the music (brisbane) issue #60

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BALL PARK BALL PARK MUSIC

“TH I S I S MY S ONG , TAKE I T O R L EAVE I T ”“ TH I S I S MY S ONG , TAKE I T O R L EAVE I T ”

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#60 • 1 5 . 1 0 . 1 4 • B R I SBANE • F R E E • I N C ORP ORAT I N G

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2 • THE MUSIC • 15TH OCTOBER 2014

THE MUSIC • 15TH OCTOBER 2014 • 3

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 15 OCT - 21 OCT 2014THIS WEEK

It’s that time of year where we all get to become the culinary (and drink) experts that we know we are deep down – the annual Brisbane Good Food & Wine Show! Held over three days this weekend (17–19 Oct) at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, it involves cooking classes and wine tastings; or you can just eat and drink to your heart’s content knowing that you’re surrounded by the best chefs and vintners in the business.

Brisbane-born indie label Bedroom Suck Records are turning five years old, and they’re throwing a party! The label long ago turned into a national concern, releasing records by an awesome roster of Aussie bands like Boomgates, Love Of Diagrams, Blank Realm, Bitch Prefect and many more – this Sunday night (19 Oct) at Black Bear Lodge you can catch Terrible Truths, Peter Escott (frontman for The Native Cats), pictured, Superstar, Primitive Motion, Thigh Master and Cannon. Something awesome for everyone!

He first came to our attention as Murray Hewitt in Flight Of The Conchords – his character giving a bad rap to band managers everywhere – but Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby long ago forged his own reputation as a stand-up comedian to be reckoned with. He hits The Tivoli tomorrow night (16 Oct) and because we don’t get to see him in the flesh very often (he’s based in LA these days) this show will be a bit of a ‘best of ’. Bring it on!

dine

laugh

rock

BRISBANE

CREDITSPUBLISHER

Street Press Australia Pty Ltd

GROUP MANAGING EDITORAndrew Mast

NATIONAL EDITOR MAGAZINES Mark Neilsen

EDITORSteve Bell

ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR Cassandra Fumi

GIG GUIDE EDITORJustine Lynch

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORBryget Chrisfi eld

CONTRIBUTORSAlice 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

PHOTOGRAPHERSFreya Lamont, John Stubbs, John Taylor, Kane Hibberd,

Markus Ravik, Rick Cliff ord, Sky Kirkham, Stephen Booth,

Terry Soo, Tessa Fox

QLD SALESJuliet Brooks, Madeleine

Budd

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CONTACT USPhone: (07) 3252 9666

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BEAUT ROCKNever shy to tackle any issue, Dallas Frasca takes on the whole body image thing with her new single, You Are Beautiful, lifted from the forthcoming crowdfunded Love Army album. Presented by The Music, Dallas and the band hits the road kicking into the Norfolk Hotel, Fremantle, 2 Nov; then Yah Yah’s, Melbourne, 12 Dec; Solbar, Sunshine Coast, 13 Dec; Transit Bar, Canberra, 18 Dec; and Brighton Up Bar, Sydney, 19 Dec. More dates on theMusic.com.au.

CARLTON DRY INDIE MUSIC AWARD WINNERSThe awards were held last Wednesday in Melbourne, and the winners include (drum roll, please) REMI for the Carlton Dry Global Music Grant ($50k prize) and Best Independent Hip Hop Album (Raw X Infinity), Courtney Barnett for Best Independent Artist and Independent Single/EP (Avant Gardener), and Violent Soho for Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album (Hungry Ghost). Head to theMusic.com.au for the full list.

BREAKING IT DOWNAustralian metalcore favourites The Amity Affliction have confirmed they’ll head out on an extensive regional tour in the new year. The band, who are the headline act for upcoming new festival UNIFY: A Heavy Music Gathering, will take their The Weight Down Under tour out on the road next January, for the Queensland band’s first regional tour since 2011. Joining Amity for the run will be In Hearts Wake, Confession and Antagonist AD. Catch ‘em at Wool Exchange, Geelong, 9 Jan; ANU Bar, Canberra, 13 Jan; Penrith Panthers, Sydney, 15 Jan; Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast, 17 Jan; and Metropolis, Fremantle, 29 Jan; with more dates on theMusic.com.au.

national news

ARIA 2014 NOMINEESThe winners of the 2014 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra will be announced live from The Star in Sydney 26 Nov, and broadcast on Ten. Up for awards, with nine nominations, is Chet Faker, who has already picked up Producer and Engineer Of The Year; with seven nominations, Sheppard; with six nominations, Sia; with five nominations, Dan Sultan; with four nominations, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Iggy Azalea and Violent Soho; with three nominations, Andy Bull, Hilltop Hoods, Jessica Mauboy, John Butler Trio, Justice Crew and RÜFÜS; with two nominations, 360, Angus & Julia Stone, DZ Deathrays, Gurrumul, Guy Sebastian, Kasey Chambers, Keith Urban, The Presets and Vance Joy, and with one nomination each, another staggering 47 acts. For the big one – Album of the Year – the contest is between Chet Faker, Dan Sultan, Jessica Mauboy, Sheppard and Sia.

DALLAS FRASCA

MATILDA THE MUSICAL

CHET FAKER

RETURN OF GHOSTFACETaking his stage name from a character in the 1979 kung fu movie, Mystery Of

Cheeseboxing, the Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, aka Dennis Coles, returns to Australia for a national tour that sees the hip hop heavyweight performing 12 Dec at Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane; 13 Dec, Meredith Music Festival; 18 Dec, Metro Theatre, Sydney; 19 Dec at The Espy, Melbourne; and 21 Dec at Metro City, Perth.

LAMB IN LOVEBy the time you read this, the sixth album from British duo Lamb, Backspace Unwind, should be winging its way into the world’s various retail outlets. You’ve heard the new single, We Fall In

Love, and you should be on top of the rest of the album by the time Lamb return to Australia to tour in February, the tour kicking off 6 Feb, Astor Theatre, Perth; then 10 Feb, The Tivoli, Brisbane; 12 Feb, Enmore Theatre, Sydney; and 14 Feb, Forum Theatre, Melbourne.

IT REALLY FEELS LIKE MARS USED TO BE A HERE THAT GOT GLOBALLY WARMED BY SOME VERY US-Y PEOPLE-THINGS.@LOUISCK GOT STONED AND WENT ON TWITTER TO TALK ABOUT THE UNIVERSE.

WHEN I GROW UP Currently playing in London and on Broadway, Matilda The Musical will make its way to Australia next year, premiering at Sydney Lyric Theatre and running from 28 Jul. The production, with music composed by Tim Minchin, has garnered more than 50 international awards, including 12 for Best Musical (notably, a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical). Relive the adventures of Matilda, Miss Honey and Miss Trunchbull; tickets are on sale now.

SARAH SHINESIt’s a decade since Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan last toured Australia, but come February, the drought is over. And the founder of the iconic Lilith Fair, showcasing female musicians and raising more than $US 7 million for charity over its three-year tenure, has a new album, Shine On, to share with her Australian fans. McLachlan comes to The Tivoli, Brisbane, 5 Feb; City Recital Hall, Sydney, 7 Feb; Melbourne Recital Centre, 9 Feb; and Astor Theatre, Perth, 11 Feb.

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JONSON STREETBYRON BAY

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OCEAN ALLEY THE RUMINATERS

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DESPERATELY SEEKING BYRON GET YOUR 80S ON

FRI 31 OCT

HALLOWEEN DRUNK MUMS AND

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SAT 1 NOV

YOUNGER DRYAS

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YACHT CLUB DJS

SAT 8 NOV

TWIN HAUS

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KING OF THE NORTH

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TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE WWW.THENORTHERN.COM.AU


HEAR THOSE DRUMSLosers can be winners as the duo – Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham – at the core of Brooklyn outfit The Drums can attest. Six years, some line-up changes and a new album, Encyclopedia, on from their formation, The Drums return to Australia to play 29 Nov at The Hi-Fi.

ALL ABOUT THE MOHAWKEHudson Mohawke has been seducing rap-heads and ravers alike with his neon R&B and warehouse smashing low-end beats. He’s set to return to Australia to continue melting minds The Flying Cock, 3 Jan, with assistance from prolific cult producer Mr Carmack.

NEVER SAY NEVERJohn Farnham and Olivia Newton-John reunite for a 2015 Two Strong Hearts Tour, complete with a 60-piece orchestra. Each will do a solo set before coming together to duet the night away 14 Apr, Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

QLD LIVE EDDue to overwhelming demand, the former frontman and songwriter with American rock institution Live, Ed Kowalczyk, has added a Brisbane show to his I Alone Acoustic Tour, taking over The Tivoli, 5 Nov.

local [email protected]

ROCKIN’ BY GASLIGHTYou know Americans The Gaslight Anthem are on the right track when you look at how, each time they come back to Australia, they’re playing bigger venues. Returning in February, The Gaslight Anthem this time play The Tivoli, 29 Jan.

SO IT BEGINSAfter signing with October Records earlier this year, Ribongia shows no signs of letting up, embarking on a national tour for his upcoming EP, It Began: 13 Nov, Alhambra Lounge.

