# 3 4 • 1 6 . 04 . 1 4 • B R I S BA N E • F R E E • I N C O R P O R AT I N G
TA K I N G O N T H E S E X I S T C R I T I C S
eat
RESTAURANT AURANT ETIQUETTE
tour
JAKE BUGG
tour
JOSS STONE
comedy
JULIAN JULIA AN CLARY
the music | the lifestyle | the fashion | the art | the culture | you
2 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 3
themusic 16TH APRIL 2014
“I KNOW WHAT WE COULD DO TO GET A GOOD REVIEW FROM ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE ALWAYS AND WILL ALWAYS HATE US, BUT I DON’T EVER WANT TO DO THAT.”
#034
INSIDE FEATURES The Jezabels Joss Stone Dr John Seun Kuti Charlie Musselwhite Michael Franti & Spearhead Jake Bugg Buried In Verona Greenthief Morbid Angel Hunx & His Punx Julian Clary Blonde On Blonde
REVIEWS Album: Perfect Pussy Live: Architecture In Helsinki Arts: The Invisible Woman
THE GUIDE Cover: Josh Rennie-Hynes Food/Drink Frontlash/Backlash Indie News This Week’s Releases Indy Features
web
PIC: COLE BENNETTS
SEE WHAT GOES ON BACKSTAGE AND ONSTAGE AT A BLISS N ESO SHOW WITH AN EXCLUSIVE GALLERY FROM THEIR NEWCASTLE GIG. ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU
- HAYLEY MARY OF COVER STARS THE JEZABELS (P12)
NEW EP FROM PERTH PUNKS THE DECLINE.
STREAM EXCLUSIVELY ON THEMUSIC.COM.AU ALL WEEK
“OBVIOUSLY THE WORLD IS READY FOR GAY MARRIAGE. WELL, NOT EVERYWHERE, BUT CIVILISED COUNTRIES LIKE AUSTRALIA.” - BRITISH COMEDIAN JULIAN CLARY (P24)
ANOTHER INSTALMENT OF BALL PARK MUSIC’S EXCLUSIVE TOUR DIARY.
READ IT AT THEMUSIC.COM.AU
review “FEW TRULY UNDERSTAND THE POWER OF PUTTING IT ALL, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY, ON THE LINE LIKE THE MENZINGERS.” - DAN CRIBB BREAKS THE NEW MENZINGERS’ RECORD DOWN (P26)
Gig Guide Classies
feature 4 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
“IT’S JUST AN OUTLET TO ESCAPE FROM THE REAL WORLD AND KEEP MYSELF SANE.”
- BRITISH WUNDERKIND JAKE BUGG (P20)
www.thenorthern.com.au
JONSON STREET BYRON BAY
BRISBANE’S PREMIER ENTERTAINMENT AND FUNCTION VENUE
THURS 17 APR GOONS OF DOOM FEELING DAVE SKEGSS CHRIS BRADLEY
APRIL WEDNESDAY 16TH
THE WAILERS SATURDAY 19TH
KC & THE SUNSHINE BAND SUNDAY 20TH
INDIA.ARIE & JOSS STONE WEDNESDAY 23RD
MICHAEL FRANTI THURSDAY 24TH
JULIAN CLARY SATURDAY 26TH
METAL HEART FESTIVAL. TUES 29TH AND WED 30TH
SOLD OU T
JIM JEFFERIES TUESDAY 6TH
THE JEZABELS SOLD OU T
5 SECONDS OF SUMMER
SAT 10TH AND SUN 11TH
RUFUS JUST ANNOUNCED
HANSON SOMETHING FOR KATE JASON BYRNE BIFFY CLYRO OU T
52 COSTIN STREET FORTITUDE VALLEY OFFICE HOURS: 10AM-4PM MON TO FRI PH: (07) 3852 1711 FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT www.thetivoli.net.au LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
SAT 19 APR AN ELECTRONIC EASTER WITH BON CHAT BON RAT DJ CHRIS BDRALEY TAYA MILLS SUN 20 APR DAN HANNAFORD FRI 25 APR WANDERING EYES THE TRISTIAN O’MERA BAND VERNAS KEEP SAT 26 APR SALMONELLA DUB SOUNDSYSTEM
MAY
WEDNESDAY 7TH
FRI 18 APR THE SWAMPS
SUN 27 APR GLORYHAMMER & LAGERSTEIN FRI 2 MAY A LITTLE PROVINCE SAT 3 MAY LYALL MOLONEY SAT 10 MAY HITS & PITS THURS 15 MAY KIM CHURCHILL SAT 24 MAY BRANT BJORK
TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 5
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
EDITOR Steve Bell
ASSISTANT EDITOR Benny Doyle
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi
MUSO EDITOR Michael Smith
GIG GUIDE EDITOR Justine Lynch gigs@themusic.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS Alice Bopf, Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood, Anthony Carew, Baz McAlister, Ben Marnane, Ben Preece, Benny Doyle, Bradley Armstrong, Brendan Telford, Brie Jorgensen, Carley Hall, Chris Yates, Cyclone, Dan Condon, Daniel Johnson, Dave Drayton, Grace Wilson, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy McAlister, Mitch Knox, Roshan Clerkea, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham, Tessa Fox, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler McLoughlan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 16 APRIL - 22 APRIL 2014
sail
PHOTOGRAPHERS Freya Lamont, John Stubbs, John Taylor, Kane Hibberd, Markus Ravik, Rick Clifford, Sky Kirkham, Stephen Booth, Terry Soo, Tessa Fox
rock
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Brett Dayman
QLD SALES Madeleine Budd sales@themusic.com.au
ART DIRECTOR Nicholas Hopkins
ART DEPT Brendon Wellwood, Eamon Stewart, Julian DeBono
ADMIN AND ACCOUNTS
Enjoy the nautical life and feel inspired by the spirit of Easter? Then Redcliffe Festival Of Sails will be right up your alley! On Good Friday at Marine Parade, Redcliffe, you can enjoy a raft of fun for the whole family with market stalls, activities and workshops as well as the chance to check out the boats participating in the annual Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race. All the fun of the seven seas without getting wet (unless it rains)!
This weekend on the Sunshine Coast the worlds of music and surfing collide in the best possible way when iconic Aussie rockers The Celibate Rifles play the 40th Pa & Ma Bendall Surf Comp. The legendary band’s only Queensland show takes place on Saturday night at Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra, while the wave action happens at Moffatt Beach over the entire weekend. You don’t get much more Aussie than that!
Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson, Loretta Zoppos, Shelley Neergaard accounts@themusic.com.au
DISTRO Anita D’Angelo distro@themusic.com.au
SUBSCRIPTIONS store.themusic.com.au
CONTACT US Phone: (07) 3252 9666 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au Street: Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Postal: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
BRISBANE
It’s Easter time, which means only one thing (apart from a chocolate spree) – it’s Bluesfest time! This year marks the 25th anniversary of the incredible festival, and they’ve invited a stellar cast of international and Australian acts of all musical persuasions to join them to celebrate in their lovely new home at Tyagarah. One of the world’s most prestigious and laidback musical gatherings happens right on our doorstep – sucks to be us!
party
BAY STREET BYRON BAY (02) 6685 6402 www.beachhotel.com.au
THIS WEEK: WED 16TH FROM 8:30PM
CLOUD CONTROL THURS 17TH FROM 8:30PM
THE BONDI CIGARS FRI 18TH FROM 12PM
BLUESFEST BUSKERS COMP FINAL 6PM
DJ LONGTIME SAT FROM 9:30PM
THE DELTA RIGGS JAKARTA CRIERS SUN FROM 4:30PM
LISA HUNT 8PM
DJ FONZAIUS MON 21ST FROM 8PM
ALEX BOWEN
TUES 22ND FROM 7:30PM
OPEN MIC NIGHT WED 23RD FROM 8:30PM
DANIEL CHAMPAGNE COMING SOON: THU 24
RICHIE WILLIAMS BAND FRI 25
STONEFIELD SAT 26
RHYTHM & CUTLOOSE SUN 27
LATE FOR WOODSTOCK WED 30
RAW SHOWCASE THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 7
national news news@themusic.com.au
JEFF LANG
OUT OF HIS MIND
IN HEARTS WAKE
HEART ATTACK
After their regional announce last week, In Hearts Wake have stepped it up a notch with a full list of national headline dates to launch their new record Earthwalker. Alongside a huge supporting cast which includes Dream On Dreamer, Being As An Ocean, Endless Heights (not appearing in WA) and Sierra, the Byron boys will perform 4 Jun, YMCA HQ, Perth (all ages); 5 Jun, Amplifier Bar, Perth; 7 Jun, Corner Hotel, Melbourne; 8 Jun, Arrow On Swanston, Melbourne (all ages); 11 Jun, Zierholz, Canberra; 12 Jun, The Small Ballroom, Newcastle; 13 Jun (18+) & 14 Jun (all ages), Bald Faced Stag, Sydney; and 15 Jun, The Tempo Hotel, Brisbane. The full tour is proudly presented by The Music.
LOVE RUNS DEEPER
Like Father, Like Son is the emotive story of two families thrown together after its discovered their young sons were switched at birth. Engaging, engulfing and ultimately refreshing, it’s a piece of cinema that challenges your perception of ‘family’, and makes you realise that paternal love is thicker than blood. The Japanese film was a jury prize winner at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and is screening in select movie theatres around Australia from tomorrow.
CRASH LANDING
Following on from last week’s John Newman support announcement, Saskwatch are excited to inform they’ll be bringing their funk soul loving back for some headline launch dates in support of their second record Nose Dive. Catch them 18 May, Bond University, Gold Coast (1pm); 13 Jun, Soundlounge, Gold Coast; 14 Jun, The Zoo, Brisbane; 19 June, The Small Ballroom, Newcastle; 20 June, Oxford Art Factory, Sydney; 21 June, ANU Bar, Canberra; 27 Jun, Settlers Tavern, Margaret River; 28 Jun, Amplifier, Perth; 29 Jun, Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle; 4 Jul, Karova Lounge, Ballarat; and 5 Jul, Corner Hotel, Melbourne.
BE THE BEST
One does not simply credit themselves as being “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world” if they don’t have the chops to justify it. That’s why we’re stoked with the impending arrival of Arizona legends Supersuckers. Put on your clean undies because your pants are going to be rocked right off! The band perform 19 Jun, The Zoo, Brisbane; 20 Jun, Manning Bar, Sydney; 21 May, Ding Dong, Melbourne; and 25 Jun, Astor Theatre, Perth.
HEAR WHAT THE FOX PLAYS
Responsible for some of the finest electronic sounds to come out France throughout the past decade, music and fashion label Kitsuné continue to design the standard others try to emulate. Now, returning to Down Under for the second time, is the Kitsuné Club Night Australian Tour, headlined by producer du jour Pyramid – get a smooth serving of beats 9 May, Laundry Bar, Melbourne; 10 May, Chinese Whispers, The Underdog, Brisbane; 16 May, The Bakery, Perth; and 17 May, Civic Hotel, Sydney. Synth sweetheart Chela will also appear at the Perth and Sydney events.
“MORRISSEY, ARMS FOLDED, NOT CLAPPING ALONG TO THAT PHARRELL SONG” AND WITHOUT A STITCH TO WEAR TIM SIEDELL [@BADBANANA]. 8 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
Aussie guitar virtuoso Jeff Lang is adding to his formidable canon with new record I Live A Lot In My Head These Days, and will showcase the new songs this winter. Proudly presented by The Music, catch the launch tour 7 Jun, Fly By Night, Fremantle; 8 Jun, Ravenswood Hotel; 12 Jun, Brass Monkey, Sydney; 14 Jun, Heritage Hotel, Bulli; 25 Jun, Lizottes Central Coast, Kincumber; 26 Jun, Lizottes Sydney, Dee Why; 27 Jun, The Basement, Sydney; 28 Jun, Camelot Lounge, Sydney; 29 Jun, Lizottes, Newcastle; 4 Jul, Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh; 5 Jul, Thornbury Theatre; 11 Jul, Mullumbimby Town Hall; 12 Jul, Brisbane Powerhouse; 18 Jul, Williamstown RSL; 19 Jul, Street Theatre, Canberra; and 20 Jul, Beav’s Bar, Geelong.
EARTH
GIVE YOURSELF AWAY
They conquered in the ‘90s, disappeared for roughly ten years, then returned in the mid‘00s to continue their reign. Earth helped define what we now know as drone metal, so experience a religious awakening when the Americans play 17 Jun, Crowbar, Brisbane; 18 Jun, Rosemount Hotel, Perth; 19 Jun, Manning Bar, Sydney; and 21 Jun, The Hi-Fi, Melbourne. They also play Dark Mofo in Tasmania.
JANELLE MONAE AND KIMBRA
SISTER 2 SISTER
Few double bills in 2014 will hold a flame to the pop/soul experience set to explode on Australian stages next month, with the mighty Janelle Monae and Kimbra ready to shake the good vibes right out of you. These two incredible performers will lead full bands on the Golden Electric Tour, happening 16 May, Challenge Stadium, Perth; 19 May, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney; 21 May, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre; and 26 May, The Plenary, Melbourne.
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 9
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au GRAVEYARD TRAIN
ÁLEX GONZÁLEZ
CULTURAL EXCHANGE
RUMBLING BACK INTO THE STATION
After rising and falling off the back of their successful debut Hollow, Graveyard Train are chugging back into life with new record, Takes One To Know One. Hear crazed men make crazed music 11 Jun, The Northern, Byron Bay and 13 Jun, The Zoo.
TAKING NO PRISONERS
There’s going to be a force stopping us mere mortals when metal monsters Psycroptic and Aborted team up for a co-headline tour of frightening proportions. The massacre takes place 20 Jun, Miami Shark Bar, Gold Coast; 21 Jun, The Brightside; and 22 Jun, The Lab (all ages), with The Schoenberg Automaton supporting. Tickets for The Necrotic Repression tour are on sale through Oztix.
CALLING ALL VINYL FIENDS!
If you’re a fan of wax, then no doubt you’re already buzzing about Record Store Day, happening right around the world this Saturday, but we’ve got some news that will add to the anticipation further, with a huge session set to take place at Tym Guitars. Headlined by none other than Hard-Ons, you’ll also get sets from Sounds Like Sunset, Captives, Golden Bats, Columbia Buffet and Sweet Apple, with the sweetener being that you’ll be able to buy remastered limited edition copies of Hard-Ons 7” Girl In The Sweater/I Heard Her Call My Name on the day, with original full colour artwork from Ray Ahn. Shop doors open at 10am, with bands on from 4.40pm.
