The Music (Melbourne) Issue #209 by TheMusic.com.au

04.10.17 Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Melbourne / Free / Incorporating

Issue

209

MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE PRESENTS

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2 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

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4 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

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THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 5

Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Idiots On The Road

Tony- and Grammy Awardwinning rock musical Green Day’s American Idiot is going on tour from January through to April, with Phil Jamieson and Phoebe Panaretos reprising their roles as St Jimmy and Whatsername.

Go For Broke

Phil Jamieson

Nothing But Thieves

Nothing But Thieves have announced a trio of headline shows to complement their outings with Muse this December. The Essex-bred band will hit our shores with new album, Broken Machine.

WAAX

Ali Barter

Final Coat It’s not like WAAX haven’t had a super-busy year as it is, but the Brisbane rockers have announced one more tour for 2017 to put a cap on things, with three outings this November and December.

Look, bay leaves, you can help me set up but you can’t stay for the party. @thenatewolf

6 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Jude Wooed Didirri Dude After unveiling the sweet video clip for his stunning recent single Jude, goldenvoiced troubadour Didirri has announced November and December headline dates in addition to his Queenscliff Music Festival and NYE On The Hill appearances.

Didirri

Arts / Li Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Credits

Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd

LA Witch

Toil & Treble

Cali rock coven LA Witch dropped their self-titled debut album last month and now they’ve announced they’re bringing it Down Under. The trio will play a run of east coast shows this December.

Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast

National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen Editor Bryget Chrisfield

Arts & Culture Editor Maxim Boon

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Face Two Face

Art Dept Ben Nicol, Felicity Case-Mejia vic.art@themusic.com.au

The second round of Face The Music speakers has been announced with Ali Barter, Dom Alessio, Kirin J Callinan, Stella Donnelly and plenty more joining the ranks with Ariel Pink and Marky Ramone.

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— Melbourne

Achy Rakei Heart Brisbane-born Jordan Rakei is headed our way in 2018 for a homecoming tour of his new LP Wallflower. The now London-based multiinstrumentalist will return to Australia for a four-date run in January. THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 7

Music / A Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Tall Choppy

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Everyone’s fave gangly assassins Twelve Foot Ninja are coming back home for a oneoff Melbourne show on their continent-hopping Monsoon tour. Catch them at 170 Russell in January 2018.

Jay Daniel

Just Stellar Off The Grid, a solar-powered party out to prove you can have a good time without burning up the planet, returns in December bringing with it a heap of art as well as music from Jay Daniel, Chee Shimizu, Dianas and more.

1 Real aPeeling

The number Xx of U-turns taken by Sydney Symphony Orchestra over the weekend in its stance on the SSM debate, switching from “neutral” to “Yes” following a huge backlash.

8 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

The recently announced Peel Street Festival has unveiled its first artist line-up for this November’s inaugural event with headliner Archie Roach flanked by Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Girl Zone and Terry.

Archie Roach

Arts / Lif Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

[ Formerly The Hi- Fi Bar ]

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THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 9

Music

Alex Lahey wants to keep making music for the rest of her life. She tells Bryget Chrisfield that there would be “no songs in the world” if people got “shitty” about being immortalised in song. Cover and feature pic by Giulia Giannini McGauran.

itting on an outdoor table at a Brunswick West cafe, Alex Lahey carefully pours tea from teapot into cup. When asked whether anything surprising has come up in her musical career to date, she ponders, “I was thinking this on tour, like, at the start of the year when we were touring overseas I was like, ‘This could be such an isolating experience.’ And it’s so important that I am conscious of that to make sure that I’m not isolated, because I wouldn’t deal well with that, but it’s kind of ironically isolating. I guess you never know these things until you do it, but I think it’s important to be upfront about the things that can be really hard about it and by not denying it you’re able to tackle it in the way that works best for you [to stay] happy.

10 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

“And you can see how people burn out, like, you can see how you can get sucked into a lot of shit and you can see what can go wrong, and why people maybe actually experience success and they’re like, ‘Actually, this isn’t for me’ — I can totally understand why. But for someone like me who wants to keep doing this for the rest of my life, I owe it to myself to be really mindful and stuff.” Lahey admits, “It’s definitely been an adjustment, like, having to think about my health and, you know, really looking after myself and that kinda thing, but, I mean, it’s good because it probably makes for a better lifestyle all up. But, yeah, it’s kind of fine ‘cause as much as you’re like, ‘Oooooh, I’m surrounded by booze and I shouldn’t be drinking!’ Like, there’ll be booze at the next gig, you know? I can tap in then, like, I owe it to myself to sort of, you know, have a bit of a break or whatever. “You pick your nights,” she points out. “That’s what I find, like, even my band and I the other day were like, ‘We should get the tour poster out and actually mark our nights that we can have a really good time’.” Given that the Sydney show on Lahey’s I Love You Like A Brother launch tour falls on the day of the album’s release, this date has already been marked out as a party night. “It’s a once in a lifetime sort of thing so you’ve gotta do that,” Lahey stresses. Paul Kelly’s much-loved song From Little Things Big Things Grow rings out over the cafe sound system and our discussion turns to the myth of overnight success. “I think that any one of those

narratives that is like, you know, ‘He or she just came outta nowhere,’ is, like, total bullshit,” Lahey opines. “It’s like, ‘Alright, well, what about the piano lessons when they were four years old and, you know, all that kinda stuff.’ It’s a life’s work and it’s a lifestyle as well. And I think that, for me, this project came after a long string of shit songs, and playing in other bands, and playing other instruments and, you know, all the other personal things that happen in your life that shape what you do. So, yeah! I’ve been playing music my whole life and was in another band in Melbourne called Animaux for years, and was playing in big bands and stuff through high school and, like, really hardcore doing the jazz thing at uni for a little bit and that kinda stuff.” Although Lahey acknowledges, “I was always passionate about music, I knew that was always what I wanted to do,” she says everything didn’t immediately fall into place as some people may believe. “It wasn’t me picking up an instrument and then all of a sudden having a record out... How it all came together — it was a very happy accident.

Break someone’s heart, do your bit for art. “It’s also a credit to the last band that I was in, because it did present me with the opportunity to start that project, and I think the fact that that band was a very grassroots-based project has just continued through in this [solo outing] as well. “My solo project opened for my band at one point, which was a lot of singing for me that night,” she laughs. “There was definitely overlap and that band never broke up; it was more that I just got really busy and no one else kind of was facilitating anything in that band and it kinda, like, just fizzled out.” Going on to explain that her success as a solo artist “all kinda came out of nowhere last year”, Lahey reflects on the recruitment of her backing band. “Obviously this is a solo project, but I want the show to be a band show and I think a big part of that is — it’s a delicate thing ‘cause you have to communicate to these people. It’s like, ‘Okay, this is my project but I want you to...” Have some input? “Well, not really, like, they don’t have any creative input — obviously they interpret the parts that they’re given and, you know, you can give two people the same recipe and they come out with two different things, like, the same thing applies with music. But it’s sort of more like, ‘I want you to feel valued, because you are,’ you know? And that’s the thing I communicate to them, I’m like, ‘You are a valued member of this project and you play a role, and it would be different without you, and I want you to own that,’ and that’s the conversation. But it’s obviously, like, a very delicate thing to discuss and that’s why you have to be super-direct about it and, you know, luckily the people I work with understand. And it’s a testament to their own integrity as individuals and I think also, like, we’re all friends

There’s an intimacy to Alex Lahey’s songwriting with individual songs written about her personal relationships or particular situations. Has she ever been confronted by one of her song’s subjects? “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember my ex who I wrote L-L-L-Leave Me Alone about — who’s actually a really wonderful person. And, like, that song came up — I was

as well and I think it’s testament to the value we place on our friendship with each other away from work.” When told this definitely comes across on stage, Lahey laughs, “We’re not faking it; we actually do like each other. And especially with touring, like, I know that I’m the kind of person who needs that support and if I can integrate that into the people that come along with me then it serves me better in terms of my wellbeing... And it’s definitely a very family-based sort of ethos.” The decision to quit her job to focus solely on her music wasn’t an easy one for Lahey to make. “I’ve been a musician for 12 months, which is awesome,” she shares of not having to work another job, “but not because I’m raking it in, it’s more like, ‘Okay, I’ve contributed a significant amount of my savings to this and I still have a little bit left over, and I know that playing shows so much I can pay myself, you know, a hundred bucks a week or whatever to, like, stay afloat.” And living at home has certainly helped Lahey’s cause. “It’s just too difficult otherwise, financially,” she agrees, “and logistically the idea of, like, fucking getting on Fairy Floss Real Estate every month, ‘I need to sublease my room,’ you know, it’s just, yeah, not for me. And, oh well, it’s just an added stress in an already stressful kind of life. Also, it’s just my mum and I, and she’s really, really easy to live with, and her partner lives out in Kyneton and so she’s there half the time.” Mrs Lahey actually stars in the music video for Every Day’s The Weekend, the first taste from her daughter’s soon-to-be-released debut album. Lahey says, “The concept is: I keep getting fired from these jobs. And we were like, ‘We need to find bosses,’ and I was like, ‘Alright, well an obvious one would be my mum, ‘cause she actually is a boss,’ and I was like, ‘Let’s get her in!’ And she was happy to take a day off work.” Lahey then confesses, “I absolutely hate being in front of the camera so working with friends and doing goofy things makes it a lot easier. And also having, like, a really short filming period is a bonus, too. You’ll find that a lotta my clips didn’t take long to make because I just really don’t enjoy being in front of the camera like that, like, even just the ...Taking Care... [I Haven’t Been Taking Care Of Myself] clip — it took 14 hours and I’m like, ‘At least we did it all at once so I didn’t have to go back,’ haha, you know?” We go on to discuss how the reasons why an artist or band doesn’t last the distance can be misconstrued. “It’s like, ‘Oh, they just didn’t have another good song,’ or something,” Lahey contributes, before remembering a “revelation” she had while overseas: “I was like, ‘I can understand why people opt out. I have no interest in opting out, but I can definitely see why this wouldn’t be for everyone.’”

What: I Love You Like A Brother (Nicky Boy Records/Caroline Australia) When & Where: 11 Oct, Karova Lounge; 12 Oct, The Workers Club Geelong; 17 & 18 Oct, Corner Hotel; 30 Dec, Falls festival, Marion Bay; 31 Dec, Falls Festival, Lorne

out for drinks with a coupla friends yesterday, and they were like, ‘That was pretty brutal, you know?’” she chuckles. “But, yeah! I wrote that about my ex and on the day that the EP came out last year — she called me or texted me — and she was like, ‘Do you really feel that way?’ and I was like, ‘Oh, look, at the time that’s how I felt, but, you know, it’s just a song.’ And she

was like, ‘Mmmm,’ and I was like, ‘No, it’s fine. It’s really fine, no hard feelings. It’s catchy, isn’t it?’ [Laughs again] She was like, ‘Yeah, I guess.’ But, um, I don’t think there’s any hard feelings; if people are gonna get shitty about that sorta stuff then there would never be any songs in the world. So do your bit: break someone’s heart, do your bit for art, haha.” THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 11

Music

Turning Zinc Into Gold Caiti Baker is just over a week away from releasing her debut solo album, Zinc. It’s been a challenging and triumphant few years for Baker, she shares what it’s taken to create her album with Jessica Dale.

or the past few years, Caiti Baker has become an ‘It Girl’ for Aussie collaborations. Most prominently she’s worked with AB Original on tracks like Dead In A Minute and Sorry, and recently she provided backing vocals on Pete Murray’s Camacho album, as well as touring in support of Dan Sultan, Guy Sebastian, Son Little and Booker T Jones. Now, it’s Baker’s turn to have the spotlight upon her, with the release of her debut album, Zinc, slated for October.