FRONTLASHINDIE ICONSCongrats to Violent Soho for winning Best Independent Album (plus Best Hard Rock/Heavy/Punk Album) and Halfway for winning Best Independent Country at 2014 AIR Awards. Doing us proud!

SNEAKING UPFurther congrats to local indie kids The Ninjas, who scored the $50K Pacific International Music career development scholarship. Well-deserved, should give them a tilt at taking that vital next step.

UP FOR AIRAnd at the louder end of the local spectrum, Brissie heavyweights A Breach Of Silence are tearing it up in the States, about to undertake a massive tour supporting Drowning Pool. Killing it on every level...

BACKLASHNOT GOOD ENOUGHHopefully Brisban-ites will look at the deplorable racism displayed by those dickheads on the train and realise that it’s not good enough and lets our city down. We need to lift our collective game.

FLYING HIGHSo Richard Branson used to put out Sex Pistols albums, but James from Violent Soho was hassled on a Virgin flight for wearing a Painters & Dockers shirt with the word ‘shit’ on it? Et tu Dick?

GET WELL MOZZASad news that the inveterate Morrissey has been fighting cancer in recent times. Hopefully the treatment is successful, it seems like the great man has unfinished business...

THE NINJAS – WE’RE IN THE MONEY!

SEXT: A PORTION OF YOUR RENT IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE IF YOU WORK FROM HOME@GENFRICKER LIVING THE FREELANCE LIFE.

SEEING IS BELIEVINGThe torch-carriers of New Orleans metal for more than a quarter of a century, Eyehategod, are making their way to Australia in January, after the release of their self-titled fifth album this year. See why they’re still the masters of sludge when they come to Crowbar, 1 Feb.

TWIN PRE-G20 LAUNCHOn the 13 Nov at Triffid, Giants Of Science launch their new EP, What’s Wrong With You And Me, with help from The Gin Club, themselves launching a new single, Dancing With The Ghost.

KINGS OF TYRANNY Brisbane extremists Aversions Crown have announced a national tour, invading the nation this November to present their new record Tyrant, with American deathcore sluggers Molotov Solution in tow: 5 Nov, The Lab; 6 Nov, The Factory, Sunshine Coast; and 7 Nov, Crowbar.

NEXT KICK Applications for Next Wave’s 2015 Kickstart artist development program have now opened and will close on 17 Nov. The 12-month program provides artists with time, money and space to develop their ideas, and the opportunity to showcase their works at the 2016 Next Wave Festival. Past participant Ghenoa Gela’s work Winds Of Woerr ran as part of this year’s Next Wave. A public briefing session will be held 15 Oct, Metro Arts, or online on 29 Oct. Visit nextwave.org.au for application details.

DIGGIN’ THE LOVEFESTA third and final artist announcement for the two-day Jungle Love Music & Arts Festival up at Lake Moogerah, 21 & 22 Nov, sees The Furrs, Tin Can Radio and Sydney’s The Riders, joining Moses Gunn Collective and more.

EYEHATEGOD

THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM


local [email protected]

MANY THINGS FOR BLURSTWith The Blurst Of Times 2014 Festival practically upon us, presented of course by The

Music, it’s with great pleasure we can announce that Many Things, fronted by former Yves

Klein Blue’s Michael Tomlinson, have joined the bill, 18 Oct on The Brightside stage.

SOUL SELECTORJoe Kay is heading for Australia as part of The Operatives Ensemble, major

participants in this year’s Melbourne Music Week. Kay will also be putting in a few

interstate sideshows in his own right, 22 Nov seeing him hit Woolly Mammoth.

VAMPING OVER OZWithin less than two years of forming, The Vamps have garnered more than

61 million views on their YouTube channel, and seen their debut album,

Meet The Vamps, debut at #3 in the ARIA Album Charts. The Vamps are

returning in the new year for a full national tour, 26 Jan, Riverstage.

MAGIC IN THE AIR Indonesian vocalist Melati Malay and

Australian producer Isaac Emmanuel

make up Young Magic. Having released

their second album, Breathing Statues,

in May this year, the pair are ready to

hit up Black Bear Lodge, 27 Nov; and

Elsewhere, Gold Coast, 28 Nov.

A GREAT LURCHMelbourne indie-rock six-piece Lurch & Chief return with their new single

Keep It Together, and are going on an east

coast tour with Flyying Colours in tow.

It stops by Black Bear Lodge, 21 Nov.

YOUNG MAGIC MANY THINGS


feels super natural – as

in, two separate words

there; I don’t have

special powers! So yeah

when someone says

you’re going on tour

again, I don’t really

baulk too much, but

I’m reaching a point

now where I’m starting

to think for the first

time, what does the

future hold for us? And

that doesn’t mean I’m

cynical about going on,

it just means I’m ready

to well and truly shake

it up, and just rethink

how we do things and

how we approach it

and what the rules are

for us, you know.”

Well and truly in

career reflection

mode, Cromack

and calling you a cunt or whatever, and in Europe

everyone’s just so god-dammed quiet and appreciative

and at first I couldn’t tell if anyone was enjoying the

set or not because they weren’t rowdy at all. Then we

finished our set – our first one in Europe – and people

started applauding like crazy and asking for an encore,

and I was thinking, ‘I didn’t even think you liked it’…

“I’ve kind of learned to love it; it’s a bit of a challenge

and I hope it hasn’t had a detrimental effect on too

much Australian music. It’s one thing to make this

sophisticated production in a recording studio or

your bedroom or whatever, but then to cart it down

to the pub and perform it, it can kind of reduce you

to a bit of a rock band if you know what I’m kind of

getting at; it can sort of water down your interesting

artistic ideas to just this crowd-pleasing machine.”

Cromack’s not biting the hand that feeds him though,

on the contrary. As a skilled lyricist known for

phrasing colloquialisms as eloquently as highbrow

concepts, he has charmed audiences with the sing-

a-long catch-cry ‘I fucking love you’ – packaged

and sold neatly as iFly – yet he’ll just as soon dish

Shakespearean insults-turned-band in-jokes with an

album title like Puddinghead. Together with bandmates

Jen Boyce, Paul Furness and Dean and Daniel

from a thoroughly-played late afternoon slot at the Splendour amphitheatre, Sam Cromack may be gearing up for Puddinghead’s second national tour before repeating the process in Europe, though his thoughts are already on album number four, and what the fuck is supposed to come next.

“Even though [Puddinghead] came out in April, that whole project feels like a lifetime ago already,” Cromack reflects. “I spent most of last year making it, so it’s easy as the artist to move on… I got a test pressing of it on vinyl at my house this week which I had to listen to, and it was hard to even get the enthusiasm to want to put it on, but I really enjoyed it once I did listen. I’m just kind of thinking towards the future even though it is only a couple of months after the record. I think a lot of artists are naturally thinking where they’re gonna go next – it’s almost instinctual to retaliate against what you’ve just done.”

Championed by triple j through two laps of the country for each record and billings on every major Australian festival, Ball Park Music have been riding the typically fickle momentum train with great vigour since releasing their debut EP Rolling On The Floor,

Laughing Ourselves To Sleep in 2009. Perhaps part of this attitude is simply due to feeling a little tired.

“Yeah absolutely,” Cromack agrees. “I mean I still love playing music, there’s no doubt about that; it really

considers the impact of constant touring.

“If there’s one thing we’ve done right in Ball Park Music it’s learning how to please most people most of the time. We’re certainly not the critics’ favourite band or anything like that, but I think we’re pretty well trained in handling obnoxious, drunk, bogan crowds. I think there’s an art to it and we’ve sort of got it down. I feel like I’ve done enough gigs in Australia now that there’s nothing that you can’t throw at me. It was actually really weird when we went to Europe to play for the first time last year; I was so used to Australian audiences who are shit-faced

Hanson, their musical charisma has captured the affection of the common man and the thinking man.

“Yeah but I mean, I accept that Ball Park Music’s not the coolest band,” Cromack admits. “We’ve almost taken the approach of trying to entertain people and perform more than sort of being stubborn about our art and say, ‘This is my song, take it or leave it’. It’s only now, three records in, where I’m kind of reaching that point where you do do something so much that you’re like, ‘Well, next time around I’m keen to just write whatever I feel like, and I don’t care if anyone likes it or not, and you can take it or leave it’. But I guess maybe we’re in a better position to do that given that we’ve already done some hard yards or whatever.”

Though one would expect this to be a liberating realisation, Cromack explains that the ever-moving goalposts of a career musician provide yet another challenge to overcome.

“It’s funny – it’s sort of bittersweet. I think for a long time when you’re that new band, you know when you’re on your first album or coming into your second, you’re sort of optimistic and thinking: ‘Here we go, this could be huge’ kinda thing. Not that I’m disappointed in the success of our band; I’m super grateful that we’ve achieved things that plenty of bands dream about, but it’s only natural that you see everyone around you sky-rocketing to these crazy levels of success, and you

“I WAS SO USED TO AUSTRALIAN AUDIENCES WHO ARE SHIT-FACED AND CALLING YOU A CUNT.”