SAVE US A SLICE
With a new live album, Best Cake In Show, in tow, My Friend The Chocolate Cake will hit the road, and you best get to their gig at New Globe Theatre, 14 Jun, because it’s the only place where you can purchase a physical copy of the disc. Expect a record, and evening, full of hidden gems and playful takes on old favourites.
GARY NUMAN DATE CHANGE
Dark pop maestro Gary Numan is still playing The Tivoli, but he’s doing so now on 27 May, not the 28th as previously announced. Tickets for the show are still on sale.
FREE YOUR MIND COMP WINNER ANNOUNCED!
Last month theMusic.com.au ran a competition to give young up-and-coming acts a chance to be a part of the massive Free Your Mind tour, featuring Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder, Veil Of Maya, Volumes and Make Them Suffer, and we’re stoked to announce that The Schoenberg Automaton will be opening up the Brisbane leg of the tour, happening at The Hi-Fi, 22 May. Tickets are still available through Oztix, with the tour proudly presented by The Music.
“DANCE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE STOP CARING ABOUT SHIT”
SO LET THERE BE MUSIC JOSH HARA [@YOYOHA]. 10 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
The upcoming Spanish Film Festival features 30 award-winning contemporary Spanishlanguage films, showcasing cinema from one of the world’s most desired destinations. The Brisbane festival is taking place 1 – 14 May, Palace Centro and Barracks cinemas, and features a Q&A with acclaimed Spanish actor Álex González (5 May, 6.30pm, following Scorpion In Love), while south of the border the festival takes place at Palace Byron Bay, 8 – 14 May. Head to spanishfilmfestival.com for more details.
ELECTRIC PLAYGROUND SET FOR A BRIGHT MAKEOVER
The teams behind Destroy All Lines and The Fans Group have joined forces to transform Electric Playground into a new hub for live music, The Brightside. Expect the main room to get a tidy up, a sexy new sound rig and a transformed beer garden outdoors for lairy behaviour. The Brightside is open for trading from 1 May, with the official launch party seeing The Acacia Strain’s Coniston Lane show moving to the venue on 3 May. Other bands also set to play in the coming months include Straight Arrows, Kisschasy and The Getaway Plan.
AMAYA LAUCIRICA
CATCH THE MAGIC
The clock might be ticking for Amaya Laucirica but it’s only a good thing. Her latest single Running Out Of Time is a gem, and it stands as the perfect precursor to her new full-length, Sway. Enjoy the experience as the songwriter works through folk, psych, pop and more when she plays The Treehouse, Byron Bay, 13 Jun and The Bearded Lady, 14 Jun.
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au
CLOSURE IN MOSCOW
DRINK, BE MERRY
They’ve never been a band to bow down to the norm, and with brand new album Pink Lemonade, Closure In Moscow prove once more that theirs is a vision that’s on another level. Hear their fresh swag of experimental post-hardcore when the five-piece barely connect the points of prog and punk at Solbar, Maroochydore, 30 May and Crowbar, 31 May.
A LOCAL HOMAGE
The legacy of legendary singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson will live on locally with Tim Freedman from The Whitlams taking his Freedman Does Nilsson – A Live Imagining shows on the road. Hear these fresh reinterpretations 15 Aug, Soundlounge, Gold Coast and 16 Aug, Old Museum.
HARD-ONS
GET HARD
There ain’t many finer punk rock institutions in this country than Hard-Ons, and after 30 years the four-piece continue to stand tall, doing it faster and with more attitude than bands half their age. Underdogs personified, the pride of Punchbowl will shred the stage at ear-splitting volume when they kick the doors open on another milestone 19 Jun, The Northern, Byron Bay; 20 Jun, Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast; and 21 Jun, Prince Of Wales, Nundah. Tickets through Oztix, with all shows proudly presented by The Music.
“IF YOU MISSED ANY PREVIOUS EPISODES OF GAME OF THRONES: THEY DIED”
THICK AND JUICY
The biggest independent rap group in South Africa, Phfat, are jetting across the Indian for their debut Australian tour, arriving off the back of their wildly successful new banger Lights Out. They bring their single launch tour to Bowler Bar for one Queensland show only, 23 May. Get your tickets on the door.
MUSIC FOR ALL
After already successfully taking latest record The Beginning And The End Of Everything around the country twice, Josh Pyke is eager to explore some locations more regional, announcing all ages shows at Empire Theatre, Toowoomba, 20 Jun; The Majestic Theatre, Pomona, 21 Jun; and Byron Cultural & Community Centre, 22 Jun. Tix through the venues direct.
BAD//DREEMS
DAVE ITZKOFF [@DITZKOFF] ISN’T SORRY TO SPOIL IT.
HOLOCAUST/WITCH DOUBLE HEADER POSTPONED
With Toxic Holocaust frontman Joel Grind struggling with a serious prolonged ear infection, the co-headline dates featuring that group and fellow US thrash enthusiasts Skeletonwitch have been postponed, the bands now slated to return on separate bills later in the year. The two groups were scheduled to play Byron Bay, 21 Apr and The Hi-Fi, 24 Apr, with refunds available from ticketing outlets today.
GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT NOT SO STUPID
South Oz garage dons Bad//Dreems are pretty stoked to announce they’ve just inked a deal with Ivy League, and are eager to continue on with their journey from the Adelaide underground with scathing new single Dumb Ideas. They launch the track with an all ages show at Rocking Horse Records, 7 Jun. Doors from 1pm.
The Seed Fund has been a long-time supporter of unsigned Australian artists, musicians and the creatively-minded. To celebrate their tenth year in operation, the friendly folk have announced a number of new grants open to the public. ‘It’s All About The Song’ and ‘Money For Managers’ are some of the new funding categories, while a number of workshops and initiatives are also aimed at developing a rich musical culture and appreciation. Check out theseedfund.org to see if you’re eligible – applications close 5 May.
SEINFELD TRIVIA RETURNS!
Back by popular demand, Man Vs Bear Trivia is hosting its second session of Seinfeld trivia! Do you remember who Elaine got black-listed at Hop Sing’s? Know which was The Maestro’s favourite vocalist in The Three Tenors? Then get involved in the fun at Black Bear Lodge, 29 Apr. No team limits, no cover charge, registrations essential: head to manvsbeartrivia.com.
LORDE CALLS ON THE CAPITAL
Canberra boys Safia have just been announced as the national support on the upcoming Lorde tour, with the synth-centric trio opening up proceedings at the Kiwi’s all ages Riverstage show, 6 May. With Safia’s latest single Paranoia, Ghosts & Other Sounds finding its way to the top of Hype Machine, this slot stands as yet another step in the right direction for the young band.
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 11
music
KEEPING VIGILANT On a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Newtown, The Music met up with The Jezabels’ Hayley Mary to talk feminism, the distinction between high and low culture, and being on The Brink. She chats to Hannah Story. Cover and feature pic by Cybele Malinowski.
T
here’s something refreshing about speaking to The Jezabels. There’s a sense of honesty and earnestness about everything from their music to the state of the music industry coming from Hayley Mary, frontwoman for the internationally beloved group. She’s clad in all-black with thick eyeliner; it’s a gothic outfit in line with her interest in the style, the music and even the literature. She talks freely as we walk the streets of Newtown
pub-rock, they love The Drones, they love dudes singing raw music, and I know what we could do to get a good review from all the people that have always and will always hate us, but I don’t ever want to do that. Because I feel like what I do is quite a girly thing and I don’t ever want to change it to get the recognition of the fathers of music criticism. I want to keep going despite them. “I think the other thing is that it’s cool to stay somehow alternative, because I know what happens to girly music is that it becomes mainstream. I know that we are becoming more and more mainstream
ourselves, that’s one thing I’d like to do, but I don’t really think of myself as a role model. I just kind of am just an angry person that seems to be on this mission for god knows what reason. I don’t even know what I’m doing most of the time, to be honest. I just kind of wing it.” Mary ties this idea of masculine music criticism to a distinction between “masculine” high culture, and things that are more feminine. “I’m cool with getting a negative review if it’s intelligent and thought-out and all that stuff, but I think that sometimes people just dismiss us completely. I’ve been called things like histrionic, and I’m cool with that, but they think it’s a bad thing, whereas I think I’m doing it on purpose because I’m alluding to gothic literature or something that they just haven’t read. “There’s a whole tradition of stuff that appeals to women that is considered low culture and crap, but sometimes I just think it’s because it appeals to the feminine side of people that it’s considered low culture. It’s something that’s started bothering me as I got into this industry, if you look throughout history at what is considered crap, or the standard of bad, it’s also, I don’t think coincidentally, defined by who likes it, and it’s always teenage girls. And the standard of what’s good for music is always middle-aged men that like it. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I think it’s inherently the kind of sexist standpoint of music criticism.”
“WHAT I DO IS QUITE A GIRLY THING AND I DON’T EVER WANT TO CHANGE IT TO GET THE RECOGNITION OF THE FATHERS OF MUSIC CRITICISM.”
without umbrellas, about where to go for lunch or indeed, the nature of music criticism itself. When asked about their nomination (and subsequent win) at The Rolling Stone Awards for Single Of The Year for The End, Mary is frank. “I always feel more hopeful about People’s Choice Awards than I do about Critic’s Choice Awards for us. I feel we’re a little bit more of a people’s band.” They certainly perceive themselves in that way and attract a wide cross-section of people to their shows. “We just attract really normal kind of anyone people, like there’s not a type, there’s not a style, there’s not a scene, there’s just a lot of single 40- or 50-year old men, a lot of young girls, a lot of couples, a lot of gay guys and gay girls, a lot of just anyone and everyone. It’s really just very mixed. I don’t think they have anything in common with each other particularly, it’s just that they are all at our show… It’s a good and a bad thing because sometimes a scene can help you, but also I guess it’s cool to resonate with just the common person for no apparent reason.” Critically however, the circumstances seem different. Mary has a lot to say about the way The Jezabels’ albums and EPs have been received. “The one thing I don’t want to give into is certain streams of criticism that require that old-fashioned notion of authenticity you have to have to be good, particularly in this country. They love 12 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
and therefore our critics will hate us even more, but the thing I’d love to do as a band and as a person, is to stay good and also be popular and prove that those things are not mutually exclusive. A lot of bands do it, like Depeche Mode, and The Pixies who we supported recently. And they’re great, great pop bands that are alternative, subversive and amazing, and they’re pop. I just feel like in this country in particular there’s this misunderstanding. We don’t mind international bands who do it, but we don’t want our own bands to do it or something. Maybe our own bands don’t have the avenues to do it. I’d like to be a pop band and continue to be
She admits that sometimes she feels resentful, but then acknowledges her way of dealing with the challenges of working in a male-dominated industry. “I try not to think about it way too much but I do think about it way too much. You try and surround yourself with good people, that’s how you deal with it. It’s not the hardest life, I live, I live a pretty easy life.” These challenges are part of the reason The Jezabels consider themselves a feminist band. Originally their material was quite overtly gender-focused, as a reaction to the music prevalent in Mary and keyboardist Heather Shannon’s hometown of Byron Bay: hardcore and blues. Now their music also talks about age. “Age is, kind of everyone can relate to that, getting older, becoming cynical or whatever. But I think you could argue that it still is more pertinent to women because they get less sexy as they get older, whereas men can become more sexy. “I remember reading an interview with Kylie Minogue once, talking about that – how pop stars have to get plastic surgery and look great, particularly women, but rock stars who are more often men, they can be Keith Richards and look really uncool, well not uncool, but look cool by being old and haggard. It’s not really just about looks; it’s just about that life cycle where you start feeling like you’re less valuable to the world, and you’re less up with the times and technology and stuff.
NO ROLE MODEL Mary doesn’t see herself as a role model, although she admits that The Jezabels have a clean image, one far removed from that of the woman who arguably generated the most talk in 2013: Miley Cyrus. “I don’t think we consciously try to have a clean image but I’m just into gothic stuff so I don’t really like to get my skin out too much. It’s probably insecurity rather than being against it or anything like that.
I’m sure that’s not a gender issue but it does definitely get women down, I think, maybe moreso than men.” It becomes clear that Mary struggles with the same issues around gender and self-esteem as many other women, young and old. “I’m definitely a lot more confident than I actually am when I’m on stage. I feel more powerful on stage than I actually feel. It’s kind of like you can be what you want to be on stage, so I sort of can define who I want to be; perhaps someone with a strong voice and someone who’s smart as well as attractive and all of these things you can pretend to be and people might believe you if you do it convincingly. Off stage I don’t feel like any of these things, I feel like I have no voice whatsoever and that I’m just a weak little person.” Mary and the rest of The Jezabels – Shannon, drummer Nik Kaloper and guitarist Sam Lockwood – head out on tour this month following a gap of more than 18 months since their last string of Australian headline shows. They played the Laneway circuit soon after they returned home from touring and recording second album, The Brink, in London, and were admittedly daunted about playing after “the biggest act in the world” Lorde. “‘Will they still like us? Will they remember us?’” Mary wondered. But they’re more at ease now. “I’m glad to be back and people have been really good to us so I don’t
“I think that it’s good to experiment with female sexuality a bit more. I guess it depends on whether you think you need to be a role model or whether you think that your job is to provoke discussion, like Miley Cyrus. If you think that the artist’s role is to provoke discussion, then she is a very important artist at the moment, she’s probably the best. But if you think that it’s her job to be a role model, which I tend to think it isn’t, because the role model people think she should be portraying is a very conservative one, I think she does it quite tastelessly and sort of without reason – but I also think we wouldn’t be talking about this if it wasn’t for her, so I kind of like her in that way. I like when women do it with some kind of impact and we talk about it.”
know, you can’t tell what’s going to happen, but we’ve had a really great reaction. I’m stoked about it.” The tour is an excuse to show off The Brink, a more focused album from the quartet than their talked-about debut LP, 2011’s Prisoner. “The first thing I think is that it’s more coherent, it’s more song-driven, and it’s warmer,” says Mary. “It’s probably more optimistic, musically. Lyrically it might be ambiguous; it’s kind of a bit depressing at times, but if we look at the lyrics in the context of the songs I think it’s a more positive record in general, which is the result of us being in a more negative place I think when we wrote it. We were actually all quite troubled at the time of writing but we got through it via writing. It sounds really wanky but it was quite therapeutic writing that album. The result of it is leads people to believe that it’s probably more vacuous because it’s not as dark but it’s that ‘We need to write a record that’s not as dark, otherwise we’re going to feel shit’. “It’s about hope, really; so was Prisoner though, hope and fear, and kind of teetering between them both. But I think it’s more hopeful, it’s more pushing towards the hope side of the spectrum.” WHAT: The Brink (MGM) WHEN & WHERE: 4 May, Groovin The Moo, Townsville; 6 May, The Tivoli THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 13
music
IN SESSION
That would be a laugh! I’d love to hear that! Mel C has an amazing voice and she’s really lovely.”
