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2 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 3
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
NATIONAL EDITOR MAGAZINES Mark Neilsen
EDITOR Steve Bell
ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi
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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, Guy Davis, Helen Stringer, Jake Sun, Jazmine O’Sullivan, Lochlan Watt, Madeleine Laing, Mandy McAlister, Michael Smith, Mitch Knox, Paul Mulkearns, Roshan Clerkea, Sam Hobson, Sky Kirkham, Sophie Blackhall-Cain, Tessa Fox, Tom Hersey, Tony McMahon, Tyler McLoughlan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 12 NOV - 18 NOV 2014
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Redland Bay Hotel is having a music festival! Head to the Drop In Festival on Saturday from 1.30pm, where you can catch The Beautiful Girls playing their first Brisbane show in a couple of years, Bluejuice playing their final ever Brisbane show, plus Ash Grunwald, The Cairos, Karl S Williams and Neighbour. There’s beautiful views and a street food menu to keep you going, so head beachside and get some live music into ya!
So the G20 summit is upon us, and the eyes of the world are on Brisbane. Will there be the chaos and riots that have plagued previous summits? Will we see Obama eating a kebab in the Valley mall at 2am feebly trying to comprehend the lockout laws? Will Putin be able to resist Wet N Wild? Is anything constructive at all going to be achieved? One thing’s for sure, it’s gonna be an interesting few days…
Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson, Loretta Zoppos, Niall McCabe 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
About 20 years ago revered Sydney indie trio Smudge dropped their debut album Manilow, and the world became a better place for its presence. Now they’re celebrating the anniversary of this landmark occasion with a party at which they’ll play the album in full (as well as some later classics), so get ready to hear faves like Impractical Joke, Superhero, Divan, Down About It, Scary Cassettes, Pulp and Ugly Just Like Me! And they’ve got Manilow on vinyl! And skateboards! Everything’s coming up Smudge! BRISBANE
rock
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 5
national news news@themusic.com.au J MASCIS
TOY STORY SHORT HAWAIIAN VACATION (2011)
TOY STORY MORE
FROM THE CLOUDS
Dinosaur Jr frontman and guitar-guru J Mascis returns to Australia in February next year for the first time since early 2012. Premiering new release Tied To A Star, the second album in his solo catalogue, he’ll be playing shows around the country and bringing Magic Dirt front woman Adalita along for the ride. He kicks things off 13 Feb, Melbourne Recital Centre, before playing 19 Feb, The Zoo, Brisbane; 20 Feb, The Sound Lounge, Gold Coast; 21 Feb, Factory Theatre, Sydney; and 23 & 24 Feb, Perth International Arts Festival (with Mogwai).
WISH GRANTED
Canadian contemporary folk musician, Juno nominee, Polaris Prize listed artist and ECMA winner Jenn Grant will release her fifth album Compostela on 20 Nov, and will be visiting our shores for this year’s Woodford Folk Festival and a slew of headline shows early next year. She has recently performed at Primavera Sound, SXSW and The Great Escape, garnering critical acclaim from all corners of the world. She stops by Camelot Lounge, Sydney, 8 Jan; The Triffid, Brisbane, 11 Jan; Fremantle Arts Centre, 18 Jan; and Yarra Hotel, Melbourne, 22 Jan. More dates on theMusic.com.au.
ALIVE AND KICKING
Keen to get back to Australia before the year is out, rotating international rock supergroup The Dead Daisies are looking forward to their latest tour around the nation. The 2014 line-up includes singer Jon Stevens (Noiseworks/ INXS), guitarists David Lowy (Mink/Red Phoenix) and Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses/ Psychedelic Furs), bassist Marco Mendoza (Thin Lizzy/Whitesnake), keyboardist Dizzy Reed (Guns N’ Roses/Hookers & Blow), and drummer Brian Tichy (Ozzy Osbourne/ Billy Idol). The group will play the Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 30 Nov; Rosemount Hotel, Perth, 4 Dec; The Triffid, Brisbane, 5 Dec; and Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, 7 Dec.
MAE FOR MARCH
In 2015, it’ll be ten years since Virginia power pop five-piece Mae released their most successful album, The Everglow, and since it’s been seven years since the band were last here, for Soundwave 2008, they decided they’d celebrate the tenth anniversary of The Everglow with an Australian tour. Supported by special guests Nova & The Experience, Mae play 5 Mar at The Brightside, Brisbane; 6 Mar at Miami Tavern, Gold Coast; 7 Mar at The Small Ballroom, Newcastle; 8 Mar at Baker St, Sydney; 12 Mar at The Roller Den, Sydney; 14 Mar at Corner Hotel, Melbourne; and 15 Mar at Amplifier Bar, Perth.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE… HYPOCRISY ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM AFTER THE DEATHS OF THATCHER AND WHITLAM? KNOCK ME DOWN WITH A FEATHER. @ABCNEWSINTERN TELLS US HOW IT IS IN THE WAKE OF GOUGH WHITLAM’S MEMORIAL SERVICE. 6 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
It’s official – Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mr Potato Head and the rest of the much loved cast of Toy Story will be returning to the big screen in a brand new adventure – Toy Story 4 – in 2017. Pixar Animation Studios will once again be producing, John Lasseter – who directed the original feature that started it all – is directing and Walt Disney Pictures is releasing the fourth instalment in the franchise that saw Toy Story 3, directed by Lee Unkrich, earn $US1.1 billion at the box office worldwide.
SPANDAU GOLD
In describing the moment saxophonist Steve Norman stepped forward at London’s Albert Hall to play his solo in the classic, True, and comparing it to the late Clarence Clemons at a Springsteen concert, Rolling Stone’s critic wrote, “the ecstasy was that kind of loud.” Australia gets to experience that ecstasy and more in May when one of the biggest bands out of the UK in the 1980s, Spandau Ballet bring their Soul Boys Of The Western World Live Tour to Australia. The tour is titled for their new film, the second highest grossing film in the UK on release earlier this month. Spandau Ballet play 13 May at Brisbane Entertainment Centre, 15 May at Qantas Credit Union Arena in Sydney, 19 May at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne and 22 May at Perth Arena.
NAS
NAS CELEBRATES 20TH
Certainly one of the most revered rap albums ever released, Illmatic celebrates the 20th anniversary of its release this year and its creator, Nas, short for Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, is going to perform it, start to finish, in the flesh for the first time in Australia when he arrives in January. With Nas headlining on 24 Jan at Melbourne’s Sugar Mountain festival, The Music proudly presents his headline run of sideshows: 20 Jan at The Tivoli, Brisbane; 23 Jan at Enmore Theatre, Sydney; and 27 Jan at Metro City, Perth.
JONSON STREET BYRON BAY FRI 14 NOV
KING OF THE NORTH VALLHALLA LIGHTS SAT 15
VIOLENT SOHO FRI 21 NOV
THE RUMINATERS DEAD BEAT BAND SAT 22 NOV
THE ART SUN 23 NOV
SAN CISCO FRI 28 NOV
VELSHUR SAT 29 NOV
SEA LEGS THURS 4 DEC
LIME CORDIALE TIMBERWOLF FRI 5 DEC
GRAVEYARD TRAIN SAT 6 DEC
MILLIONS THURS 11 DEC
NEW NAVY TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE WWW.THENORTHERN.COM.AU
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 7
local news
FRONTLASH BRAVO
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson’s eulogy at Gough Whitlam’s state memorial service was one of the great Australian speeches in recent memory. You just don’t hear many people being eloquent and compassionate these days...
CITY LIGHTS The washes of lights put over the city for G20 actually look quite stunning at night from a distance. Why is that only on when the rich strangers from overseas are coming?
WHO’S THE BOSS A super-fan has paid US$300K to charity so that he can eat lasagne at Bruce Springsteen’s place. True dedication, but it would want to be bloody nice lasagne and not from a packet.
qld.news@themusic.com.au
LATE NIGHT GOMA
BREKKY MUSIC
Not just for the early birds, B105 is presenting another of its free breakfast and live music Pop Up Shows 20 Nov between 6-9am at Bob Bell Park in Strathpine, and this time the music comes courtesy Megan Washington and X Factor winner Marlisa. JULIA ROSE
DIRTY DEEDS
Poor Phil Rudd, arrested for ‘trying to procure a murder’ which makes world headlines and the charges dropped the very next day due to lack of evidence? Nothing to see here...
PARDON US So one of the weapons that the police have in case G20 demonstrations get out of hand is a ‘sonic cannon’ with a range of 2km. It’s difficult to see what could go wrong using something like that for the first time...
HOWZAT? So the Aussie cricket board has outsourced the review of the Pakistan Test debacle to India? If they work out what we’re doing wrong as if they’re going to tell us...
8 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
POGOING OFF
Lunatics On Pogosticks have announced a couple of east coast shows, including one in Brisbane, in support of their latest single Cappuccino, released 7 Nov. The boys and their brand of scuzzy pop have gone from strength to strength after winning the 2013 triple J Unearthed comp, and you can catch them at Black Bear Lodge on 15 Jan.
NOTHING COMPARES
Surprising as it may be, but Sinead O’Connor’s upcoming Australian tour will be her second. If you’ve been waiting almost 30 years, don’t lapse. Known for her controversial live performance as much her hit singles, she hits Queensland Performing Arts Centre, 11 Mar.
NOEL PEARSON
BACKLASH
LUNATICS ON POGOSTICKS
The Gallery of Modern Art’s music series Up Late returns on 21 Nov. The series, which runs in conjunction with the major summer exhibition Future Beauty: 30 Years Of Japanese Fashion, will kick off with Japanese band Broken Doll’s premiere Australian performance, followed by Sampology, Factory Floor (UK), Shonen Knife (UK), salyu x salyu ( Japan), Oscar Key Sung, MTNS and Last Dinosaurs to close on 13 Feb.
ELECTRIC FEEL COME AT ME
Julia Rose has a three-octave range. She’s bringing that and violin-infused single Come What May to The Motor Room, 12 Dec.
HELPING HAND
Supporting London Grammar at Riverstage, 7 Mar will be New York minimal pop trio Wet. Flyying Colours open for Johnny Marr at The Tivoli, 4 Feb.
Electric Suede play their first headline show at The Zoo, Brisbane, 20 Nov. They’ve an anything-goes style of rock, in which anything goes. They don’t tell this to venues though, who inevitably envision OH&S paperwork.
THE KEYS TO BRISBANE
Already announced to be coming to Australia to play Bluesfest 2015, The Black Keys have announced the addition of a Brisbane sideshow 2 Apr at the Riverstage with special guests Band Of Skulls and Bad//Dreems, the perfect entrée to the Easter long weekend.
