Batpiss Black lips Bo NiNgeN cris kirkwood HarmoNy Joel morrisoN JustiN pearsoN kaNe HiBBerd parquet courts qotsa | NiN tHe Hives
9 771838 809004
ISSN 1838-8094
04
Vinyl split feat.
ImmIgrant UnIon & the Pretty LIttLes Official pressings
No.17 3rd Birthday issue aU$14.95 aU$14.95 inc inc gst gst inclUdes inclUdes Vinyl Vinyl recOrd recOrd –– dO dO nOt nOt Bend Bend cOVer cOVer phOtO: phOtO: BO BO ningen ningen
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Fields Written by: Harrow / DeBoer © Immigrant Union By kind permission of Immigrant Union
OM Beach Written by: The Pretty Littles Jack Parsons, Will Batrouney, Jono Gooley, Simon Boyd Recorded at Sound Park, Northcote Produced by Alex Rudie Mah Markwell © The Pretty Littles By kind permission of The Pretty Littles
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Vinyl Information
IFC
Publisher’s Letter
04
INTERVIEWS & LIVE REVIEWS Big Day Off Pelle Almqvist and Nicholaus Arson talk vitamins, the internet and … what else? THE HIVES.
06
No Limits 10 BO NINGEN discuss creativity and being offered translators in their native Japan. QOSTA | NIN Two amazing artists co-headline a tour. Does it live up to the hype? Yes it does.
COVER BO NINGEN NO LIMITS
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flow featured artist Cris Kirkwood MEAT PUPPETs
26
14
ON THE SULLEN SIDE 16 Harmony’s TOM LYNCOLGN shows that the only thing darker than the new record is Tom Lyncolgn. PARQUET COURTS New York’s latest hype kids bring a lot of noise to The Corner Hotel.
20
THE MERIT OF ART CRIS KIRKWOOD of the legendary MEAT PUPPETS discusses art, Phoenix and Robert Crumb.
23
BATPISS Matt Zurbo becomes instantly smitten – and slightly intoxicated by – BATPISS.
46
INTO THE GOLDMINE Richie Lewis, Wally Kempton and Bruce Milne on Dirty Jeans: The Rise of Australian Alternative Rock
53
JUSTIN PEARSON The swing kid behind The Locust and Retox discusses his new book, veganism and EDM.
56
THE BLACK WREATH In Australia’s red centre, a black metal storm is brewing.
60
cuntz 68 At The Retreat, Melbourne’s punk brat darlings live up to their reputation. quality control JARED SWILLEY of the BLACK LIPS tours the Middle East and learns what a producer does.
snap featured photographer KANE HIBBERD
34
FEATURES JAPAN: A TOUR DIARY In a veri exclusive BUNT take you inside the planes, trains and Japan’s oddly titled venues.
70
44
INTENTIONS ARE FOR IDIOTS 66 Joel Morrison and Georgina Matherson take time between pots to blow up balloons in musicians’ faces. Release Reviews
49
06
The Hives PHOTO: Zo Gay
Bo Ningen
10
PHOTO: Zo Gay
Tom Lyncolgn: Harmony  PHOTO: Zo Gay
Cris KirkwooD 
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PHOTO: elmo kirkwood
Opposite page Scads of Skulls Watercolor painting 11” x 14” Cris Kirkwood
flow
Cris Kirkwood Meat Puppets
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Valentino Arteaga, Of Mice & Men Festival Hall, Melbourne, 2013 Being able to shoot up close with a drummer is a very personal experience, one that I’m very grateful to be able to do. You can feel every hit of the drum, every ounce of energy being used. I hope the image helps reflect some of this. Kane Hibberd
SNAP Kane Hibberd
Live music photography can be an unfulfilling task. Sometimes the lighting works against you, shrouding the exciting moments in darkness. Other times it’s you, just being in the wrong space at the wrong time. And sometimes it all comes together. That’s what makes all those wasted nights out without a killer frame worthwhile. That one killer picture that can say more than all the words in the world. Here’s some pictures that make it worthwhile for me.
release Reviews
All The Colours
Band Of Skulls
Black Lips
All The Colours Inertia
Himalayan Liberator
Underneath the Rainbow Warner
This one plays out like a greatest hits
Listening to Band Of Skulls’ third
Throughout a fairly prolific career,
collection, a retrospective of a band
album, you can’t help but feel as if the
Black Lips have released brazen and
that jumped from genre to genre,
cheeky sods have agreed that their
overtly simple garage rock. Visceral
that could never quite be pinned
first two albums were really good,
enjoyment is at the forefront of the
down.
so they got together in the studio to
genre, so bringing producer Patrick
‘Shame’ opens with big fuzz bass
make the third album just as good,
Carney (of Black Keys fame) into the
but more polished, and utilised all the
fold for Underneath the Rainbow
band’s strengths to make every other
worried many that the band would be
band on Earth pale in comparison
taking a commercial turn. Instead, the
to their rich tonal qualities, perfect
band’s seventh full length is a swampy
harmonies, pro musicianship and
affair; straight-up two minute bangers
their duelling vocalists, Josh Mann
brilliant songcraft.
have been replaced with murky tracks
and Josh Moriarty: one has rock
There is no Light Of The Morning
that take strange turns on a whim.
swagger, the other croons like Rufus
rawness here. Rather, their harmonies
‘Funny’ stays true to their psychedelic
Wainwright.
hit an almost OK Computer-era
leanings but showcases an uneasy
The record traverses from heavy
beauty and the maturity of the
approach not common for these four
songwriting is becoming more and
usually confident dudes. ‘Boys In The
end, with standouts ‘Love Like
more apparent.
Wood’ easily transports listeners to
This’ and ‘… And The Earth Stood
It’s hard to pinpoint the standout
America’s Deep South and is as slow
Still’ , you realise you’re dug deep
tracks: they’re all great in their own
as anything the band’s ever released.
into a Floydesque guitar record.
way, depending on the mood you’re in
But don’t confuse slow with relaxed:
This one doesn’t toe a line; it
and what they’re trying to convey.
tension abounds as Cole Alexander,
draws its own.
Guitar geeks will salivate over the
John Dean
subtle use of effects.
and veers into indie pop, establishing a tug of war between the genres that play out across the record. Part of All The Colours’ strength, on top of their ability to build melodies, is
pines to heavy hearts. By album’s
Matt Haycroft
the oldest of the Lips, comes to terms with the shitty state of the world he lives in. Joshua Kloke
49
Above – Top: Wayne “Slatts” Slattery (King Parrot). Bottom: Luke Monks (Gay Paris) Left – Top: Paul Pirie (Batpiss). Middle: Marika Fengler. Bottom: Brett Marshall (Mightiest of Guns)
67
Cuntz PHOTO: Zo Gay
74