Midway through recording her seventh album, soulpop icon Joss Stone takes some time out to bring Andy Hazel up to speed on resurrecting lost songs, the Spice Girls and her ambitious touring plans.
W
hen Joss Stone plans a world tour, she really doesn’t mess around. “The idea is to play at least one show in every country in the world,” she explains keenly and without a flicker of doubt. “After Australia and New Zealand, we’re in Dubai, then Europe. We’re in the process of booking everywhere else. I want to play a show, look about the place, see what good we can do while we’re there, and see what music we can listen to while we’re there. In Australia, I’m hoping to find some music that originates in Australia. Rather than sitting in my hotel, I’ll get out and about and see what’s going on.” This ambitious tour may not be as far-fetched as it seems for someone with the career trajectory of Stone: TV talent contest winner at 13 and multi-million seller at 17. “I’d like to go further into Australia. Dive right into the middle of the country and see what happens. The whole tour will be documented on my website every two or three days. We’ll post a short video from each place, maybe put a documentary together later, but for now it’s just something fun people can follow.” Our interview finds Stone taking a break from recording her forthcoming album in her newly finished home studio. “I’m in the process of recording it right now. In fact at the moment I’m cutting violin – they’re in the other room. After I chat to you we’re back to it.” While the as-yet-unnamed album is very much a workin-progress, Stone claims it will be “a lot more grooveoriented. There are lots of ideas going round, and I don’t want to say what they are yet. It’s got a reggae backbone. It’s a bit hip hop and R&B. It’s not really the usual wailing vocal thing I’ve done in the past.” While Stone may be focusing more on rhythm than before, she won’t be abandoning her first love anytime soon. “Soul music is an expression of emotion. It’s
feelings, and whether or not you like the notes being played is irrelevant in soul music. Actually, as I get older it bothers me more, but soul music is just music that’s meant. That’s what I like about it. If it meant something to me as a little girl, it will never not mean
In a career marked by lending her rich voice to revitalising obscure soul songs or duetting with other artists, Stone still has many unfulfilled ambitions. “There are a lot of people I want to work with, but there’s not one person I think, ‘Fuck I want to nail that person down and just do it.’ If the person wants to collaborate with me, it’s going to be a really good piece of music. If that person isn’t passionate, forthcoming, or hard to find then it was never meant to be. But, if you don’t ask you don’t get,” she qualifies, before considering Music, her duet with reclusive neo-soul icon Lauryn Hill. “That took a long time not because she was holding out, but because it’s hard to get hold of her. I knew she was right, and I knew it was in the stars, so I kept trying and she did it. It was a beautiful thing. I felt very honoured.” The songs Stone is most famous for singing, she reminds listeners, aren’t hers. “In interviews, I always made a point of saying ‘This song is not my song, it’s by the Isley Brothers, or Womack And Womack or
“IF IT MEANT SOMETHING TO ME AS A LITTLE GIRL, IT WILL NEVER NOT MEAN SOMETHING TO ME.” something to me. It’s the same with pop songs. Some of the Spice Girls’ songs I danced around to aged ten still make me smile, and they mean something, that’s never going to change. A lot of pop songs now, they don’t really sit close to your heart in the same way.” Would collaborating with Mel C be out of the question? She laughs loudly at the suggestion. “Wow!
whoever’ because it’s important people type that in and see where this song came from, why it’s lived for so long and who inspired it,” she says avidly. “Super Duper Love was a song we hardly changed at all. Sugar Billy [Garner] wrote it and he’d lived his whole life pretty much unknown and almost no one had heard it. Because I did it and people heard it, he died a happy man and I hold that close to my heart. I didn’t know half of these songs for very long before I recorded them either. I was shown something by [producer] Steve [Greenberg], and I showed it to someone else, so it’s a circle, really.”
WHEN & WHERE: 18 & 21 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay; 20 Apr, The Tivoli
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 15
music
NO MESSIN’ AROUND The legendary Dr. John is as mysterious in real life as he has been on his records for over 50 years. Dan Condon finds out the hard way.
M
ac Rebennack – aka Dr. John – has forged a career out of being something of a mysterious, curmudgeonly character who for decades has channelled the sounds and spirit of all that is alluring about New Orleans into a heady mishmash of blues, funk and soul music. When we catch up with him he’s in a studio in Ohio, but he’s not working on a new Dr. John record. “We’re writing some charts for a record we’re doing. It’s a tribute to Louis Armstrong,” he croaks in his drawn-out drawl.
His last album, 2012’s Locked Down, was undoubtedly his finest work in decades. Not only was it praised widely by critics and fans, it opened him up to a younger audience who discovered this gem of an artist for the first time. “I think everything went cool,” Dr. John says of the record. Much of the appeal for the younger audience was the deft touch of The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who worked as producer. Safe to say the young gun got the seal of approval. “I think he did a good thing. I like how he operates. In some kinda way he reminds me of when I was young doing some
music
other stuff like that. In another way he reminds me of something else and I like both sides of that.” The record sees Dr. John sounding more like The Night Tripper that enjoyed popularity in the late-‘60s and early ‘70s, but he’s not willing to say this reversion to an older character and style was at all contrived. “I look at it like I’ve made a lot of records in something to do with that style at different times, but I don’t think about what I’m doing in that way. I just do what I’m supposed to be doing spiritually and that’s all I know.” His early career saw Dr. John record and release albums at an insanely prolific rate. He says he learned to work quickly in his early years as a session musician. “I tried to do it fast – comin’ up back in the ‘50s you had to learn how to do stuff fast, because you had to make an album in less than six hours. So, when you look at it from that perspective, when you do something later you keep that in mind. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to take weeks or months to make records,” he says in reference to the modern standard. “I think it’s just a good idea just to do records spiritually how long it takes to do it, and that’s it. You shouldn’t take forever to make a record, that’s ka-ka.” When Dr. John decides it’s time for him to stop playing, he’ll literally have to be carried out. “A musician should die on the last song of the show, that way his people get to see something they’ll never get to see again. Also the band doesn’t have to play an encore and the band still gets paid.” WHEN & WHERE: 17 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
IT’S TIME The message is the thing for Seun Kuti – it’s time Africa stopped being a pawn for multinationals. Of course, he wraps that message in Afrobeat. He talks to Michael Smith.
Y
oungest son of the legendary Nigerian multiinstrumentalist and activist Fela Kuti, Seun Kuti “inherited” his father’s 16-piece band, Egypt 80, in 1997, when he was just 14, on Fela’s death. Over the ensuing 17 years, Seun has steadily built on his father’s legacy while putting his own stamp on the musical style Fela created – Afrobeat, a heady, highly percussive mix of Nigerian traditional Yoruba music, jazz, Ghanaian highlife and funk. The third album, A Long Way To The Beginning, from Kuti and his crossgenerational band will be released here in April. “It was a title that came from a time of looking back. It’s always good to look back at where you’re coming from to see how far you’ve come, and also reassess your journey. Who could believe that the band is still here, 17 years after [Fela’s] death? I believe that this is a new beginning for us as well, after our first two albums, where we repositioned ourselves in a place where we can be considered as a force on our own now, even without the greatness of my dad. It took us a long time to get here. And I also believe for the continent of Africa that this is our time – this generation is the beginning of change, this generation that understands most. Most people don’t [know] that only 200 Africans were educated when Africa got independence in 1960 [Nigeria gained independence that year] – so we only had 200 graduates to control the whole continent, 16 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
so you can understand why our people could be easily hoodwinked. People couldn’t understand the system they were asked to run. But I believe with this generation, even though only ten per cent of us are educated up to secondary school level, this is the most educated Africa has ever been. This is a beginning for us, and this beginning, I also wanted to reflect it in my message. So there are two meanings, or two different moments in my life and my ideology, in terms of me and the band, and Africa as a whole.” The new album inevitably continues Kuti’s virulent criticism of the impact of the world’s multinationals and the
geopolitical bodies established to further the West’s postWWII idea of international stability touched upon on 2011’s From Africa With Fury: Rise. So the song, IMF, becomes a chant against the International Monetary Fund, recast as International Mother Fuckers. “Don’t forget to always let people know that they’re impacting negatively, to exploit and destroy. All the topics on the record, they are perspectives, convictions I had. I’ve never felt like I needed to say as much as I have on this record, even on [album track] Higher Consciousness, where I go deep into the brainwashing of the young African mind with the nonsense on our radio, on our TV, teaching young black people negativity about Africa. Every young kid in Africa wants to be white!” WHAT: A Long Way To The Beginning (Cartell/Inertia) WHEN & WHERE: 18 & 19 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
THE BLUES NEVER DIE There is no other blues harp player quite like Charlie Musselwhite. He talks with Dan Condon about being in a city “loaded with the blues”.
W
hen Tom Waits wants a harmonica player, he calls Charlie Musselwhite. When INXS needed to sample some harmonica on Suicide Blonde, they called Charlie Musselwhite. There aren’t many who won’t look straight to this blues harp gun when they need the best. “Some of my earliest memories that were exciting to me were the street singers in downtown Memphis. Most of them were blues singers; I’d just stand on the street and hear them playing the blues,” he recalls. “I just loved the music and there was something about it being out
of the street like that that made it so special, it just drew me in. “So much was going on there; rockabilly and gospel and blues and hillbilly and R&B. Stax Records and Sun Records were there, the Hi [Records] label with Willie Mitchell – all kinds of music was happening. Rockabilly seemed like it was invented there, Johnny and Dorsey Burnette lived across the road from me. There were gospel tent meetings; sometimes you could just be walking down the street and hear some music, you’d follow the sound to hear some band playing somewhere.” Chasing work in the factories as a young man he
moved up Highway 51 to Chicago, where he fell in with a blues scene that seemed unbelievable at the time and is just astonishing to hear about now.
music
“You had a lot of clubs, all over the south side of the Chicago playing blues. You could go and hear Muddy Waters, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf – the city was loaded with the blues, live blues, all over town. It felt like a kid bein’ in a candy store. You just don’t have those choices anymore – they had so many choices in one place it was really astounding.” He has nearly 30 full-length records to his name, and countless collaborations with some of the world’s greatest. Not bad for a guy who didn’t have aspirations to become a professional musician. “I didn’t have a goal or plan to be a musician. I’d been meeting guys that played and learning from them, but just because I loved the music – I didn’t think it would go anywhere. Even if it hadn’t ever gone anywhere I’d still be playing it, it was just something that I had to do. All those guys I learned from – the old-timers I knew in Memphis and the not-so-old-timers in Chicago, if I had’ve known where this was going I’d have paid a lot more attention.” While Musselwhite is saddened by the fact so many blues greats are passing away, he does think there’s plenty of promise in the future of the blues. “It seems to be bigger than ever. In my travels I’ve found there are people playing blues in every country, from Canada to Brazil. It’s not a fad, there’s more substance to it than that. People hear and they’ve got to hear more of it. Even if they can’t understand the lyrics, they understand the feeling.” WHEN & WHERE: 17 & 18 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 17
music
MUSIC FOR ALL PEOPLE “The music industry is up and down and it’s hard to have a career that endures,” Michael Franti acknowledges. Dylan Stewart discovers the humanitarian musician opened a yoga hotel in Bali, where he is also heavily involved with fundraising initiatives for the Bumi Sehat clinic and the Green School.
I
t’s a heady life, that of a musician. Michael Franti and his band, Spearhead, recently wrapped up the final shows of an extensive American tour and, although that would be a decent excuse for a break, not much about Franti’s work ethic suggests that the band will be resting on their laurels any time soon. After two decades of performing to audiences around the world, Franti is more than happy to share that energy. All across the band’s
eighth studio record, the part-party/part-acoustic All People, Franti’s enthusiasm is obvious. “We love this record; it’s great to be out on the road playing it. Fans love it too and people know all the words already. “The other thing is that, we’ve been together for so long, we have an intuition that we share as a band. All it takes is a glance from me to our drummer to take the song in another direction, and we always change our setlist every night. Otherwise it gets stale for us, and if it’s stale for us, it’s stale for the audience.” Those holidaying in Bali over the Christmas
18 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
period might have seen a poster or two with Franti’s name on it; for the Soulshine Festival in Bali, in late December. A family-friendly festival that supports the Green School Bali – an environmental school that teaches children of all ages – it’s obviously a passion project for Franti, who first set it up years ago. “As well as the Green School – it’s also to raise funds for the Bumi Sehat clinic, which is a birthing clinic in Ubud that I’ve been supporting over the last five years.” But one would think a trip to Bali wouldn’t be complete without some serious R&R. “I opened a yoga hotel there three years ago so I go and spend about a month there,” Franti elaborates. “We just eat coconuts, swim, surf and practice yoga for a month; that’s what we do to escape the San Francisco winter. The whole band comes; we sort of take over the hotel. Everybody brings their kids and wives, and we make it a big Spearhead family experience.” With Australian audiences gearing up to see Michael Franti & Spearhead play at Bluesfest, it’s hard to tell who will be more excited – Franti or his fans. “The music industry is up and down and it’s hard to have a career that endures,” he acknowledges. “So we just feel grateful and thankful that the people of Australia are happy to come out and support us. “I think it’s our sixth or seventh time [playing Bluesfest]. We’re really excited about it. I always mark places on our tour schedule that we’re really excited about going to with a big red heart, and this is one of them. Everyone’s already talking about how excited they are about heading back to Byron Bay.” WHEN & WHERE: 20 – 21 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay; 23 Apr, The Tivoli
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 19
music
IN HIS SHANGRI LA Jake Bugg talks songwriting as a hobby with Sevana Ohandjanian. Just don’t ask him about his music videos.
J
ake Bugg’s schedule is the dream success story; two albums in consecutive years, the former eponymous album debuting at #1 in the UK, making him the youngest male solo artist to do so. He’s worked with the likes of Iain Archer, Shane Meadows and Rick Rubin, and when we speak, Bugg is a week out from heading up a two-day songwriting workshop for teens at the London’s Royal Albert Hall.
While his debut album was firmly rooted in stories from the Nottingham council estates in which he grew up, Bugg’s followup sees his focus shift to broader topics.