BUTLER THREE
Currently on tour in the US, the John Butler Trio will be back in Australia by the end of the year to play the Falls and Southbound festivals. Showcasing their latest album, Flesh & Blood, 8 Mar they play Empire Theatre in Toowoomba before heading north.
NUMBER THREE
With more than 500 shows and two wrecked Taragos under their collective belt, five-piece Castlecomer are setting off to do it all again in the name of their third EP, Miss December. Catch them 19 Dec at Old Museum.
NEW RASCALS
Bootleg Rascal, recently wrapped up a national tour supporting label-mates Sticky Fingers. Now they headline a few shows of their own as they head out to showcase new single, I Know. They play 20 Dec at The Bearded Lady.
CRAZY CHRISTMAS CABARET
XMAS CRAZY
Hosted by Matt Ward and co-hosted by Dame Martini Fernando Ice, who was, of course Miss Gay Australia 2011 and 2013 Queensland Drag Queen of the Year, The Greenroom Project presents Crazy Christmas Cabaret, live in the Basement 8 Dec at The Arts Centre Gold Coast.
local news qld.news@themusic.com.au
PAPER LIONS
TIM CHAISSON
LIT UP
Canadian singer-songwriter Tim Chaisson is touring Oz in support of his new album, Lost In Light. Hear the new tunes in the flesh, 18 Dec, Café Le Monde, Sunshine Coast and 19 Dec, New Globe Theatre.
AMERICAN BEAUTY
PAPER LIONS
Canadian dream-pop heroes Paper Lions have just announced an Australian tour to promote their sophomore album My Friends. See ‘em at Black Bear Lodge, 2 Jan.
ANOTHER PLANET
Now travelling as Grace, WA singer-songwriter Grace Woodroofe, who splits her time between Perth and Los Angeles and is fresh off a national tour supporting alt-j, has released a new single, Pluto. She’s now heading out a national tour that sees her performing 4 Dec at Black Bear Lodge.
Classic rock legends America will return to Australia in mid-2015, playing Jupiters, Gold Coast, 15 May. Founded in the 1960s, the band found success with a string of number ones and top tens.
TALENTS GALORE
PSYCH BROS
I DUB THEE
Self-proclaimed “psychedelic boogie rockers” from Florida, Tonstartssbandht, are heading Down Under; 20 Dec they play Trainspotters.
Canadian spoken word artist, musician and songwriter, CR Avery has announced his second tour of Australia this November, aiming to blow away audiences with his signature blend of spoken word, beat-boxing, harmonica and blues piano. See him 24 Nov at Junk Bar. Dubfire, one half of the Grammy-award winning duo Deep Dish, is coming back to Australia for the first time since March’s Future Music Festival. One the most respected and in-demand DJs on the planet, his dark style of infectious techno has seen him become a worldwide phenomenon. Catch his Brisbane show on 21 Dec, Capulet.
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 9
music
THERAPY AND COMMUNITY Life’s just been win after win for Melbourne punks The Smith Street Band of late, but they’re taking nothing for granted. Frontman Wil Wagner explains to Steve Bell why the band treats each day as if it’s their last.
H
onesty, sincerity, integrity – these words are thrown around a lot in musical circles, but don’t really seem appropriate all that often. Smoke and mirrors abound in the music scene, shrouding even the most casual outfit with at least a thin veneer of deception or disingenuity. Not so Melbourne folk-punks The Smith Street Band. In a career which hasn’t even reached the five-year mark – but which has already spawned three albums and two EPs – they’ve become renowned for their no-bullshit approach to their craft, pumping out anthemic, lifeaffirming songs which are often sad in content but
life, so the fact that I’ve been able to go three times now already with my friends is a real dream come true and something that we never expected would be able to happen. It’s so inspiring and you do really try because when [you go to Europe] it’s like, ‘In six months everybody’s going to stop caring about us, so let’s make this the best tour we ever do because it could be the last one!’ We try to squeeze the maximum out of everything in case people realise that we’re a shit band soon, so we grab everything by the scruff of the neck as much as we can. “I get so inspired by this global sense of community that we’ve come across – coming
same type of things that I was, and you started a band for the same reason that I did, but you speak German and I speak English.’ It’s so inspiring to realise that there is this massive but almost unknown and unspoken about global connection between people, just sad people that want to write songs. It’s really beautiful and super-inspiring.” Apart from the geographical tropes, Wagner is unsure whether there’s a lyrical thread tying the songs together throughout Don’t Throw Me In The River, although it might just be too early in the picture for him to reach full understanding. “I guess there is a bit – there’s probably more on this than the other records because they were all written on the road,” he ponders. “But I try not to think about stuff when I’m writing as much as I can, so any themes that come through I’ll work out later – I’ll listen to the album in six months and go, ‘Oh that’s what this is about, I didn’t know that at the time!’ Half the time I write it’s to actually try to understand what I’m feeling a bit better – I use it in a very therapeutic way. I’ll write three songs and two will be catchy, and the third will be a sevenand-a-half minute song with two chords about how sad I am today, and I’ll be, like, ‘Ah, that one probably doesn’t have to come out, that one can be for me.’” For Don’t Throw Me In The River the four bandmates refused to rush, decamping to the rural Victorian enclave of Forrest (having tracked the drums already
“WE TRY TO SQUEEZE THE MAXIMUM OUT OF EVERYTHING IN CASE PEOPLE REALISE THAT WE’RE A SHIT BAND SOON.”
delivered with such joy and conviction that it’s almost impossible to not be swept away in the moment. And it’s not just Australia but the world that’s starting to pay attention. They started out building a like-minded community in Melbourne, spread that gradually to the far reaches of our country and are now hooking up with empathetic bands from punk scenes all over the planet. And now – on excellent third long-player, Don’t Throw Me In The River – this penchant for globe-trotting is beginning to shine through in their music. Written on tour in three different continents, the album includes titles such as Calgary Girls, Surrey Dive and East London Summer, and exotic imagery abounds throughout the lyrics. If their 2012 sophomore album Sunshine & Technology was the sound of suburban Melbourne, and 2013 EP Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams found the band stretching their wings and exploring wider Australia, then Don’t Throw Me In The River is The Smith Street Band taking on the globe, their familiar worldview now being beamed to us from more exotic locales but with similarly intoxicating results. “It wasn’t conscious at all,” explains affable frontman and songwriter Wil Wagner. “A few people have said, ‘Did you mean to stop writing about Melbourne because the album’s coming out everywhere?’ but it’s more that I just write about wherever I am at the time. It definitely wasn’t a conscious thing. I never thought that I’d be able to afford to go on a holiday to Europe in my entire 10 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
from Melbourne there’s a tight little community of bands, with Poison City Records and all of the bands that we’ve been friends with for years like The Bennies. We might not sound the same, and on paper it’s a bad pairing because we have very different takes on being a band, but I’ll play shows with them forever because they’re people that I love and they have morals that I share and that kind of thing. Now we’re amazing friends with bands like The Menzingers and Restorations – we have great friends in the UK and America, we even have great Austrian friends in a band called Astpie. You just meet people and you’re like, ‘You have the same influences as I do, and you’re bummed about the
in Melbourne’s Sing Sing studios) and allocating more time to get things exactly as they pictured them in their heads. The result is more nuanced and refined than earlier material, but still plenty gritty and never too slick or shiny. Did the process feel different given their recent ascension in profile, knowing that more people would be listening? “It’s sort of not that different,” Wagner tells. “I’ve said this before, the biggest jump almost was from the first EP [2011’s South East Facing Wall] to [2012 debut album] No One Gets Lost Anymore, the first record – that was going from no people to like 200 people, which was fucking terrifying! Since then it seems pretty gradual and kinda nice. I said the same thing talking to Luke [Boerdam] from Violent Soho; ‘This must be fucking terrifying the prospect of writing the next album because everyone’s going to be listening?’, and he just shrugged and said, ‘Ah well, everyone’s going to listen but I just write what I’m going to write,’ which is a really nice way to think about it. “But somehow I didn’t really feel that – or maybe I did and I just didn’t know about it – but I tend when I’m writing to not think about it too much, just say it and get it all out and then worry if Mum’s going to hear it kinda thing. It’s still definitely nerve-wracking though – going through the lyrics for the last time there’s always a few lines where you think, ‘Ok, that’s
gonna be fucking awkward when so-and-so hears that,’ or if you’re not painting your ex in the most positive light you think, ‘Oh well, that’ll get a phone call,’ but that’s ok. I think the lines that make me feel the most uncomfortable are the most honest lines, and they’re the ones that people respond to – I just try to be as honest as I can. That’s what people seem to connect with us, the immediacy and honesty of everything, so if I was trying to replicate that or write so I would sound like I was being spontaneous it just wouldn’t work. I just have to not stress and just let it out.” Now that Don’t Throw Me In The River is public property, does Wagner have any expectations about how it may be received? “I’d be pretty disappointed if it didn’t go double platinum,” he laughs. “I have no expectations. I played it to my mum and she liked it, and I’m proud of it, so anything from here on in is a bonus as far as I’m concerned. Which sounds like bullshit, but it’s totally true. I have no idea how many copies of any of our albums we’ve sold or anything like that – I’m stoked when I see our stuff on Pirate Bay, like ‘Great, there’s
WHAT: Don’t Throw Me In The River (Poison City Records)
another few people who are listening to it!’ I just want people to hear the music – I just hope people do hear this record, and I hope they like it. I’m sure a bunch of people will say that we’re sell-outs for whatever reason, all of the same shit that happens whenever anybody does anything – some people will like it and some people will say it’s shit – but I feel like this is as good a representation of how the band sounds, at least in my head if not in everyone’s head, as we’ve done so far. I hope people get into it.”
LOVE & HATE Haters seemingly still gotta hate. Wagner explains that The Smith Street Band’s rise in popularity has also brought with it plenty of detractors. “People fucking hate us!” he smiles. “Just that weird tall poppy mentality. After that Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams incident where a guy fucked up our friend Jules, there were a few times where I’d be walking through the pub in Melbourne and I’d just get punched in the face by someone that I’ve never met – just crazy shit like that. But it just comes with the territory, I guess. We get a bit of backlash, but nowhere near as much as the [positivity we receive]. “I just tend to not read anything, because you just get people going, ‘This is the greatest Australian record that I’ve ever heard in my entire life!’, and someone else will be, ‘The singer of this band should be put down for being the worst singer I’ve ever heard!’ And if you believe one you sort of have to believe the other one, and you end up walking around going, ‘I’m a genius! I’m the worst! I’m a genius!’ So I just tend to ignore all of it and just try to do something that I’m stoked with. I just try to avoid everything as much as possible – I just try to stay in my own little world.”