“Zinc is a collection of songs that have been maybe three years in the making, solidified and, I guess, based on the foundation of the USB key that my father bestowed upon myself and James after we had a four-year falling out and it was filled with a bunch of guitar licks and harmonica lines... that James Mangohig, my producer, sampled and I think I probably wrote my best stuff to those demos,” explains Baker. “I’m anxious. I’m nervous about it too, of course. It’s just because I’ve had these songs for up to three years. They’ve been in my head and they’ve been in my producer’s head. A few people have heard them but actually a full realisation of what we’ve been working on is like ‘the day is here’ in two weeks. And people are going hear it and I’m anxious to know what people think and also, I don’t care and it’s a rollercoaster of emotions,” 12 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

she laughs. “I just hope people understand it and that’s something that I have to be prepared for if they don’t and music is a subjective thing. I’m just going to be grateful for anyone to pick it up and enjoy it, or not.” Listening to Zinc, it’s seemingly impossible to nail it to a genre. Baker has been most influenced by blues and hip hop, growing up listening to everyone from Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Etta James to discovering Missy Elliot, Destiny’s Child and Janet Jackson, though you couldn’t pinpoint exactly where those influences enter her sound. “In terms of the style and sound that I have, I think it’s something that’s going to evolve because I’ve been raised on so many genres and I’m going to pull from that for my entire career, so what I do next might not necessarily sound anything like what I’m just about to release with Zinc. I have to evolve and I have to change because you do as a human and I just like dope shit. If it’s gonna sound good, it’s gonna sound good. I don’t really care where it comes from,” she laughs.

I just wasn’t present, I wasn’t aware. I was inflamed and manic when I was awake.

Before Baker’s foray into her solo career, herself and ongoing collaborator Mangohig were picking up success with their group Sietta. “I think I’m a completely, and I know this sounds so cliche and a bit cheeseball... I’m a different person. James and I were laughing about it the other day, in a way, I’m a bit born again,” she shares, laughing. “From my experience, I had chronic fatigue syndrome and bipolar tendencies and I was jacked up on so much medication and for the entire career of Sietta, like if I wasn’t asleep in the studio between takes... I just wasn’t present, I wasn’t aware. I was inflamed and manic when I was awake. I’m so proud of myself for achieving what I was able to achieve in writing those albums and performing. We only cancelled one gig because of my health, which I’m super proud of considering how much touring we did.” “I wasn’t necessarily myself, so I feel like this album is... I can look at myself in the mirror and identify 100% that that is me and I know who I am and I’m self-assured and I’m proud of what I do, whereas I don’t know if I would have been able to have the mental strength to do that through the time that I had Sietta, and I’m so proud of it and I love the music that I made with that but it’s just a different plain now.”

What: Zinc (Perambulator Records) When & Where: 27 Oct, Grace Darling Hotel; 25 & 26 Nov, Queenscliff Music Festival, Queenscliff

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PLUS HE A PS MORE AT W W W.NORTHCOTESOCIA LCLUB.COM THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 13

Music

True Colours Reflecting on the genesis of Yazoo, the star-studded spectacle that was Live Aid and how she wants “to reserve the right to be an asshole”, Alison Moyet tells Bryget Chrisfield this could be her last-ever Australasian tour.

uring Paul McCartney’s performance of Let It Be at Live Aid, the mic mounted to his piano failed for the first two minutes of the song. One way this story has been reported is that David Bowie, Alison Moyet and Pete Townshend, who were watching stageside, rushed out on stage to lend their pipes. “I’ve heard that story before, but, no, no, he was doing Let It Be and he asked five people to go and sing it with him. And I was the only woman, which was really flattering.” Although Moyet agrees performing at Live Aid was “brilliant”, she confesses that she “wasn’t really aware of

What the fuck are we going in a helicopter for? Why am I in a helicopter with Bono and David Bowie?

what Live Aid was” when initially asked to perform aside from the fact that “it was a charity thing”. “In my head I thought this was gonna be at Wembley Arena, which I’d headlined myself a few times. So I got in a car to go down there, and then there’s a helicopter and I’m thinking, ‘What the fuck are we going in a helicopter for? Why am I in a helicopter with Bono and David Bowie? Why am I flying over Wembley Arena?’ And it’s like I didn’t have any sense of the enormity until that helicopter door opened, you know, at the arena, and I’m coming out and I’ve got Freddie Mercury blowing me kisses - MASSive! With all the fucking major big stars you can remember from the ‘60s and ‘70s that dwarf every star that’s ever been since then, you know, because you’re thinking about those reeeeeally 14 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

massive bands like Queen and The Who and it was, yeah! It was phenomenal. And then to have Paul McCartney come to my dressing room and say, ‘Would you come and sing backing vocals for me on the encore?’” Having dealt with “vocal problems” in the past, Moyet says that taking care of her voice is “about recognising it’s a muscle”. “I can’t stay up all night drinking, you know?” she chuckles. “But the trouble is, I love being social, I love talking, but once I go there’s no stopping me and, yeah! I’ll just talk all night. So I just have to be circumspect, I mean, this very tour in Australasia: this could be the last one I ever do and I wanted to come for such a long time, and I feel I’m on the top of my game, so I need to concentrate on the work.” We’re curious to hear about the foundations of Yazoo. Was the duo incredibly ambitious from the get-go or did it all start as a bit of fun and escalate from there? “None of the above,” Moyet enlightens. “It was weird, because Vince [Clarke] had left Depeche [Mode] and, you know, there was a big cloud - this was his boyhood band and they sort of like fell out of love with one another, and he had a point to prove. So he’d written Only You. He’d offered it to Depeche and, quite understandably, they didn’t wanna do it, ‘cause, you know, ‘Leave the band, you’re not writing our songs,’ which is fair enough. And he knew of me, because we all come from the same hometown and I was the first one out of all of our group to start playing live in bands. He wanted me to come and sing on his demo, so he called me up and I went over there to his flat, sang on his demo thinking, ‘Great! So that means I’ll have a demo for my own purposes,’ you know. And then a week later he called me up and said, ‘The record company has heard it and they think we should record it,’ so, well, great! So we went into the studio to record and after recording and the record company hearing it, they said we should make an album... So all of this stuff happened within a matter of, like, a fortnight. And Vince and I never had any time to really kinda get to hang out and get to know one another... And so consequently we burnt ourselves out really quickly, because there was no love between us.” If you don’t already follow Moyet on Twitter, you really don’t know what you’re missing. Does she enjoy Twitter? “I do like Twitter, yeah,” she enthuses. “I like it for a coupla reasons: I like it because there’s an element of sorta like just talking to someone over the garden fence or at the bus stop, like when you were kids... And also I love the fact that I can be ugly on Twitter. “I used to find it really difficult that people would put words in your mouth, that you were always subject to somebody else’s whim about how you were gonna be represented, you know? And I want to be known for all of my colours and I wanna be an asshole; I want to reserve the right to be an asshole.” We tell Moyet we love that about her. “I’ve found it really oppressive when someone is aghast that I swear, it’s like, ‘Mate, if you’d have been a fan, you’d have known that this is who I’ve been all my life,’ you know?”

When & Where: 7 Oct, Margaret Court Arena

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THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 15

Music

From Sir With Love Winston Surfshirt tells Rod Whitfield he’s still trying to get his head around the fact that Sir Elton John digs his tunes.

good old-fashioned celebrity endorsement never goes astray, never fails to call major attention to its subject, and when that celebrity is of the illustrious size and stature of Sir Elton John, it can certainly provide the artist with a major push. In June this year, John featured and interviewed Winston Surfshirt, main man of the band of the same name, on his radio show, calling them the stars of the show. Speaking from his record company offices in Sydney, Surfshirt is gobsmacked that his band has been singled out for special attention from the great man. “Yeah, why, why?” he half jokes. “It doesn’t make any sense, it’s crazy. It’s probably the best thing about my life at the moment, that Elton knows about Winston.”

It’s probably the best thing about my life at the moment, that Elton knows about inston.

Why is it so very unexpected? “I don’t know, it’s like — you’ve known about Elton all your life,” he explains. “He’s a national treasure and then here he is giving you a call to talk about your music. It’s like, ‘Mate, get your life sorted out!’” Maybe it was simply a case of him getting wind of Winston Surfshirt somehow and just genuinely liking the music and the vibe. “I guess so, maybe,” he allows. “It’s so cool. He’s one of the greats. He’s got his radio show and he’s just doing his own thing. He wants to promote new music, it’s really amazing.” The main thing that Sir Elton is getting so excited about is the band’s brand new, debut album Sponge Cake, which will be out in the world by the time you read this. And according to Surfshirt, the creation and release 16 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

of this album was a long and arduous haul, for various different reasons, and actually almost didn’t see the light of day. “It’s been a long time coming,” he says with some exasperation. “It was sort of done about three years ago. I was just going to release it straight-up, and then we got involved with management and stuff; we ended up just cleaning it up and getting it remixed by professionals and stuff. But I think it was all the right choices we made. And just in the last year or so, we’ve done another five songs and taken a couple out.” The decision to take the record from being a strictly independent release to putting it out on a record label was one of the main factors in the delay. “Three years or more ago, I just started writing with the thought of making an album,” he recalls. “I’d done four solo EPs and I generally just thought it was a task I’d like to undertake: write a full album and see how it goes. “So we finished it up in England, we did all the vocals over there — that’s probably about two years ago now. Then we got it completely mastered, and we were just going to chuck it up online, and then we ended up getting signed and fixing it all up. So that added time to the process.” He is confident that many of the band’s fans would have actually heard most-to-all of the album anyway during the course of its journey. “Anyone that’s seen us live would have heard most of these tracks over the last three years,” he accepts. It’s been such a long process that, in the meantime, the band must be well on the way to having their second album done. “You know it, brother!” he says. “We’re about three years ahead of time on this one.” The music itself is a wild and diverse mix of sounds and influences, and even Surfshirt himself has a little difficulty summing it up to an uninitiated listener in order to convince them to check Sponge Cake out. The way he describes it is as left of centre as the music itself. “It’s a tough one,” he admits. “The only thing we can ever think to say is that’s it’s A Tribe Called Quest and your parents’ band, really. It’s sort of like hip hop with Beatles undertones and sometimes I feel like the whole thing is a bit like a Monty Python movie, in a way; just with the sketches and a stuff like that, and the links — that was the initial plan anyway.” many of the band’s followers will have heard While m several of the t new tunes in a live setting previously, it will make a world wo of difference playing them to an audience who have experienced the songs by listening to and e ingesting th them on an album, when the band go on tour from early November. “We’ll finally get to play these songs to people when they know them,” Surfshirt enthuses. “We’ve just been doing it for two years with unknown songs, essentially. This time [the fans will] be fully familiar with them.”