“I’m sure people will say, well, he’s only 19, how can he tell people to write songs?” Bugg says. “But the truth of the matter is you can’t really tell people how to write songs; all I can tell them is it’s gotta come from the heart and soul, and you just gotta keep writing, writing and writing.”
“It’s not about moving away or trying to distance myself, it’s just a natural
For Bugg, songwriting has been his cornerstone since the age of 14. “It kind of became my outlet, whenever I was feeling a bit annoyed or not feeling great, or even if you are, it’s just an outlet to escape from the real world and keep myself sane.” His songs often chart deeply personal territory, the perfect way to express himself without explanation. “I can find it quite difficult to talk. Music is the thing that helps me to project how I’m feeling in a way I’m most comfortable with. But then people ask you about it in interviews, and it’s like, I find it difficult to talk about this, that’s why I wrote the song!” Barely out of his teens, Bugg has had the guidance of older songwriters like the aforementioned Archer and Brendan Benson (The Saboteurs) in the studio in the past, and he found the experience enlightening. “It was just cool, because obviously they’re a bit more experienced. They’d go, ‘Why don’t you try this?’ There was just loads of ideas flying around; it was a very inspiring thing to do. I got some songs out of it, which is pretty cool. “It [a song] has to be my idea. I don’t really like it if it’s somebody else’s, because it has to be mine. How can I sing that to an audience? I’d be lying to them, as well as lying to myself. I don’t want to be singing about somebody else’s problems.” 20 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
Though Bugg is passionate about music, it’s best not to talk music videos with him. His immediate response regards whether he enjoys the visual accompaniments to his songs is, “I hate videos, I absolutely hate ‘em. “You have to get up early, and the last one – A Song About Love – it was cold, I was tired, it was horrible. Horrible. I’ve not even seen it. I don’t want to see it. You know a video like Slumville Sunrise, that was fun to do a bit of acting, or the Seen It All video – that was cool because it was a story on top of a story, and I only had to do one little bit and play table tennis and that was the best thing ever. But nah, I hate videos.”
“NAH, I HATE VIDEOS.” progression. I don’t live that life anymore. On the second album I talk about the same subject, but it’s from a different perspective. Once you’ve got those two different perspectives on that subject, what’s the point of writing about it anymore?” Bugg is already writing songs for the third record. “It’s what I love to do. It’s like playing Call Of Duty on my Playstation or having a kick about with my mates; it’s my hobby.”
In the midst of his gripes regarding his last visit – “It was freezing. I was expecting it to be well hot, I didn’t even know you had winter down there” – he mentions being surprised regarding nightlife rules. When informed of the lockout laws, his opinion is strong. “Well that’s crap if you want to meet your mates then [after 1.30am], innit? The thing is that the more you put rules in, the more people want to go against it. I don’t understand it. “It’ll be more violence inside bars. If you’re having trouble and having a drink, and you can feel some tension in a bar, and you’d rather leave but don’t because you can’t get into another bar, that might end in violence inside. Thank you for the heads up.” WHAT: Shangri La ( Jake Bugg Records/Universal) WHEN & WHERE: 21 Apr, Bluesfest, Byron Bay; 23 Apr, The Hi-Fi
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 21
music
NEVER BEATEN It may be trendy to belittle Buried In Verona, but as band shouter Brett Anderson tells Brendan Crabb, that shit-talking only spurs them on to succeed.
Q
uery Buried In Verona vocalist Brett Anderson about taking exception to diehard fans being harassed by the band’s burgeoning army of naysayers, and he swiftly goes into bat for those who embrace the Sydney metalcore mob. “It’s cool to hate Buried In Verona right now, for whatever fucking reason,” he says. “The fans we do have from the start have just always been there; they’ve always supported us. They’re buying the records, coming to the shows, and we appreciate that from the bottom of our hearts. [But] we aren’t going to change the way we are, and this
music
record is as much a fuck you to our detractors as it is a message to people to keep being themselves no matter what.” If it wasn’t already apparent, the title of their fourth album, Faceless, directly references anonymous foes. “It’s our little way of highlighting the fact that there’s so many negative people out there trying to bring [you] down. We’re a bit fed up with things at the moment, and that was kind of our message – the faceless, all the people who would never come up to your face and say anything bad about you, but online they go hell for leather on what they think about you in a negative way.
“Saying that, we definitely welcome constructive criticism off anyone and everyone, but there’s a difference between constructive and purely negative… ‘You put so much shit on us and other people,’ but the only way to get through it is to just keep doing it. We’re still having fun – we’re touring the world playing shows, still selling records… Like you know, fuck off,” the singer laughs. Having traded the so-polished-it-was-blinding production of Swedish metal maestro Fredrik Nordström for muchlauded American Joey Sturgis, Faceless continues the band’s manoeuvring from Gothenburg-inspired sounds into a more melodic hardcore/punk-infused direction. “I think Buried In Verona will never write the same record twice, because it’s just boring to us. We try and reinvent what we’re doing all the time, and have a bit of a fresh sound. People can say we’re trying to copy other people or whatever, but this is fresh to us. It’s fresh to Buried In Verona; it’s new to Buried In Verona. “We just thought this time we wanted to get ourselves out of a comfortable position. We go to Sweden, we record and we’re comfortable; we know what’s going to happen, we know the process. We wanted to basically put ourselves back on our toes. Sometimes that creates spontaneity, different vibes and different music, and that’s what we had in mind. We didn’t want to risk going back to the same place and possibly doing an album that was very similar to the last… It’s always been on the cards for Buried In Verona to change it up.” WHAT: Faceless (UNFD) WHEN & WHERE: 19 Apr, Crowbar; 20 Apr, The Lab
MAIDEN VOYAGE Greenthief’s Julian Schweitzer debriefs Jazmine O’Sullivan about life on the road.
B
risbane-turned-Melbourne locals Greenthief have never been shy with their touring commitments, having played many of the country’s more neglected venues over their career. They’ve now taken to the road in support of their debut album, Voyage, jamming all those regional spots as well as the major cities into the one tour, which should keep the trio fairly busy until the end of April. We find the group smack bang in the middle of said tour, frontman Julian Schweitzer pointing out, “The weekend in Tasmania was really cool; we played Launceston and Hobart. There was a great vibe at the Brisbane Hotel down in Hobart, which is this really awesome rock venue.” Schweitzer believes the Brisbane Hotel would have to be his standout show of the tour so far: “It’s always good when you’re on tour to get accommodation at the venue you’re playing – it’s just a much nicer experience. You don’t have to pack up everything straight away, no one’s driving; all that kind of contributes to it being a good night, and just being able to chill with the other bands as well. All those things together made it such a great show, and in such a random place! It was a bit of a surprise. I guess I shouldn’t really say a surprise,” he laughs, “but it was really nice.” This 22-show tour sees the boys logging up copious amounts of travel hours, which Schweitzer enjoys because of the sense of freedom and adventure that comes with 22 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
it. However he says there is a downside to tours like these for Greenthief. “Being a totally independent band means you have to be constantly doing a lot of admin work, which is quite stressful when you’re doing it all by yourself. There’s so much organising involved.” Regarding Voyage, Schweitzer says the group took a bit of a different approach this time around. “[Before we made the album] we had just finished a really big tour around the country where we were supporting another band, and after that we purposefully scheduled the recording time for the album to be the following week. We did that because we really wanted
to capture more of the band’s live performance on the record, as well as the energy of the live show. With our previous EPs we sort of went about it one instrument at a time while we were recording, so that was a bit of a difference this time around.” Having set out to capture their live energy on record, Schweitzer explains he and the band found, ironically, a few of the tracks a little bit tricky to convey in the live setting. “Most of the songs on the record were tracked a long time ago, so most of the album had already been road-tested, but there are a few songs on there that we’d never performed in a live setting. They’ve been received well, but they’re the kind of songs that are actually difficult to perform live, so we’re just trying to get our heads around that at the moment.” WHAT: Voyage (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: 12 Apr, Hotel Norville, Toowoomba; 17 Apr, Crowbar; 19 Apr, Kings Beach Tavern
PROUD LEGACY As death metallers Morbid Angel prepare to recreate a classic, main man David Vincent informs Brendan Crabb the worst thing you can tell him is “no”.
P
olarising audiences is familiar territory for Morbid Angel, the first extreme death metal band signed to a major. The critical mauling and fan revolt that greeted the Floridian death metal progenitors’ 2011 record, Illud Divinum Insanus, wasn’t the first instance they’ve irked facets of their following. When 1993’s Covenant, their third full-length, was unleashed, although among the genre’s highest-selling releases and arguably its pinnacle, they had to contend with sniping factions. “We’ve always had our naysayers and detractors, and those people just don’t realise that we feed off that,”
bassist/vocalist David Vincent enthuses. “I love it when someone tells me, ‘No,’ because I always turn it into a ‘Yes.’ There was a lot of people that said, ‘You have no business doing this,’ and ‘What you guys are doing is ridiculous.’ And they’re right, it was ridiculous. Which is a good reason why I think people really gravitated towards it, because it was ridiculous, and there wasn’t really a whole lot going on at that time. It was a very underground style of music that there weren’t many people doing it. So we were obviously thrilled at the opportunities that record deal and that working with those partners afforded us.”
Although experiencing personnel changes since, does Vincent view Covenant (which, following a 2013 US run, they’ll perform in full here) as their definitive release? “I think they all are in their own way, but it certainly was the record that gave us a big launch, both here and worldwide. Because we got signed to a major label [Warner] with that record in the States and they had big budgets. We were able to make a couple of videos that got played quite a bit. We really got a chance to share our music with a lot of people who probably to that point were not familiar with the band. We did a lot of touring, actually opened for Black Sabbath. So it really changed everything for us. There’s no better compliment, at least that I can imagine, than 20 years later a record having that kind of impact that it can generate the excitement that it has.”
music
Death metal and major label eventually proved a less-than-ideal combination. “This whole music is difficult. It’s difficult to play, it takes a lot of energy and some people would probably argue that it’s difficult to listen to. But it’s what we do well. We really are unfazed by what’s going on around us. We always looked inward for our inspiration, as opposed to, ‘Gee, what’s everyone else doing?’ “We were concerned with what we were doing, and I think you can hear that in the music. Back in those days, there were other bands that were playing extreme death metal, but everybody sounded different. They all had their own style. Today, there are a lot of things, at least to my ears, sound rather derivative. There’s some really good stuff too, but I would say that the motherload of bands, really in all genres, it just sounds really derivative.” WHEN & WHERE: 22 Apr, The Hi-Fi
OUT OF THE GARAGE
music
Be afraid, be very afraid – Hunx & His Punx are angry and taking their aggressive new brand of punk to the streets. Frontman Seth Bogart tells Steve Bell about getting bored with the garage rock scene and his inherent need to fuck with things.
F
or years now California-bred reprobates Hunx & His Punx have been concocting slightly sleazy takes on the musical styles of yesteryear, whether it be ‘60s rock, doo wop, punk or garage (to name but a few). Their recently-released album Street Punk, however, showcases a harder and more aggressive side to the band’s trashbag aesthetic, a shift which frontman and chief miscreant Seth Bogart explains was entirely intentional. “Well I was really just super-sick of getting lumped in with the whole ‘garage’ world, because I feel like I don’t really belong or something,” he muses. “I really just like punk music or pop, so I just decided that I wanted to go punk. When we play live we always like enjoy playing the really fast songs, so we kinda wrote a few of them as a joke and then got really serious about it. But Shannon [Shaw – bass] and I wrote that album in like a week and recorded it basically. It actually wasn’t intense at all, it was the easiest thing in the world – it was so weird and easy. I feel like it was just meant to be or something, but it was a big relief to just be able to just yell. “[The garage scene] is just a bunch of boring straight guys. I’m from more of a gay pop scene, so after a while I just kinda got sick of it. And so much of it’s so fucking shit and so boring – Shannon’s band [Shannon & The Clams] is really great, but there’s just not a lot of it
that I like. And I prefer punk, so it just seemed natural to do that.” Some of tracks on Street Punk such as Don’t Call Me Fabulous clock in at less than 30 seconds, definitely never threatening to outstay their welcome. “The whole album’s only about 20 minutes but I have ADD so I don’t think I could have done it for any longer – the last song’s four minutes, so without that it’s really like a 15-minute album,” Bogart laughs. “I’m surprised that our label went for it, but they did. I think shorter is better, but now it makes me want to write a 20-minute song just to fuck with things.
“I mean those really short songs just happened on tour when we were just joking around. I don’t think they’d be very good if they were extended, but we often play them over and over – I like to make them play it twice at least, sometimes more. [Don’t Call Me Fabulous] kind of started because Shannon and I were really drunk in Europe after a show and she was complaining because some gay guy kept going to her, ‘You’re so fabulous!’, and she was, like, ‘I hate that! It either means you’re gay or you’re fat!’ Then I just started laughing uncontrollably, so we decided that we’d make an ‘anti-fabulous’ song.” WHEN & WHERE: 22 Apr, The Zoo THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 23
music
CLOSING TIME
stressing that splitting was never an option, he and bassist Duckboi got behind the idea.
Before Blonde On Blonde jump a plane to Germany, frontman Jack Bratt takes five with Benny Doyle to talk about Berlin, that elusive first album and saying goodbye.