WHEN & WHERE: 21 Nov, The Hi-Fi THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 11
music
RAISE A GLASS Rehashing a classic album on its ten-year anniversary is more than a trip down memory lane for Jimmy Eat World bassist-turned-distiller Rick Burch. Daniel Cribb gets a taste of what’s to come.
I
t’s usually items of tin or aluminium bestowed as gifts upon ten-year anniversaries, but for Jimmy Eat World bassist Rick Burch, the decennium of the band’s classic album Futures coincides with the opening of a distillery in Arizona with friends John Miller and Jeff Barlow called CaskWerks Distilling Co, that specialises in whisky, cider and gin. “We’ve just signed a lease on a [place] so we’re going to start building out hopefully in October,” Burch says. “We’ll have all our permits approved and then we can start cutting floor
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drains and moving walls around where they need to [be] and hopefully by December [we’ll be] running our first batches through the system, so early next year we’ll have some bottles to share.” In the interim, Jimmy Eat World have a run of headline dates in Australia this November to mark ten years since the release of their classic album Futures. “The way we’re envisioning it, the night will start out with Futures and we’ll play the album top to bottom, and once that’s finished we’ll take a short break, catch our breath and come back for like a miniset, like a mini-normal Jimmy Eat World show. “There are a few songs
on there we’ve never performed live so it’s the challenge of approaching those and figuring out how we’re going to do that live. But there’s also just stepping back, and it puts me back to where we were when we were making that album. We’d just come off Bleed American and toured on that for over two years. Futures was the first time we had an awareness that people were waiting to hear what we were going to do next. It was just a big growth point in our lives so it kind of takes you right back there. It’s really cool; kind of like a time machine.” 2014 also marks 20 years of Jimmy Eat World, and it was the extensive touring schedule each of the band’s eight albums demanded that sparked Burch’s passion for distilling spirits. “The format of making a beverage is another creative format. It’s something humans have been doing for thousands of years, but can still be very creative in that realm... Travelling the world I discovered that I love whisky, and being able to visit these places around the world and try different drinks and makes, I found it very interesting. I wanted to learn more about it so I started investigating how it’s made, the process – I realised that I really love the process... Building a bottle to pass around the table, it’s a lot of fun.” The logistics of shipping alcohol internationally can be a nightmare, but CaskWerks may eventually have the ability to supply their product to Australia. In the meantime, fans can rejoice in the news that the band has been penning riffs and ideas for a new record. “When [we] finish the Futures tour we’ll go back and start hacking through those [ideas] and see what has life and what shows promise... The ideas are always happening; you might not be able to get them fleshed out right away but they’re always there.” WHEN & WHERE: 20 Nov, The Tivoli
MAKING FRIENDS Whether enlisting star producers, eschewing harsh vocals or simply getting a haircut, Trivium has an innate ability to infuriate metal purists. Frontman Matt Heafy and Brendan Crabb brave this storm.
S
ince signing to heavyweight label Roadrunner for 2005’s Ascendancy, criticism and even resentment have largely been par for the course for Trivium. Vocalist/guitarist Matt Heafy emphasises that the Floridian metallers continually shrug off nay-saying, especially when the vitriol is the result of something as trivial as losing his locks. “With every single record we’ve ever done, we’ve always gotten something for something; except for [2003 debut] Ember To Inferno, because no one knew who we were. Even when Ascendancy came out, with as many good things as people say now, when it first came out people were not saying good things about it. When [2006’s] The Crusade came out people were mad that I wasn’t screaming anymore, when [2008’s] Shogun came out, I don’t remember what they were mad about. [On 2011’s] In Waves, it’s because I cut my hair. [Latest release] Vengeance Falls it was (Disturbed vocalist) David Draiman [producing]. “So there’s always something. There’s a quote that I love that my grandfather would tell to my dad, which got told to me: ‘A third of the world’s going to love you, a third of the world’s going to hate you and a third of the world’s not going to give a shit.’ I think in our microcosm world of what Trivium is, that’s always the way it’s been. Whether we’re talking reviewers or fans or other bands, 12 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
people would love it, hate it, people who don’t really care for it either way. As long as we’re making what we want to make, the way we want to make it, that’s all that matters.” A visit to the barber has long seemed a pedantic reason for riling fans up; Heafy chuckles as the obvious example of Load-era Metallica is raised. “I’ve done it like two or three times in our career now. When I cut mine after Shogun, I actually did it for a good cause. I donated it to Locks Of Love; they make human hair wigs for kids with cancer. I did mine for something charitable, something important. It’s a
childish thing to attack a band needing to look a certain way to appease you. I think there’s way too much time wasted with people worrying about what guys’ haircuts look like who are in bands.” Trivium’s momentum shows little sign of abating. Their upcoming Australian shows will wrap up Vengeance Falls’ successful touring cycle, and new material is already in the pipeline. “We didn’t really intend on starting it; it just sort of happened. When Vengeance Falls came out we said, ‘Alright, we’ll start writing as soon as we feel like we’re ready but no sooner than that.’ Next thing I know we all started coming up with great tracks.” Beforehand there are those aforementioned Australian gigs, whereby the Soundwave mainstays will headline over Swedish veterans In Flames. “We’ve toured with them maybe ten times now; they’re some of our closest friends in any band in the world. I’ve gone on record many times to say I would not exist without In Flames as an influence on me.” WHEN & WHERE: 19 Nov, The Tivoli
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 13
music
IT’S A CULT THING Fresh from Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival New York heavy-hitters Prong mainstay Tommy Victor chats with Brendan Crabb about stealing stuff from Bad Brains.
“I
t’s always been something to fight for, to reach new goals,” Prong vocalist/guitarist Tommy Victor admits regarding their career. “Every day is like a challenge, but it’s cool at the same time. I’m not that goal-oriented, so that was a bad response. I go where I’m taken, so I trust in that.” Having survived two decades, brief hiatus aside, Prong remain a more than viable entity, recently issuing their Ruining Lives LP. As for where their groove-thrash/ hardcore/industrial hybrid sits within the current metal landscape, the New York outfit’s sole remaining original
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member believes they’ve carved a niche. “It’s a cult following, it’s very different than everybody else. I think there’s a focus on, like, rock songs, like anthems, and songs, more than just riffs. So that’s an essential difference, and where we come from it’s a lot of post-punk, a lot of New York, East Coast sound to it. It’s difficult (to market), because you have AC/DC, where it’s a consistent sound. Prong evolves and we do a lot of different things, it’s always changing.” Who does he consider to be their contemporaries? “It’s hard to say. I’d say Helmet would be the closest. That’s what’s good about it – we’re the only ones doing it.”
Prong heavily inspired others who have subsequently reached sizeable commercial heights though, nu-metallers Static-X for instance. Not that the frontman appears bitter about their pile-driving riffs being pillaged. “I don’t pay attention to that too much. Everything’s out there in the universe today, I don’t care. I like those guys. I stole from Bad Brains and stuff like that, I don’t care.” The Music meets with Victor following a wellreceived Wacken set. His laid-back conversational demeanour belies the trio’s high-energy performances, which Australian audiences will finally experience in November. Grinspoon’s 1998 cover of Prong’s Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck introduced them to many new sets of ears Down Under. “I heard it – they did a really good job with it. It came out great, I really liked it.” Discussing the Australian tour, the mainman promises a “legacy band (with) a lot of different songs”. “We’ve put a great set together and it’s really been working. We’ve been hitting it pretty hard this year, all the shows have been great. I got blessed, I’ve got really good players with me. These guys kick ass; really good guys, really good players, so we have a lot of fun. That’s the main thing; having a good time and enjoying going on stage. There’s a lot like a punk rock attitude about that, which is cool.” Certain musicians would resent the legacy or heritage act tag, but it doesn’t faze Victor. “I accept it for what it is. But we have new records that are doing well, that people like, so that helps. The new records, they’re pretty good. People like the new songs (live) better I think, believe it or not. Carved Into Stone and Ruining Lives, those two records really had a good impact on people.” WHEN & WHERE: 20 Nov, The Hi-Fi
METAL WEB Canadian technical death metal pioneers Gorguts went 12 years without releasing any new music but off the back of their latest release are bigger than ever. Main man Luc Lemay shares his bewilderment with Lochlan Watt. he last record was From Wisdom To Hate, and that was in 2001. Then we did two US tours for that record, and then not long after, Steve [MacDonald] the drummer passed away, and I decided to put the band on hold,” recalls Luc Lemay through his thick French-Canadian accent.
“T
Fast-forward another six or so years, and Colored Sands became the fifth and most celebrated full-length release from Gorguts. A double-layered concept album based around the idea of mandalas and the history of Tibet, the mind-bending technical monstrosity ended up on ‘best of 2013’ lists the world over.
into it. Then doing this record, when I started jamming again with Big Steeve, he was a lot on the internet, on those metal forums, and reading a lot on the bands and stuff, but not me. I was using the internet just a bit for my email; I didn’t even know what a MySpace site was back then. So the thing is Big Steeve was saying, ‘Dude, you’d be surprised the amount of people that are talking about the band,’ because for me it was done, it was forgotten, and people weren’t really caring about it anymore.
“Man, I don’t know what to say about this, because I never ever expected that. First things first, I did a record because my heart was totally into it, as much as when I stopped the band it was because my heart was no longer
“So first things first; I said I’ll do it for the joy of crafting songs, and now after we do this,
“In my mind I was done with the band. I never expected that we’d do another record. So anyway, circumstances came that, Big Steeve [Hurdle], my friend that played on Obscura, I joined his band Negativa, and we did that EP, and he is the one that suggested to me that I should do another Gorguts record to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band. So that was in 2007 that he came up with that idea.”
14 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
and seeing all the people, the response, the fans that I meet at the shows, you see that they are still there, and even more interested in the band than before. Not that before people weren’t interested but we didn’t have as big of a following as now. I think maybe the band started back when the internet was not around, even when we did Obscura and From Wisdom To Hate, internet was not going on much for the metal… It was, like, starting. So internet I think is a big, big, big reason why I think the album got… spread around so much. I couldn’t be happier with the response I got from people.” Since the release of Colored Sands Gorguts have toured the US, Canada and Europe multiple times, and now head down to Australia, New Zealand and Japan for the first time ever. “It has been an awesome year… the best the band has ever had in 25 years. I can’t complain.”
WHEN & WHERE: 16 Nov, Crowbar
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 15
music
WINNING FORMULA Brisbane rockers Giants Of Science are back with their first new music in a decade. Frontman Ben Salter tells Steve Bell that they’re still heavy, and they’re his brothers.