What: Sponge Cake (Sweat It Out) When & Where: 17 Nov, Corner Hotel; 30 Dec, Falls Festival, Lorne; 31 Dec, Falls Festival, Marion Bay

Pulse transit by ASHLEY DAVIES I read in a recent review that your new instrumental album does not fit any genre, they also went on to say it had no concept or theme…what do you think about that? Well, you could say it doesn’t fit any genre. I think that is a good thing, and I did read that review and unknowingly the reviewer actually gives the concept and theme of the record. It said, “the main difficulty is such clear divisions between each of the 8 tracks, with their disparate styles and instruments”, which is correct, but it has to be. Pulse transit is written for a modern dance performance. What got me in about the modern dance shows I was going to was that there didn’t seem to be any rules… im sure there were rules…

but I couldn’t see/hear them. It was totally random…visually and with the sound. I did not know what was going to happen next and I loved that sense of expectation and anticipation and I wanted to make a record that would do that. The tracks have to shift, and shift dramatically… in rhythm and sound…you are in transit over land, water and time. That is the theme. Just as the dance pieces would change dramatically I had to do that with the music. I wanted to keep moving where the listener was…and how they felt. The only anchor was the metronome at tempo 60 holding the music in some subliminal dwelling… hence the word pulse, and that is the concept the theme was born out of. Ashley Davies new album Pulse transit is out now at all good record stores and bandcamp. go to ashleydavies.com.au

Photo by Sarah Enticknap

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 17

In Focus SUGAR FED LEOPARDS Pic: Theresa Harrison

We were lucky enough to catch this intergalactic sextet at WOW (Women Of The World) festival at Footscray Community Arts Centre earlier this year and immediately fell in love with their exuberant synchronised moves, outlandish outfits, funky

18 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

bass and to-die-for harmonies. Just check out their music video for Shut Up! (Show Me With Your Shoes!), the first single from their second album Take You Out Tonight, and that’ll give you aaaaaaall the inspo you need to put on your favourite

dancing shoes and shimmy hurriedly towards one of their upcoming gigs for the full Sugar Fed Leopards experience: 14 Oct, The Mane Event, Barwon Club Hotel; 20 Oct, Kyneton Music Festival. You owe us one.

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THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 19

Frontlash

Music

GF Performances That Meat Loaf grand final debacle is just a faintly recalled pub trivia quiz answer as it’s further blasted into the past by hardlycomplained-about efforts by The Killers and Macklemore.

Conservative Foolishness

Deep Within The Belly Of The Beast

Speaking of Macklemore, well done Tony Abbott for sending sales of Same Love back to #1 on Aus iTunes chart - with a portion of the sales’ earnings now being donated to the SSM “Yes” campaign. File under: Did You Learn Nothing From That Cory Bernardi Incident?

Jacked

Lashes

And speaking of the footy: whichever team you back, it was pretty impossible no to crack a grin watching Jack Riewoldt belt out Mr Brightside with his medallion. May we all have a day that good.

The Simpsons

Backlash

Am I Out Of Touch? Pauline Hanson’s latest ‘opinion’ is that the legal voting age should be 21. Turns out it’s the children who are wrong.

No, Thank You

Walking sack of ear poison Milo Yiannopoulos has announced an Aussie tour. Surely we have enough loud mouth bigots without importing more.

Julia Louis Dreyfus The beloved US actor, and star of Veep, announced her breast cancer diagnosis via Twitter last week. In her typically graceful manner she turned it away from herself and into a heartfelt message about her country’s healthcare problem.

20 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

“super-keen to get something out there.” For Belly Of The Beast, he applied lessons acquired from With The People — recording on the down-low to ensure himself maximum creative space. “Taking my time was a massive thing I learnt to start with, but also just being okay with saying whatever I felt like I needed to say. I didn’t put a filter on myself in whatever way.” Though focussed on lyric-writing, Ansah has developed a full modern funk sound with live instrumentation — his key studio collaborator jazzman Patrick “PattyBoomba” Gabriel. Belly Of The Beast is a bold rumination on selfhood. Even apparently carefree songs carry deeper meanings — the lead single These Kicks (featuring Georgia B) tackling materialism. Most powerful is Barred, which, sampling a Facebook video by woke Melbourne studio engineer Tony Mantz, deals with racial injustice. Ironically, Ansah was hesitant to include the song on the album, worrying that listeners might skip it. Ansah wrote Barred both in response to calls to change the Australia Day date and a discussion with Briggs about the relevance of #BlackLivesMatter to Indigenous Australians. Around the same time, Ansah visited Ghana and saw its inequalities through adult eyes. He personalises that global struggle in the emotive Never Again. “I guess Barred was more the anger side of it, whereas Never Again was more the reflective [side] — asking myself the question of why am I so upset about it all?” Channelling Rage Against The Machine, Ansah’s current show, centred on Belly Of The Beast, is “uptempo”, “energetic” and thumpin’. Indeed, he tours with a drummer rather than a DJ. Says Ansah, “It’s slowly been getting a bit heavier and heavier and kind of more in the mood of the record.”

Kojo Ansah aka Citizen Kay chose to let his latest album go out unfiltered. He talks to Cyclone about why that was an important step.

anberra’s rising rap star Citizen Kay (aka Kojo Ansah) doesn’t light candles and mellow out in preparation for gigs. Instead, he cranks up one of his favourite acts: rap-metallers Rage Against The Machine. “Before every gig I listen to Rage!,” Ansah laughs. Ansah, nicknamed ‘CK’ by his publicist, recently dropped Belly Of The Beast — his first album on Illy’s ONETWO label. Today he’s on the road as the Melbourne hip hop mogul’s support — next stop Geelong. But he’s also headlining his own dates. Ansah arrived in Australia from West Africa’s Ghana at six years old, his parents settling in the ACT — where he still contentedly resides. “I don’t know why everyone leaves Canberra ‘cause it’s supersick!” he extols. In his downtime, the MC, producer and multi-instrumentalist works “behind the scenes”, recording and mixing local music-makers. Ansah has a music role model in the family — Sydney’s Miracle is his “big cuz” (and a fellow Kanye West fan). “I feel like I’m following in his footsteps without meaning to as well — ‘cause he was rapping, got signed, then I was like, ‘Hey, I wanna rap.’” In 2014 Ansah independently released the Demokracy EP — home to the single Yes! — and received his inaugural ARIA nom. His full-length debut, With The People, showed the next year. Yet Ansah felt that he “rushed” the album — being

What: Belly Of The Beast (ONETWO) When & Where: 7 Oct, Northcote Social Club

Music

Loud Noise & Flowing Alcohol

Protomartyr’s frontman Joe Casey calls in from Detroit to tell Chris Familton about the band’s new album, new record label and where that voice of his came from.

rotomartyr are already four albums deep into their recording career, all in the space of five years. It’s the sign of a band riding a wave of creativity and a relentless work ethic but, as Joe Casey explains, it is also about keeping the ball rolling and building on the success of each new album and tour. “It’s definitely about keeping the momentum going. I can’t figure out how bands can take five years between albums. The space between this and the last has been the longest just because it was the most touring we’ve done. When that’s over and you go home, you may as well get stuck in and write new stuff. Hopefully that will be the way forward, but I think we’ll be touring this record more than the last one,” Casey predicts. Relatives In Descent is another stage in the evolution of a band who sounded brash and chaotic on their debut album No Passion All Technique. Now there’s a clearer attention to detail in the sound and structure of their songs, led by guitarist Greg Ahee, but also a result of working with a new producer. “I think we always have to have the sound change. It helped recording with the producer Sonny DiPerri out in Los Angeles because he’s very good at sonically capturing

things and he was always working, and working harder than any producer we’ve worked with,” Casey enthuses. “Our guitar player had some ideas going in, including violins and a different synth sound, and I think it worked out really well. When he first said he wanted violins on it I had no idea what he was talking about, but when we heard it come to fruition it sounded great.” Casey’s resigned bark and conversational vocal delivery blends postpunk, spoken word and dissonant punk howling, and with Protomartyr it developed out of figuring out how to be heard in a small room when there’s loud noise and flowing alcohol. “At the time we were pretty drunk,” laughs Casey. “At the start it was mostly to make noise and have a good time all of the time. It developed from our early practice space, which was basically a concrete box, and I had to find a way to cut through the guitar and noise and a very sharp vocal attack seemed to work best. I have a very limited range and it’s about knowing what I can do with it; to fit into the songs the right way and not ruin them.” Casey’s pride in the new album is evident. The band’s step up from the small label Hardly Art to the large UK indie label Domino means that they’ll be able to promote their music to a much wider audience. Hopefully there will be some live shows in Australia in 2018? “I’m amazed that we haven’t played Australia yet,” Casey shares. “From early on it was near the top of our list of places to get to, so we better be touring Australia some time in the next year. If it doesn’t happen next year the band is breaking up!”

What: Relatives In Descent (Domino/EMI)

Goodbye Red Eye

In case the world is in any doubt that Elon Musk – the billionaire entrepreneur behind Teslar and SpaceX – is the best damn human in the whole bloody world, he’s only gone and made long haul flights a soon-to-be thing of the past. In preparing for his company’s pioneering expedition to Mars, the boffins at SpaceX have created what they’ve dubbed the BFR (which stands for Big Fucking Rocket – we shit you not), which will eventually ferry colonists from Earth to the red planet and the Moon. But in addition to these interplanetary jaunts, Musk has said that the very same system could also revolutionise air travel, shrinking the travel time between any location in the world to under an hour. Yes, you read that correctly: under one-bloody-hour, anywhere in the world. So, in the future you could grab lunch in London and still be back home Down Under in time for tea. This potential game changer for world travel is particularly important for Australia, as one of the most remote and isolated countries in the world. What’s more, it will give passengers a chance to experience weightlessness in the micro-gravity environment of low Earth orbit, and because SpaceX’s rockets have been designed to land on waterbased floating platforms, introducing the service wouldn’t require any additional infrastructure to be built first. There’s no clear timeline on when the service might begin (or how pricey it may be), but given that the first Mars-bound flight of the BFR (unmanned) is set for 2019, we might not need to wait too long to find out.