G
ermany’s loose visa restrictions are set to claim yet another Aussie band, with Brissie quartet Blonde On Blonde making the move to Berlin, a city of cheap living and plentiful opportunities for creative types. It seems like the right time to switch scenery for the group, who have found themselves on plenty of solid bills since taking their first steps onto the stage in 2010, but have yet to craft a debut album, a fact that Jack Bratt is hoping to change soon. “I’ve been trying to pump out an album of stuff for years, but I just can’t get a collection of songs together that I believe in enough in the time space,” he admits. “You write songs and then six months later you haven’t had time to write any more, or you’re just so preoccupied with life, and then you don’t feel those songs are where [you’re] at, you’ve just gone somewhere
else. So getting over there and doing it every day, we’ll have more of an idea about what kinda band we are, which is really exciting.” The seeds of relocation were sown last year when Zara (guitar) and Jonny (drums) went to Europe for a holiday, with one trip enough to convince them that Berlin was the place to progress. And with Bratt
“We just thought why not, we really don’t have anything to lose. We’ve been here for four years and we’ve lapped the country so many times, and we just [don’t] know what else we can do at our level – we need a bit of a shake up.” And although Bratt admits the band don’t know how life works in the German capital – “There’s a lot of obstacles to overcome,” he laughs – he’s well aware that being uncomfortable can be positive, on both a personal and creative level. “It’s true what they say – creativity just explodes once you start moving. Every time I travel new music comes out of it, because just the experiences and being away from your everyday existence, it’s inspiring.” During their time together, the self-proclaimed “psychedelic slut rockers” have been a staple around the haunts of Fortitude Valley, their thick, swaggering licks soundtracking plenty of beers-too-many for Brisbane rock fans. Because of this, Bratt admits that he couldn’t think of a better room to cap off the first part of Blonde On Blonde’s journey than The Zoo. “I find it a really special place – when I first moved here it was where I went and saw all my favourite bands, and we’ve never headlined it before so it will be a really [suitable] send off for us,” he smiles. “[But everything] won’t actually hit me I think until the night before we leave or when I’m going to the airport; I’m just so preoccupied with getting everything finished. But then there’ll be a panic attack for sure.” WHEN & WHERE: 17 Apr, The Zoo
comedy
HUSBAND HUNTING Not so much trashy ‘reality’ as classic camp comedy. Julian Clary hits the boards in search of an Aussie bloke with his MICF show, Position Vacant: Apply Within. Potential husband Paul Ransom gets put through the wringer in order to learn more. t’s true. Julian Clary really is passing up the opportunity for a Down Under double entendre. However, his antipodean fans should rest assured that the ‘Lord of Mince’ will be in fine, camp form when he lands here in search of suitable husband.
I
Speaking to The Music from his home in rural England, Clary explains the rationale behind his MICF show Position Vacant: Apply Within. “I’m not particularly turning anyone,” he says, “but I do drag men from the audience, and I have a cattle prod and I herd everyone into a sheep pen. There are a number of elimination games and by the end of the night I have a husband. The climax of course is a beautiful wedding ceremony.” Over the course of his 30-year career, the star of shows like Sticky Moments and Prickly Heat has not only established himself as a kind of out-there Wilde/ Coward love child but as an author, panto star and stand-up comic. It’s also fair to say that he qualifies as a ‘gay icon’ and thus he is more than pleased to have his say on the lingering marriage equality debate. “I should think that by the time I’ve finished with Australia any resistance will be futile,” he declares. “Obviously the world is ready for gay marriage. Well, not everywhere, but civilised countries like Australia.” 24 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
For Clary, born in the late ‘50s and schooled in the ‘70s, life as a gay man has become much easier over the journey. “It’s been demystified, so there’s not shock and horror. It’s like, so what; and the world really is a better place in that regard.” As to whether our increased easiness with sexual orientation has taken some of the sting out his comedy, Clary is similarly clear. “A laugh is a laugh and that’s really what I’m interested in. It’s not the whole crusade that it used to be; not about horrifying the rightwing, which I used to enjoy very much. So
yes, it’s kind of evolved, although it is still my stock in trade. I suppose now we all talk about it together rather than me needing to be more confrontational.” His 2014 visit will be Clary’s eighth Australian tour, so although he is not one for obvious Down Under puns he is a fan of Oz. “To me going to Australia is like visiting a much-loved friend who’s had a few drinks and greets me at the door with arms wide open. When times are hard for me, like when I’ve been in trouble with the media or whatever, I often think to myself, ‘Let’s go to Australia’. It’s also a very good-looking place.” Cue: several new husbands. WHAT: Julian Clary: Position Vacant: Apply Within WHEN & WHERE: 24 Apr, The Tivoli
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 25
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
★★★★½
album reviews
PERFECT PUSSY
THE MENZINGERS
POD/Inertia
Epitaph/Warner
A band that makes cacophonous, bratty noise being the toast of the year? No, this isn’t the turn of the century, but instead a pleasantly abrasive surprise. New York noiseniks Perfect Pussy annihilated all-comers at SXSW this year and left with a legion of bloodied fans in their wake. But with all ‘Next Best Thing’ tags, it has to be given with a dose of sardonic reality, surely?
There’s a deep-seated anger that reveals itself in short, sharp bursts throughout The Menzingers’ fourth record Rented World – the follow-up to 2012’s remarkable On The Impossible Past. For the rest of the time, it’s brutally honest lyrics that take control of the wheel and total everything in their path.
Rented World
Say Yes To Love
Say Yes To Love more than lives up to these raised expectations – it obliterates them and the last remnants of a carefully maintained sanity with an energised tirade against anything and everything. The five-piece play with the hiss of a rolling four-track before channelling their inner chaos on opener, Driver, followed without more ado with the roar of Dig and Bells. It’s in the melodicism of Advance Upon The Real and Interference Fits that some
more of the genius of Perfect Pussy comes through. These are considered song songs, not just a bunch of kids throwing perfectly calibrated bolts of noise into the abyss. The sludge and squall hides the fact that these guys know what they are doing. Yet amidst the maelstrom of chugging abrasion that will shear off bank vault doors, it’s Meredith Graves that pushes the band into another gear. Her lyrics may be self-effacing and confrontational (“And I want to eat myself/And I want to fuck myself ”), yet the vicious energy becomes life-affirming to the point of revelation. Brendan Telford
KELIS
Spending most of their time on the road – Australia’s seen them three times in as many years – they’ve honed their sound to one that records just as well as it comes across on stage. It’s rare to find such compelling songwriting in punk rock these days, and few truly understand the power of putting it all, mentally and physically, on the line like The Menzingers. This is punk rock that bleeds true emotion. Daniel Cribb
The Cautionary Tales Of Mark Oliver Everett
Ninja Tune/Inertia
26 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
While Rented World will struggle as a whole to outshine On The Impossible Past (they really nailed it with that one), tunes such as In Remission, Bad Things and The Talk stand as some of The Menzingers’ best and most catchy work to date. If you want a chorus rattling around your head for a week, you only have to run
through opener I Don’t Want To Be An Arsehole once or twice.
EELS
Food
It’s been a long time since Kelis metamorphosed from the future funk and R&B of her earlier material to the surprising David Guetta-assisted disco house diva shenanigans of Flesh Tone. Adopting a gospel soul stance on a concept album loosely themed around food, Kelis continues to surprise with yet another stylistic shift. Kelis’ previous attempts to capture the imagination of mainstream audiences has to date been hit and miss but on this release she seems to have abandoned glitter-dusted dreams of pop stardom entirely. Instead Dave Sitek and her 13-piece band grind out the old-school funk, soul and gospel flavours of this album. Kelis’ sultry vocals are served unto our ears on a luscious bed of strings and horns. The mix works around her distinctive voice and Sitek, possibly fascinated with Phil Spector, has given this album a loud, rich, organic texture that recalls the dusty grooves of yesteryear. The album kick-starts
It seems something has pissed these guys off big time – whether it’s an internal or external turmoil this reviewer’s unsure – and the lyrics on this record’s 12 songs come across as a way for them to sort through it.
★★★★
E Works/[PIAS] Australia
★★★½ with the glorious feel-good vibes of a generous all-day Breakfast, while generous servings of Jerk Ribs, Friday Fish Fry, Cobbler and Biscuits N’ Gravy ought to earn Kelis a Michelin hat for her culinary skills as she satiates listeners’ appetites for soulful introspection and crunchy deep fried pop hooks. She gets pink on Floyd and drifts into dreamy reverie. Food cooked with love always tastes better and despite the song titles Kelis sings with great honesty about love affairs and when things get steamy food is just a replacement for sex. Guido Farnell
With each album you tend to find the Mr Everett either looking inward or outward. As the title suggests, this is himself in reflective mode. And regrets – he’s got a few. Lots, even. There are obvious ones, like Agatha Chan – he knows he should have stayed with the girl with “the aching eyes”. But elsewhere it’s more existential, as simple and complicated as Parallel’s “Waking up lost, in a world I didn’t know”. The mood is weary and downbeat, a contrast after the somewhat more buzzy energy – and perhaps slightly slapdash nature – of the previous Wonderful, Glorious. This is Chamber Eels, with string section hums here and there. Opening instrumental Where I’m At is a wheezy brass overture; the resigned shrug of Series Of Misunderstandings muses over what sounds like a
★★★½ music-box winding down. It’s music for grown-ups, possibly with the realisation there might be fewer years ahead than behind him. He knows the Mistakes Of My Youth, but realises he might still make some of them again. And maybe darkly celebrate that he can. Eels enthusiasts will be comfortable with this latest intimate communiqué from the Everett bunker. He’s still happily unhappy to dig around in the dusty corners of his psyche and tell you about it. And if you’re prepared to listen to some uncomfortable home truths, you’ll probably learn something. Ross Clelland
albums/singles/eps
★★★★
MIA DYSON
When We’re Older Independent Dyson captures the era of classic rock with such direct simplicity, and the fact that it sounds like a lot of songs before it doesn’t diminish it slightly.
BAD//DREEMS Dumb Ideas Ivy League Generations of Australian rock are gulped down, swallowed and regurgitated into this track. Keeping it simple stupid is working for them.
RAINBOW CHAN Fruit
Silo Arts
★★★★
★★★½
DUCK SAUCE
THE AFGHAN WHIGS
THE MURLOCS
Ministry Of Sound
Sub Pop/Inertia
Flightless/Remote Control
What encompasses Quack, and Duck Sauce as a whole, is a sense of fun, and with these tunes in the bank, Armand Van Helden and A-Trak could transform a funeral into a party. Whether it’s via the intergalactic scratchinfused journey of Chariots Of The Gods, the playful hip hop bounce of Charlie Chazz & Rappin Ralph or the power guitar groove of NRG, the album demands that you get off your arse and shake a tail feather. And yeah, it’s surprising they’ve included aNYway and Barbra Streisand here but whatever, those oldies still bring da party. Hell, even the skits are funny – crazy, we know.
Back with their first record in 16 years, The Afghan Whigs slip right into that familiar unmade bed of late night, cigarette-fuelled, whiskeysipping meditations seemingly propelled by the visceral sex appeal of frontman Greg Dulli’s voice. It’s an emotional ride made musically relevant with fresh moods, angles and that superior rock inquisitiveness that has the Whigs exploring Spaghetti Western soul on Algiers and dark edgy funk in Matamoros. It’s best summed up by Dulli himself on the sonic grandeur of It Kills: “Over and over I get to know myself”.
Another psyched-out, harmonicadrenched jam from Flightless Records, this time from The Murlocs in the form of Loopholes. Staying much closer to a common thread than their King Gizzard stablemates, the album also doesn’t have as many inventive flights of fantasy either. Yet it’s the nostalgia that echoes through tracks like Lonely Clown and Juke Box, alongside the ghost of ‘60s swamped-out garage fused with The Black Angels’ DNA of the closing title track, that lingers. That, and the ghost of Eric Burdon and his Animals, whose spectral fingerprints are all over the place.
Benny Doyle
Tyler McLoughlan
Brendan Telford
Quack
Do To The Beast
The crux of this track sounds like it’s been based around one of those organs with the drums built in. The originality of the sounds and her amazing voice once again produce something really special.
Loopholes
MORE REVIEWS themusic.com.au/reviews/live
SHE-REX
★★★★
The Heist
★★★★★
Independent Making rap music with a full rock band that doesn’t suck is basically impossible, but SheRex pull it off somehow.
ED KUEPPER
GAZAR STRIPS
Prince Melon/Valve
Bee Mantis Sonic Masala
Slow building, chorus-laden guitars and a track that actually sounds like a swarm of bees and a praying mantis all at once on this aptly-titled number.
DRAKE
Days In The East October’s Very Own Produced by PARTYNEXTDOOR, the new leaked Drake track would have fit beautifully on the last record, and whether it’s a stopgap or a sign of what’s to come, I’m more than happy.
The Return Of The Mail-Order Bridegroom With elder statesman status, Sir Edmund is doing even more with less. A document of his recent mode of performance – just himself and range of acoustic guitars, with occasion loop or background clatter – songs are drawn from his own career(s), and some other reference points. Thus, his stillhypnotic The Way I Made You Feel resides with a Hey Joe taken back to bluesy murder ballad. The Walker Brothers’ No Regrets comes with a weary resignation, while a final Messin’ With The Kid takes The Saints’ punk angst and makes it grow up.
NAS
Illmatic XX Sony Illmatic is one of the best records of the past 20 years and one of the best hip hop records of all time. Tales of drug dealing, shootings and incarcerated friends are free of braggadocio, while Nas’ skill as a lyricist belies his 20 years of age. Everything added to 20th anniversary edition Illmatic XX is almost as good as the record itself; any of these remixes could’ve made the final LP and it’d still be a masterpiece. Most interesting is the 1993 appearance on The Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show; the enthusiasm of a young Nas is palpable.
Forever The Optimist – Arecibo Bonjah – Beautiful Wild Captives – Captives Kevin Devine – Bulldozer Kevin Devine – Bubblegum S. Carey – Range Of Light Liz Green – Haul Away Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society – Catacombs Of The Black Vatican
Dan Condon
Ross Clelland
Chris Yates THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 27
live reviews
ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, WORLD’S END PRESS The Hi-Fi 12 Apr The air outside may be erring on the chilly side, but indoors the warm-and-fuzzies reign supreme as lush, bone-shaking synths and four-to-the-floor disco beats herald the arrival of Melburnian dance-punk darlings World’s End Press and open this evening’s festivities. The infectiously endearing fourpiece have been garnering an increasingly impressive reputation
delights, missing nary a step throughout their striking set. This is an outfit that has tangibly grown its skills in both composition and execution over the past few years, to the point where it doesn’t seem a stretch to equate this plucky foursome as our own burgeoning answer to NYC’s now-defunct LCD Soundsystem. In essence, you simply couldn’t stop this Press, even if you wanted to. With goodwill flowing and limbs loosened, it’s time for veteran party starters Architecture In Helsinki to take the stage. Looking every bit like a Salvo’s store violently ejaculated all over a random group of passing nerds, the nine-member-strong (including the three-piece ‘Helsinki Horns’ section)
Some sweet, if slightly showy, multi-instrumentalism (most notably on the part of keyboardist/dancing king Gus Franklin and drummer James Cecil) provides an added sense of polish to the set, which is swiftly undone by co-vocalist/keyboardist Kellie Sutherland’s slightly-toocute halting – and consequent re-starting – of W.O.W, a few bars in, to ask a tech to readjust her mic stand. It’s a strange, jarring (and admittedly minor) moment in an otherwise exemplary showing, but nonetheless raises the point that ‘the show must go on’ is still pretty solid advice, and, hey, so is, ‘Fix your own goddamn microphone stand without holding up the rest of the band.’ It’s a microphone stand, not rocket science.