F
or a while there at the turn of the millennium Brisbane four-piece Giants Of Science had the hard rock world at their feet, having forged a large following for their deceptively intricate brand of heavy rock’n’roll on the back of a hectic touring schedule and a stream of well received releases. They did the festival circuit, played with bands like MC5, Mudhoney, Foo Fighters, Future Of The Left, Rollins Band, Swervedriver, Mclusky, Radio Birdman, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and even toured alongside acts like Powderfinger and A Perfect Circle with whom they
had little in common musically – and then they for all intents and purposes just disappeared. Life took over from the musical dreams that they’d once shared and the band became a more sporadic concern, popping up occasionally to play with bands they felt were worth their time. Now, however, they’re back armed with a new EP, What’s Wrong With You And Why, and (just maybe) shit’s about to start getting real again. “Basically trying to get anything done in the Giants Of Science camp is a much more involved process than it was ten years ago, due to people being married and having children – all of
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the others have chickened out on me and got real jobs,” laughs frontman Ben Salter. “For a while there with Giants it was starting to become a bit of a drag, but now after we had a bit of a break the difference when we play is that I love it – I love doing the heavier stuff because I don’t get to do it very much. And I guess I do realise how good we are, when I think before I wasn’t totally aware of just what good players Steve [Lynagh – drums] and Matt [Tanner – bass] and Tuity [guitarist/vocalist Ben Tuite] are. It’s a bit of a different perspective because we’re all a bit older, but it’s a lot of fun these days.” The Giants released Live At The Troubadour in 2009, but essentially the EP represents their first new studio tracks for nearly a decade. “We went and recorded about 20 songs up at the farm [near Rockhampton] about five years ago when we did that live album,” Salter explains. “So we’ve been working on these songs for ages and ages, but when we decided to go back and record again we just picked the four songs that we thought were the most ‘rock’. We went through a phase when we were into the more rock stuff rather than the ‘stoner-y’ stuff, and we wanted more upbeat tracks so we just ended up picking those. “There are so many other songs that we’ve got that we worked all of the way up to being finished and then recorded, but we never released the recordings for whatever reason, so we’re really keen to go back and look at all of those songs and see what we can do as far as doing another EP or an album or something.” WHAT: What’s Wrong With You And Why (Plus One) WHEN & WHERE: 13 Nov, The Triffid To read the full interview head to theMusic.com.au
LIVE AND LET DIE Daniel Lee Kendall talks about the “moneymaking project” of putting together his first EP, and chasing something a little more authentic on his debut full-length. He tells Michael Smith.
“T
his project’s been a funny one,” singersongwriter Daniel Lee Kendall admits of his ironically titled debut album Daniel Lee Kendall Is Dead, “because they’re all old songs, so it was much more of a producing gig than a songwriting gig, ‘cause all the songs were kinda written. I was just choosing the best ones and just sparkling them up a bit, so it was an interesting process.” Growing up on the NSW Central Coast, Kendall had written and recorded 50-odd songs by the time in 2010 he introduced himself with the release of an EP Lost In The Moment before promptly disappearing. Lost In The Moment is the only track revisited on the album. “I was thinking, ‘What do I do with all these songs?’ I don’t really feel like pushing them but I thought, they’re there. To be quite honest, it was just a moneymaking project really, so I just picked the best ones that I thought might possibly get a sync on whatever, the ones that seemed to stand out the most, because if I’d done it any other way I don’t think I would have got it done.” The irony is that the reason Kendall “disappeared” was that he felt he was making music for the wrong reasons – chasing fame rather than musical truth. So he walked away from music, went travelling, had a motorbike accident that laid him up for a while and went to uni, only to find, over the uni holidays, music 16 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
was tugging him back. “It’s been a really odd process. That’s why I say ‘Daniel Lee Kendall is dead.’ I still feel that these songs are very separate from me, which is why I’m going to be doing one tour [the aptly titled Funeral tour] and that’ll be it. At the same time I’m really proud of what it is. “When I look at all the old songs, a lot of them, to me, are sort of questions about how I wish the world was and how it wasn’t, and sort of looking for answers and how I might find more satisfaction in life, and I feel like I have found a lot of those answers, which is why they feel a bit
inauthentic to me, because I’m singing songs with questions in them that I actually feel like I’ve got answers to. That’s probably why they needed to go. “So it was a conscious decision to move forward and hope that I’ll find something else that resonates again because I just felt like I would have… I think it became too much about the ego and the success thing kind of takes over when I go down that road and I find I need to be authentic and feel an authentic connection with the songs for me to feel more myself, I suppose. Yet I felt it would be a shame for people never to hear these songs, so it’s nice to put them out into the world for whoever engages with them.” WHAT: Daniel Lee Kendall Is Dead (Create/Control) WHEN & WHERE: 13 Nov, Black Bear Lodge
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 15
trackby-track
BRAGGING RIGHTS The poverty and Centrelink payments are long gone as Scott ‘Kerser’ Barrow goes from underground to a KING on his new album. He takes us through the LP track by track. The Truth
Lonely At The Top
We thought we’d start it [the album] off with a straight hip hop banger, boom-bap style. I just spat three verses and a chorus and it’s just a confident, I’m still here, dominance track.
It’s like explaining my position in rap. The way I came up, without the radio and television and all this marketing, without that I feel like I’m at the top of a different genre.
C-Town That was like visualising parties in Campbelltown and what goes on at those parties in Campbelltown and probably in a lot of suburbs across the country. That was more of a party-banger; we thought we’d go from The Truth and keep it upbeat and still have that old Kerser flavour.
Any achievements I throw in my lyrics and it makes it so much easier to write. Plus I love to brag [laughs]. 225 feat. Ray, Jay UF That has Ray on the first verse – that’s my older brother – and it’s got Jay UF, who’s our best mate who we went to school with on it as well. It was pretty crazy writing that one. We started writing raps together, all of us years ago when we were
supanova
teenagers, and we actually got to sit down and write that over a few drinks, which we hadn’t done in years, so that’s a pretty special song on the album. Taken Away I wanted to do a bit of a movie theme and put it in the rap. Like a script from a movie but something that actually… shit that actually does happen. I did it from a male’s point of view and from a female’s as well. ‘Cause I’ve got female fans as well, so you’ve gotta try and broaden your lyrics and write stuff so that they can relate to them [the songs] as well. That was definitely on my mind throughout, not just that song, but the whole album. Fantastic When Nebs made that beat, it just had that real gangster sound and yeah, I just enjoyed rapping on that one, I felt really good at the time. I think when I wrote that I’d just come off a festival run and I was just feeling really good about where I was at in my career. Underground I’m still underground, ‘cause I’m not on the TV, I’m not on the radio, but I’m still very well-known. I was trying to explain that [on the track] and I’ve been wanting to do a track, like, in that style for a while and when Nebs [his producer] did that sample I just thought that was perfect beat to rhyme on for it. WHAT: King (Obese) To the read the full track by track, head to theMusic.com.au
THE HERO WE NEEDED
At 17, Austin St John became the face of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, leading the attitudinal teens to weekly victory as Jason, the original Red Ranger. Twenty years and a career in real-life heroism later, he’s finding he did palpable good on TV too, he tells Mitch Knox.
“I
always wanted to be a public servant,” Austin St John says.
The 40-year-old Roswell native is back in the US following a wildly successful visit to the UK for the fourth annual Morphicon, a convention for fans of the long-running Power Rangers franchise, which he and his co-stars brought to the Western world back in 1993 with the cult-favourite Mighty Morphin’ series. Before his 18th birthday, St John was a bona fide smallscreen hero to an army of young fans. Then in 1996, at the height of its popularity, he – with fellow originals Walter Jones and Thuy Trang – left the show. There was, by his own admission, a degree of acrimony – unpleasantness over conditions and wages, that sort of thing – but there was nobility in the choice, too. “My father was a Marine, Mom was a police officer, my brother ended up being a Marine, my grandfather was in the army… it’s in our blood. I’ve always had the calling. And one day a buddy of mine said, ‘Hey, you should come down to the local fire station and volunteer, to see if you like running 911 and, you know, fire, EMS, things like that, so I thought, ‘Absolutely! Why not?’ So I went down, got into EMS – emergency medical services – got
18 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
my EMT, and then over the years, I was like, ‘God, you know, I could do what he’s doing,’ – I was looking at the paramedic at the top of the field.” St John gained his paramedic qualifications, as well as instructional certificates in advanced cardiac life support, paediatric life support, CPR – “all these other things I could teach” – before getting into tactical medicine and combat medicine and spending time in the Middle East attached to military operations. “It just kinda snowballed into this great career that I absolutely fell in love with, and after about
15 years of it, I needed a break. That’s when Walter was like, ‘Hey, check this out! Come see people!’” Which brings us to St John’s impending visit to Australia for the forthcoming Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Having spent so long away from showbusiness and fandom culture, St John says it’s the stories from fans that have brought him out of hiding. “Fans will come up and tell me that myself or my castmates are the reason that, after both their parents were killed in a car accident, they didn’t commit suicide, or… the reason that they didn’t do drugs. Gutwrenching stories that I’ve heard from so many fans now, hundreds. They’re just jaw-dropping and gutwrenching and heartfelt. What an experience, to share these moments with folks who our characters meant so much to! It really sounds like we’re going to be up for another amazing reception in Australia.” WHEN & WHERE: 28 – 30 Nov, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
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★★★½
album/ep reviews
ARIEL PINK
TV ON THE RADIO
pom pom
Seeds
4AD/Remote Control
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Ariel Pink only gets weirder on his latest release, pom pom, which continues to blur the line between impenetrable solipsism and catchy pop writing. At times it’s so invasive and creepy that surely Robin Thicke would be proud of him. Other times it’s as pleasant and enjoyable as an evening stroll through the park. This double album takes a good 68 minutes to wade through, during which time Pink traverses his usual outré-pop territory and more. Put Your Number In My Phone is a sunny slice of saccharine soliloquy, bordering on nonsense. Plastic Raincoats In The Pig Parade is similarly absurd and upbeat in disposition. Goth Bomb is a ridiculously frantic and terrifically kitsch addition to your next Halloween playlist, while Dinosaur Carebears, well, the title speaks for itself. The camp qualities and grotesque imagery of Black Ballerina highlight the album’s main
EMI
appeal and also its most divisive quality. Pink aims for such an overwhelming of the senses that it often feels as iff the album’s excesses exist purely for their own sake; you have to wonder whether he even knows what half of these lyrics mean. The overall effect has pom pom often feeling similar to a purposely lo-fi Hollywood film that has paid large amounts of money to look like an indie film; it aims for cult and novelty status, yet never transcends its own silliness. At the end of the day, it lacks any substance or sincerity. Nevertheless, if you’re after some earworms to mix in your beetlejuice, pom pom is an entertaining listen. Roshan Clerke
VARIOUS
20 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
You is as cool as any of the synth-pop being dished by the likes of CHVRCHES at the moment. Ride initially takes a listener to a dark, contemplative world of piano and strings, though impressively turns into a sprawling life-is-short-getamongst-it pop parable of grand heights. Across Seeds there’s so many different moods shaded by intriguing soundscapes, horns, electro-glitches, beautifully considered harmonies and tender lyrical moments for their departed friend, and with the TVOTR touch, it works. Tyler McLoughlan
King Obese
Kobalt
Sall took responsibility for nominating which tracks many of the artists covered, which may explain a number of off-the-cuff performances that hardly suggest a life-long love of the originals. Some of it is poorly judged, such as Barry Gibb’s retro comedy experiments and The Cure’s hopelessly lost Hello Goodbye. Much of it is ugly, with many instances of geriatric former wild men overcompensating their lack of youthful vim with colostomy bag-rupturing histrionics, as Roger Daltery, Sammy Hagar and ‘80s metal poodles Def Leppard
The straight up Quartz launches their fifth record into a clanlike musical ritual of handclaps, layered harmonies and percussion that allows Tunde Adebimpe’s affective vocal to open hearts for the first of many times. Lead single Happy Idiot is undeniably instant, a moment of pure melodic clarity. A culmination of carefully constructed dancepunk that at times recalls Mark Knopfler’s dry double-tracked vocal over a simply executed guitar rhythm, the key single at first does a disservice to an album that’s due a magnetism that demands repeat listens. Lazerray is fun, fast and fuzzheavy rock, but then Careful
★★★½
KERSER
The Art Of McCartney
What could possibly go wrong? The 11-year project of producer Ralph Sall, The Art Of McCartney features the timeless songs of Paul McCartney – Beatles, Wings and solo material all included – covered by “the World’s Greatest Artists” including Kiss, Brian Wilson, an immensely gravely Bob Dylan, The Cure and, erm, Steve Miller – twice.