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 21

Film

Blade Runner 2049

The Second Cut Is The Deepest

Dutch actor Sylvia Hoeks has landed her big blockbuster break in the hotly anticipated Blade Runner 2049, and she’s keeping any spoilers to herself. Guy Davis gets a glimpse of Ridley Scott’s dystopian epic.

lade Runner was not always beloved. When Ridley Scott’s science fiction film was first released back in 1982, it was seen as something of an odd bird by many. It had its early adopters, of course, but the majority of critics regarded it as a visually stunning piece of work with a vague or muddled plot and an emotional core that rang kind of hollow. Three and a half decades on, the consensus has changed somewhat, and Blade Runner is now viewed as having substance to match its style, with its story of a disillusioned police officer — Rick Deckard, played by Harrison Ford — pursuing four renegade ‘replicants’ (humanoid robots created as slave labour) through the dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, asking and addressing heavy questions about the nature of humanity, the subjectivity of consciousness and the definition of life. In fact, it’s a film that has developed a thoroughly realised fan culture. A number of different edits, and varying interpretations of the story and its characters by the film’s creators and its consumers, have given rise to ongoing discussions about Blade Runner, which has helped keep it in the collective pop-culture consciousness as a cult classic. Blade Runner is now viewed as a fairly singular piece of work, and any attempt to sequelise it was long viewed as, well, let’s say ill-advised. Indeed, even when production was announced on a follow-up film that would bring together the key talent from the original film (Scott as executive producer, Ford reprising his role as Deckard), plus some well-regarded new players (Denis Villeneuve of Arrival fame as 22 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

director, Ryan Gosling as lead actor), the response was somewhere near the intersection of sceptical and wary. On the eve of the release of Blade Runner 2049, though, it seems many fears are beginning to be allayed. Early response to the film from critics who’ve seen it and given capsule reviews on social media has been overwhelmingly positive, with many praising its visual aesthetic (“Blade Runner 2049 plays like the One Perfect Shot twitter came to life for two hours and 43 minutes” wrote Kyle Buchanan from the website Vulture) and its content (“I’m so completely staggered by Blade Runner 2049 that it’s just taken me seven separate attempts to put my coat on afterwards” was Telegraph film critic Robbie Collin’s take). Now I’m writing this a few days before Blade Runner 2049 hits cinemas worldwide. And I spoke with co-star Sylvia Hoeks a few days before that, so secrecy is still very much a key part of this conversation. While Dutch talent Hoeks, a relative newcomer to blockbuster cinema, was clearly excited about both the making of the movie and the end result, she did stress more than once that there was only so much she could reveal about the film and her role as Luv, offsider to replicant creator Neander Wallace, played by Oscar-winner Jared Leto. “It’s all a big secret but I’ll tell you a couple of things,” laughed Hoeks, speaking from Berlin, where much of Blade Runner 2049 was filmed. “Luv is Neander Wallace’s right hand in the film. He is everything to Luv — they have a very complex, very intense relationship together. She’ll do anything in the world for him. It feels

Blade Runner 2049

Sylvia Hoeks

It led to thinking about what it means to be human, why we always want more. to me like a father-daughter relationship in a sense. She is in awe of him, is longing for his approval and will do anything to make sure he is happy. And another aspect of Luv is that she is in search of her identity, like so many other characters in this film — it’s a big theme in this film, as it was in the original. “As for the film... I’ve seen it and what it did for me was raise even more questions. It doesn’t relieve you. You’ll find yourself thinking about it for days afterwards. For me, it led to thinking about what it means to be human, why we always want more. All these questions have stayed with me. The best cinema asks you to reflect on your own life, and that is what this film does.” A fan of the original Blade Runner, Hoeks admits she felt like “a kid in a candy shop” on the massive physical sets of the sequel. And she adds that the enthusiasm was shared by everyone involved in the production, from director Villeneuve down. It was, however, an enthusiasm tempered by a shared sense of responsibility. “I think everybody felt that weight on their shoulders,” she says. “The original has such a cult following all over the world — it means so much to so many people. Denis has said in interviews that he wanted to create a romantic love letter to the original with his film. I think everybody on this team was such a fan of the first movie that we didn’t want to touch that in any way, and so 2049 is a stand-alone sequel, a story on its own, not a remake or anything like that. We took the world of the first film and built upon it.”

What: Blade Runner 2049 When & Where: In cinemas nationally 5 Oct THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 23

Opinion

I As the political mainstream has become increasingly polarised, driven by divisive issues like the Same-Sex Marriage debate, many people have found themselves lost in the moral hinterland. Maxim Boon explores the new landscape of “post-hypocrisy” politics.

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n 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary’s word of the year was “post-truth.” It was a term that had entered common parlance during the then Candidate Trump’s election campaign, as he scrambled and squirmed his way through the inconvenience of objective fact to craft a make-believe blue-collar wonderland of misinformation, warped data, and on an audacious number of occasions, out and out lies. It may have only been a year since post-truth was crowned the most important new addition to the English language, but even in that short amount of time, its meaning has undergone a radical evolution. Whereas once it was an unequivocally negative term used to challenge the disturbing prevalence in the political arena of fantasy dressed up as fact, it has now been appropriated - often invoked by its more colloquial version, “Fake News” - by the very peddlers of falsehoods it was supposed to discourage. A word that was once intended to keep our leaders and their mouthpieces honest has become the perfect smoke-screen for whatever sleazy political pandering offers the most profitable outcome. And this isn’t the only recent instance of words and their meanings being mangled for political purposes. Indeed, it’s become one of the preferred weapons of choice adopted by right-wing politics as it has reasserted itself in the mainstream consciousness. The notion of “free speech” is perhaps the most dangerously distorted ideal to undergo this right-wing makeover. Enshrined in the democratic bedrock of our Western societies, etched at the top of our constitutions, it is the purest expression of democratic liberty, one that is supposed to protect minorities from being silenced by the status quo. In the past, such idealism was dismissed by the righ right as political correctness gone mad. Message essage boards like 4chan, or Twitter trolls s like Milo Yiannopolous, would actively vely provoke “snowflake” lefties by defying ng the tolerance encouraged by free speech. h. Via the most offensive language and imagery possible, transgressive slurs, dripping ripping in the eyewatering misogyny of white, male privilege, were used by the new far-right movement to goad its opposition, sition, pushing its politics to the greatest extremity remity possible while brazenly

Opinion O Op inion

displaying a complete and impenetrable immunity to common human empathy. But this old battle cry is now singing to a different tune. As far-right mentalities, including that of extreme fascists, have been coaxed out of the shadows by political figures who have all but encouraged such thinking, the left has been accused of waging war on free speech for protesting ideologies built on discrimination. We are witnessing the advent of a new weapon in the rightwing arsenal, and it’s one that has proven surprisingly powerful: mimicking the left. The easily defined yin and yang of the political left and right has become far less discernible as the principles of political correctness have been leeched by rightwing thinking. This has been an especially effective tactic in the SSM debate, as anxious mothers appearing in No campaign ads have pleaded with Australia to ‘think of the children’, while anti-equality pundits proclaim in long, loud tones that they are being silenced, their democratic rights trampled, by those who dare to criticise them. Free speech has become freedom of persecution. Bigots brand their challengers as bigotted. If 2016 was indeed the year of post-truth, 2017 has surely seen the birth of post-hypocrisy. In its own insidious way, this new approach by the right is a stroke of political genius; political correctness has become, in itself, politically incorrect. But how can such an obvious oxymoron pass muster? Like

The moral compass hasn’t just s t bbeen een broken; it ’s been smashed to pieces, thrown in a crucible of right-wing rhetoric and smelted into a swastika.

some cheap Cruise Ship magic show, a flashy production of right-wing indignation hopes to wow its audience with feigned compassion, while just behind the razzle-dazzle sits the same steaming pile of prejudice. Winding up a deafening Wurlitzer of pearl-clutching outrage, these flourishes of melodrama are akin to the uncanny valley of sincerity; intolerance aping (although not totally succeeding) at genuine, apparently compassionate concern. It’s a dangerous illusion. But hatred isn’t innate - no one is born discriminating against people of different genders, races or sexualities. But it could be argued that the human condition is hardwired with a sense of right and wrong. Klansmen don’t wear hoods as a fashion statement - anonymity is the only protection for expressing views that many thinking, feeling people would find repulsive, and that they too, for all their rage, understand on some level to be morally wrong. But as the right has explored the strange new territory of political correctness, it has become increasingly talented at reflecting values intended to protect minorities in a funhouse mirror, distorting them into an ugly parody. The moral compass hasn’t just been broken; it’s been smashed to pieces, thrown in a crucible of right-wing rhetoric and smelted into a swastika. The greatest question this raises, is how can beliefs that actively encourage discrimination be challenged when we can no longer brand them as morally wrong? How can we expose the subterfuge of campaigns that muddy simple issues, like whether two consenting adults should be allowed to marry regardless of gender, with phony concerns about family and political freedoms? One inevitable outcome of The Coalition For Marriage Equality’s anti SSM TV ad featured “concerned” mothers, including pastor Heidi McIvor and Dr Pansy Lai this conundrum is a greater

polarisation and escalation of political activism. As neo-Nazi’s have taken to the streets, Antifa protestors have clashed with them, and these altercations have been used to smear the left as militant. As anti-equality sentiments have been called out by pro-SSM supporters online, these exchanges have proven to be a goldmine for the No campaign, who have placed this heated discourse at the centre of their latest television ad. The stark truth is that within the tit for tat world of political point scoring, compassion and sincerity are no longer viable vehicles for the left. Our political process is now more vulnerable to emotional manipulation than perhaps it ever has been. But one last line of defence remains, one that has proven to be an insurmountable stronghold for inclusivity, equality, and dignity: intelligent debate. The advent of the post-truth age has, albeit not comprehensively, encouraged a great level of scrutiny of what our politicians say. But it is up to the electorate to make accountability and credibility a more important political yardstick than hysterical political theatre. if we can no longer campaign with our hearts, we’ll have to return to being smart.

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 25

Music

Sunrise, Fun Set SEX & THE CITY G E T S E X E D,

At A Glance: The Offtopics Year formed: 2013

Sounds like: Blue-eyed soul but with cheeky undertones of a brown-eye.

For fans of:

AND IT’S SHITTY We’ll be honest: we weren’t really chomping at the bit to see the next instalment of the Sex And The City movie franchise; the first one was meh, and the second was the movie equivalent of a burning bag of dog shit. But, whatever remaining fans there are of Sex And The City got some bad news this weekend, when it was announced that the third movie was dead in the water after Kim Cattrall, who portrays terminally horny 50-something Samantha, allegedly made “demands” that studio Warner Bros were unwilling to meet. The story broke on the websites of British red top tabloids the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail, who claimed a source close to Cattrall had confirmed the rumours that the film’s production had been torpedoed by the actress’ diva behaviour. Cattrall countered on Twitter, saying she had woken to a shit–storm of negative comments and that she had never agreed to be in the new movie, a position she’d allegedly made clear back in 2016. She followed this with some super shade by retweeting several comments saying the second SITC movie was “terrible” simply adding the epic burn, “Preach”. 26 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Singer-showrunner Polash Larsen tells The Music that The Offtopics have been looking back and thinking forward for their debut single.

ith The Offtopics, like many outfits that have blended a unique sonic palette from a hodgepodge of influences and interests, it’s often easier to slap an overly simplified label on their sound than explore each rich colour. “We bill ourselves as a Melbourne soul band,” shares singer, writer and show-runner Polash Larsen, “but fundamentally we’re a dance band. We reference northern soul, southern rock, New Orleans funk and then we just keep heading south into the Caribbean until we incorporate rocksteady and ska as well.” Despite only forming in 2013, their first single was actually written 20 years ago, and Larsen describes Sunrise In Richmond as “a time travel song” that harks back his days watching bands in the Melbourne suburb. “Our songs are about quirky local characters and often have a comic undertone,” tells the singer. “I try to situate the stories in a recognisable landscape so we have songs like Brunswick Strut and Sunrise In Richmond, but really we just want to make the audience dance, laugh and clap their hands. When I revisited it I found I remembered the chords but not all the words. I’m not the same songwriter I was then so there’s an element of nostalgia in the way the song is presented.” And in line with that nostalgic vibe, The Offtopics are releasing the track as a limited run 7” vinyl with a comic strip cover. It’s the first of four such releases that will combine to make a whole — a debut 12” dubbed Back On The Zine.

The first two solo albums by Robert Palmer with The Meters, Lowell George and Allen Toussaint. Toots & The Maytals.

Dream rider item: Childcare. Most of the band have kids at home and long suffering — ahem — extremely supportive partners.

What’s one thing the live scene needs more of? Medium to long term residencies. Bands don’t mature in terms of their stagecraft, administration and following without consistent public performance.

Currently inspirations: The streets of where I live in Brunswick and the interesting people I see there.

Ultimate support gig: Eight-piece bands don’t often get support gigs, but we’d love the big showbiz types like Shirley Bassey or Tom Jones.

Fun fact: Just one??? One of us is a Sale Of The Century Champion. Another’s a baseball scout for the Minnesota Twins.