As far as career trajectories go, Ball Park Music does not subscribe to the gently-gently approach. While the Brisbane five-piece

have shown plenty of tender musical moments to counter their reputation as indie-pop jokers who thrive under the spotlight, they’ve released three albums in as many years – quite a feat in an age when release strategies often trump the want of artists to create, liberate and move forward. Fresh

Ball Park Music frontman Sam Cromack just wants to get high with his friends. As he prepares to circle the nation on the Trippin’ The Light Fantastic tour, he dissects the past with Tyler McLoughlan, and explains why he’s ready to shake shit up.

THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING

music


WHEN & WHERE: 18 Oct, The

Tivoli; 2 Nov, Alhambra Lounge

kind of think, ‘Oh, I wonder why I couldn’t get that’,

but yeah it’s super nice when you actually get to a

point where you actually just stop caring about that.

“It is all around you, and when you’re in the music

industry and participating and hanging out with

everyone, it’s super hard to ignore all that kind of

stuff but I’ve realised that it will never go away; even

if you’re Sheppard and you’ve got a number one

or whatever, like they’re probably looking to some

other artist that’s above and beyond where they are,

and they’re thinkin’: ‘Fuck, how can we get there?’

You’re just always looking forward; you do have to

get to a point where you feel comfortable within

your own skin, and yeah I felt like it has maybe

taken a long time, but I’m sort of hoping that that’s

where Ball Park Music is now. I think I’m there,

I hope the others are with me too, but where we

go from here can be for our own amusement, and

I’m hoping that if we’re a little bit more relaxed

and sincere about what we’re doing, that it could

ironically be the best shit we’ve ever made.”

The insightful frontman is hard-pressed to name

a single success of Puddinghead that he’s most

pleased with, not even its number two ARIA chart

debut, reiterating the sentiment that he’s driven by

the wondrous possibility of creativity rather than

the chase for achievements to decorate the next

Ball Park Music

media release with.

“Oh look, I don’t

fuckin’ know…” he

spits, exasperated by

the thought. “Honestly,

I don’t know. That’s

another thing I learnt,

is that nothing will ever

replace the satisfying

feeling of making music

either on your own

or with your fellow

musicians; that is the

ultimate high. It doesn’t

matter whether you play

for yourselves in the

garage or whether you

get to perform in front

of 10,000 people, I feel

like the high is still the

same and that’s still the

most precious part of

music,” Cromack says,

echoing his own line

from Trippin’ The Light

Fantastic in which he

pleads: “All I want is

for my friends and I to

get high”. “And I kind

of am happy that no

one can take that away

from me for as long as

I live and I think that’s

why, should I have

children, I’ll definitely

encourage them to get

involved in music – not

so they can become

celebrities, but so they

can experience the joy of

making and performing

music with other people.

It’s a social thing, and

I think that’s what I

feel is most precious.”

TRIPPIN’ THE MEDIA FANTASTICThey’ve delighted audiences with hugely energetic live shows incorporating piggy-back rides aplenty, stage invasions, humorously placed trombone solos and exploding golf balls, though Ball Park Music like to get playful with their tour concepts too.

“We just thought it was boring to put out another boring fucking press release,” Cromack says of their Trippin’ The Light Fantastic tour announcement. “Even when we did the 180 Degree tour [in 2012], well that was our piss-take on Jay Z and U2’s 360 tour. We thought, well let’s do a 180 degree tour and fans can see a full 180 degrees of the stage, which is basically every concert ever! And then we sort of thought for this one we wanted to do a similar gag so we played on the 3D thing and said fans will be treated to a concert in full 3D, which I think confused a lot of people. A lot of people are unsure as to whether we’re even going on the tour or if it’s just holograms. Yeah, legit – a bunch of media companies got the press release and put out their announcement and said that the band will be utilising modern technologies and doing a hologram tour. And I was like, ‘Oh well, serves us right for having a ridiculous thing’. We’re thinkin’ about getting 3D glasses for everyone who comes to the show except they won’t have red and blue lenses, they’ll just have two clear ones…”


Blank Realm keyboardist and vocalist Sarah Spencer chats with Chris Familton about being nominated for the Australian Music Prize and being welcomed by the smaller towns of France.

On the back of the widespread critical acclaim

they received for this year’s Grassed Inn album,

Blank Realm were able to travel to Europe for

the first time, playing a range of shows from intimate

clubs to massive festival stages. “It was pretty crazy. We

played 22 shows over 24 night across Europe so you get

in that zone of waking up and wondering where you

are and where you have to be the next day. Glastonbury

was an experience with 250,000 people in a field in the middle of nowhere. It was just mud city, like nothing I’ve experienced before. We went to some smaller towns in France and they love Australian music like The Saints and Go-Betweens so we were really welcomed in those cities. We wondered why all these people were there and they wondered why we were there so it was an incredible experience and a lot of fun.”

It’s been a year since Grassed Inn was recorded and though it was well received Spencer reveals the mixed feelings that come from creating, releasing and reflecting an album. “It is funny

when it finally comes out and it’s been around for a

while. You put in a lot and agonised over it when it

was being mixed and produced. We tried not to stress

over it too much and get it out there before we went to

America last year. When it first comes out you listen to

it again and then don’t want to listen to it for a while

and then you listen to it again and think, ‘Oh no, it’s not

really that bad’. We’ve been playing those songs live a lot

and keep on developing them in the live context. They

continue to take shape even after the album comes out.”

Grassed Inn has also been long-listed for the 2014

Australian Music Prize alongside Harmony, East

Brunswick All Girls Choir, Straight Arrows and

others. “We definitely appreciate it. It’s a shock to

break through in a way that we never have before. We

really love the new Total Control and HTRK albums

and it’s been a fantastic year for albums in Australia.

It’s a cliche to say it’s an honour to be nominated

amongst that calibre of artists but it really is.”

The Blurst Of Times festival, kicking off in Brisbane,

will see Blank Realm performing alongside a raft of

other bands – some underground and some starting to

find wider success – and Spencer is excited by the line-

up and the chance to see some favourites perform. “We

have been around for quite a while now so we’ve seen a

lot of bands come and go in that time. It’s always good

to see new bands emerge and I love it every time I see

a new band I’ve never heard of or seen before. It’s good

to see a more underground scene represented in this

kind of festival and it should attract a wide audience.”

GOING OVERGROUND

WHEN & WHERE: 18 Oct,

The Blurst Of Times, The Zoo

festival

While DZ Deathrays have been making a bigger and bigger name for themselves here in Australia thanks to constant play on the j-waves, the duo have been hard at work touring through Europe. Shane Parsons lets Kane Sutton know what they’ve been up to ahead of their return for The Blurst Of Times festival.

“Man, I just woke up so I haven’t started the day yet,” Parsons croaks down the line. “We’re spending

the day driving to Belgium. It’s our first day off in two weeks and we’re gonna be spending it driving.” He manages a little chuckle down the phone as he attempts to compose himself.

It’s been a crazy few months for the DZ duo, who have been working their way across the continent in support of their latest album, Black Rat. It’s taken a bit of time, but Parsons reckons they’re finally seeing the rowdy side of their Euro audiences. “We’ve been coming over here since 2011 and it takes a while to get things moving. We didn’t go over to the UK at all last year, but this year was our fourth tour over here at the moment and we have another still to go. The crowds are starting to pick up and become a bit more what they’re like at home. You can see things starting to change, and that’s just a result of spending time over here. It took up three or four years in Australia before anyone started moshing at shows, or crowdsurf, or go crazy. People used to mostly just stand at the sides with their arms crossed and clap. It’s just one of those things, you have to invest heavily

and just chip away at it, so hopefully people will come out and you’ll get that fanbase going.”

Both Parsons and his bandmate Simon Ridley also play with a largely numbered band called Velociraptor, who will be playing The Blurst Of Times festival with DZ Deathrays. While the latter band headlines the event, Parsons is certainly keen to be back playing with the former. “I recorded all this guitar stuff for their new record and I’ve not had the chance to play it yet, so I definitely want to get up there and play the parts I wrote – it’s always a

lot a fun and they’re all dear friends of mine, so I figure

I’ll definitely make an effort to get to some shows.”

Parsons has no illusions about the wonderful opportunities

he’s had as one half of DZ Deathrays, though: “Getting

back to Australia to play Blurst will be a great opportunity

to do that stuff and play some of the new songs. Hopefully

we’re tight because we’ve been playing a show every

single fucking day. It’s been awesome, meeting people

is one of the best things you can do. We have a great

time touring… I mean, we played a show on an island

in Norway – we had to get a boat out there, so doing

that was amazing – at 1am it was still daylight. It’s hard

work, but every so often you get those moments where

you’re like, ‘Man, it’s so cool to be playing it a band and

meeting all these people and going to all these amazing

places’. We’re gonna write some tracks, and hopefully

come back over here for a tour early next year.”

READY TO BLURST


The Blurst Of Times, The Brightside

festival


TV Colours frontman Bobby Kills tells Steve Bell about his numerous – and ultimately highly successful – attempts at transforming suburban disillusionment into a work of art.