Seeds is the first album for the Brooklyn outfit since the passing of bassist Gerard Smith, and as usual it’s brimming with the unexpected in a way that only a band comprising a producer and a pair of visual artists is capable of.
Kerser’s success demands an explanation. How has Kers found himself near enough the top of the heap?
★½ all confirm they’ve devolved into cartoon parodies. Some of it is just downright unsanitary, as the bestial groaning of Billy Joel would normally be associated with a man wrestling extreme constipation. Against the odds, Heart appear to be one of the less rigor mort-icised acts here, Yusuf (formally Cat Stevens) steers clear of the schmaltz and Corrine Bailey Rae’s Bluebird is splendidly soporific. But despite these faint glimmers, it seems inevitable that curious historians will one day ponder what exactly McCartney did to deserve this. Christopher H James
On the mic Kerser seems so near and so immediate you could touch him. So while he drifts of into the harshness, violence, and anger that would otherwise alienate (many of ) us, Kers’ presence – the feeling that we walk with him –holds our attention. Here the best example of that is Forever. Our host’s guttural, grinding delivery gives way to a reflective swoon of a chorus. C-Town is surprisingly approachable: another example of Kerser taking otherwise confronting content while excluding no one. Of course, any Kerser release is also a Nebs release. Kerser acknowledged as much by calling his debut The Nebulizer. Nebs proved he’s one of Australia’s best beatsmiths first with his clique That’s Them. He proves
★★★ it again here, probably peaking with the stop-start otherworldliness of Smokin’ Up. On that track Kers tries to explain, “why they all listen, from the kids in the commissions to the people running businesses”. The more time you spend with Kerser, the more you realise he’s eloquent, playful, lighthearted, endearing: all with a menacing undercurrent. That’s a set of traits that describes all of the most commercially successful rappers of the last 20 years. Perhaps success isn’t the issue. With attributes like that, how could he fail? James d’Apice
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THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 21
album/ep reviews
★★★★
TRUST PUNKS Discipline
★★★
THE NEW BASEMENT TAPES
Spunk
Lost On The River
Auckland five-piece Trust Punks keep it short and not-sosimple on debut LP Discipline. Enveloped in dissonance yet imbued with an innate sense of melody, the seven tracks on offer are as indebted to effervescence and catharsis as they are to tension and repetition. Opener Doubt in particular is raucous, tremulous and buoyant (the echoed “Better to leave it be” could be the sign-off to many an indie-pop band). But there is the tethered electronics of Leeds United, the krautrock-run Gordian Knot and the brutal buzzsaw closure of Enemies to drag us back into the shadows.
Harvest/EMI
Brendan Telford
Taking cues from the Wilco/ Billy Bragg Mermaid Avenue project, Bob Dylan is here recycled with music added to lyrics penned with The Band in 1967, following his nearcrippling motorcycle accident. The driving force is T-Bone Burnett, sometime Dylan sideman and collaborator with many, who leads this grouping. There are some hits and misses: Rhiannon Giddens’ sea-shanty Spanish Mary is quite lovely, contrasted with Costello getting bluesy and misogynist on Married To My Hack. It’s an interesting curiosity - with some musical worth.
★★★
BRANT BJORK & THE LOW DESERT PUNK BAND Black Power Flower Napalm/Rocket Stoner-rock alumnus Brant Bjork sticks to his chosen path on ‘solo’ effort Black Power Flower. Regular conventions such as repetitive riffs, roared phrases and astral/mystical iconography remain front and centre on the likes of Controllers Destroyed and Soldier Of Love. The brew is watered down on Buddha Time (Everything Fine) and Stokely Up Now, preferring more obvious rock traditions, but Boogie Woogie On Your Brain and Hustler’s Blues prove Bjork ain’t about to leave the Kyuss/ Fu Manchu gravy train just yet. Brendan Telford
★★★
BROOKE FRASER
Brutal Romantic Sony After three albums exploring acoustic folk-pop, New Zealand artist Brooke Fraser has reinvented herself. Enlisting producer David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Marina & The Diamonds) and co-writers around the world, she executes a convincing switch into electronic, bombastic pop. She nails the style, her voice suiting the cinematic melody and production in gems Kings & Queens, Bloodrush and Magical Machine, while Brutal Romance best bridges the old and the new. It’s an impressive work, but if there is a flaw, it’s a niggling feeling of distance and anonymity in the precision, and a not quite personal touch. Amorina Fitzgerald-Hood
Ross Clelland
MORE REVIEWS
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★★★★
PETER BIBBY
Butcher/Hairstylist/ Beautician Spinning Top Bibby has a partiality for sardonic malapropisms, skewed bucolic ballads and a voice trammelled into broken glass and dirtflecked whiskey. It’s a weirdly heady mix, and on excellently monikered debut, Butcher/ Hairstylist/Beautician, introduces a carnivalesque series of baroque characters, all presented with a wild-eyed energy. The share-house recollections of Goodbye Johnny and the brilliantly wasted ramshackle debauchery of Friendshighlight an intrinsically distinctive voice. And with song titles like Hates My Boozin’, Stinking Rich and Cunt, Bibby paints a deliciously perturbing picture. Brendan Telford 22 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
★★★½
★½
SINCERELY GRIZZLY
VARIOUS
Black Night Crash/MGM
Fearless/Unified
Over a year in the making, the debut album from Adelaide art-punks Sincerely Grizzly is a shotgun blast to the chest, aiming for the heart and the jugular in equal measure. Their literate and pop-cultural predilections stand out on killer tracks I’m Nucky Thompson, This Is Atlantic City and the epic, multilayered closer, Kafkaesque. The trio’s aural approach, balancing ferocity with earnestness, intertwines with the vocal transgressions and guttural screams on a razor’s edge (seen most clearly on Catholic Guilt), but their innate sense of melody is never lost on this assured album.
Things this compilation proves: Taylor Swift’s songs are catchy regardless of how many guitars and hoarse screams try to bastardise them (thank you We Came As Romans); The 1975’s Chocolate makes for a surprisingly apt pop-punk tune once Knuckle Puck stick their whiny American vocals on it; yelling your throat raw on Wrecking Ball takes away some of its emotional resonance (courtesy of August Burns Red), and no one, I repeat, no one, needs a nu-metal version of Turn Down For What, featuring Ice T. Leave that in the early noughties’ Upon A Burning Body.
Halves
Brendan Telford
Punk Goes Pop Vol. 6
Sevana Ohandjanian
Daily Meds – Sour Milk Robert Wyatt – Different Every Time Sarah Humphreys – New Moon Monster Magnet – Milking The Stars: A Re-imagining Of Last Patrol Neil Young – Storytone Spain – Sargent Place Various – Cut Copy Presents Oceans Apart Eric Bibb – Blues People
live reviews
SASKWATCH, THE CREASES, MT WARNING The Triff id 8 Nov The first warning sign is the guest list at the door. It looks roughly three pages long. The show is sold out, although one has to wonder how many tickets were actually able to be sold given the size of this list. The Triffid, Brisbane’s newest music venue, was designed largely by John Collins and Paul Piticco, former bassist and manager of Brisbane band Powderfinger respectively, and it appears they’ve invited all their mates along this evening. While there are more people outside than inside the venue watching Mt Warning, it’s unclear whether the crowd
bounces around the ceiling, and bassist Jarrod Mahon lifts the mood with new song, Fall Guy, as his higher voice cuts through the hazy mix. Saskwatch are a sure bet with the older crowd. Their clean production and accessible soul tunes are hard not to like. The Melbourne group bring out Your Love early, before switching into one of the cathartic ballads the band have been working on of late, Left Me To Die. The audience seems relieved to be able to coherently hear lyrics, and is treated to some new material. A mesmerising drum beat and a guitar riff laden with delay circles around lead singer Nkechi Anele’s enchanting voice, lending the song an hypnotic trip-hop feel. Born To Break Your Heart receives a swirling intro, while Call Your Name rightfully receives an enthusiastic audience response. However, it’s when
SASKWATCH @ THE TRIFFID. PIC: DAVE KAN
hasn’t come for live music or just doesn’t like it. The New South Wales band is doing a fine job regardless. They fill the spacious concert area with their atmospheric rock, the resounding drums of Forward Miles echoing powerfully through the room. The awkward literary leanings of Youth Bird’s lyrics are delivered so passionately that it’s tempting to feel that lines like “My bluebird’s gone away” are more than simple clichés. The Creases are up next, the Brisbane four-piece playing to a slightly fuller room. The band has guitars that sound like synthesisers and boys that look like girls. However, the crowd has none of it. They seem unwilling to look under the thick layer of guitar fuzz to the songs beneath, or unable to appreciate their style for what it is. Nonetheless, the blissful pop of I Won’t Wait
suburban setting for such a quintessentially Brisbane outing. Halfway are first to front the club hall’s angular brick backdrop with the loping banjo of Hard Life Loving You. Tonight is testament to what an impressive setlist Halfway have built up through the years as they rip through Dulcify, 110, Shakespeare Hotel, Oscar, Honey I Like It and Dropout. Far from resting on their laurels, however, there seems an experimental spirit about tonight’s set with some more elaborate outros on show as well as new number, Bloodlines, whose squally wall of noise sees the band flexing newer, more off-kilter muscles with great effect. They still do slow and poignant beautifully though, the early set waltz-ata-wake fragility of Sunlight On The Sills sitting next to swoony finisher, Sweetheart Please Don’t Stop, as firm highlights.
