen, heard or felt.” Glide Magazine
QPAC in association with Handsome Tours presents
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY Friday 24 February 2017 Concert Hall, QPAC BOOK NOW QPAC.COM.AU | 136 246 THE WILDERNESS – THE NEW ALBUM OUT NOW explosionsinthesky.com