Five year plan: In five year’s time we’ve recorded some more, built our audience and we’re now the booker’s first pick. Smiles everywhere.

What: Sunrise In Richmond (Independent) When & Where: 12 Oct, Cherry Bar

Indie Indie

Rin McArdle

Eilish Gilligan

Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? I’m not a very rock’n’roll person!! But it was probably when my bandmate and I somehow landed the penthouse suite on a recent interstate trip. So roomy. Why should people come and see your band? I like to think audiences can take what they need from my show — a little solace, a little freedom.

Have You Heard

hings are moving quickly for Rin McArdle. The Adelaide native picked up her first drum sticks way back at age six, before adding vocals, guitar and keys to her repertoire, but even for such an early achiever the last two years have been a whirlwind of activity. “I released my debut EP Lefty Lou & The Hamley Street Blues in 2015 and since then I’ve played in Toronto for the Indica Records showcase at CMW last year.” The tracks were lauded for their honesty and beauty, and as an authentic look at the bittersweet struggles of youth. “Music for me is very cathartic so usually it comes from a place of sadness because that’s when I feel most inspired to write. I think there can be comfort and connection found in even the saddest songs, I just want to make people feel something.” Returning from North America McArdle supported the like of Vera Blue, Montaigne and The Preatures before making a move south. “I’ve only lived in Melbourne for the last five months but from what I’ve seen so far the scene here is extremely supportive and diversity is increasingly becoming so celebrated, which I think is incredible, especially after music in Australia being so dominated by the same groups for so long.” Following run playing drums for a show called KillJoy at Melbourne Fringe McArdle is about to start a month-long residency at Evelyn Hotel, playing every Wednesday night in October with a rotating roster of supports. “The live shows can be quite intense because the songs are so emotionally driven and sometimes the subject matter is heavy, I try to balance that out by cracking some hilarious jokes in between songs. Sometimes people laugh, sometimes people cry, sometimes the jokes are very tragic.”

When & Where: 4, 11, 18, 25 Oct, Evelyn Hotel

When did you start making music and why? My first musical memory is my little fiveyear-old fingers creeping tentatively across my Nanna’s piano... then my wonderful parents nurtured the spark.

When and where are your next gigs? 7 Oct, Node 0; 14 Oct, Howler (supporting Yeo) Website link for more info? facebook.com/ eilishgilliganmusic

Sum up your musical sound in three words? Deep sea pop. If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? Yikes — well I guess it would have to be something eclectic, so I wouldn’t get bored too fast. Maybe Bon Iver’s 22, A Million or Drag It Down On You by Ceres.

Cool Explosions

Have You Heard Answered by: Elle Young When did you start making music and why? Cool Explosions started as a studio project in 2015, where the three of us would tinker around in Matt’s home studio. Ideas came together quickly which was exciting for us! And now here we are. Sum up your musical sound in four words? Grinding, uncompromising ultra pop! If you could only listen to one album forevermore, what would it be and why? It wouldn’t be fair to answer this

question on behalf of the band... and well for me it’s an insurmountable decision! Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Playing our first ever live show at Jack Shit’s (FBI Radio) curated club night at Sydney’s Tokyo Sing Song. We were jammed onto a karaoke stage underneath the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown, and it was pretty weird and wonderful! Why should people come and see your band? Sample-driven beats with live drums, souldrenched vocals over pop-driven aesthetics aimed directly at the dance floor... When and where are your next gigs? 7 Oct, Node 0. We play with BUOY and Eilish Gilligan, then it’s back into the studio! Website link for more info? coolexplosions.band

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 27

Album / E Album/EP Reviews

Album OF THE Week Alex Lahey I Love You Like A Brother Nicky Boy Records/Caroline

★★★★½

It’s been a whirlwind 18 months for Alex Lahey following 2016’s fivesong stunner B-Grade University and opening the main stage at last year’s Splendour In The Grass. Now with the release of her debut album, I Love You Like A Brother, Lahey continues the upward trajectory of her burgeoning career while also painting the picture of a hard-working and prolific musician. Equipped with her trademark earnest lyrics and guitardriven sound, the Melburnian’s first full-length delivers on the early promise of her career. The restless first single Every Day’s The Weekend leads the album, with Lahey’s formidable songwriting chops explored further on the experimental Backpack and the big production of Awkward Exchange. I Love You Like A Brother is an exercise in balance; with the sweet I Want U and its catchy chorus and slick guitar work offset by the anti-love song Perth Traumatic Stress Disorder. Similarly, the darker sounds of Lotto In Reverse are countered with the upbeat cry for help in I Haven’t Been Taking Care Of Myself. With storytelling and songwriting skills that transform the everyday problems of life into something bigger and often more beautiful than they actually are, Lahey is no longer an emerging artist to watch, but one who deserves all the plaudits and spotlight she’s earned. Lewis Isaacs

Liam Gallagher

Marilyn Manson

As You Were

Heaven Upside Down

Parlophone/Warner

Loma Vista/Caroline

★★★½

In case you haven’t noticed the ‘90s are back in a big, trendy, way. The X-Files was reborn on the small screen last year, preceding a Twin Peaks sequel for 2017. Dad hats have replaced those emblazoned with US sporting team logos and your cousin’s old Planet Hollywood T-shirt is cool again. And now, Liam Gallagher, the Mancunian Britpop star is back; albeit without any retro-laced irony. Instead, As You Were, Gallagher’s solo debut 20 years after he burst onto the scene with Oasis, retains the heavy Beatles influences his former band were renowned for. He’s even ignored any semblance of subtlety as he overtly references Helter Skelter during the uptempo You Better Run, and reminds the world happiness is a warm gun in Chinatown.

It’s hard to believe that this is Mazza’s tenth album, and that his debut came out almost a quarter of a century ago. Heaven Upside Down finds him in a belligerent mood. The current political climate in the US is no doubt fuelling the fire of his angst and his creativity. He has previously made it blatantly clear that he is no fan of America’s current leader and his ideologies. The album is a journey across weird, wild and wonderful industrial rock soundscapes; soundscapes that are sometimes grinding and dirty, sometimes eerie and unnerving, and always compelling. There is a fascinating juxtaposition of, and contrast between, the inhuman electronic grooves and percussion and the jarring rawness of the guitars and Manson’s insane vocal gyrations,

28 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Beatlemania aside, For What It’s Worth is a piano-driven song good enough to have appeared on any Oasis album, while Wall Of Glass and the acoustic-heavy Paper Crown are a credit to his overshadowed and underrated ballad writing. In all, As You Were is not a departure from Gallagher’s oeuvre and screams solipsism at times. Yet still marks his high point since Oasis’ 2009 implosion and is strong enough to suit the current ‘90s revival just fine. Lewis Isaacs

arguably best summed up by the lyrics of Je$u$ Cri$i$, “I write songs to fight and to fuck to.” It is also another confronting journey into the man’s warped mind and disturbed psyche. Best track award goes to the eight-minute mid-album epic Saturnalia, with its funky bass line and its strong tendency to bring the aforementioned traits of eeriness, dirt and rawness into their sharpest focus. Heaven Upside Down is a very worthy addition to the illustrious Manson catalogue, and should please his legions of fans no end. Rod Whitfield

EP Reviews Album/EP Reviews

Caiti Baker

Custard

Kelela

TOKiMONSTA

Zinc

The Common Touch

Take Me Apart

Lune Rouge

Perambulator Records/MGM

ABC/Universal

Warp/Inertia

Young Art Records

★★★★

★★★

★★★½

★★★★

Caiti Baker flips between catchy pop, dance and slower blues with this accomplished debut. Highlights include her smooth voice mixed with just the right amount of hook on Could It Be Nerves, while unexpected elements like country-styled harmonica ring in Over The Horizon. Praise be for a diversity of style and influence (it seems exploring sounds all in one place is rare these days). A clear Motown-era girl group groove starts off Rough Old Town, with a little Amy Winehouse grunt to boot. Midway through the tone changes, a semi-operatic break takes the bridge before coming back to familiar territory — it’s completely unexpected and lots of fun.

The ‘90s are the new black, which means it’s time for Custard to write the hit album that You Am I are still trying to nail. Indeed, the title track on the new record packs all that was good about Hourly Daily in about two minutes of music. Similarly, the melancholy of Halley’s Comet and Princes HWY both could have been off an early Sleepy Jackson EP — lap steel, strings and all. There is a definite feeling of nostalgia throughout and although the choice of label screams “adult contemporary!” it’s still a Custard album, and that means quality indie-pop. Unfortunately it’s all over just a little bit too soon.

Positioning herself sweetly in the spotlight with some attentionworthy guest spots for the likes of Solange and Gorillaz, Kelela’s debut seems maybe more likely to crossover to the electronic music crowd than the pop masses. A reportedly personal record, her delivery is one of unhurried confidence, even on the articulate vulnerability of Better. But it’s the depth of feeling Kelela conjures — with occasional help from Jam City — that makes her vision of R&B futureproof, particularly on the irresistibly dark single LMK and the melancholic title track that echoes like a distant storm.

Prior to recording Lune Rouge, TOKiMONSTA underwent significant brain surgery and temporarily lost the ability to form language or make music. It’s beyond surprising, then, that Lune Rouge represents one of her strongest and most accessible releases to date. Toning down the mania and abstraction of the producer’s previous releases while retaining enough detail and experimental flourishes to avoid any hint of sounding generic, Lune Rouge is replete with warm, aching melodies and instrumentation but underpinned by churning currents of jagged programming. Ideally, it will bring TOKiMONSTA’s already respected work and profile to even larger audiences.

Christopher H James

Adam Wilding

Liz Giuffre

MJ O’Neill

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THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 29

Live Re Live Reviews

At The Drive In Festival Hall 28 Sep

30 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

An onstage time of 8.45pm for the headline act suggests a set length of epic proportions and we settle in for the ride. At The Drive In are one of those bands you can always totally rely on to constantly blow your face off. Their technical virtuosity is next-level and there’s also that element of danger continually bubbling below the surface with every hitch-kick, mad air-jump, mic-stand twirl and death drop from the frontman with the killer head of hair, Cedric Bixler-Zavala. At The Drive In’s songs are vicious and dense, you can really feel them ripping through your core. There’s also something elegant about this band and they dress to impress with an all-black theme. BixlerZavala’s delivery of Invalid Litter Dept is at once irate, exasperated and moving. The refrain (“Dancing on the corpses’ ashes”) gets us every time. Guitarist/producer of At The Drive In’s latest Inter Alia album, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, is a class act and we welcome his relentless riff attacks. Six tracks from At The Drive In’s new album are included in tonight’s setlist, which some may argue is too many, but this probably contributes to the overall verve of their playing. Main set closer Governed By Contagions is an absolute beast of a track with carnival-esque riffs held down by Tony Hajjar’s robust drumming. When the band return to the stage for their encore, Bixler-Zavala recalls a previous gig At The Drive In played at Hi-Fi Bar (now Max Watt’s) when they were on the Big Day Out tour way back in 2001, which some members of Rammstein attended. Postshow, Rammstein visited At The

Drive In in their dressing room and, as Bixler-Zavala hilariously recounts while putting on a German accent that sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger at times, said to the band: “It was very good. You had so much energy for first five minutes