SASKWATCH @ THE TRIFFID. PIC: DAVE KAN
Anele thanks Collins for the opportunity to perform that the apathetic crowd gives their loudest applause of the night. Hopefully The Triffid will eventually evolve beyond being an art space and into a place where people actually have fun. Roshan Clerke
ROBERT FORSTER, HALFWAY
Enoggera Bowls Club 7 Nov With punters spilling out onto the bowling greens, one gets an old-school revival tent feel approaching the Enoggera Bowls Club for tonight’s installment of the G20 Cultural Celebrations. It’s hard to imagine a more sublimely
with vogueing hand gestures. A stunning He Lives My Life and bristling Here Comes A City, among other classics, sees the solo portion of his set come to an ecstatically received end. Forster now welcomes Halfway to the stage, guitar banished and reeking of frontman swagger. He shares vocals on Halfway’s own Patience Back, its conspicuous absence from the latter’s set well and truly made up for. The octet, which includes former Go-Betweens guitarist John Willsteed, seems such a natural fit and a triumphant Spring Rain gets the crowd elatedly busting shapes either side of the parquet floor’s gaffer-taped cords. Esteemed Junk Bar proprietor Mia Goodwin then contributes vocals to legendary closer, Streets Of Your Town, and a seminal evening draws to a close. Ed Matthews
ROBERT FORSTER @ ENOGGERA BOWLS CLUB. PIC: STEPHEN BOOTH
Robert Forster seems equal parts amused and chuffed to be here tonight, stating, “I’m not sure what’s more unlikely, Brisbane hosting the G20 or me performing at the Enoggera Bowls Club.” He opens up with Rock ’N’ Roll Friend, after which an always affecting Born To A Family’s tale of an arty kid growing up in a family of workers points poignantly to the irony of the setting. The savagely melodic Pandanus, from The Evangelist, leads into slow swinger, Darlinghurst Nights, as Forster revels in proceedings with an almost aggressively quirky stage persona. It would be a tad ironic to be witnessing an incendiary performance at a bowls club but it has that feel to it as Forster makes hilarious mouth wave noises leading into Surfing Magazines and complements Heart Out To Tender
MORE REVIEWS
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RADIO BIRDMAN @ THE HI-FI. PIC: DAVE KAN
Radio Birdman @ The Hi-Fi Wagons @ Old Museum Portugal. The Man @ Jubilee Hotel
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 23
arts reviews Cooper (McConaughey), who they enlist to travel to the farthest reaches of space to help save the human race.
INTERSTELLAR Film
In cinemas
★★★★½ In Interstellar, Earth is down to its last generation or so of humans. They’re a populace being terrorised by dust clouds that bring not only whipping winds, but make growing new food nearly impossible. NASA, officially long-dead, hides a sleeper cell deep in the heart of the dust-clogged farming district that, by mysterious means, crosses paths with ex-pilot
24 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
A bold, unabashed film, Interstellar has already started to divide people. Some have felt it exposition-heavy (and it is), while others have thought it also too heavy on the symbolism. But Interstellar is also earnest, hopeful and ambitious. The film’s few stumbles are admirable human ones, and dwarfed by far by the enormity of what it’s trying to achieve. Personally, Nolan’s made a film firmly bursting from his previous work. Doubling down on his famed narrative ‘steadfastness’, it’s a typically propulsive effort of such singularity it’s deafening. A movie whose life thrums on inside of you afterwards like the toll of a great bell, Interstellar has great big ideas to bound around in, and a determination to show you impossible, wonderful things. Sam Hobson
TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT Film
In cinemas
★★★½ Two Days, One Night is a rarity in cinema. It’s a film about the real, and unromanticised drama that we face in daily life. Marion Cotillard plays Sandra, a woman who, on returning to work after taking leave to treat her mental illness, is notified she’s been made redundant. In her absence, her 16 co-workers were instructed, because of cuts, to either to vote to keep her employed, or vote for a bonus. Just as Sandra begins to sink into despair, a friend calls, and tells her that she has grounds for the vote to be recast. Her boss agrees, and so Sandra spends her weekend – two days, one night – visiting the houses and afterhours workplaces of her colleagues, pleading with them to reconsider. What the Dardenne brothers have crafted with Two Days,
One Night is a fascinating little parable; one that aches to be unpacked, just as it floods you with worry for the pain Cotillard’s terrific Sandra will shortly face. But Sandra’s got it; though she’s suffering, she’s wonderfully strong, completely realistic about the terrible proposition she’s bringing to her co-workers. House by house, she’s gracious, exhausted, mortified by her task, brought to tears by the support she receives from some, hurt by others she considered friends, taunted by petty workplace bureaucracy, and haunted by her depression. Sam Hobson
the guide
JACKIE MARSHALL Name/instrument played: Jackie Marshall – guitars, voice. How long have you been performing? Longer than Sahara Beck but not as long as Carol Lloyd. You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep you happy if we throw them on the stereo? I’d reckon maybe one of Glen Hansard’s playlists, or Dan Auerbach. Or Grace Slick. I tend to gravitate to the mopey stuff, not fab for driving, I wouldn’t trust me to woman the stereo solo on a long trip. That being said, Led Zeppelin has seen me through some serious miles. Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster? I’d rather be some kind of emphatic vagina warrior with a slew of sexy guitars, hanging out in one gigantic commune family of like-souled minds, primed for Fun at any hour of the day. Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)? The Toothfaeries and Fabulous Nobodies made making music feel like a real thing to do, I loved going to see them at The Zoo. 4ZzZ Market Days and everything they contained made for extra magic. I loved checking out Screamfeeder, Custard, Gazoonga Attack, so many great bands. What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? I live in Oxley, which is half way to Ipswich. It’s an earnest place, Oxley, and it keeps me grounded in my writing. Driving around town with The Go-Betweens on the car stereo not long ago, the lazy brownsnake river, smoky Mt Cootha, undulating streets filled with renovated Queenslanders, I’m all too aware I’ve lived a lot of life here. Memories turn up all over town. Those little nuanced nostalgia find their way into songs, inevitably. Jackie Marshall plays Party On The Commune at Old Museum on Friday 21 Nov, Mullum Music Festival on Saturday 22 Nov and Woodford Folk Festival (with The Soldier’s Wife) on Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 Dec.
Pic: Terry Soo
THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 25
eat/drink
N PALE ALE M Coming up to summer, everything gets brighter – including the colour of your beer. Pale ale is clean, crisp, fruity and perfect for the warmer weather. Words Taylor Yates.
VALE IPA
STONE & WOOD PACIFIC ALE
An Australian interpretation of IPA, using hops from New Zealand, America and Australia, this beer will woo you with its strong pine and citrus notes, with a hint of passionfruit.
COOPERS ORIGINAL PALE ALE
Inspired by the Pacific Ocean, you’ll be glad to know this one doesn’t taste like sea salt – it’s fresh and tropical in flavour – and because they don’t filter it (you loose flavour if you filter it), there’s a bunch of yeast floating around at the bottom of the bottle, giving it a distinctly home brewed feel. Like with Coopers, you have to give the bottle a bit of a gentle tip or roll to mix up the yeast.
Fruity and floral, yet slightly bitter. Quite sharp in the way of citrus, with the lemon punching right through from the first sip. Goes well with spicy foods, stir fries, poultry, seafood and salads. Gently roll on its side before opening to rid of the sediment at the bottom of the bottle.
Full in flavour and reminiscent of fruit salad, this India Pale Ale is clean and smooth. It also has a lower alcohol content than the standard IPA, so lightweights, this may be your new favourite beer.
LITTLE CREATURES PALE ALE
FAT YAK PALE ALE
Fresh with citrus and stone fruit characters, with quite a distinctive bitter aftertaste.
Very floral with melon and citrus flavours. Have this one with slightly spicy Spanish tapas or something tomato-ey.
26 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014
TWO BIRDS BANTAM IPA
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
INDIE NEWS
CHART WRAP
THINKING HAT
BABA MANILOW
STEP TO IT
Hat Fitz & Cara have released the clip for Shakedown, the first from new album Do Tell. Hear their catchy rockabilly tunes when they play Brass Monkey, 14 Nov and New Globe Theatre, 27 Nov.
Smudge are celebrating the 20th anniversary reimagining of their Manilow album, featuring everyone from Lou Barlow to Tim Rogers, but it’ll be Babaganouj who get to open for them 16 Nov at Black Bear Lodge.
Step-Panther team up with Bearhug (pictured) for a co-headline tour; Step-Panther dropped a vid for It Came From The Heart and Bearhug released album Strange But Nice. Trainspotters, 22 Nov.
BACK TO THE BAR
B-E-A-UTIFUL
A LITTLE DAY IN
It’s been a while between releases so Brissy ska punks Alla Spina are heading back into the studio, but 13 Nov, they’ll be playing Ric’s Bar with guests Woodstock Road.
Sydney-based four piece You Beauty are celebrating the vinyl release of their debut album Jersey Flegg. Catch the indie rock ensemble at The Haunt on 15 Nov for some mellow beats and mesmerising tunes. Workshop and Deadshread support.
The Green Room at the Imperial Lionhart Hotel, Eumundi, once again hosts A Little Day In, 15 Nov, featuring Tea Society, Brothers, The Perries, Dear Willow, Hoo8Hoo, Agnes J Walker, Makin Roses, Life Boat, Will Watson and Sally Skelton.
STILL RULING
STIFF UPPER FLIP
GRRL POWER
If you like your blues with an alternative lean, then Cisco Caesar is right up your alley. They launch new record Burnt And Broken 21 Nov, Frankie Brown, Byron Bay; 22 Nov, The Bearded Lady; and 23 Nov, Swingin’ Safari, GC.
Melbourne rock larrikins, The Stiffys, show a solid new direction launching Kick Another Flip, the first track from their Art Rock EP. See ‘em at New Globe Theatre, 22 Nov, with support by Outliers and Skinnie Finches.
Melbourne three-piece Tequila Mockingbyrd are bringing their new EP, T-Byrds Are Go!, and debut video, for Money Tree, to where the sun really shines a whole lot more 21 Nov, taking over Chardons Corner Hotel.
EXECUTED
CUTTIN’ IT UP
SESSIONS
Celebrating their latest slice of brutality, The Great Execution, Brazil’s masters of death metal, Krisiun, will be joined 13 Nov in Crowbar by Truth Corroded and Laceration Mantra.