CLOUD CONTROL @ STORY BRIDGE HOTEL. PIC: MARKUS RAVIK
SALLY SELTMANN @ BLACK BEAR LODGE. PIC: TERRY SOO
CLOUD CONTROL @ STORY BRIDGE HOTEL. PIC: MARKUS RAVIK
ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI @ THE HI-FI. PIC: RCSTILLS
for their live offerings in the wake of last year’s debut full-length, and it doesn’t even take a full song to justify their building hype as bodies start moving reflexively in response to the hypnotic, layered soundscapes. Throughout the unrelenting buffet of irresistible grooves, which includes highlights such as the expansive bursts and blooms of Drag Me Home and gleeful funk-lite of Your Time Will Come, the band’s members – frontman John Parkinson, Parkinson’s ridiculous hair, bassist Sashi Dharann, keyboardist Rhys Richards and drummer Tom Gould – individually prove to be visual and aural 28 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
troupe effortlessly bring their joy-drenched sounds to the table with class and aplomb. Using the opportunity to showcase some choice cuts from new LP, Now + 4EVA, even opening their set with last year’s beloved, sparkling In The Future, Architecture regardless provide a robust selection from their back catalogue that includes long-perfected gems Hold Music, That Beep, Heart It Races and natural encore-closer, Contact High, ensuring fans old and new alike are kept engaged and clamouring for more throughout the duration of the band’s 20-song-strong performance.
For a group nearing the midpoint of its second decade together, that kind of misstep isn’t as endearing as Sutherland might think – and it shows on her bandmates’ faces during the delay. It’s only a small hiccup, and really the only example of proceedings even getting close to being derailed. That said, Architecture are beginning to ever-so-slightly display the cracked hallmarks of a band that have been at it for nearly 15 years. It’s going to take more than thirtysomething twee sensibilities, nostalgic romanticism and three-song encores (ugh) to keep us interested from here. Mitch Knox
CLOUD CONTROL Story Bridge Hotel 12 Apr Former Australian Music Prize winners and triple j darlings Cloud Control are travelling the nation after an extended period overseas. They are in acoustic mode and in trio formation for this tour, leaving bassist Jeremy Kelshaw at home. The simple setup of drums, acoustic guitar, keys and their ubiquitous harmonies create a surprisingly lush sound. The smooth sounds of Dojo Rising soothe the packed and rowdy room. The chorus sweeps everyone up and we sing along, “Give it to me easy/Give it to me hard” dreamy and melancholy. Cloud Control evoke a wonderful
ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI @ THE HI-FI. PIC: RCSTILLS
hypnotic quality to their work, a credit to the percussion of Ulrich Lenffer, whose relentless grooves maintain focus and drive in their songs beneath the building melodies. Promises particuarly benefits from this with an instantly danceable slow groove. Every “Ooh” and “Ahh” in their songs (and there are a lot) is sung by the crowd with gusto, but when Promises begins, the audience go wild. They perform as a beautifully terrible and outof-tune choir on the floor at the three-quarter mark, hands in the air, belting the voiceless bridge. Happy Birthday (no, not that one) sees Heidi Lenffer taking
live reviews lead vocal duties, and her voice is so beautiful and otherworldly, echoing Beach House’s Victoria Legrand. Another example of their perfect mix of rhythm and dreamscape is Gold Canary, unfolding its beat as the harmonies echo around the room. The solo segues into Butthole Surfers’ Pepper, a surreal and funny moment, and finally they bring back the haunting closing canon. Their triple j Like A Version favourite Pursuit Of Happiness shows up in all its awkward glory. Newies Scar and Dream Cave get the crowd swaying and even a few lighters up in the air. Introduced as one of the first songs the band had written, Buffalo Country is still a crackin’ tune, full of alt-country guitar licks. By the end of the set, the room is past capacity. “It’s our last song... Maybe we can get some crowdsurfing in here?” lead vocalist Alister Wright half-jokes, and it is somehow possible. There’s Nothing In The Water We Can’t Fight soundtracks the crowdsurfing, its gorgeous hip-shaking, stomping beat
causing a rush to the stage and sweaty bodies happily swaying. These songs need nothing else, the strength of writing is proven again and again across the night and supported by their solid performance.
Opening things is local duo The Phoncurves, who feel throughout somewhat typical. Musically, having quite good sound delivered in a seasoned fashion lacks a defined sense of originality while sounding generally unmoving.
Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood
SALLY SELTMANN, WINTERCOATS, THE PHONCURVES Black Bear Lodge 10 Apr Though the Valley may resemble certain scenes from Jarhead, tucked away amongst the construction Black Bear Lodge remains open and tonight is playing host to Sally Seltmann. It’s a bit of a different atmosphere at the Lodge tonight, with most attendees taking a seat on the floor and favouring the free cucumber water over a good old-fashioned beer.
If you’re a fan of looping, then Wintercoats is right up your alley. The solo Melbourne musician is in rather fine form tonight with each track building on the elements of the last and really creating a great soundscape. Things get a bit weird when he takes on TLC’s No Scrubs with his voice hitting a little too close to the peak of ‘90s pop, making it a rather surreal experience. Still, all-in-all, the set was a pleasure. Making her way back Down Under from LA, Sally Seltmann takes to the stage in what is a rather minimal setup of a rather in-depth drum kit and a keyboard. She begins solo with On The Borderline, which works quite well, setting the tone for the rest of the set. The problem here is that what’s on offer here is so safe and lyrically
resembles bad high school poetry (lots of words ending with ‘ing’ or ‘ey’ get a lot of air time here) so by about three songs in things become interminable, especially with the New Buffalo tracks, which have not appreciated with age. That’s not to mention her terrible banter, which ranged from talking about boys, terrible jokes and name-dropping her husband (Darren Seltmann of The Avalanches). There’s even a point where Seltmann asks people talking to move to the back of the venue if they wish to continue as it was distracting for her to perform. There are some moments of clarity; some of her newer tracks feel more fleshed out with electronic elements and her on-tour drummer Bree is actually quite talented and a pleasure to watch. Ultimately, unless you’re a fan this is not a set that would win you over and in fact it would do the opposite. But if you were the girl sitting up the front blowing bubbles you probably had the time of your life. Bradley Armstrong
arts reviews
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Film
In cinemas 17 Apr Acclaimed actor, Ralph Fiennes, has directed just one film previously – Coriolanus. In The Invisible Woman, based on the factual book by Claire Tomalin, Fiennes again directs and also plays author Charles Dickens, who falls in love with a young woman and has a long-term relationship hidden from public
view. Dickens (Fiennes), bored with his matronly wife ( Joanna Scanlon) and domestic life with ten kids, is attracted to 18-year-old actress Nelly Turnan (Felicity Jones), when he meets her. It takes him a while – understandable considering the social mores of the time – but he wins over Nelly’s mother (Kristen Scott Thomas) and embarks on an affair with the young woman who admires his work and can speak intelligently about it. Screenwriter Abi Morgan (Shame, The Iron Lady) makes a few salient points about the lot of women in days gone by, focusing on the relative freedom of the male author, who was quite the celebrity in his day, and his ability to ‘shack up’ with his young lover and still enjoy his fame while Nelly had to hide in the shadows. Ralph Fiennes has crafted an aesthetically handsome film with some beautifully shot, memorable scenes. It might move too slowly for some cinema-goers but it’s a finely crafted piece with obvious appeal to a certain demographic. Performances are
excellent all round, including Fiennes who, unlike a lot of his quite cold stints in other films, exudes warmth as the charismatic Dickens. Vicki Englund
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON Film
In cinemas 17 Apr ‘Switched at birth’ is a dramatic trope as old as time immemorial, but Hirokazu Kore-eda is the kind of filmmaker who can grant even the most questionable premise – like Air Doll’s blowup-sex-doll-comes-to-life hook – cinematic grace, thematic weight and dramatic depth. Turning, as ever, away from the sensational, Kore-eda settles his story in the domestic: the swapped sons having spent six years being raised in contrasting situations (one in a rural, middle class shambles amidst many children, the other in a single-child, upper class, high rise apartment of quietude and order). What
we’re essentially circling around is the old ‘nature vs nurture’ debate: whether it’s the genes or the environs that shapes a child, and bonds a family. Koreeda is most interested in what that means in patriarchal Japan, where the first-born son is still a totem, and is unafraid to suggest that fatherhood may be, for some, work of pure vanity. But Kore-eda is a deft director of children (from Nobody Knows to I Wish), and the film, eventually, becomes about the feelings of the children being thrown into the middle of this ‘debate’. Anthony Carew
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 29
30 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
the guide
JOSH RENNIE-HYNES Name/instrument played: Josh RennieHynes – Guitar and words How long have you been performing? About four years now – before that I played drums and various other things with bands. But four years ago, when I was living and working in Canada, is when I started to properly write my own songs. You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep you happy if we throw them on the stereo? Currently, I’m obsessing over an artist called John Moreland; his album In The Throes is amazing. Also the new War On Drugs is badarse. Which Brisbane bands have been inspirations to you (musically or otherwise)? So many! Brisbane has some great songwriters for sure, and it’s only getting better. People like Brad Butcher, Steve Grady, Nat Dunn, Pat Tierney and so on, they’re all really strong songwriters. And bands like Columbia Buffet, Good Oak and so forth, too many to name! It’s a great scene to be a part of and everyone really helps each other out. What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? Well obviously, being born and raised in Southeast Queensland has had a huge influence on me and the songs I now write. I think for the most part, Brisbane is a humble, unpretentious city, which I also think comes across in my songwriting. I find it’s refreshing in that sense, it is what it is and it wears its heart on its sleeve. What’s in the pipeline for you musically in the short term? I have my single launch on at the Dowse Bar on 17 April. Then in June I’m releasing my first full-length album. Then tour, then tour some more! Details at joshrenniehynes.com! Josh Rennie-Hynes plays Dowse Bar on Thursday 17 April, The Treehouse, Byron Bay on Saturday 26 April, Urban Country Music Festival, Caboolture on Saturday 3 May, and Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall on Thursday 8 May. Photo by TERRY SOO.
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 31
eat/drink
DINING OUT DON’TS Illustration Sophie Blackhall-Cain.
CLICK
PLAY WITH CANDLES
Do not ever click your fingers to attract the attention of a waiter. Raising your hand or waving is acceptable in some situations if you do it with a smile, but clicking? Waiters aren’t dogs. You wouldn’t whistle at them. So don’t click.
Yes, we are aware how much fun it is to shove the corners of serviettes into the flames of tea candles, but imagine how annoyed the waitstaff are when they see all those ashes and blackened tissues lying on the table. Unless you’re tipping big to apologise, bury your pyro 14-year-old self deep down, at least until the next backyard bonfire.
LICK PLATES You might argue you’re showing appreciation to the chef; you loved the dish so much you want to savour the very last smears of sauce. Well maybe ask the waitstaff to pass on a compliment rather than assaulting other patrons’ eyes with the off-putting image of your tongue being dragged across the plate.
ALTER YOUR ORDER USE YOUR PHONE This one is up for debate, and it all depends on who you’re with (and how judgemental they or you are), the formality of the restaurant and the occasion. Instagram/ Twitter-browsing is only okay if you’re all doing it, at a casual eatery. The odd text is fine if you need to respond quickly. For some, any phone-related usage that isn’t urgent may be frowned upon. But we can probably agree that a one-minuteplus phone convo at the table is at best awkward and at worst insultingly rude.
GLOBAL ETIQUETTE What’s rude/weird here but cool in other countries, and vice versa. Milky coffee after lunch/dinner It’s not an insult or anything, but in Italy if you order a cafe latte or cappuccino to drink after lunch or dinner you might be considered weird as Italians see milky coffees are more of a breakfast-time thing. Try a short black instead. Burping In certain Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, China and India being two examples, no one will bat an eyelid if you burp. It might even be considered complimentary depending on the context. Slurping Can you really enjoy a bowl of ramen or wonton noodles if you’re too busy concentrating on not making 32 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
Unless you’ve got dietary restrictions, don’t be that difficult person who asks for X dish but without this and that, oh and can you please also add this and make sure that X thing is cooked in exactly this specific way I like.
any noise? In countries like Japan, China and Hong Kong (but not all Asian countries) it is perfectly acceptable to slurp up your noodles – just don’t be super loud and obnoxious about it; the slurping should happen naturally, not forcefullly. Eating with hands Hands are the original utensil. Just make sure you don’t use your left hand in places like India, the Middle East and parts of Africa, as that’s considered the unclean hand...
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
FRONTLASH
INDIE NEWS
OUT OF THE BLUE!
Californian emo legends Knapsack have been announced as headliners for Melbourne festival Poison City Weekender – their first ever Aussie tour, over a decade since they split. Please announce a Brisbane show!
ALL APOLOGIES After decades of fussin’ and feudin’ it was pretty nice to see Dave Grohl and Courtney Love hug and make up. It was still pretty great when the latter got booed though, best of both worlds…
ALWAYS LOOK ON… Brisbane’s scene is strengthened with the launch of new Valley venue The Brightside (formerly Electric Playground and before that The Healer). Vote with your feet and get behind our awesome live scene!
REACHING INSIDE
OWNING HIS ABILITY
FORWARD OF THE MIDDLE
Captivating new EP Heartstrings shows why The Phoncurves are receiving so much love locally. Let the duo wrap their gorgeous melodies around you at The Loft, Gold Coast, 23 May and The Zoo, 24 May – tickets through Oztix.
Self-styled musical black sheep Lyall Moloney is bringing his cache of catchy hooks and laidback grooves to Padre, 2 May and The Northern, Byron Bay, 3 May. Settle in and enjoy his looping and multi-instrumental flair.
Embark on a journey when Rohin Jones (formerly of The Middle East) continues his Thursday night residency at The Bearded Lady this week, before concluding his stint with a full band experience, 24 Apr. Free entry.
SURF’S UP!
PEAK POSITION
FINGERPICKIN’ FUN
Get amongst the salty, gritty goodness of The Ottomans, Doom Mountain, Hypnotic Bedrooms and White Lodge when they meet at Beetle Bar, Saturday. For $10 you’ll get the finest fusion of lo-fi, garage and psychedelic music.
Because you already know Record Store Day celebrations are going down, Mt Warning will be in the house at Jet Black Cat Music this Saturday, performing a set of tunes as well as signing copies of their double A-side 7” Forward Miles/Burn Again.
Spend your ANZAC Day with a celebration of all things folk, country and bluegrass. Prepare to be blown away when local legends The Casuarinas, The Company and Folklore check in to New Globe Theatre, 25 Apr.