For many casual followers it seemed like Canberra-based indie four-piece TV Colours appeared fully-formed out of nowhere in mid-2013 with their killer

debut album Purple Skies, Toxic Rivers, but (as is so often the case) the reality is far more protracted and convoluted.

Initially struggling to put a band together frontman Bobby Kills decided to make the record on his own, eventually taking six full years to craft a version that he was happy with, to the point where he scrapped two entire albums that he didn’t feel represented what he saw in his head. Was this just a result of high internal expectations?

“Yeah, pretty much,” he tells. “The first two just weren’t very good and I knew it, and I think other people knew it

too; I’d show them and they’d basically shrug and go, ‘Yeah, that’s okay’, so I just kept going. With the first version I’d never really been in a band before or written songs, so it was going to suck regardless really because I never had experience doing it. I guess the whole time it took so long because I was just learning how to do it at the same time. I don’t think the next one will take so long.”

Were the abandoned takes on Purple Skies,

Toxic Rivers much different in tone to the finished product?

“The first one was heaps different, it was all live instrumentation with guitar and drums and

it was all recorded on a four-track so it’s really lo-fi,” Kills recalls. “Then the next one is pretty similar to the version that eventually came out, except it had about five less tracks and the songs just weren’t as realised in comparison to what they became. They do sound kind of similar. Also there wasn’t the big ‘80s angle on the second one – it all changed when I bought this old synth and wanted to put it all over everything. The second one didn’t have that, it was all Sonic Youth-like noise collage things, which I got rid of in the end.”

Even the compelling narrative arc, which has quite appropriately been compared to Hüsker Dü’s epic 1984 concept album Zen Arcade, wasn’t present in the original guises.

“No not really, to tell the truth,” Kills concedes. “They were just songs about disillusioned city life. I guess that’s the big thing about the third one – it had the big narrative. I listened to the second version just the other day and they were all just songs about not really succeeding in life living in the big city – that was the point of it all back then.

“I’ve always been pretty cagy about it – or I was when it came out – but it’s very autobiographical, probably about my life when I lived in Sydney. But I tried to keep it dethatched from that in a way so other people could relate to it – not make it too specific to my life when I lived in Sydney. I guess it was more inspired by that time than actually being about it.”

TEST PATTERNS

WHEN & WHERE: 18 Oct, The

Blurst Of Times Festival, The Zoo

To read the full interview head to themusic.com.au

festival


If you think the new album from Jack Carty is practically wide-screen cinemascope, as he admits to Michael Smith, it could have a whole lot bigger.

A lot’s been happening in singer-songwriter Jack Carty’s world since he released his last album, 2012’s Break Your Own Heart. There

have national and international tours; a surprising side project EP, The Predictable Crisis Of Modern Life, with enigmatic producer Casual Psychotic, and moves from Sydney to Melbourne and now to Brisbane, though he admits to being essentially homeless the past three years. Through it all, the songwriting hasn’t missed a beat, and the result is his latest, Esk.

“I sort of wanted to be bigger in scope with this record, in every way, you know?” he admits. “Like in terms of the textures, in terms of the production and in terms of the songwriting and style. I just try not to make the same record over and over again. That’s why, this one, I really wanted it to be this dynamic thing that could span a lot of territory.

“Hopefully it’s not as introspective as Break Your Own

Heart. I kind of looked outside myself a bit more and took stories that friends had told me and things I’d heard about – all sorts of stuff, not just what was going on in my head, which Break Your Own Heart is very much. That was a big part of the collaborations.”

While Be Like The Water is the first official single of Esk, Carty had “preview” released the two main collaborations on the album, The Joneses, cowritten

with Josh Pyke, and

The Universe, featuring

Katie Noonan, online

earlier this year since

he was touring with

them both at the time.

“I’m a huge fan of Katie’s

– I think she’s got one of

the most amazing voices

– and I was sound-

checking at a show

supporting her in Sydney

and I played an early

really, really rough of The

Universe and she said she

liked it. That kind of got

me thinking that maybe

it was a duet so I asked

her if she would sing it

with me and she said yes,

so we went in together

and finished the song.

Watching her record

was probably one of the

coolest things that’s ever

happened… in my life!”

While many a songwriter finds it hard to write on the road, it seems Carty positively thrived as he went from one tour to the next, whether here or in the US. As he says, “I love that – I’m at my happiest when I’m on the road.

“We recorded twenty-two songs and I had, would you believe, another ten songs in the running before cutting the list back, and it was really, really hard to cut it down. All of the songs that we recorded except for one I would definitely love to release – they’re all at the standard where I want to show them to the world – so it really came down to trying to make the record work, to have a cohesive thing that had an arc and was as big as we wanted it to sound but still had themes that tied in with one another and stuff like that.”

A BIGGER CANVAS

WHAT: Esk (Gigpiglet/Inertia)

WHEN & WHERE: 17 Oct, New Globe Theatre

music

When Bryget Chrisfield sits down with Link McLennan and Wally Kempton of The Meanies, they reflect back on the good old days when drummers were sourced via fliers and, according to McLennan, “there was a lotta cunts around”.

Two members of The Meanies sit at a wobbly table outside a Fitzroy pub, frontman Link McLennan (gin and tonic) and bass player

Wally Kempton (Carlton Draught). McLennan sports a vintage leather jacket (“It was 15 bucks at the op shop, pretty rapt!”). “I’m a bit late with the staying current thing, but that’s been The Meanies way,” he jests.

The Meanies are about to embark on their 25th anniversary tour and re-releases will be put out on five different labels to mark the occasion: “One in England,

one in Spain and three in Australia,” Kempton clarifies. “I rang up Tym [from Tym Records] and I said, ‘Hey, Meanies turn 25 this year, do you wanna do a similar thing that you did with Hard-Ons [30th anniversary]?’ and he goes, ‘Could I? That’d be awesome.’”

“They got a skateboard, though,” McLennan points out. Kempton says, “So are we!” McLennan gasps excitedly.

Collating all The Meanies releases/memorabilia has proven problematic. “Ringo’s got some stuff,” Kempton announces, referring to The Meanies drummer, Mark Hobbs. “Apparently 15 years ago I gave

Ringo a whole bunch of very important bits and pieces and said, ‘Can you mind these ‘cause they’re safer with you than me,’ and then I promptly forgot about it! He reminded me about it last week.”

McLennan tells that the band put fliers up advertising for a drummer and Hobbs (“this fresh-faced uni student”) turned up: “We used to make him wear a wig on stage ‘cause he was the only member without long hair.”

“Oh, the good old days,” Kempton reminisces. “All adopt the surname Meanie, wear denim and leather jackets, and do Ramones covers and then complain about being compared to the Ramones, ha ha ha.”

McLennan reckons the atmosphere inside pubs was “more volatile” back in the day, adding, “Crowds got nicer, which I’m happy with ‘cause there was a lotta cunts around.” If you intend to be part of The Meanies crowd these days, McLennan promises, “It’s not a huge nostalgia-fest, we do get plenty of younger people coming.” Kempton adds, “We never stopped playin’, so it isn’t just old bastards in the crowd.”

The Meanies did go on hiatus for about three years, though. “We lost a lot of crowd from when we first got back together, for the first three or four years, ‘cause I stupidly decided I wanted to play guitar,” McLennan reflects. “It put a lot of people off and it’s kind of only in the last few years people have realised that we’re actually doing better shows than we used to do: I sing better – I still get very drunk, but I don’t drink a bottle of [ Jim] Beam before the show... They’re still wild shows, but a little bit more, like, professional.”

NO MEAN FEAT

WHEN & WHERE: 17 Oct, Brisbane Hotel;

18 Oct, Prince Of Wales Hotel, Nundah

music


He’s assembled a crack band and fallen head over heels in love with his new bride, but Justin Townes Earle tells Steve Bell that he’s not totally out of the woods yet in the happiness stakes.

Justin Townes Earle headed to Texas to assemble the crack squad that would combine to create his fifth long-player, Single Mothers. He already had Paul Neihaus (of Lambchop and Calexico fame) at his disposal, and he then turned to one of his favourite country-rock bands, Centro-Matic, to furnish the rhythm section (drummer Matt Pence and bassist Mark Hedman). Already knowing precisely what sound he was after for the record, Earle left no stone unturned in his quest to bring this mental picture to life. “That’s one of the curses that I have as a writer, this drawn-out vision of

what I want records and songs to be,” he tells. “I usually decide the endings before I decide the beginnings of things – I kind of write backwards. So far I’ve been able to pick my musicians very well in order to achieve that sound, and with this record I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get the sound that I wanted drawing from the Nashville bag of musicians. I needed people that had never thought about music in a Nashville style, who’d played a blues shuffle but had never played a country shuffle. I needed different kinds of players, so me and Paul packed it up and went down

to Texas and we hung out [with Matt and Mark] for a few days and played together and then went out together on the road for the first time – I wanted a different sound that just couldn’t be done with the musicians from Nashville. There’s a feeling in the air there, and it’s not that they don’t have vision or creativity, but it was a sound that I’ve never heard come out of Nashville before that was in my head.”