Melbourne DJ/producer duo Slice N Dice are doing an extensive run of dates. The SOL Republic ambassadors will hit up McLarens Landing, South Stradbroke Island, 15 Nov; Melbas, 30 Nov; Elsewhere, 1 Dec;
Singer-songwriter Zac Gunthorpe is bringing his sincere guitar playing across Queensland as part of what he’s calling the Great South East Sessions. He’ll play 21 Nov, Habitat Bar; 22 Nov, Solbar; 29 Nov, Solbar.
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
Flight Facilities have taken out the #1 placing on this week’s Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts with their debut full-length, Down To Earth, claiming pole position on entry. The result sees last week’s titleholders, Hilltop Hoods and Walking Under Stars, drop a spot to #2, pushing Missy Higgins (Oz) and Jimmy Barnes (30:30 Hindsight) down a notch each too, to #3 and #4 respectively. Resurgent songstress Lanie Lane’s second album, Night Shade, enters strongly at #6, but can’t quite break beyond Vance Joy’s Dream Your Life Away, which steps up a place to #5 this week. Re-entries this week come from Thundamentals, whose one-time #1, So We Can Remember, is back in the top 20 at #15, just outpaced by The Delta Riggs’ Dipz Zebazios, which reappears at #14. On the singles ladder, Brissiebred pop factory Sheppard see yet another single on the charts with Smile making the week’s highest entry at #6, just below their still-performing mega-hit Geronimo (#5). West Australian indie-poppers San Cisco aren’t far behind, with comeback cut, RUN nabbing them #7 on debut. Top album-makers Flight Facilities also made an impact in the singles world, with Sunshine, featuring Reggie Watts, stepping out at #14, only a few spots behind earlier single, Two Bodies, (#11) and this week’s only other new entry, Odd Mob’s Is It A Banger?, which comes in at #10 for the week. Honey-voiced Brisbane muso Airling also finds herself back in the charts this week — Wasted Pilots makes its return at #20. THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 27
the guide qld.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
HAVE YOU HEARD – what would it be? First of all heck yes space! It would definitely be the Jurassic Park soundtrack. It’s my favourite score and I could forever think of Jeff Goldblum saying “Life finds a way.”
Sean B, who produced the album would send beats to us, we would write during the week then hit the studio on the weekend. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Firstly the beats we were getting sent, plus Jake and myself trying to push one another in our writing. Just being in the studio on certain nights when that magic happens, was inspirational in itself.
750 REBELS Album title: Kold Heat Where did the title of your new album come from? The working title for the album was originally called ‘Bring It To Ya City’. After getting bored with this, we ran with Kold Heat, which was a name of a track I’d demoed two years earlier. How many releases do you have now? 16 releases between us all on the label Karsniogenics, plus a tonne of material with other indie labels, vinyl, tapes and CDs. How long did it take to write/ record? Some tracks were recorded three years ago, but the majority was done in the last two years.
What’s your favourite song on it? For a long time now its been Magnum Opus but since the album’s been out, I’m diggin’ tracks like The Paper and False Idols. Will you do anything differently next time? Each release is a milestone, a snap shot in time, since I’ve been buried in this project for along time I don’t have a clue on what’s next, or what approach I would take on the next project.
Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date? Playing a very large piano and singing with Thelma Plum at the Tivoli. I’m a huge fan of her music and the Tivoli is an unreal venue to play in.
NEIGHBOUR How did you get together? After fronting a rock-ish band (Fushia) that I started in high school, I wanted to try a new sound. I was given a beautiful acoustic guitar and grew up a little and here we are.
Why should people come and see your band? You will feel ‘cooler’ afterwards. I’ll say something awkward and you can happily think “I’m glad I’m not that guy.”
Sum up your musical sound in four words? Caramel folk rock musiccino. If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be? Elliott Smith. Not sure how I’d handle that kind of excitement though so it’s probably good that it can’t happen.
When and where for your next gig? Drop In Festival with Bluejuice, Beautiful Girls, Ash Grunwald, The Cairos and Karl S Williams at Redland Bay Hotel. 15 Nov. Website link for more info? neighbourmakesmusic. bandcamp.com
You’re being sent into space, no iPod, you can bring one album
JUST VISITING
G20 FOCUS our show is blown away! We are known for stirring, and humorous live performances.
WOMEN IN DOCS Answered by: Chanel Lucas (vocalist, bass player, ukulele strummer) Will you be doing anything different for your G20 performance or treating it as just another gig? This show is part of our Wagon Wheel single release tour. It will be a full band show featuring Geoff Green (drums) and Silas Palmer (violin/keys) alongside Roz Pappalardo and Chanel Lucas (Women In Docs). If an international delegate, politician or journalist happens to catch your G20 performance why will he/she be blown away? We hope everyone who catches
What world leader (past or current) would you most like to meet and why? Gandhi. He did such great work encouraging ordinary people to be great and encouraged such a peaceful approach to change. An inspiring leader.
DEL BARBER
Is there a political component to any of your music? Not really. Women In Docs write about ordinary life and ordinary things – we celebrate the joy and energy in live music and bring lots of hilarious stories to our shows.
Why are you coming to visit our fair country? I’m coming to play songs and tell stories.... Coming to work, I guess. Playing headline shows as well as Mullum Music Festival, Festival Of Small Halls and Woodford Folk Festival.
Can music actually usher in change on a global level? We believe it can. Music, art, dance and theatre are a significant part of any country’s presence in the world, especially now that everyone is connected.
Is this your f irst visit? It will indeed be my first visit to Australia.
When and where are you performing as part of G20? Free gig, 15 Nov at The Samford Valley Hotel, 5pm. S U P P O R T I N G
I love to fish, love to hunt, farm, ride horses and cook. What will you be taking home as a souvenir? I’m not much for souvenirs. Where can we come say hi, and buy you an Aussie beer? 22 & 23 Nov, Mullum Music Festival; 27 Dec, Woodford Folk Festival Website link for more info? delbarber.com
How long are you here for? I’ll be in Australia for seven weeks. What do you know about Australia, in ten words or less? That about 60% of the land is farmed! Any extra-curricular activities you hope to participate in? I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
CAFÉ - BAR
321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY
WED 12TH NOV
TRUE THEORY (10:00PM) + GUEST (9:00PM)
THU 13TH NOV
STUDENT NIGHT: ALLA SPINA (10:30PM) + WOODSTOCK ROAD (9:30PM)
FRI 14TH NOV
BANDINTEXAS (9:00PM) + THE ADROGYNY (8:00PM)
SAT 15TH NOV
THE RIDE (9:00PM) + GUEST (8:00PM)
SUN 16TH NOV
EXPOSED ULTIMATE: WILD CARD HEAT (7:00PM)
MON 17TH NOV TBC
TUE 18TH NOV
SAMUEL DYLAN COOPER (9:30PM) + EAST OF EDEN (8:30PM) FREE LIVE MUSIC AND INDIE DJS
WANT TO PLAY? EMAIL BOOKINGS@RICSBAR.COM.AU
WWW.RICSBAR.COM.AU
WED NOV 12 DIE RUDE MOJAVE
FRI NOV 14
THE BEARDED LADY’S 1ST BIRTHDAY!
BANDS, DJS, GHOULS AND FREAKS! SOME JERKS MOONSHINE BLACK AMEX
SAT NOV 15 POLICE FORCE
CACTUS DEMON DOOM GUNK
SUN NOV 16
CURLEW (ALBUM LAUNCH) AMATEUR CHILDBIRTH THE SCRAPES
WWW.THEBEARDEDLADY.COM.AU THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014 • 29
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au Katchafire + I&I: The Hi-Fi, West End
THE MUSIC PRESENTS Daniel Lee Kendall: Black Bear Lodge 13 Nov
Festival Of The Sun: Port Macquarie 12-13 Dec
Gorguts: Crowbar 16 Nov
Dallas Frasca: SolBar 13 Dec, Rock Central 31 Dec
Gossling: Black Bear Lodge 19 & 20 Nov The Smith Street Band: The Hi-Fi 21 Nov Davey Lane: The Brightside 21 Nov San Cisco: The Zoo 21 Nov, Alhambra Lounge 22 Nov (U18), The Northern 23 Nov Jungle Love Festival: Lake Moogerah 21-22 Nov
Real Estate: The Zoo 27 Feb
65daysofstatic: The Hi-Fi 11 Mar
The Delta Riggs: The Factory Maroochydore 5 Dec, The Triffid 6 Dec
Mojo Burning Festival: New Globe Theatre 21 Mar
The War On Drugs: The Zoo 10 Dec
Bluesfest Byron Bay: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, 2-6 Apr
Electric Swing Circus + The Rocketsox + Mood Swing: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Allenstown Hotel, Rockhampton Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Bay Central Tavern, Pialba Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving + Kerretta + Hazards of Swimming Naked: Beetle Bar, Brisbane Daniel Lee Kendall + The Phoncurves + Sleepy Tea: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley Karaoke: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim Jam Night + Various Artists: Capalaba Tavern, Capalaba
True Theory + DJ Redbeard: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley
Tim Lollback: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Solbar (Lounge), Maroochydore
Trivia: Club Tavern, Caboolture
Jenny Talia From Australia: Springwood Hotel, Springwood Jam Night + Various Artists: Stones Corner Hotel, Stones Corner Die Rude: The Bearded Lady, West End Manchester Orchestra + Apes + Kevin Devine: The Hi-Fi, West End Chris Poulsen Trio: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane Rob McMullen: The Plough Inn, Southbank
GIG OF THE WEEK ARCHER: 14 & 15 NOV, JUNK BAR Blues & Roots Night+The Lyrical: The Elephant Hotel, Fortitude Valley Katchafire + I&I + Jordan T: The Hi-Fi, West End Fish Out of Water: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane
Various Artists: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim
Various Artists: Kirwan Tavern, Townsville
Tuffy: Victory Hotel, Brisbane
Portugal. The Man: Komune Resort, Coolangatta
Think Well, Be Well Festival feat. Electrik Lemonade + Mayan Fox + Jahkaya + Jackson James Smith + Scott Dalton + The Genes: Broadwater Parklands, Southport
Various DJs: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
Various Artists: Lawton Tavern, Lawnton
Katchafire: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda
Various Artists: Miami Tavern, Miami
Various Artists: Caloundra Hotel, Caloundra
Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Karaoke: Capalaba Tavern, Capalaba
Cause In Affect + Chasing Closure + Micropsia + Flynn Effect: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Various Artists: Captain Cook Tavern, Kippa-Ring
FRI 14
Captives: 4ZZZ (Car Park), Fortitude Valley
Body & Soul - Sandy Beyon & Sean Mullen: Absynthe French Restaurant, Surfers Paradise Various Artists: Alexandra Headlands Hotel, Alexandra Headlands