‘Get aWAAAAY!/ Get aWAAAAY!’ There’s lots of crazy single arms slicing the space among crowd members. then, what happened?” BixlerZavala tells us he then retorted: “There was no fuckin’ AC in the place, Rammstein! You guys get to hide behind dildos and fuckin’ Mad Max shit, we’re just up here... Trying to do what we’re doin’!” After thanking us for coming along “and being obsessed all these years”, we have lift-off as At The Drive In finally kick into the aural assault of One Armed Scissor. The packed stalls watch reverently except for a moshing section front and centre that now detonates as we rock along to the song we’ve all been dying to hear: “Get aWAAAAY!/Get aWAAAAY!” There are lots of crazy single arms slicing the space among crowd members. Is it possible At The Drive In’s time apart has strengthened their live show? This scribe sure thinks so; it’s as if they’re re-energised, feel privileged to present this material to us live and have just cut through the bullshit to focus on their performance. Sure, we miss Jim Ward at times, particularly his powerful vocal contributions, but such are the chops of his

eviews Live Reviews

replacement Keeley Davis (former guitarist for Sparta, the band Ward formed back in 2001 when At The Drive In first disbanded) that the original guitarist’s absence isn’t felt too strongly. Bryget Chrisfield

Caligula’s Horse, I Built The Sky, Branch Arterial Max Watt’s 30 Sep It bespeaks of the excellence of tonight’s line-up when a band like Branch Arterial opens proceedings at 8.30pm. This band is a progressive powerhouse, more than at home headlining their own shows on the back of their stunning debut album Beyond The Border from earlier this year, and their 30-minute set whizzes by in a flurry of pounding rhythms, electrifying guitar work, the soaring, harmonising and intertwining vocal lines of Nigel Jackson and Jason Worthy and the scintillating percussive dynamism of drummer Adam Zaffarese. Their songs are ultramemorable, as well as being technically precise, and display a riveting sense of dynamics that emanates from a titanic rhythm section and bottom end. Melbourne guitar-playing wunderkind Rohan Stevenson is the brainchild behind the progressive, instrumental-rock three-piece I Built The Sky. He proudly announces that tonight they play their “biggest ever show”, which is highly appropriate as the sound, style and presence of his band belong in much bigger rooms. In fact, all three bands on tonight’s bill do. Stevenson’s dazzling compositions come at you with the momentum of a freight train on a downward gradient, with the rhythm

section locking in tighter than a highly wound snare drum, allowing his blistering fretwork to dance crazily-but-precisely and tastefully over the top. His playing exudes technique and facility, but also a sense of fun. I Built The Sky’s set this night is just a rollicking good time and the crowd is now ready, in body and mind, for their magnificent headliners. Brisbane’s Caligula’s Horse are now a true headlining force to be reckoned with, absolutely capable of holding a large audience’s attention for 90-odd minutes. Opening with a couple of tunes from their brand new album In Contact, they own the stage with a combination of

Brisbane’s Caligula’s Horse are now a true headlining force to be reckoned with. experience and confidence that comes from being the wily veterans they now are (frontman Jim Grey even admits they are “too old” for triple j) and the still-youthful enthusiasm that flows out of them. Grey is in fine fettle, most importantly in his highly skilled vocal gymnastics but also in his dry-witted, between-song banter and the band lock in beautifully behind him, playing with equal parts precision and passion. Especially lead guitarist and cofounding member Sam Vallen, whose blistering and emotive playing is highly underrated on the Aussie scene. The setlist is a sweeping vista of their burgeoning catalogue, with one small gripe attached to it: the 15-and-a-halfminute opus Graves is nowhere

to be heard. A little unexpected, but it’s a minor complaint when their material is just wall-towall strength: Rust, Firelight, Dark Hair Down, The City Has No Empathy (Your Sentimental Lie) and Grey’s passion-filled, spoken-word piece Inertia And The Weapon Of The Wall — all superb. This night is a celebration of Caligula’s Horse’s new album, Australian progressive music itself and the throng walk away from Max Watt’s engorged to the nines on the magnificence of this scene. Rod Whitfield

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Mac Miller @ 170 Russell Bryson Tiller @ Forum Theatre George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic @ Palais Theatre Cloud Control @ The Croxton GL @ National Gallery of Victoria Haken @ 170 Russell Elton John @ A Day On The Green, Rochford Wines

Live Pic credits 1–3. At The Drive In @ Festival Hall By: Jay Hynes 4–5. Calligula’s Horse @ Max Watts By: Mark Hoffman 6. I Built The Sky @ Max Watts By: Mark Hoffman

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 31

Arts Reviews Arts Reviews

Discordia Theatre (finished)

★★★½ Descending to the Fairfax Studio foyer through a layer of dry ice fog and lavender lighting there’s a distinct feeling of leaving Earth’s atmosphere. At the bottom of the stairs a large bearded man dressed entirely in leather directs half the audience members towards the bar and the other half toward a simulated airport security check. In one corner a Celine Dion cutout in a $23 ‘God Hates Prawns’ shirt stands next to an out-ofstock merch deck. In another there’s a conical tower cobbled together from fire-damaged antique chairs by artist Aly Aitken. Closer inspection reveals teeth, wings, hooves and ears sewn into the cushions, creating the kind of hellish aesthetic usually

reserved for paintings by Hieronymus Bosch. After passing through security or grabbing drinks some people switch places, but most just kind of mill about in this curious limbo. Finally we catch our first glimpse of the latest, and likely the only living converts to Discordianism - the worship of chaos of as laid out in The Principia Discordia. Dressed uniformly in glittery beige wetsuits with voluminous shoulder-length bobs, they appear on the landing above and with hive-mind synchronicity unfurl a banner that reads ‘Living May Cause Death’. These kinds of anti-slogans - the point is there is no point, life is banal and beautiful - form the core doctrine of the Church of Holy Chaos. The absurdist collective attempt to blur the line between reality and fiction, and certainly between artist and audience. What started as an art project has evolved into a genuine attempt to legitimise a religion. Narration from Lee Lin Chin informs us that the church’s demands are currently with government officials, referring to us as hostages as the Discordians move through the crowd hugging people at random. Once we’ve cleared security we’re led through the winding utility tunnels beneath the building, witnessing different rites and aspects of Discordia laid out - Celine Dion shrines, mounds of plastic chickens, simulated masturbation to psychedelic prawn videos. Reaching the end we enter a space with undulating golden space blankets for walls. Having traversed the secret bowels of the building we’re born again (literally, from a giant golden cosmic egg sac) - ready for indoctrination. For the third act the audience finally take their seats as part of a televised faith/fundraiser featuring several blistering, nonsensical sermons interspersed with skits and some pretty flash dance routines. The whole experience is a visually astounding trip, particularly Will and Garrett Huxley’s costume designs. But the philosophy the Discordians claim to be realising feels like a smokescreen designed to mystify rather than provoke, which saps much of the power from their punch. Maybe take their advice and accept there is no point, just enjoy it.

It is praise enough to create an enduring piece of theatre that transcends the ages. However, it is, arguably, an entire feat of its own to do so in the comedic form. Of course, the genius of Noel Coward is in no way a revelation. However, when a theatre company is handballed such a safe bet, it is disappointing to see so much of a production play it as safe. MTC have gone all out for the design and delivery of Hay Fever. The vast mansion set is a wondrous ode to the early 20th-century aristocratic style. While overly vibrant and a little tacky, it pulls the audience into the world of Hay Fever. Gareth Davies’ Simon Bliss and costar Imogen Sage (Sorel Bliss) set the tone and the bar for repugnant upper-class Brits. The pompousness of the siblings casts the theatregoers into a world of bubbled privilege and endearing disdain for their protagonists think Downton Abbey crossed with Arrested Development. It’s an excellent beginning, which shows the Bliss family struggling to maintain what little sanity they have left as a slew of last-minute visitors come to the estate for a weekend. These guests (portrayed brilliantly by Drew Weston, Monica Sayers, Simon Gleeson and Alexandra Keddie) also struggle with their hosts, and by show’s end the quartet endeavour to escape. While the newcomers thrive in the performance, it is the big names - those of which are the draw for many of the punters tonight - that fall flat. Marg Downey as Scottish housekeeper Clara comes off more as Mrs Doubtfire than Dame Maggie Smith, and Kim Gyngell’s portrayal of the patriarchal David Bliss is doused with an English accent so lazy that it pulls the audience out of the engulfing narrative on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, Hay Fever is an easy piece to sit back and indulge in some good old-fashioned, love to hate them kind of theatre. The two and a half hour runtime is remarkably painless, and through it all the brilliance of Coward still reigns as great and hilarious as it ever did.

Sam Wall

Joe Dolan

32 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Hay Fever Theatre Until 28 Oct, Southbank Theatre

★★★

OPINION Opinion

Howzat!

Local Music By Jeff Jenkins It’s Time We Had A Chat Is it just me, or are songs getting longer these days? Howzat! recently rediscovered the brilliance of Amaya Laucirica via her work with Sand Pebbles, so we were excited to check out her new single, More Than This, from her upcoming album, Rituals. The single clocks in at six minutes and 40 seconds. We were similarly surprised when we played Mia Dyson’s new single, Gambling, which runs for six minutes and 39 seconds. Then there’s The Preatures’ Yanada, which is one of 2017’s great pop songs, but does it need to be five minutes and 19 seconds, in stark contrast to the album’s first single, Girlhood (two minutes and 34 seconds)? The songs had Howzat! thinking of that quote attributed to Mark Twain: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” We wonder if this trend is a reflection of the downgrading of the record producer role. Sure, acts can make world-class music in their bedroom, but sometimes you need a second set of ears, someone who can say, “That’s great, but you haven’t re-created The Real Thing,

so why is it so fucking long?!” But does size matter? Does this piece say more about Howzat!’s short attention span than an appreciation of art? And, of course, with this attitude, the world might not have got to hear Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone, which the Columbia executives were reluctant to release because of its length (six minutes and 11 seconds). But if Aretha can earn Respect in two minutes and 27 seconds, Chuck Berry can tell us all about Johnny B Goode in two minutes and 39 seconds, and The Rolling Stones can deliver Time Is On My Side in three minutes, should more singers think succinctly? To me, Mia Dyson is a great artist and playing her new single on the radio is a no-brainer, but would we prefer to spend the same time playing two songs instead of Mia’s epic? Less is more, more or less.

Amaya Laucirica

Reminiscing Beeb Birtles has led a remarkable rock’n’roll life as a member of Zoot and Little River Band. Beeb’s autobiography, Every Day Of My Life, will be released in November.

Hip Hip Welcome to Rocktober. Icehouse’s Man Of Colours topped the Australian charts 30 years ago this week, the start of an 11-week reign. And happy birthday to the Hoodoo Gurus’ Dave Faulkner, who turned 60 on 2 Oct, and AC/DC’s Brian Johnson, who is 70 on 5 Oct.

Hot Line “It’s not a waste of time” Mia Dyson, Gambling.