Earles’ songs have always been buoyed by his strong narratives and this album proves no exception. “There’s always a loose link between my songs on a record. I think that this record has a certain downtrodden-ness to it, but it’s starting to struggle its way out. I wrote this record before I met my wife and before I got married – I was finishing it up at the time – so it deals with life before marriage for sure,” he laughs. “But I can look at these songs now and see them in a different light because of that – I can see where the truth came through without ruining a story.

“When something as monumental as getting married happens it had better change everything!” he beams. “Especially for men, if you’re just going to keep banging around why get married? But I think [being happy] does come through in my writing in the way that I think that I write with light at the end of the tunnel now – it’s the tunnel of my life basically – whereas before there was definitely no light at the end of the tunnel. There’s still enough a lot to write about; my parents long ago fucked me up and I’ve had to get better, and that will still come out, but I actually see half a way out of it now.”

THE EVEN BETTER LIFE

WHAT: Single Mothers (Vagrant/Warner)

WHEN & WHERE: 22 Oct, The Tivoli

music

They’re best buds again but as frontman Jeff Martin admits to Michael Smith, recording The Tea Party’s new album was still a cautious affair.

Three years after reuniting, one of Canada’s more incendiary exports, The Tea Party, have released their comeback album, something

none of the members could have anticipated after a less than harmonious parting of ways back in 2005.

“I think it was a case of we just had to take it in baby steps, you know,” says Jeff Martin. “First of all, when we got back together, we had to know, ‘Ok, can the band still get on that stage and do what we do like no one else can?’ So we proved that – that was good, got that done. Second thing, which is the most important thing, was to get that friendship back on track, right, and the brotherly love and the trust and everything. And we got that, and once we got that, then it was time, like, ‘Okay, so we’ve got these two elements now. We’ve got to go for the third one. We’ve got to prove, not only to ourselves but to our fans and all the new fans that this band is now. It’s not ‘90s – this band is now. And I think the three of us were quite satisfied that we’ve proven that.

“See, for us to be away for so long and to come back, and ok, we’re successful again like with the tours and everything, but to make an album, the three of us knew that whatever we came out with had to be able to stand exactly side by side with the best of what we’ve done. And we couldn’t put out anything unless it did that… and so we took our time.”

The result is their eighth studio album, The Ocean At The End, arriving a decade after their last, 2004’s Seven Circles. “We were very methodical. We did the recording over four sessions and with months in between the sessions, just so we could always take a look at it, you know, just sit with it and let it grow organically and let the ideas flow instead of being pressured like, ‘Okay, we’ve only got four weeks in the studio – do it!’ We don’t have to. We can just take our time and make it what we want it to be.

“Obviously there were demos that I did, but those demos that turned into Tea Party songs, you wouldn’t recognise them. That’s

the beauty of it when the three of us get together. The first writing session, really, was in Byron Bay in this tiny little rehearsal studio – I think Jeff [Burrows, drums/percussion] and Stuart [Chatwood, bass/keyboards], when they got there,” Martin recalls with a chuckle, “it’s The Tea Party so we’re used to the grand rehearsal studios and whatnot, right? And I bring them to Byron Bay and it’s the size of a closet [laughs].

“The next writing session we did, which was really wonderful, we went back to our hometown Windsor [Ontario], exactly where it started, and once again it was not a very flash rehearsal studio or anything like that – I didn’t have my fancy pedal boards or my thousand guitars, it was just two Les Pauls, a cable, a Marshall, Jeff had his drumkit and Stuart just had a small little bass amp – and it was, like, ‘Ok, let’s play, just jam.’”

INTO THE NOW

WHAT: The Ocean At The End (Sony)


Coolangatta Hotel; 23 Oct, The Tivoli

music


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Freshly-minted just over a year ago, Lolawolf nonetheless boasts some pretty impressive heritage. Anthony Carew talks to Jimmy Giannopoulos and Zoë Kravitz.

“We’re excited to play for Miley’s people, for her Bangerz,” laughs Jimmy Giannopoulos, one-third of New

York trio Lolawolf, who’ve just been tabbed to open for Miley Cyrus on her Australian tour. The band is fronted by their own child-of-celebrity, Zoë Kravitz – her father is Lenny, her mother Lisa Bonet – and features Giannopolous and James Levy, both members of the Julian Casablancas-approved electro-pop outfit Reputante. Yet the band identifies not with the stadium shows they’ve suddenly found themselves playing – “We’re totally in shock that we’re doing these tours,” Kravitz admits, on the road opening for Lily Allen –

but with those shows

they’ve played in the

year prior, to “50 to

100 people (in) DIY

venues in New York.”

Lolawolf were “born

out of boredom and

bad weather,” the trio

first jamming on a rainy

Brooklyn day in 2013.

Their self-titled debut

EP was released early

this year, and now comes

their debut LP, Calm

Down, its title inspired

by the “chill vibes” in the

air when Lolawolf rolled

tape in the Bahamas.

That locale may conjure

Compass Point Studios

and its beacons of

gleaming turn-of-the-’80s

production (Roxy Music,

ELO, Tom Tom Club,

Talking Heads et al), but

whilst Kravitz actually

spent long childhood stints at Compass Point when her dad recorded there, her own reasons for recording in the Bahamas were simpler: her grandmother’s half-Bahamian and her family has a house there. “When I’m there I feel like I can put down my phone and just detach from all the noise and the distraction,” says Kravitz.

Kravitz thinks there’s a definite “tropical sound” at play on Calm Down, but what’s most striking is how minimal Lolawolf ’s midtempo music is. “If you listen to the early productions that Timbaland did for Aaliyah, or those early Neptunes productions, that music is still some of the best shit I’ve ever heard,” says Kravitz. “Minimalism was definitely the approach,” Giannopoulos adds. “We wanted to get our point across without the clutter, to strip everything down as much as we could.”

That led the band to studying one of pop music’s definitive pieces of propulsive minimalism: Snoop Dogg’s Neptunes-produced 2004 classic, Drop It Like

It’s Hot. “That was right when that really minimal hip hop production was at its peak and right when it was crossing over into pop music, and you had The Neptunes doing Slave 4 U for Britney Spears,” Kravitz enthuses.

“I actually found that track on Spotify, and looked up the instrumental version, specifically, to see exactly what they were doing,” Giannopoulos explains. “Like, it already sounds minimal as it is, but when you take away the double-time vocals, listening to the instrumental, it’s staggering just how little music is actually there, how much the song consists of space, of just air.”

TROPICAL POP

WHAT: Calm Down (Innit Recordings/Create Control)


Brisbane Entertainment Centre

music


album/ep reviews

THE CHURCHFurther/DeeperUnorthodox/MGM

It almost wouldn’t suit the narrative of The Church’s fractious history unless each ongoing step came with some wrinkle. Thus, just as things seemed close to comfortable, one pillar of their so-awkwardly balanced chemistry – guitarist Marty Willson-Piper – isn’t part of an album which was hoped would continue the perhaps unexpected quality of the previous, Untitled #23.

The enthusiasts worried when former Powderfinger guy, Ian Haug was announced as replacement. But, as you let Further/Deeper wash over you there are still those cross-currenting guitar textures that are one signature of the band. Witness the vistas of Pride Before

A Fall, or the spirals of Delirious – which will sit easily alongside a Church standard like Tantalised as end-of-set wig-out. Peter Koppes’ filigrees still have their intricate charm, Haug perhaps providing a more choppy nervous AL

BUM

OF

THE

WEE

KHUSKYRuckers HillLiberation

Melbourne band Husky return with the follow-up to their debut album, Forever So, released during the mountainous heights of the folk-pop explosion of 2012. The new album finds the band facing the challenge of sounding relevant in a market that’s been saturated with banjos and introspection.

Lead singer and songwriter Husky Gawenda aims for an anthemic sound on the title track, named after an idyllic spot in Northcote, Melbourne, where he used to live. The ambitious song rises in pace, as new drummer Arron Light propels the band into a chorus cascading with crystal-clear harmonies that beg to be sung along with.

In merging the band’s trademark penchant for including detailed descriptions in their lyrics with a bold, stadium-ready sound, Husky seem poised to deliver on their promise of a bigger and better album. The sepia organ

energy than his predecessor.

And then there’s Steve Kilbey.

His moods from song to song,

often remain obtuse as he

regards you and the music with

a knowing arched eyebrow. And

almost before you realise, you’re

following the geography on his

terms. There are a couple of those

perfectly mysterious Church ‘pop’

songs: the drive of Old Coast

Road has you wondering where

it will lead. The acoustic/electric

Laurel Canyon is a near-perfect

radio song – if they even deal in

such concepts. This is another

album where the layers, puzzles

and sidetracks will reveal more

of themselves as you live with it.

Ross Clelland

tones of I’m Not Coming Back

firmly root the band in their

own sonic territory, the song

taking a bluesy detour for some

call and response. Fats Domino

is a further highlight, taking the

listener right into the detail of

Gawenda’s wonderings as he

drifts in and out of hipster cafés.

Despite this promise, many of

the other songs on Ruckers Hill

fall victim to an unfortunate

combination of pleasant but

forgettable songwriting and

music. At its best, Ruckers Hill

peaks majestically, while at its

worst, it slumps into the vast sea

of other indistinguishable folk-

rock records released recently.