TOGETHER ALWAYS
UTTERLY REVEALING
UP AND DOWN
Beautifully constructed harmonies that tug at your heartstrings; brother/sister duo The Acfields are not to be missed when they play Dowse Bar, 29 May; Taps Australia, Mooloolaba, 31 May; and Frankie Brown Cafe/Bar, Byron Bay, 1 Jun.
Bounce into the New Globe Theatre this Sunday because Bertie Page is presenting the best in Brisbane burlesque. Featuring the likes of Lena Marlene, Rosie Peaches, Coppelia Jane, enjoy striptease, hula hoops and live music. $10 presale, $15 door.
Ministry Of Sound’s Bounce Sessions has just been released, and the blokes behind the mix discs, SCNDL and J-Trick, pictured, are celebrating. Catch J-Trick 3 May, Family and 14 Jun, Platinum, GC and SCNDL 30 May, Eatons Hill Hotel.
SILKY SEAS
HEATHEN CHEMISTRY
BLOWING PROUD
The DJs of the Soft Rock Co-Op are dedicating a night to yacht rock; the kind of polished jams that dominated the airwaves throughout the late-‘70s and early-‘80s. The free session happens at Black Bear Lodge, 26 Apr.
Forget church, drop into The Bearded Lady this Sunday and channel the hillbilly spirit, with Coco Baulch, Silver Dollars, Danny Widdicombe and Rattlehand & The Family Jordan providing country, blues and rock’n’roll.
No one does brass bigger and more badarse than Bullhorn, with the guys set to create yet another unavoidable party at The Joynt, 26 Apr. Leave your preconceptions at home and get down on it.
KNAPSACK
BACKLASH SEEYA DAN C!
It’s sad for all involved but we’ve had to farewell the great Dan Condon, who’s moved on after many, many years providing great words on the Brisbane scene and beyond. Thanks for the memories Dan!
DOWNER Doesn’t matter how popular she’s been really fast and who made the decision, but Lorde fronting Nirvana even for just one song is just wrong. She ruined it, so nasty.
NO MORE REPORT You could spin this as a positive, but the fact that Stephen Colbert has been chosen to replace Letterman means that we have to say au revoir to The Colbert Report. So sad…
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 33
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
INDIE NEWS
CREATING A MONSTER
NO DOUBT
FIRE IN THEIR SOLES
The Toot Toot Toots may have transformed into Twin Beasts, but their noisy brand of altcountry remains the same. Hear them launch their forthcoming record Badlove at The Loft, GC, 12 Jun; Solbar, Maroochydore, 13 Jun; and Beetle Bar, 14 Jun.
Easter Saturday just got awesome with news Trainspotters are hosting No Diggity Live, a ‘90s party featuring Babaganoüj and Astrid, pictured, as well as DJ sets from DJ Black Amex, Apples, Horratio Fellatio and Thrill Murray.
Catch indie-pop sextet Fairchild before they jet OS to play shows in North America and Asia. They present new EP Burning Feet at The Loft, Gold Coast as part of the One Way Street Unofficial After Party, 26 Apr with Calan Mai and KNDR.
ONE TRUE LOVE
ITCHING TO PLAY
CLOSE YOUR EYES
If you’re out west and you fancy a bit of culture, then get along to That Production Company’s Romeo & Juliet. Part of this year’s Ipswich Festival, this theatre presentation takes place at Studio 188, 30 Apr – 10 May.
Having spent the first quarter of the year laying down some new demos, Brisbane alt-pop/ rockers Wayward Smith will hit the stage for the first time in 2014. Catch them 23 May, The Tempo Hotel; 4 Jul, The Loft, GC; and 21 Aug, Dowse Bar.
Serine Byron duo The Firetree bring their Star Dreamer tour to The Rails, Byron Bay, 23 Apr and Taps Australia, Mooloolaba, 25 Apr for a pair of free shows. If you like your indie-folk with a bit of romance, then this one’s for you.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE
Brought together by a love of singing, vintage threads and tunes from eras bygone, The SongBirds is the coming together of Erica Canales, Gaby Moreno and Dannielle Gaha DeAndrea. Hear the stunning results at Brisbane Jazz Club, 1 May.
Featuring members of much loved Sydney indie act Bluebottle Kiss, Infinity Broke have just released their debut record River Mirrors, with the band launching the LP with shows at The Loft, Gold Coast, 16 May and New Globe Theatre, 17 May.
WEST END RIOT
EASE INTO YOUR EVENING
A tsunami of solid rock is set to rip through The Bearded Lady, 27 Apr, with groove merchants Hobo Magic and screaming foursome The Stained Angels joining forces to restore disorder on our city streets.
Prepare for an intimate night when Jill Beth brings her tour to Dowse Bar, 22 May and The Treehouse, Byron Bay, 21 Jun. With her five-piece band and special guests Moski Jo, get ready for a unique blend of pop and country music.
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 34 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… ED KUEPPER The Return Of The Mail-Order Bridegroom Valve THE AFGHAN WHIGS Do To The Beast Sub Pop/Inertia THE MENZINGERS Rented World Epitaph/Warner TYCHO Awake Ghostly International/Inertia
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
SINGLE FOCUS
ALBUM FOCUS months recording it. It’s the biggest album I’ve ever put together and I’m stoked with the end result. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Life on the road is always inspiring me.
YOUNG LIONS
released in October, 2013.
SHAUN KIRK
Member’s name: Kyle Morris
What was inspiring you during the songs writing and recording? For all of us it was different. I know Zach had just ended a relationship with someone, so it’s a reflection on that and how he felt at the time.
Name: Shaun Kirk
Single title: Burn What’s the song about? Burn is about moving on and forgetting someone. As well as not messing with a good thing. How long did it take to write/ record? Burn was written the night before we recorded it in the studio. A bit of last minute inspiration. Everything just came together on the spot and the final product was great! Is this track from a forthcoming release/existing release? Burn is the title track from our debut album which was
We’ll like this song if we like... Rock/alternative music. Anything from Deaf Havana to The Getaway Plan to Birds Of Tokyo. Do you play it differently live? Yes. We like to put our own little live spin on all of our tracks. Young Lions play Thriller, Electric Playground on Saturday 26 April.
BRISBANE BOUND
Album title: Steer The Wheel Where did the title of your new album come from? This album for me is a bit of a step in a new direction, not only musically but I’m also now donating a percentage of my sales profits to charity. How many releases do you have now? Four albums, one EP and a DVD. How long did it take to write/record? I’ve been writing the songs for this record over the past two years and we spent six
What’s your favourite song on it? If I had to name some stand outs maybe Stitches, Two Hands On The Wheel and Twenty Two. Will you do anything differently next time? Every album I have done so far has been done differently but how it is going to be done differently doesn’t seem to surface until the album recording commences. Shaun Kirk plays The Zoo on Wednesday 16 April (supporting Allen Stone), Bluesfest, Byron Bay on Thursday 17 April and Monday 21 April and The Joynt on Wednesday 23 April.
JUST VISITING
is like Townsville on steroids. All we want to do is represent our little part of the map (NQ) by taking our show to what is already a thriving musical culture (Brisbane). What can we expect different from the show? Just a great party to match great tunes.
KING Member’s name: Stevie Mitchell Home ground: Townsville, North Queensland Describe your live music/ performance style as succinctly as possible: It’s an electric and exciting mix of genres that keeps the crowd on their toes the entire show. Is this your first foray to Brisbane? If not how many times have you performed in our midst? This is our first time to Brisbane as a band and we are super-excited. Please relate your impressions of our fair city: For me Brisbane
Has anything exciting been happening in your world of late? The recording of new songs, videos, shows coming soon! Waqa and Guss have recently taking up pottery lessons also. What will you be taking home as a souvenir? Con – A woman. Jason – Quirks job. Angus – tighter jeans. Waqa and Steve want a pot glass each from the Caxton. King play New Globe Theatre on Saturday 19 April.
NAHKO & MEDICINE FOR THE PEOPLE Answered by: Nahko Bear Why are you coming to visit our fair country? Embarking on our third tour and our debut at Byron Bluesfest! Is this your first visit? Third time around. First was last January and second was with Xavier Rudd in October. Amazing experience! How long are you here for? Two-and-a-half weeks. Not long enough! But a good run to spread the high vibes of true storytelling. What do you know about Australia, in ten words or less? Geographical
beauty, Indigenous struggle, mining industry madness, amazing social culture. Any extra-curricular activities you hope to participate in? Surf, elder catch-up, music with some of the greatest Aussie musos, and some time in the bush. What will you be taking home as a souvenir? Stories, knowledge, and a warm heart. Nahko & Medicine For The People play Bluesfest, Byron Bay on Friday 18 April and Sunday 20 April and The Tivoli on Wednesday 23 April (supporting Michael Franti & Spearhead). THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 35
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
THE MUSIC PRESENTS Allen Stone: The Zoo 16 Apr
Arctic Monkeys: BEC 7 May
The Wailers: The Tivoli 16 Apr
DZ Deathrays: Elsewhere 8 May, The Zoo 9 May
Cloud Control: Brunswick Hotel 16 Apr, Beach Hotel 16 Apr, Noosa Heads SLSC 17 Apr, Solbar 17 Apr, Jubilee Hotel 19 Apr, Boardwalk Tavern 19 Apr, Coolangatta Hotel 20 Apr Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm 17-21 Apr KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli 19 Apr India.Arie & Joss Stone: The Tivoli 20 Apr Jake Bugg: The Hi-Fi 23 Apr Ozomatli: The Zoo 23 Apr Stonefield: Oh Hello! 24 Apr, Beach Hotel 25 Apr, One Way Street Party 26 Apr The Decline: Crowbar 2 May Urban Country Music Festival: Caboolture 2-4 May Residual: The Loft 3 May, Tempo Hotel 4 May Groovin’ The Moo: Townsville 4 May The Jezabels: The Tivoli 6 May
WED 16
Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds + special guests: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Club Night feat. Beejays: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point Simon Watson + Alan Boyle + Lucinda Johnson: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington Underground Sounds Open Mic Night feat. various artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Le Parti Soul feat. Forty Five + The Flangipanis + DJ Redbeard: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley Wicked Wednesdays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong Open Mic Night feat. various artists: Solbar, Maroochydore Elephant Unplugged feat. various artists: The Elephant Hotel, Fortitude Valley Open Mic Night feat. various artists: The Loft, Chevron Island Candice: The Plough Inn, Southbank Rockaoke (Old School) feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley The Wailers: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley Allen Stone + special guests: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
THU 17
Good Friday Eve Party feat. various artists: Albany Creek Tavern, Albany Creek
Ella Hooper: Black Bear Lodge 15 May, Soundlounge 16 May, Star Court Theatre 17 May Free Your Mind ft Northlane, Thy Art Is Murder: The Hi-Fi 22 May Kingswood: The Hi-Fi 31 May In Heart’s Wake: The Tempo Hotel 15 Jun, The Sands Tavern 29 Jun Hard-Ons: Coolangatta Hotel 20 Jun, Prince Of Wales 21 Jun The Audreys: The Zoo 21 Jun
GIG OF THE WEEK KREATOR: 19 APR, THE HI-FI
Frente!: Star Court Theatre 27 Jun, Brisbane Powerhouse 28 Jun The Beards: The Spotted Cow 2 Jul, Soundlounge 3 Jul, The Tivoli 4 Jul, Solbar 5 Jul, The Northern 6 Jul Little Bastard: Black Bear Lodge 10 Jul, Solbar 11 Jul Something For Kate: The Tivoli 11 Jul The White Album Concert: QPAC 13 Jul
Robot Child + The Royales + After Gryce + Superkaleida: Beetle Bar, Brisbane The Murlocs + The Babe Rainbow + Junkyard Diamonds: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Tamara O’Callaghan: Brisbane Jazz Club (6.30pm), Kangaroo Point Jason Singh + Adam Surace: Brothers Ipswich, Raceview
The Good Ship + Jack Flash + Fox N Firkin + Starboard Cannons: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah Green Jam Sessions with Matt Cook Trio: QPAC (Melbourne Street Green), Southbank Captives + Dead Joe + Dead Wolves + DJ Valdis: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley Raw Thursdays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong Cloud Control: Solbar, Maroochydore Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds: Soundlounge, Currumbin Roth + The Worriers: The Bearded Lady, West End Snitch feat. Never Lose Sight + Daybreakers + King At Heart: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Zac Gunthorpe: Cafe Le Monde, Noosa
Katch + Fidel: The Fox Hotel (Dandy’s Rooftop), South Brisbane
Russ Walker + DJ J-Mixx: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Mojo Webb: The Fox Hotel (Longbar), South Brisbane
Darren J Ray: City Golf Club, Toowoomba
Milk Crate Comedy Night feat. various artists: The Loft, Chevron Island
Treehouse: Coniston Lane, Fortitude Valley Josh Rennie-Hynes + SueAnne Stewart: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington Cosmic Dolphin Party 1st Birthday feat. various artists: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Kris Kristofferson: Empire Theatre, Toowoomba Atienne Bakker Quartet + Louise Denson Group: JMI Live (6pm), Bowen Hills Musique: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central Ballad Boy: Loving Hut, Mount Gravatt