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 33

OPINION Opinion

The GetDown

Vinyl Haul

Funky Shit With Obliveus

t goes without saying that I love my records, but my personal preference will always be the 45; the jukebox jam, the seven, the single. The reason I mention this is that I’m sitting in a recliner in far northern California and I’ve just acquired some very tasty 45’s from some very “off the beaten path” thrift shops and record shops along some very secluded country roads and I feel like I just won an Olympic medal. Case in point would be a pristine copy of Right Place Wrong Time from ‘70s swamp funk master, Dr John. The funk stays strong through this classic and the drums sound fresher than a mint, so to say I was slightly happy when digging would be an understatement. The fact that I also acquired a smooth ‘80s boogie funk classic in the form of Imagination’?s In The Heat Of The Night for those opening times and a peak-time copy of Personality Crisis

Husker Du

Wa ke The Dead Punk And

’ve spoken a little bit in the Hardcore With past about my path into punk and Sarah Petchell hardcore. Once I was firmly into modern punk and hardcore, the nerd in me started to backtrack and look into the history. One of the bands that always stood out for me, and fast became one of my favourites, was Husker Du. Especially Zen Arcade — man, I love that album! So, like a lot of people that loved Husker 34 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Du, I was really sad to hear about the passing of drummer Grant Hart, reportedly of cancer, aged 56. As much as I love the band, it’s not out of place I think to say that Hart’s drumming was a big part of the appeal, but he was also a great songwriter. One of the songs he penned for Zen Arcade, Pink Turns To Blue, is one of my favourite in Husker Du’s repertoire. He was also responsible for the design of a lot of the band’s album art. The greatest tribute to Hart can be found from bandmate Bob Mould, who shared a reportedly competitive and tempestuous relationship with him: “We made amazing music together. We (almost) always agreed on how to present our collective work to the world. When we fought about the details, it was because we both cared.” The importance of Husker Du cannot be overstated. They were frequently named by Kurt Cobain as one of Nirvana’s biggest influences. Hart was definitely a part of that. Vale Grant Hart. May you take your place in the great band in the sky.

from the New York Dolls made this little sojourn into the heart of the bush quite a successful venture. All that said, the cherry on top of these digs (so far) is a jam that goes by the name of Problems, a B-side to the John pseudo-comedy routine on 1973’s Super Fly Meets Shaft release. I think I need more luggage...

Not Quite Hollywood

Trailer Trash Dives Into Your

ne of my most purely Screens And entertaining moviegoing Idiot Boxes experiences of the last decade was my With Guy Davis first viewing of Not Quite Hollywood, Mark Hartley’s documentary dubbed ‘the wild, untold story of Ozploitation’ — that is, exploitation movies produced and directed by ambitious, maverick types

OPINION Opinion

keen on making a few bucks by bringing blood, breasts and beasts to the big screen. Shining a spotlight on a variety of films from the 1970s and ‘80s that had either been dismissed or forgotten, Not Quite Hollywood energetically and enthusiastically showed that the Australian film industry had not only embraced genre cinema, it had often excelled in it. Nearly a decade after its initial release, the film is now getting a Blu-ray release from your friends at Umbrella Entertainment, with the fully-loaded set showing 70-minutes of footage and interviews that didn’t make Not Quite Hollywood’s original cut... and that’s only one part of 10 hours’ worth of extras on the disc. Seriously, people, if you dig movies featuring slashers, flashers, monsters, motorcycles and anything else you’d think twice about taking home to Mother, do yourself a solid and snap this one up when it hits stores this week. I was fortunate enough to get Hartley — who followed up Not Quite Hollywood with two other top-notch docos, Machete Maidens Unleashed and Electric Boogaloo, and a fine, atmospheric remake of the ‘70s chiller Patrick — on the phone to discuss the Blu-ray release, and I asked if the film had led to a reappraisal of the homegrown genre cinema it celebrated. “I think it gave people an excuse to watch those films, which they’d never had before,” he says. “If anyone had read up on those films before, they’d been told they were all terrible so they never had an excuse to revisit them. But once you’ve given them 100 minutes of the best money shots you’re likely to see in a documentary, you want to revisit some of them. So it opened up a reappraisal of those films. And I think some of the filmmakers found they got some kind of following because of it.” One of the films that got a boost was the supernatural thriller Next Of Kin, which Quentin Tarantino touted in the doco as reminiscent of Kubrick’s The Shining. “Next Of Kin was the big surprise for many people, I think,” says Hartley. “It was unknown to some degree. I actually hadn’t seen it before we interviewed Tarantino, and he was the one who mentioned it. It’s the one film that I always get asked about by distribution companies all over the world.”

But has Australian-made genre cinema enjoyed a boost in the wake of Not Quite Hollywood? Sadly, perhaps not as sizeable a bump as one might hope. “There’s been some very lowbudget horror that doesn’t really take on the American genre films, but we are seeing a bit of resurgence with the likes of Hounds Of Love and Killing Ground. And Cleverman and Glitch are finding audiences on television.” Melbourne fans of Not Quite Hollywood can celebrate the release of the Blu-ray with a special screening of the film at the Astor Theatre at 7pm Monday 9 Oct, where Hartley’s doco will double-feature with a mystery Ozploitation classic. He wouldn’t be drawn on the title but he assures viewers “no one will be disappointed”.

the

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introducing your new podcast obsession

the best and worst of the week’s zeitgeist. new episodes streaming every wednesday

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 35

Comedy / G The Guide

Wed 04

Ruby Boots

Bohjass: 303, Northcote

Hollywood Real Thoughts + Tram Cops + Dayzed: Bar Open, Fitzroy

sleepmakeswaves

Lindsay Field + Emily Taheny: Bella Union, Carlton South Jackie Bornstein: Bird’s Basement, Melbourne

The Music Presents Mono: 10 Nov Max Watt’s Diana Anaid: 12 Nov, World Vegan Day Alt-J: 7 Dec Sidney Myer Music Bowl sleepmakeswaves: 7 Dec Howler

Rebecca & Billy’s Singalong Society: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Muddys Blues Roulette with+Various Artists: Catfish, Fitzroy Claire Hooper: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Rin McArdle + Eilish Gilligan + Nina McCann: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Three of a Kind with +The Nettlebeck Family: FortyFiveDownstairs, Melbourne Comedy Big Time feat. +Kirsty Webeck + Oliver Clark + Matt Stewart + Jess Perkins + Dave Warneke + Michael Shafar + Daisy Berry: Howler, Brunswick Lomond Acoustica feat. +Michael Waugh + Mandy Connell + The Cornhuskers: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East

Tori Dunbar

Click Your Heels With a soulful voice that’s been uniquely described as “red winestained”, Perth native Ruby Boots will be bringing her own brand of bluesy Americana to Wesley Anne this Thursday in support of her new album, Solitude. Cloud Castles + Gymnastics In The Seventies + Santanna: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood Bitter Sweet + Tom Girl + Elevator Talk + Disco Tears: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Hush: An Evening of Quiet Music feat. +Batts + Closet Straights + Elizabeth Mitchell + Squidgenini: The Toff In Town, Melbourne

The Ev’ Thursdays feat.+Barry Sunset: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Simona + Various Asses + Other Places + Onyx: Howler, Brunswick Oh Mercy: Hugs & Kisses, Melbourne

Neeko

Meruka + The Flock + A Rioting Mind: The Workers Club, Fitzroy Trivia: Wesley Anne, Northcote Hardata + TT Skttls + Eves + UBOA: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford

Tori Dunbar + The Passage North + Sparks Compass Pizza Bar, Saturday

Thu 05 Kickin The B at 303 feat.+The Shackmen: 303, Northcote Bachelors From Prague: Ballarat Mining Exchange, Ballarat

Aled Jones: Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank Girls On Key with +Various Artists: Open Studio, Northcote Sorority Noise + Foley: Reverence Hotel, Footscray The Northern Folk + Rosie Burgess + Zac Saber: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood

Gavin Sing & The Word + The Nicoteenagers + Neeko: Bar Open, Fitzroy Dancing Sunshine Voyage feat.+Maya: Big Mouth, St Kilda Chris Wilson + Shannon Bourne: Boilermaker House, Melbourne DJ Crispi + PBS DJs: Catfish, Fitzroy Claire Hooper: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Wafia + Buoy: Corner Hotel, Richmond

36 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Neeko Edinburgh Castle hotel, Friday

Blues Mountain: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Las Minas Puerto Flamenco: Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank Sons Of The East: Northcote Social Club, Northcote Disco Volante feat. +DJ Joey Coco + Greg Sara + Sunshine + Bosco + Casey Leaver + Ben Lawrence + The Milkman + DJ Hoops + Adam Trace + Agent 86 + El Madera + Morbs + Yanni Arsenakis + Salmon Jackson + Deltoid Curve: Onesixone, Prahran

Gigs / Live The Guide

Slowly Slowly

Fri 06

Hands Like Houses + Dream On Dreamer + PLTS: 170 Russell, Melbourne

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate + Sherrif + The Bleeding Flares: Baha Tacos, Rye Zockapilli + The Sadults + Gee Seas: Bar Open, Fitzroy

Slowly Slowly + The Pretty Littles + Foley Howler, Friday Alma Mater + Reflejos: Open Studio, Northcote Kilamaine + A Day Of Storms + Devilbend: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick The Rhythm Hunters + Ben Kelly: Sooki Lounge, Belgrave Eric Steckel: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick

JFK + Big Orange + Raksha: Catfish, Fitzroy

Claire Hooper: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne

Flamingo Jones + Splendidid + Hemm + The Palm Royale: The Gasometer Hotel (Upstairs), Collingwood

Hanny J: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy Ruby Boots: Wesley Anne (Band Room), Northcote Rat Child: Wesley Anne (Front Bar), Northcote Obscura Hail + Slow Job + Time Robb: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford

The Gooch Palms

Dom Turner & Nikki D Brown: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh

Hip Hop Exchange Fundraiser feat.+Mose & The Fmly: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood

Chugs + The Burbs + Raging Moby: The Workers Club, Fitzroy

Max Teakle + Cactus Lounge Kings: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East

Dingo Squad 1st Birthday +Various DJs: Brown Alley, Melbourne

Grenadiers: Cherry Bar, Melbourne

The Floating Bridges: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island

Rockin For West Papua 2017 with +One More Weekend + Brett Franke + Temple Of Tunes + Black Sistaz + West Papuan Community Band: The Central Club, Richmond

Anna’s Go-Go Academy: Bella Union, Carlton South

Heavy Metal +Trivia: The B.East, Brunswick East

Casey Donovan + Kaitlyn Thomas: The Toff In Town, Melbourne

Arj Barker: Kyneton Town Hall, Kyneton

In Store with +Shaky Stills: Basement Discs, Melbourne

Jules Boult: Catfish (Front Bar), Fitzroy

Eddy Dillon + Swamp + Cracker La Touf + Pseudo Mind Hive: The Old Bar, Fitzroy

Teenage Bottlerocket + Blister + Dad Religion + The Skategoats: The Bendigo, Collingwood

Pugsley Buzzard: Bar Open, Fitzroy

M.E. Baird: Tago Mago, Thornbury

Everclear: The Croxton, Thornbury

Thighs High + Syndicator + Kano + Modus Vivendi + Biters In The City: Joey Smalls, Brunswick

Pugsley Buzzard Duo

Pugsley Buzzard Duo Charles Weston, Saturday

Against The Current + Stateside: Corner Hotel, Richmond Francesca Gonzales + Dhana Bhutan + So Fa La: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy

Goochy Goochy Go Newy gonzo-punks The Gooch Palms are back in town for the Spring Break Down Under tour which means you can see them at Northcote Social Club this Friday. DIET. and Shrimpwitch round out the dream team.