Roshan Clerke

★★★

★★★★

CW STONEKINGGon’ BoogalooCaroline/Universal

What did you ever want a CW Stoneking record to sound like? Despite being absent from the long-player format for some six years, a point hinted at with this new record’s opening track, How

Long, Stoneking sounds like he never left. Gon’ Boogaloo features the same hokum-cum-Delta-influenced swampy blues that made us fall in love with the man in the first place. Rather than throw us into unknown territory, Stoneking eases us from the more familiar grooves of standout single, The Thing

I Done, to more abstract and conceptually challenging songs like vocal-bark-driven jam The

Jungle Swing. No matter how abstract anything gets though, this is still an album from the man who brought us ‘08’s Jungle

Blues, and that same “novelty blues as genuine art” brushstroke coats this album. What could be incorrectly interpreted as being a

COLD WAR KIDSHold My HomeDowntown/Create/Control

Without Nathan Willett, Cold War Kids would be no different to the gamut of indie rock acts bursting out of America daily. Willett’s voice covers the spectrum of emotions with such boisterous enthusiasm, turning by-the-numbers melodies into fairly catchy tunes. He seems to mainly function on the settings of throat-straining singing or throat-slicing shouting, his voice the most gripping element of their music. Hold My Home is barely a tiptoe off where they left off with Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, but songs like opening thumper, All This Could Be Yours, and the hidden grooves of Drive

Desperate, are reminders that Cold War Kids know their way around a pop song.

Truthfully though, you’re going to have to dig to notice the difference between this record and the entire Cold War Kids discography. Fans will be

one trick idea is simply a cipher for the delivery of a plethora of emotions and moods, simply channelled through blues. Tropes about love and longing litter this album, yet the familiarity of these ideas is simply the surface level pleasure taken from a musician who revels in the joy of storytelling. Whether grooving on almost dance hall-influenced tunes or losing himself in archetypal blues jams, Stoneking’s commitment to songwriting shines through beyond notions of novelty. Despite the general uniformity of tone across the record, the pleasure to be taken from this album is a sign that the blues will never die.

Andrew McDonald

delighted by more of the same,

but those seeking some variety

will only get hints – in the ‘80s

synth vibes of Hotel Anywhere

and the trip-hop percussion of

Nights & Weekends. The themes

are distinctly of their oeuvre,

jilted lovers and the potential of

new romance explored. Funnily

enough, the title track is one of

the weaker songs here, almost a

caricature in its big-percussion-

meets-yelling composition.

At this point we’ve come to

expect more from Cold War Kids,

or want more from them at least.

More of the same may sate the

indie masses, but it isn’t enough

to push them onto centre stage.

Sevana Ohandjanian

★★★½ ★★


album/ep reviews

BAXTER DURYIt’s A Pleasure[PIAS] Australia

The fourth album from late-Blockhead Ian Dury’s son Baxter finds him pitting his strangled, downcast vocals against rudimentary drum beats and synths reminiscent of super-early Depeche Mode, like a drunk uncle holding court at a blue light disco. Luckily the morose and vaguely self-deprecating lyrical introspection of tracks like Pleasure, Palm Trees, Other

Men’s Girls and Wintery Kisses is routinely well-couched and transcends the base nature of the music, plus it’s cool that he’s still trying to eschew his father’s substantial shadow in search of his own voice.

Steve Bell

BILLY IDOLKings And Queens Of The UndergroundBFI Records/Kobalt

What should an Idol album sound like in 2014? Ideally a mix of the raw punk energy of Generation X with the pop hooks and attitude of his ‘80s success/excess. Disappointingly it’s an over-produced record that tries to sound modern and only fleetingly dials into his strengths like the Rebel Yell-aping Postcards From The Past. You can’t fault the honesty of Idol’s nostalgic lyrics but they’re mostly clumsy, cliched and overwrought. The autobiographical nature of the songs tie in to his new self-penned book – hopefully a more rewarding experience than this album.

Chris Familton

SCOTT WALKER & SUNN 0)))Soused4AD/Remote Control

It was never going to be pretty.

The collaboration between ‘60s

crooner turned creepy recluse

Scott Walker and Richter

Scale-shattering drone-doom

figureheads Sunn 0))) could

never have been anything less

than unique. However, new

ideas appear fairly thin on the

ground compared to Walker’s

last sprawling orgy of weird, Bish

Bosch, whilst the intricate sound

design associated with much

of Sunn 0)))’s recent output is

waylaid in favour of jammed-

out doom chords. The lack of

surprises from such a perversely

imaginative pair of talents is

Soused’s biggest disappointment.

Christopher H James

★★½

★★★ ★★½

MORE REVIEWSthemusic.com.au/reviews

JAKOBSinesShoot The Freak/Valve/MGM

It’s taken eight years for NZ instrumentalists Jakob to emerge from their self-imposed exile with Sines. The crushing opener Blind Them With Science is reminiscent of the juxtaposition of ethereal yet obliterating power that Scottish titans Mogwai upheld in their youth. Other tracks plague the emotions – the mournful elegance of Emergent; the regal yet euphoric upswing of Harmonia; the white-noise washout of the title track. There is a majesty underscoring every moment of Sines that shirks the over-earnestness of many of their contemporaries for a sense of ephemeral grace that proves the time away was well spent.

Brendan Telford

JANE TYRRELLEchoes In The AviaryElefant Traks/Inertia

We’re entitled to expect a lot from Jane Tyrrell’s debut and not just because its title evokes Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The

Caged Bird Sings. It’s been near enough a decade since we first heard Tyrrell’s soaring, searing, operatic tones. Since then her voice and her live performances have, among other things, played a pivotal role in Urthboy’s ascension to the top of the Sydney rap heap. So: hopes are high. Improbably, Echoes In The

Aviary does not disappoint. There are moments of piercing ecstasy, quiet introspection and run-to-the-dance-floor dynamism. A mighty achievement.

James d’Apice

BLOODSWork It OutTiny Galaxy

Bloods have translated the relentless excitement of their shows to a fun, confident debut album. The first half breezes by in a rush of surf guitar riffs bouncing over noisy buzz, tight drums and aggressive vocal harmonies. The Animal and College slow it down, but are still short and punchy. This negativity works well in Nothin’ But Time when they’re singing with guts about a specific thing that pisses them off, rather than just general downer feelings. If only they’d brought some of this spark to disillusioned This Country, which closes the album on a bummer.

Madeleine Laing

MARK LANEGAN BANDPhantom RadioHeavenly/[PIAS] Australia

Surely it’s weird the guitar-wielding Lanegan, in recent interviews, has been talking up the convenience of writing beats on his phone without having to fire up his TR909? Phantom

Radio is a darkly glittering, almost gothic album that delivers some disturbing lyrical imagery and brooding atmospherics. Lanegan continues experimenting with synth pop and strangely The

Killing Season feels like Royksopp soundtracking the mind of a serial killer. It’s the heartfelt emotion of I Am The

Wolf, the solid rock stomp of Harvest Home and Lanegan’s worldweary croon that deal most satisfaction. A welcome addition.

Guido Farnell

★★★½ ★★★½

★★★½ ★★★★

NehruvianDOOM – NehruvianDOOM

Caitlin Harnett – The River Runs

North

Exodus – Blood In, Blood Out

GOAT – Commune

Kenny Chesney – The Big Revival

Pulled Apart By Horses – Blood

Steve Reich – Radio Rewrite

Split Seconds – Neil Young And

Dumb


a clear progression in both

songcraft and delivery.

Rising indie sensation DD Dumbo is from Castlemaine

in rural Victoria (the original

home of Castlemaine Brewers,

makers of XXXX). He plays

solo with a 12-string guitar and

constructs bluesy loops with

his banks of pedals, yet seems

a bit incongruous as a support

given how the main act tonight

is so lyric-driven whereas

Dumbo’s lyrics play backseat

to the music and seem almost

like an afterthought. He has

some cool Junior Kimbrough-

esque moments (perhaps even

throwing in Lord, Have Mercy

On Me at one juncture) and,

most importantly, the growing

throng seems to totally dig it

and the night powers on.

Soon it’s time for the main

attraction; the lights dim, some

Compression Gently. After a cool take on Out Of The Woodwork, Luscombe comes into his own on the sprawling Anonymous

Club before they rip through the sly examination of mainstream principles that is Are You Looking

After Yourself?. It’s been a while between drinks for new material from Barnett so it’s welcome when she throws a couple of new tracks into the fray – both Blah and Pedestal seem quite heavy in relation to the earlier fare but both feature prominent stream-of-consciousness lyricism and connect easily and immediately, auguring well for the next installment – before we’re treated to a joyous rendition of smash hit Avant Gardener which lifts the vibe in the already pumping room exponentially. After the obligatory break Barnett returns on her lonesome and offers a moving take on

goofy enthusiasm and, after bowing through the initial applause, launches into friendly banter that deflates any stuffy sense of seriousness in the room. The Old Museum is a beautiful venue and Frahm, a world-renown composer, but he’s funny and human and it seems obvious this is meant to be a fun show.