Jazz Trio feat. various artists: The Piano Bar, Maroochydore Nathan Pursey: The Plough Inn, Southbank The Music Kitchen feat. Steven Dorington + Go Van Go + Tesla Coil + more: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley Open Mic Night feat. various artists: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley Blonde on Blonde + The Bacchanales + Waax! + Maids: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
FRI 18
Underground Sounds Open Mic Night, The Very Best Of feat. various artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Tigers + Captives + Release The Hounds + Dead Joe + Ash McIntyre: 4ZZZ (Car Park), Fortitude Valley
Cloud Control: Noosa Heads Surf Club, Noosa Heads
Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta
Greenthief: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Cloud Control: Boardwalk Tavern, Hope Island
Josh Rennie-Hynes + SueAnne Stewart: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington
Berst: Brisbane Brewhouse, Woolloongabba
Good Friday feat. Walker + Chris Miller + Audun: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Le Breeze: Lambert’s Restaurant, Kangaroo Point
Lavidius + Frayed And The Fallen + Trinatyde + Home By Sudden Landslide + Valvetrain + Wisdoms Realm: Club Metro, Ipswich
Kris Kristofferson: QPAC (Concert Hall), Southbank
Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta
Easterfest 2014 feat. Evermore + Bec Laughton + Slip On Stereo + The Idea of North + The OC Supertones + Dami Im + Tigertown + Tiffany Britchford & The Reckless Abandon + more: Queens Park, Toowoomba
Buried In Verona + Fit For A King + Feed Her To The Sharks + Ocean Grove: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Fresh Fridays feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
No Diggity Live with Babaganouj + Astrid + various DJs: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Motion DJs: Irish Murphy’s (Upstairs), Brisbane
Who’s Charlie: Saltbar, South Kingscliff Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar / 10pm), Kangaroo Point The Loveless Union + Midnight Son & The Crime Scene: The Crosstown Eating House, Woolloongabba
Tiafau + Giv: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Motion DJs: Irish Murphy’s (Upstairs), Brisbane Record Store Day feat. Mt Warning: Jet Black Cat Music, West End Cloud Control: Jubilee Hotel, Fortitude Valley Kris Kristofferson: Jupiters ( Jupiters Theatre), Broadbeach
Late Night Comedy feat. various artists: The Hideaway (10pm), Fortitude Valley
The Celibate Rifles + New Jack Rubys + The Baskervillans: Kings Beach, Caloundra
Harley Young + Go Go Fish + Katie Who + Tash Le Strange + Mentally Twins: The Loft, Chevron Island
The Celibate Rifles: Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra
Various DJs: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley
SAT 19
Cookie Jar – Playbunny Party feat. various DJs: 633 Ann, Fortitude Valley Siva Siva Siva + Island Eagle Band + more: Acacia Ridge Hotel, Acacia Ridge The Ottomans + White Lodge + Hypnotic Bedrooms + Doom Mountain: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
1000S OF GIGS AT YOUR FINGERTIPS. FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU 36 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
McGuire, Johnson, Wilson & Hudson: Brisbane Jazz Club, Kangaroo Point
Mantra Trio: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central St Pats Revisited feat. The Rumours + Johnny Jump Up + Sunas + Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane King + Ambidecks + Mick Lindsay Band + Paua & Caitlyn Shadbolt: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Danny Widdicombe: Padre Bar, Woolloongabba Baltimore Gun Club + Elston Gunn + DJ Valdis: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley
CAFÉ - BAR
321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY
WED APRIL 16TH LE PARTI SOUL W/ DJ REDBEARD (8PM TILL LATE) FORTY FIVE (10:00PM) + FLANGIPANIS (9:00PM)
THU APRIL 17TH CAPTIVES (8:30) + DEAD JOE (7:45PM) + DEAD WOLVES (7:00PM)
FRI APRIL 18TH CLOSED
SAT APRIL 19TH BALTIMORE GUN CLUB (9:00PM) + ELSTON GUNN (8:00PM)
SUN APRIL 20TH ASSISTANCE DOG FOR EMALISSE (FUNDRAISER): GHOST AUDIO (9:00PM) + THE ANDROGYNY (8:00PM)
MON APRIL 21ST (NO BANDS)
TUE APRIL 22ND SARAH ALICE (9:30PM) + DONNELLE BROOKS (8:30PM)
FREE LIVE MUSIC AND INDIE DJS
WANT TO PLAY? EMAIL BOOKINGS@RICSBAR.COM.AU
WWW.RICSBAR.COM.AU
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 37
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au DJ Ryan: Ric’s (Upstairs), Fortitude Valley
India Arie + Joss Stone: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Saturday Night Live feat. various artists: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
Rock N Roll BBQ Easter Spectacular with The Fred Band + DRA + The Stress Of Leisure + Release The Hounds + Bad At Sex + Cowboy Bob: The Underdog (12pm), Fortitude Valley
Devils Kiosk: Royal Mail Hotel (12.30pm), Goodna The Brodie Graham Band: Royal Mail Hotel (4pm), Goodna
MON 21
DJ Josh: Saltbar, South Kingscliff Thirsty Merc: Solbar, Maroochydore
Kris Kristofferson: Brolga Theatre, Maryborough
The Very: Story Bridge Hotel (The Corner Bar), Kangaroo Point
Mick’s Trivia: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar/10pm), Kangaroo Point
Astro Travellers: The Joynt (3.30pm), South Brisbane
THE MURLOCS: 17 APR, BLACK BEAR LODGE
Rohin Jones: The Bearded Lady, West End Katch: The Fox Hotel (Dandy’s Rooftop), South Brisbane Fidel + Al Beeno: The Fox Hotel (Longbar), South Brisbane Kreator + Death Angel + special guests: The Hi-Fi, West End Signature Series: The Joynt, South Brisbane
Record Store Day feat.HardOns + Columbia Buffet + Sounds Like Sunset + Captives + Golden Bats + Sweet Apple: Tym Guitars, Fortitude Valley
Stretch + friends: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Craic’n Easter Sunday feat. various artists: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane
SUN 20
Various Artists: Limes Hotel, Fortitude Valley Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Utaka! Black Sabbath Tribute Night feat. Sons Of Ugly + Raygun Mortlocks + more: Beetle Bar, Brisbane
Lane-Harry x Ike Campbell + Tommy Sheehan + Aquila Young + Scott Dalton: The Loft, Chevron Island Karma: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Pepperazzi Big Band: Brisbane Jazz Club (5pm), Kangaroo Point
Malo Zima: The Scratch, Milton
Cloud Control: Coolangatta Hotel (4pm), Coolangatta
The Decoys + Electric Samurai: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Various artists: Coolangatta Sands Hotel (Sand Bar), Coolangatta
Sweat It Out Party with Yolanda Be Cool: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley Roku Music: The Underdog, Fortitude Valley Jason Singh + Adam Surace: Twin Towns (Breezes), Tweed Heads
Bouncing Bunnies Burlesque feat. Bertie Page + Lena Marlene + Coppelia Jane + more: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley Car Park Party with Jackie Onassis + Smokin Joe Mekhael + Mashd n Kutcher + Waity + more: Normanby Hotel (12pm), Red Hill
Mad Monday feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Bunny Pimps & Hoes Party feat. various DJs: Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
TUE 22
Ocean Street World Festival with Ash Grunwald: Solbar, Maroochydore
The Vernons + Jakarta Criers + Go Van Go: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
The Heathen Hoedown feat. Coco Baulch + The Silver Dollars + Danny Widdicombe + Rattlehand + The Family Jordan: The Bearded Lady (2pm), West End
The Bug feat. Brian Brett + Robin Etter-Cleave + Sue Wighton + Ross Roache: New Farm Bowls Club, New Farm Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley
Coisa Linda: The Joynt (3.30pm), South Brisbane
Zac Gunthorpe: The End, West End
Tari Hujan: The Joynt (9pm), South Brisbane
Morbid Angel + special guests: The Hi-Fi, West End
Buried In Verona + Fit For A King + Feed Her To The Sharks + Ocean Grove: The Lab (all ages), Brisbane
Phil Barlow Band: Coorparoo Bowls Club (2pm), Coorparoo
Annual Bunny Party feat. Various DJs: Oxford 152, Bulimba
Ben Whiting + Kaurna Cronin: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington
Blue Steel: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Sheppard + guests: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Songs of Love & War feat. Francesca de Valence + Emma Dean: Pyramids Road Wines, Ballandean
Nautic Giants feat The Aston Shuffle (DJ Set) + guests: Elsewhere (Day), Surfers Paradise
Assistance Dog for Emalisse feat Ghost Audio + The Androgyny: Ric’s, Fortitude Valley
Dirty Bunny Party feat. Wasabi: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Tuesday Night Jazz feat. Trio Love: The Joynt, South Brisbane Rattlehand: The Scratch, Milton Jam It Together feat. various artists: The Tempo Hotel, Fortitude Valley
T. Williams: The Tempo Hotel (Bowler Bar), Fortitude Valley
Hunx & His Punx + Shannon & The Clams + The Gooch Palms + The Babe Rainbow: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
classies classies.themusic.com.au MUSIC SERVICES RECORDING STUDIOS ALCHEMIX RECORDING STUDIO Established 1998. Hugenew-Studio-now-in-West End. Lots-of-in-house-instruments. Tape-options-and-the-latest-indigital-recording. Ring-to-book in for a free studio tour----0407630770----www.alchemix.com.au----sound@ alchemix.com.au----we-typicallyrecord-singles-eps-albums-&-livejams. Dry-hire-options-available-too... Ad ID: 4-13183
INCREMENTAL RECORDS Professional recordings in a relaxed atmosphere at affordable prices. Clients include Velociraptor, Dune Rats, No Anchor, Nikko, Dick Nasty, Millions and more. www.incrementalrecords. com 0409830607 incrementalrecords@gmail.com Ad ID: 4-13340
REHEARSAL ROOMS
SERVICES OTHER
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REPAIRS
OUT LOUD MUSIC STUDIOS Brisbane’s favourite rehearsal rooms. Biggest rooms in town. 10am - 10pm everyday! Located in West End. Call to book on 0738460111 Ad ID: 4-13818
Pro-audio music equipment repairs, servicing, modifications and custom builds - Guitar amps - Mixers - Keyboards - Effect units - Pedals - DJ gear - DAW and controllers - Sound reinforcement Ad ID: 4-13762
38 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014
World-class mastering.
$
99
From $99 per song +GST
tour guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
INTERNATIONAL
Brant Bjork: The Zoo 23 May, The Northern 24 May
Band Of Skulls: The Hi-Fi 21 Jun
Allen Stone: The Zoo 16 Apr
Gary Numan: The Tivoli 27 May
Joan As Police Woman: The Hi-Fi 24 Jun
We Are Scientists: The Zoo 29 May
Story Of The Year: The Hi-Fi 26 Jun
Meat Puppets: The Zoo 30 May
The Vibrators: Prince Of Wales 28 Jun
The Wailers: The Tivoli 16 Apr Kris Kristofferson: Lismore Workers Club 16 Apr, Empire Theatre 17 Apr, QPAC 18 Apr, Jupiters Theatre 19 Apr
Mango Groove: Eatons Hill Hotel 30 May
Adrian Edmondson & The Bad Shepherds: Black Bear Lodge 16 Apr
James Blunt: BCEC 2 Jun Armin van Buuren: BEC 4 Jun
Kreator, Death Angel: The Hi-Fi 19 Apr
BAND OF SKULLS: 21 JUN, THE HI-FI
KC & The Sunshine Band: The Tivoli 19 Apr D.O.D: Platinum 19 Apr, The Met 25 Apr
Skid Row, Ugly Kid Joe: Eatons Hill Hotel 26 Apr
Jonny Craig: Crowbar 8 May, Tall Poppy Studios 9 May (AA)
India Arie, Joss Stone: The Tivoli 20 Apr
D.O.A: Prince Of Wales 27 Apr
Pete Rock & DJ Premier: Arena 9 May
Morbid Angel: The Hi-Fi 22 Apr Hunx & His Punx: The Zoo 22 Apr
Russian Circles: Crowbar 29 Apr KT Tunstall: The Zoo 30 Apr D.R.I: The Hi-Fi 1 May
Ozomatli: The Zoo 23 Apr
Hugh Laurie: QPAC 2 May
Jake Bugg: The Hi-Fi 23 Apr
John Newman: Eatons Hill Hotel 3 May
Michael Franti & Spearhead: The Tivoli 23 Apr Dizzee Rascal: Eatons Hill Hotel 24 Apr
The Acacia Strain: The Lab 3 May (AA), Thriller 3 May, Expressive Grounds 4 May (AA)
Holy Fuck: The Zoo 24 Apr
The Naked & Famous: The Hi-Fi 5 May
MKTO: Jupiters 23 Apr, BCEC 24 Apr
Jason Derulo: BEC 5 May
Front Line Assembly: Transcontinental Hotel 24 Apr
Cults: The Zoo 6 May Lorde: Riverstage 6 May (AA)
Ellie Goulding, Broods: BCEC 5 Jun (AA) Ron Pope: Princess Theatre 6 Jun White Lung: Alhambra Lounge 6 Jun Slim Jim Phantom: Racecourse Hotel 6 Jun
Adolescents: The Tempo Hotel 3 Jul Lloyd Cole: Brisbane Powerhouse 10 Jul, Soundlounge 11 Jul, Star Theatre 12 Jul Pelican: The Zoo 24 Jul Andrew Strong: The Commitments: The Tivoli 25 Jul, Twin Towns 26 Jul
ScHoolboy Q: The Hi-Fi 7 Jun
A Great Big World: The Tivoli 2 Aug
Kevin Mark Trail: The Loft 7 Jun, Dowse Bar 8 Jun
Hanson: The Tivoli 5 Aug, Coolangatta Hotel 6 Aug
Kristin Hersh: Black Bear Lodge 8 Jun
Anathema: The Hi-Fi 21 Aug
Propagandhi: The Hi-Fi 8 Jun, Miami Shark Bar 9 Jun
The Dandy Warhols: The Tivoli 30 Aug
Bastille: BCEC 13 Jun (AA)
Biffy Clyro: The Tivoli 4 Sep
The English Beat: The Zoo 18 May
Carcass: The Hi-Fi 13 Jun
Kanye West: BEC 15 Sep
Earth: Crowbar 17 Jun
2Cellos: Eatons Hill Hotel 18 May
Robbie Williams: BEC 22 Sep
Finntroll: The Zoo 18 Jun
Justin Timberlake: BEC 26, 27 Sep
Pyramid: Chinese Whispers 10 May Michael Buble: BEC 12 May Fleshgod Apocalypse: The Hi-Fi 14 May Robyn Hitchcock: New Globe Theatre 16 May Misery Signals: The Hi-Fi 17 May, The Lab 18 May (AA)
Supersuckers: The Zoo 19 Jun
Huxley: Bowler Bar 25 Apr
Arctic Monkeys: BEC 7 May
Janelle Monae, Kimbra: BCEC 21 May
Salmonella Dub: The Hi-Fi 25 Apr, The Northern 26 Apr
Temples: The Zoo 8 May
Phfat: Bowler Bar 23 May
La Dispute, Balance & Composure: Trinity Hall 19 Jun (AA), The Hi-Fi 20 Jun
Disclosure: Eatons Hill Hotel 8 May
James Vincent McMorrow: QPAC 23 May
Dragon: Kedron Wavell Services Club 20 Jun, Twin Towns 21 Jun
Xzibit: Chalk Hotel 26 Apr
The Crimson Projekct: The Hi-Fi 28 Jun
Lady Gaga: BEC 26 Aug
Katy Perry: BEC 27, 28, 30 Nov, 1, 15 Dec
THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014 • 39
40 • THE MUSIC • 16TH APRIL 2014