NGV Friday Nights feat. +Alta: National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), Southbank

The Frowning Clouds + Empat Lima + Parsnip + Girlatones: The Curtin, Carlton

The Gooch Palms + DIET. + Shrimpwitch: Northcote Social Club, Northcote

A Night Of Hip Hop & Justice feat.+KG + N’Fa Jones + Philly + Lady Lash + Boy Graduate + Sophy Grophy + P-Unique + Soreti + Mount Pl3asant + Strangeways DJs + DJ Henok.e: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood

The Disco feat. +Greg Sara + Rob Anthony + Luke Vecchio + Jay Ramon + Boy Blewe + Funky Col + DJ Rowie + Nick Taplin + Adam Trace + Doshpot + Aves Volare: Onesixone, Prahran Demon Days: Penny Black, Brunswick La Danse Macabre with +Brunswick Massive: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy

Let’s Get It On - The Life & Music of Marvin Gaye with +Nathaniel: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick

Crossroad: Richmond Club, Richmond

Pretty City: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood

The Black Sorrows: Satellite Lounge, Wheelers Hill

Slowly Slowly + The Pretty Littles + Foley + Swayze + DJ Boots Darling: Howler, Brunswick

Woody Guthrie: Songs of Freedom with +Bruce Hearn & The Machinists: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick

Rick Price: Hysteria Lounge, Lilydale

The Twoks: The B.East, Brunswick East

Abolicion: The Moe Hotel, Moe Bachelors From Prague: The Night Cat, Fitzroy Department + Rhysics + Chillers + Lizard Queen: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Illy + Kuren: The Setts, Mildura Benny Walker + Alice Skye: The Skylark Room, Upwey Melbourne Festival 2017 presents+No New Noise: The Substation, Newport Korperklaus with +Evolve + Decide Today + Toecutter + Curse Ov Dialect + Umbilical Tentacle + more: The Tote (Upstairs), Collingwood

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 37

Comedy / G The Guide

Jumbo Mavis + Mount Defiance + Feelds: The Workers Club, Fitzroy

Transvaal Diamond Syndicate: The Caledonian Hotel, Wonthaggi

Simona

Marcia Howard + Madison Violet + Bec Goring: The Workers Club Geelong, Geelong

He Cries Diamonds + Pony Face + Tanzer: The Curtin, Carlton

UV Boi + Baro + Camouflouge Rose: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood

Alice Ivy: Uncommon, Windsor A Vita Showcase feat. +Clypso + Daws + Kwame + Lojack + DJ MiMi + Raave Tapes + Stingray + Tees + VITA DJS + more: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy

Camoflage Rose: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Rockin For West Papua 2017 with +John Hunter Combo + The Lowdown Brew + One More Weekend + The Defibrillators: The Loft, Warrnambool

Roxy Lavish & The Suicide Cult + Tenderloins + The Baudelaires + The Tool Time House Band: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford

Sat 07 Clove + Glass Wave + Turn South + The Trepids: Bar Open, Fitzroy Hello Tut Tut: Bar Open (Front Bar), Fitzroy

Lazertits + Swim Team + Bitch Prefect + Crop Top + Porpoise Spit + Pink Tiles DJs: The Old Bar, Fitzroy

Triumphant Return Beloved local beatmaker Simona is on the road with a new EP dubbed Triumph. Catch the Melbourne leg of her tour at Howler on Thursday with support from Various Asses and Other Places.

Lloyd Spiegel: Beach 162, Frankston

Stateside

Crossfire Hurricane + Cosmos + Localles + DJ Camel: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Charles Aznavour: Festival Hall, West Melbourne

Against The Current + Stateside Corner Hotel, Friday

JoJo Smith + Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart: Beechworth Town Hall, Beechworth Soul-A-Go-Go feat. +The Sweethearts + DJ Vince Peach + Chelsea Wilson + DJ Richie 1250 + Matt McFetridge + DJ Shio: Bella Union, Carlton South A Tribute to Prince feat. +Purple Revolution: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Riley Pearce: Catfish, Fitzroy Claire Hooper: Comic’s Lounge, North Melbourne Me First & The Gimme Gimmes: Corner Hotel, Richmond Noir: Night of Rock with+Chinese Music Group : Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne

38 • THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017

Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne CW Stoneking: Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan Justice Crew + Divine Our Destiny: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda

Saturday Arvo feat. +Alice Williams: The Old Bar, Fitzroy James Reyne: The Palms at Crown, Southbank Alexander Biggs: The Toff In Town, Melbourne Sleep D + Rings Around Saturn + Cale Sexton + Pjenne + Millu: The Toff In Town, Melbourne

The 60s Double Trouble Show feat. +Billy Miller + The Substitutes: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick

Flickertail + Black Aces: Musicman Megastore, Bendigo

Seasloth + Primm + more: Gin Lane, Belgrave

Citizen Kay: Northcote Social Club, Northcote

Michael Ball + Alfie Boe: Hamer Hall, Melbourne

Benny Walker + Alice Skye: Old Castlemaine Gaol, Castlemaine

Harley Breen: Howler, Brunswick

Born Joy Dead: Penny Black, Brunswick

Heavy & Hammered III feat. +Acolyte + Arbrynth + Birdcage + CHILD + Coffin Wolf + Dowser + Envenomed + The Fckups + Fluff + Holy Serpent + Hospital Pass + Malcura + Mod Vigil + Motherslug + Pissbolt + Powerline Sneakers + Sebasrockets + Sons of the Ionian Sea + Spawn + The Credits + The Mercy Kills + The Ramshackle Army + Turret + more: The Tote, Collingwood

Late Show with +Harley Breen: Howler, Brunswick

High Society: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy

Abolicion: The Who Club, Warburton

Afternoon Show with +D Henry Fenton: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick

Marcia Howard + Madison Violet: Thornbury Theatre

Kollaps + Miles Brown + Military Position + more: Hugs & Kisses, Melbourne Karova’s Carpark Festival feat. +Illy + Spit Syndicate + Alice Ivy + Citizen Kay + Kuren + more: Karova Lounge, Ballarat Reece Mastin: Kay St, Traralgon The Hornets: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Peter Sonic: Long Play, Fitzroy North Rockin For West Papua 2017 with +Various Artists + Madeline Hudson + Black Orchid String Band + Corker Orchestra + Gooses Bridle + Izzy + DJ Wasabi + Kestral + Brighton Whiteley + Chris Scott: Lot 19, Castlemaine Alison Moyet + Katie Noonan:

AJJ (FKA Andrew Jackson Jihad) + Teenage Bottlerocket + Blister + Jess Locke + The Sugarcanes + Antonia & The Lazy Susans + Blind Man Death Stare + The Berkeley Hunts: Reverence Hotel, Footscray

Camp Cope

The Dusty Springfield Show with +Wendy Stapleton: Satellite Lounge, Wheelers Hill Liv Cartledge: Some Velvet Morning, Clifton Hill Hanksaw: Surabaya Johnny’s, St Kilda Rick Price: Suttons House of Music, Ballarat Sugar Teeth + Willow Darling: The B.East, Brunswick East

GOOD LUCK #1: A Girls Rock! Australia Fundraiser feat. Camp Cope + Totally Mild + Hachiku + Lubulwa + Boats + Gen Fricker + more The Curtin, Sunday

Gigs / Live The Guide

(Velvet Room), Thornbury

Simon Marks + Dave Johnson: Wesley Anne, Northcote

Halcyon Drive: Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy JMS Harrison + Elevator Talk + Hannah Kate: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford Nazeem Hussain: Yarraville Club, Yarraville

One Ok Rock: Corner Hotel, Richmond

Killer Hertz feat. +Various Artists: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy The Black Sorrows: Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick Bukowski: Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood Arielle Cottingham: Howler, Brunswick

Wafia

Good Luck #1: A Girls Rock! Australia Fundraiser feat. +Camp Cope + Totally Mild + Hachiku + Lubulwa + Boats + Gen Fricker + Brodie Lancaster + Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen + June Jones + Kelso + Don’t Fret Club: The Curtin, Carlton AJJ (FKA Andrew Jackson Jihad) + Wil Wagner + Antonia & The Lazy Susans + Hanny J: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood Beersoaked Sundays with+Caroline No + Sarah Mary Chadwick + Real Love: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Twin Peaks: The Westernport Hotel, Phillip Island Ron Peno Duo: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy All Ages Show with +AJJ (FKA Andrew Jackson Jihad) + Antonia & The Lazy Susans + Watercolour + Alex Ratiu: Wrangler Studios, West Footscray Guffman + Charging Stallion + Hots + Tragic Carpet: Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford

Mon 09 1 Day

Me First & The Gimme Gimmes: Corner Hotel, Richmond

Wafia’s saved the best for last and is wrapping up her east coast tour at Corner Hotel this week with special guest Buoy. Get swept up in her latest singles 83 Days and Bodies this Thursday.

Sun 08 The Songwriters Sessions feat. +Paul Carey + Domini Forster + Mandy Connell: Bar Open, Fitzroy Pup Tentacle + Nothinge + Cynthia: Bar Open, Fitzroy Jo Jo Smith + Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart: Bella Union, Carlton South JoJo Smith + Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart: Bella Union, Carlton South Bachelors From Prague: Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh Karl S Williams: Castlemaine Brewing Company (The Taproom), Castlemaine

The Lovely Days + Diamonds Of Neptune: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy

UV Boi Pheasantry: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East

Jules Boult: Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy Transvaal Diamond Syndicate: Retreat Hotel, Brunswick

Oskar Herbig: Catfish (Front Bar), Fitzroy

Field See & Mason: Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North

Alex Elberry + Tom Walker & The Sick Individuals + Pseudo Mind Hive + The Burbs + Auntie Leo & The Backstabbers: Cherry Bar, Melbourne

Sime Nugent & The Capes: Spotted Mallard, Brunswick

Tom Walker & The Sick Individuals + Ted O’Neil + Jordan Clancy: Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy Miriam Pultro + Gen Ygoa: Footscray Hotel, Footscray Tom Tom Tuesday feat. +Maria Moles & Adam Halliwell + Francis Plagne: Howler, Brunswick Irish Session: Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East Napalm Death + Brujeria + Lockup + Black Rheno: Max Watt’s, Melbourne Ro + Ariela Jacobs + Feelds: The Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood I’ll Be Your Mirror: Art Opening with +RAT!Hammock + Weatherboards + Ali Dogood: The Old Bar, Fitzroy Jess Ribeiro + 808s & The Greatest Hits + Latreenagers: The Tote, Collingwood

Nathan Power + Jemma Nicole: Tramway Hotel, North Fitzroy

Abbe May + Axe Girl + Carla Geneve: Mojo’s Bar, North Fremantle

‘More Than This’ Single Launch+Amaya Laucirica + Sand Pebbles: Northcote Social Club, Northcote

Amaya Laucirica + Sand Pebbles Northcote Social Club, Sunday

Madi Leeds + Almost Otters + Damon Langley: The Workers Club, Fitzroy

Dao of Dylan: Memo Music Hall, St Kilda

Matinee Show with +Amaya Laucirica + Sand Pebbles: Northcote Social Club, Northcote

Amaya Laucirica

UV Boi The Gasometer Hotel, Saturday

The Breakfast Club with +The Usual Suspects + more: Onesixone, Prahran Mundane Mondays with+Latreenagers + Battle Stations + Cakefight: The Old Bar, Fitzroy

Tue 10 Make It Up Club feat. +Sacred Order Of Magnitude: Bar Open, Fitzroy

THE MUSIC • 4TH OCTOBER 2017 • 39

NEW SHOW ADDED

TUESDAY 17 OCTOBER OUT OCTOBER SOLD 18 WEDNESDAY THE CORNER HOTEL DEBUT ALBUM 6.10.17