An Aborted Beginning starts things off, dub-electronics a surprising opening for an artist best known for his neo-classical work. It’s a little weak, but works to settle the ear of the crowd into what’s to come. Says

continues the electronic theme, minimalist ambience that slowly layers and builds over nine-odd minutes into a dense mixture of bouncing arpeggios and softly rolling bass, before Frahm moves to the piano, the electronics left to loop while he adds a new melody on the piano. When it all

is generated by the structure

as, like the previous piece, it

mutates between melodic and

rhythmic structures. Later,

Plage 5 is near-perfect, with

deep throbbing bass, interesting

rhythms and intricate piano.

The final piece is really four

loosely connected movements,

For – Peter – Toilet Brushes –

More, that see Frahm further

experimenting with form – the

frame and strings of his grand

piano are played with toilet

brushes – before he stretches

out to play his keyboard with

one hand, his piano with

the other, while his feet play

the bass line. It seems that

at any point it must surely

collapse under the weight of

its concept and complexity, but

instead it only gets better.

The main set has been very

dense tonight, but when Frahm

COURTNEY BARNETT, DD DUMBO, MOSMAN ALDERThe Zoo11 Oct

The recent increase in the headliner’s popularity means that tonight’s show is not only sold out, but also that a healthy crowd has turned out early to see local six-piece Mosman Alder show off material from recent debut long-player Humdrum Star. It’s all textured and polished with ambitious arrangements, and tunes like Home Again and set closer Colours showcase

cool visuals start to unveil on the screen behind the stage and four shadowy figures take their spots and we’re off, the familiar left-handed guitar stance of Courtney Barnett holding centre court as they open with a beefed-up rendition of David. Her band (the awesomely-monikered The Courtney Barnetts) have spread from a trio to a four-piece with the addition of Drone Dan Luscombe and his second guitar adds texture and grunt to familiar tracks like Lance Jr and Canned Tomatoes

(Whole). Despite her recent global success Barnett remains totally grounded – there’s zero pretention, the foursome performing and carrying on like it’s an impromptu jam at a mate’s place – the slacker vibe continuing with Scotty Says and the affirming Don’t Apply

Depreston – showcasing her versatility in the process – before drummer Dave Mudie joins her for a moving (albeit humble) take on love ode Pickles From

The Jar, and finally Luscombe and bassist Bones Sloan re-enter proceedings and Barnett farewells her fans warmly (“Have a fun life in general if I never see you again, hopefully I will”) as the night ends with a fittingly raucous run through of History Eraser. It’s so awesome to see someone succeeding so clearly on talent alone.

Steve Bell

NILS FRAHMThe Old Museum8 Oct

Nils Frahm bounds to the front of the stage with a delightfully

cuts out together, the only sound left is the rapturous applause.

A single note is struck once on the piano, then again. Then over and over in endless repetition until it loses all meaning as music; becomes sound, becomes noise. And as Frahm adds in a second hand, that note weaves in and out of the melody, shifting between music and noise, despite being the one constant of Said

And Done. The melody moves from piano to organ, Frahm stretching between the two instruments, but always that one note remains the same, varying only in its intensity.

Frahm’s standard third piano is missing, and so Brisbane is treated to a new experiment. Arpeggios loop in a truncated form, never quite resolving. A peculiar kind of tension

live reviews

COURTNEY BARNETT @ THE ZOO. PIC: MARKUS RAVIK NILS FRAHM @ OLD MUSEUM. PIC: SKY KIRKHAM THE CAT EMPIRE @ THE TIVOLI. PIC: MARKUS RAVIK


returns for the encore, it’s a much quieter, more minimalist affair; the notes that were earlier piled on top of one another are now left to hang resonant in the air. It’s a wonderful end to a truly remarkable set and the sustained standing ovation is entirely deserved. Frahm is a confident and adventurous performer, an assured host, and he can’t come back here quickly enough.

Sky Kirkham

THE CAT EMPIRE, MADRE MONTE, TOM THUMThe Tivoli 10 Oct

As the doors open on tonight’s sold-out performance, the drinks start flowing and people loosen up. The crowd tonight has come with their dancing shoes and some don’t even wait for a band to start before offering up the odd gyration to whatever

is piping over the house PA. Then Tom Thum takes the stage and blows everybody away with the sounds he’s capable of making with his mouth. The beatboxer proves you don’t need instruments to make funky music that will get crowds moving.

Madre Monte keep things going by injecting some authentic Latin flavours into the evening, which go down a treat for the world music aficionados in the crowd.

With the release of Steal The

Light nearly a year and a half ago, The Cat Empire can do what they do best, namely whatever the hell they want to. There’s no longer the new album to be promoted so everybody can let their hair down. Even in the sold-out Tivoli tonight, the dudes seem to pay no heed to the conventional construction of a set. Oh sure, versions of songs like How To Explain?, All Night

Loud and The Wine Song all get a look in, but not as fans would have heard them before. You could suggest that The

Cat Empire gleefully disavow fans what they came to see, but everyone seems too laidback here tonight, and in too good a mood, to get curmudgeonly and demand the songs sound as they do on the album.

When The Cat Empire are onstage it’s so evident they’re having fun that it’s infectious. Their deviations from the script don’t feel like meanderings of bored or frustrated musicians, but special moments shared with the crowd. Some of them seem at least a little bit rehearsed – when Tom Thum challenges the band’s instruments to a beat box challenge in a break during Hello – but that doesn’t stop it from being a lot of fun… or stop the from the crowd going absolutely apeshit over the fact that a person could make the sounds of a trumpet with his mouth. Then there are the moments that seem utterly fresh and exciting, like when the band get competition winner Geoffrey Fabila to ‘didjbox’ in front of the crowd,

which makes the already ebullient mood in the theatre seem all the more upbeat.

So upbeat is the mood, at the behest of the band strangers are at one point linking arms and dancing. And if The Cat Empire can keep putting on shows with this much spirit, energy and the same sense of infectious fun, they’ll be packing out venues for a long time to come.

Tom Hersey

live reviews

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arts reviews

FORCE MAJEURE

WHIPLASH

FORCE MAJEUREFilmIn cinemas 16 Oct

★★★★A well-to-do Swedish family are on a ski vacation and everything is going swimmingly until a near-avalanche over lunch causes emotional destruction, despite no one actually being physically hurt. As the ‘controlled’ avalanche hurtles towards the restaurant, wife and mother Ebba’s (Lisa Loven Kongsli) instinct is to protect her children. When she calls for husband Tomas ( Johannes Kuhnke) to help, he’s legging it and the only precious

cargo he’s carrying out of there is his phone and gloves.

Post-avalanche everything crumbles – Ebba’s sanity, her relationship with Tomas, the family vacation – and it even snowballs onto their friend Mats’ relationship with his much younger girlfriend. The tension-inducing Summer Finale from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons becomes a constant interjection, but thankfully all aggrieved characters do get a chance to redeem themselves. Before they reach any sort of redemption however, the male characters come completely undone, and while you don’t want to laugh at these men at their most vulnerable, you also can’t really help it.

Shot against a breathtaking mountainous backdrop, the focus lies in the subtlety of the characters trying to come to grips with a situation where no external damage was done. Part moral-dilemma drama, part dark comedy, Force Majeure tackles masculinity, instinct and how the two are not necessarily connected.

Hannah Valmadre

WHIPLASHFilmIn cinemas 23 Oct

★★★★½A drama packing plenty of suspense and stellar performances, Whiplash is extraordinary. Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller) is a young student attending one of the best music conservatoriums in New York, and is dedicated to being ‘one of the greats’. When Andrew is selected to play with the school’s studio band he sees this as an opportunity of a lifetime, but it becomes a grueling nightmare.

Teacher and instructor of the band Terence Fletcher ( JK Simmons) is terrifying and torturous, hurling verbal and emotional abuse towards his students, and making the drummers play until their hands are dripping in blood. The tension very rarely lets up during rehearsals, and enough sweat, blood and tears are shed you could fill a bucket.

After the hell Fletcher puts

Neyman through, it’s incredible

that you can feel sympathy for

the psychotic teacher when he

explains there is a method in

his cruel and unusual madness.

The performances of both

Teller and Simmons are highly

engaging and the plot moves

in unexpected ways, keeping

you on the edge of your seat.

Written and directed by Damien

Chazelle, Whiplash is an

impressive film on so many levels.

While Teller has been making

a strong name for himself over

the last few years with films

like The Spectacular Now, this

tremendous performance will

make him unforgettable.

Hannah Valmadre


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THE JENSENS

the guide

Members/roles: Nathan (guitar/vox), Joe (guitar/keys/vox), Phil (drums), Jordan (guitar), Bodi (bass)

How long have you been together? A year.

How did you all meet? On Tinder.

You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo? Mac DeMarco.

Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster? Hank Williams, we’re optimistic.

Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)? The Veronicas.

What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make? We make all of our music in Brisbane.

If your band had to play a team sport instead of being musicians which sport would it be and why would you be triumphant? Polo, because Phillip is a man that loves horses.

What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term? We’re releasing a new single, Fears, soon. And we got ‘eaps o’ gigs.