Non Cents with Six Shooter + Chris Miller: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Various DJs: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim Various DJs: Breakfast Creek Hotel, Breakfast Creek Eurogliders: Broncos Leagues Club, Red Hill Big Jim: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda Various Artists: Buderim Tavern, Buderim
Various DJs: Caloundra Hotel, Caloundra
Trivia: Vale Hotel, Aitkenvale
Alla Spina + Woodstock Road + DJ Valdis: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley
Various DJs: Capalaba Tavern (Sports Bar), Capalaba
Trivia: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
Matt Stillert: Solbar, Maroochydore
THU 13
KLP + Ribongia: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Trophy Eyes + Endless Heights + Landscapes + Columbus: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Various Artists: Alexandra Headlands Hotel, Alexandra Headlands
Violent Soho + Special Guests: Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra
G20 Cultural Celebrations Longplayers + Karl S Williams + Kristy Apps and The Shotgun Shirleys: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Karaoke: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah
Karaoke: Albany Creek Tavern, Albany Creek
Doorly: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Darren J Ray: Beaudesert RSL, Beaudesert
Various Artists: Allenstown Hotel, Rockhampton
Frown + Shacides + Black Deity: The Bearded Lady, West End
Jazz Saturdays + Various Artists: Albion Hotel, Albion
Various Artists: Kawana Waters Hotel, Kawana Waters
Acoustic Artists + Various Artists: Burleigh Heads Hotel, Burleigh Heads
Yaurout + Being Jane Lane + Fooligans: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley
Feenixpawl + Tooshoes + Benibee + Hynzey + Migs: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill
Doorly + Tkay Maidza: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Trivia: Deception Bay Tavern, Deception Bay
Underground Sounds - Open Mic Night Competition + Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
TGIF+Various DJs: Deception Bay Tavern, Deception Bay
Yes: Jupiters, Broadbeach
Krisiun + Truth Corroded + Captives: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Morning Melodies + Mirror Image: Irish Finnegans, Condon
SAT 15
Creek Bar Saturdays + DJ Indy Andy: Albany Creek Tavern, Albany Creek
Daryl Braithwaite: Hamilton Hotel, Hamilton
Philadelphia Grand Jury + Rolls Bayce + The Worriers: Alhambra Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Karaoke: Forest Lake Tavern, Forest Lake
Various Artists: Dalrymple Hotel, Garbutt
Violent Soho + Special Guests: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba
G20 Cultural Celebrations + The Blues. Used. Abused.: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
Ed Kuepper + Blank Realm: The Triffid, Newstead
Juice + DJ Jarrd + DJ Blitz: Wynnum Tavern, Wynnum West
Ty Fader: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Giants of Science + The Gin Club + The Stress Of Leisure: The Triffid, Newstead
Gyroscope: The Brightside 11 Dec
Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
Joe Camilleri & The Black Sorrows: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
Nas: The Tivoli 20 Jan
London Grammar: Brisbane Riverstage 7 Mar
Reign Havok Heat 3 + Various Artists: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Various Artists: Victory Hotel, Brisbane
Thy Art Is Murder: Crowbar 20 Dec & 21 Dec (U18)
Dallas Frasca: 29 Nov Irish Club, 13 Dec, Solbar; 31 Dec, Bramble Bay Bowls Club
The Zouk Social: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Joel Creasey: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Dallas Frasca & Shaun Kirk: Lefty’s 18 Dec, 19 Dec, Currumbin Creek Tavern; 20 Dec, Joe’s Waterhole
Sharon Van Etten: The Zoo 4 Mar
WED 12
3 Thieves: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Dead Letter Circus: The Hi-Fi 18 Dec
Mullum Music Festival: Mullumbimby 20-23 Nov
Georgia Fair + Nik Thompson: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Trophy Eyes + Endless Heights + Landscapes + Columbus: The Lab (All Ages), Brisbane
The Shapes + Recharge DJs: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba Various Artists: Commercial Hotel, Nerang 1927: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta Army Of Champions + Captives + Release The Hounds + The Quarters + Hanny J: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
S U P P O R T I N G
The Screaming Jets: Norths Leagues & Services Club, Kallangur
Town Hall Sessions feat. Halfway + Stormchasers + Harley Young: Cardigan Bar, Sandgate
Recharge DJs: Russell Tavern, Dalby
Workshop + You Beauty + Dead Shred: Caxton Hotel (The Haunt), Brisbane
The Dawn Chorus: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Zoophonic Blonde: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Stranded feat. The Kite String Tangle + Golden Features + Tkay Maidza + Taiki Nulight + KLP + UV Boi + Doorly + Aryay + Generik + Poolclvb + DJ Gurps + Greaves + 95 Royale + Lyndon Kidd + Tucker + Elleyet + Finger Ring + Fancy Pants + Stranded: South Stradbroke Island, Stradbroke Island
Defamer + Whitehorse + Meth Drinker: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley
Various Artists: Springfield Tavern, Springfield
The Short Fall: Gladstone Turf Club, Gladstone
Freakin Fridays + Rotating Residents: Springwood Hotel, Springwood
Trainspotters feat. Food Court: Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane
Various Artists: Stones Corner Hotel, Stones Corner Dan Munn: Story Bridge Hotel (The Corner Bar), Kangaroo Point DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point Beaded Lady 1st Birthday Bash with Some Jerks + Moonshine + DJ Black Amex: The Bearded Lady, West End The Harpoons + The Jensens: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
Crowieoke + Various Artists: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Karaoke: Deception Bay Tavern, Deception Bay Cassian: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise
Various Artists: Kawana Waters Hotel, Kawana Waters Various Artists: Miami Tavern, Miami Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane Whiskey & Speed + Baltimore Gun Club + Junkyard Diamonds + Black As Blue + Walken + Dr Peppernickle’s Orphanarium of Obese Aristocrats + The Grills + Cold Hearts + Thee Hugs + Greyface: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
DJ JD7: The Four Mile Creek Hotel, Strathpine
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
the guide qld.gigguide@themusic.com.au
TUE 18
Psychedelic Doomsday Soireé + Hobo Magic + Reud Mood + The Orchard + Lung: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley
The Rolling Stones: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall
Drop In Festival feat. The Beautiful Girls + Bluejuice + Ash Grunwald + The Cairos + Karl S Williams + Neighbour: Redland Bay Hotel, Redland Bay
Sweet K: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda Trivia: Buderim Tavern, Buderim Trivia: Captain Cook Tavern, Kippa-Ring
Recharge DJs: Russell Tavern, Dalby
Trivia: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
G20 Cultural Celebrations + Women In Docs + Dozzi: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley
Various DJs: Victory Hotel, Brisbane Karaoke: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum
THE GIN CLUB: 13 NOV, THE TRIFFID Nautic Giants Afterparty + Various DJs: Elsewhere, Surfers Paradise Various Artists: Lawton Tavern, Lawnton
KLP: The Factory, Maroochydore
Various Artists: Magnums Hotel, Airlie Beach
Lanie Lane + Guests: The Hi-Fi, West End
Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane
John Digweed: The Met, Fortitude Valley
Mark D’s Big 3: Morrison Hotel, Woolloongabba
Paua + The Wet Fish: The Motor Room, West End
Mimi Macpherson: Noosa Reef Hotel, Noosa Heads
Archie Rye + Blue Steel: The Plough Inn, Southbank
Various Artists: North Lakes Tavern, Mango Hill
Flight Facilities + Client Liaison: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley
Hanja: OMalleys Irish Bar, Mooloolaba
Paul Dempsey: The Triffid, Newstead
Various Artists: Petrie Hotel, Petrie
Golden Sound + Mammoth DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley
SUN 16
Bearfoot + Brodie Graham: Solbar (Lounge Bar), Maroochydore
Sunday Sessions + Various Artists: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim
Katchafire: Southport RSL, Southport
Livespark + Chanel Lucas + Ayla: Brisbane Powerhouse (Turbine Platform), New Farm
DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point
Fingerprint: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda
Curlew + Amateur Childbirth + The Scrapes: The Bearded Lady, West End
Sunday Unplugged + Various Artists: Burleigh Heads Hotel, Burleigh Heads
Accept + Special Guests: The Hi-Fi, West End
Gorguts + Portal + Departe + Disentomb + Consummation: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley Cider Sundays + Various Artists: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington
Uncle Bob’s Music Club + Various Artists: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah
A Day On The Green with Mariah Carey + Megan Washington + Dami Im: Sirromet Winery, Mount Cotton
Daryl Braithwaite: Blue Mountain Hotel, Harlaxton
Lucy Street: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
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The Bachata Social: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
Various Artists: Raintrees Tavern, Manunda
Various Artists: Smithfield Tavern, Smithfield
Various Artists: Captain Cook Tavern, Kippa-Ring
MON 17
www.alchemix.com.au recording-mixing-mastering-andproducing-artists-since-1998 look-us-up-or-ring-for-questionsanswered 0407630770 sound@ alchemix.com.au
Various Artists: Pub Lane Tavern, Greenbank
Smudge + Babaganouj: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley
Backsliders + Kevin Borich Express + Doc Span + Phil Manning: Caloundra Power Boat Club, Golden Beach
ALCHEMIX RECORDING STUDIOS
Movember Rain: The Bearded Lady, West End
Summerdaze: Story Bridge Hotel (The Corner Bar), Kangaroo Point
Various DJs: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville
RECORDING STUDIOS
Mark Sheils: Samford Valley Hotel, Samford Valley
100% AC/DC Show + Heartbreaker: Springwood Hotel, Springwood
G20 Long Weekend Spring Break+Cambridge + Our Past Days + First Sight + The Effects Of Boredom: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley
MUSIC SERVICES
Live Jazz with The Enterprise: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End
King Of The North: Solbar, Maroochydore
Cactus Demon Doom + Police Force + GUNK: The Bearded Lady, West End
classies.themusic.com.au
Trivia: Irish Finnegans, Condon
G20 Cultural Celebrations + Halfway + Stormchasers: Sandgate Town Hall, Sandgate
DJ Ritchie: Story Bridge Hotel (Shelter Bar), Kangaroo Point
classies
Norton: The Plough Inn, Southbank Jam Session + Various Artists: Waterfront Hotel, Diddillibah Hair of the Mammoth + Various Artists + Mammoth DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley The Black Sorrows: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum G20 Cultural Celebrations - Southside Crew Jam + Sampology: Yeronga Park Swimming Pool, Yeronga
S U P P O R T I N G
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
32 • THE MUSIC • 12TH NOVEMBER 2014