The Jensens play The Blurst Of Times Festival, Fortitude Valley on Saturday 18 October.

Pic: Terry Soo


eat/drink

STRAWBERRIESBasically, if you haven’t had strawberries in a salad, you haven’t lived. Spinach goes well the sweetness of the berries, and the colour contrast is totally insta-worthy. Try it with goats cheese, quinoa, avocado and balsamic vinegar if you’re feeling adventurous.

MANGOThe perfect summer fruit, loved by all. Looks like goldfish fillet in a salad, but hey, it’s so sweet and juicy that you barely need a dressing. Avocado and mango are a match made in heaven, as is chicken. Rocket is the best leaf choice for this one, it’s peppery taste bouncing against the sweetness.

WATERMELONPair it with feta, or with raspberries and mint. Another great thing you can do with watermelon

As the weather warms up suddenly we’re all about exercise and drinking way too much water (read: beer), and fruit is a godsend. But if you’re bored of just plain fruit, here’s how we like to switch it up in salad form. Words Taylor Yates. Illustration Sophie Blackhall-Cain.

FRUIT IN SALADS

What about vegetables in desserts? Beetroot, with its gorgeous purple colour, goes surprisingly well

with chocolate (think beetroot and white chocolate mousse – drooling) and if used in a cake mix adds a rich springiness to the cake’s texture. You can’t go wrong with the classic American pumpkin pie for those of you who are excited for Halloween. Why not mix taro (kind of like a light purple-coloured

cross between a sweet potato and a regular potato but with edible leaves) with young coconut flesh to make dessert balls, or bake it in a sugary bun? Sweet potato and ginger soup is actually a popular Asian dessert.

Oh, and sweet corn ice-cream is totally a thing.

VEGGIE DESSERTS

is grill it – sounds like it would be a crazy mushy mess, but it gives it this great smokey flavour. Add salt if you’re going grill it though to make sure the sweetness doesn’t get lost.

POMEGRANATEBrilliant in colour, but not very filling. Have it with some sweet potato to overcompensate, and walnuts if you like a bit of crunch. If crunch isn’t really your thing, give some roasted cauliflower a go – the mild flavour will flirt with the sweet and sharp taste of the pomegranate.

GRAPESThe purple ones work best in a salad. Make sure you have them with chicken, and use honey as a dressing. Also great with rice and cumin; don’t be afraid to add some smoked paprika, cloves or cardamom seeds into this one. The more aromatic, the better.

BLUEBERRIESPair blueberries with cucumber if you want refreshing, feta if you want it to taste a bit more savoury. This one works best with mixed salad leaves.


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MELBOURNE GOLDOn the verge of releasing their debut 7” single, Michael/Gone, Melbourne’s Gold Class are hitting Brisbane 24 Oct to play The Bearded Lady and 25 Oct Trainspotters at Grand Central.

ON THE RISEHaving dabbled in the rehearsal room for two years, Addaroc are ready to make an impression on the Brisbane music scene. They swing into action with a gig at the New Globe Theatre on 16 Oct in support of their new self-titled EP.

GONE HOMEHailey Calvert, the blonde with a booming blues voice, has returned with her third EP. The honest folk numbers of After

Your Heart’s Gone Home will be performed live when Calvert hits Black Bear Lodge, 30 Nov. Support from Josh Lovegrove.

BANGIN’ STICKS TOGETHERCowbells, trumpets, mandolins and saucepans are all present on The Bon Scotts’ Modern

Capitalism Gets Things Done. They play Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, 16 Oct; Queen St Mall, 17 Oct; Eat Street Markets, 18 Oct; The Rails, Byron Bay, 19 Oct.

LEARNING TO FLYAirling has unveiled her all-new single Wasted Pilots – the latest to be taken from her forthcoming debut EP, Love

Gracefully. She’ll be bringing the new tracks to The Brightside, 24 Oct. Support from Jasia.

A HARD GUARD Guards Of May have shifted into harder ebbs and flows with their latest single Annotata. 2015’s album release challenges status quo production with its sound spanning multiple genres. Catch them at Studio 188, Ipswich, 18 Oct and Nightclub, 25 Oct.

LOVE DEENABrisbane’s own Deena launches the cheeky, soulful first single, Cupid, lifted off her forthcoming album, Black Cat, on 23 Oct at The Zoo. Get down there for a bit of a boogie.

SAINTS GO MARCHING INNew Zealand Folk Album of the Year Award winners Tattletale Saints will grace our shores for the first time as part of an international tour. The highly acclaimed bluegrass duo play Junk Bar, 23 Oct.

HIGH SOCIETYBrisbane’s Moski Jo are taking over The Bearded Lady on 23 Oct to launch their first official single, Get High, which will be the first taste of their forthcoming album.

GET TRASHEDThings are set to get well heavy on 24 Oct at Chardon’s Corner Hotel, Annerley, when heavy rockers System Trashed take over. Gear yourself up for a big night.

BOTTLEROCKIN’Chardons Corner Hotel hosts an evening dubbed Bottlerock on 17 Oct, which features the likes of Eugene & The Egg, The Barmaids, Big Bongin’ Baby and headliners The Busymen. The gig is totally free.

BLUES AT THE BARWinner of the 2007 Australian Blues Music Award for Best New Talent, Mojo Webb is taking to the Cardigan Bar, Sandgate for a performance on 17 Oct.

INDIE NEWS CHART WRAP

The mid-victory-lap Bluejuice have nabbed another accolade in their final months as a band, with farewell retrospective album Retrospectable earning them the fifth-highest placing on the Carlton Dry Independent Albums Chart on debut this week. The entry spot is particularly sweet given that they are the only new entrants on the albums chart for the week, and one of only two debutants across the board, alongside precocious young talent Japanese Wallpaper, whose new cut Between Friends, featuring Jesse Davidson, nabbed him a top-20 opening spot, coming in at #17.

The top six singles for the week remain the same dominant ditties we’ve seen in recent times, with Timmy Trumpet’s Freaks remaining unshakeable from pole position, Sheppard’s Geronimo still hot on his heels at #2, Sia’s Chandelier at #3, Vance Joy’s Riptide still at #4, and Hilltop Hoods’ Cosby Sweater (#5) leapfrogging the Dream Your Life

Away scribe’s Mess Is Mine (#6).

Similarly, in the full-length stakes, last week’s top four placers (Missy Higgins’ Oz, Jimmy Barnes’ 30:30 Hindsight, the Hilltops’ Walking Under Stars and Joy’s Dream Your Life Away, respectively) remain where they were atop the charts, with last week’s #5, Kingswood’s Microscopic Wars, dropping to #10.

We’re still seeing strong performances from a few of last week’s Independent Music Awards winners, including Peking Duk and their single High sticking in at #17 on that ladder (its 33rd week), the same spot held by fellow prize-grabbers Violent Soho’s Hungry Ghost on the albums chart, which has been a featured release on the top 20 for 54 weeks now.


the guide

SAHARA BECKEP title? Bloom

How many releases do you have now? Five: Volume One,

Bang Bang Bang, You Could Be

Happy, Brother Sister, Bloom

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Getting to make

songs purely how I hear them

in my head in the studio

was enough inspiration for

me to create this album.

What’s your favourite song on it? Brother Sister, because we had

so much fun making it. Walking

around in the kitchen hitting

anything that sounds good!

We’ll like this EP if we like... The finer things in life. The first lick you have of your favourite flavour icecream. Diving into the beach on the first day of summer.

When and where is your launch/next gig? The official launch for Bloom will be on 22 Oct at Black Bear Lodge.

Website link for more info? saharabeck.com

EP FOCUS

ALBUM FOCUS

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MME MME MMMMMMMMMMMUUUS 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

EP FOCUS

CLIENT LIAISONAnswered by: Harvey Miller and Monte Morgan

EP title? Client Liaison

How many releases do you have now? A/B side single; 6 track EP.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Tropical north Queensland, the Victorian high country, diplomatic immunity, Southbank Promenade.

What’s your favourite song on it? The most recently made: Feed The Rhythm.

We’ll like this EP if we like... Dark disco, ‘90s house, blue-

eyed soul, new jack swing, power balllads, dance electric.

When and where is your launch/next gig? Supporting Flight Facilities and playing Falls Festival, Lorne.

Website link for more info? clientliaison.com

PERSONAL BEST RECORDS

BABAGANOUJAnswered by: Charles Sale

Best record you stole from your folks’ collection? Greatest

Hits – The Cars. They weren’t

wrong. There’s so many hits.

First record you bought? I think it was Prisoner Of

Society/Second Solution – The

Living End. I bought it for

a primary school dance.

Record you put on when you’re really miserable?

Third – Big Star. It is sad

and beautiful which is what I

look for during saddo times.

That or Bandwagonesque

– Teenage Fanclub.

Record you put on when you bring someone home? Most

definitely Astro Lounge –

Smash Mouth. It’s sure to

get you in the mood.

Most surprising record in your collection? I own every

Hüsker Dü record on CD

AND vinyl if that counts?

Last thing you bought/downloaded? I just bought

the Verlaines’ Juvenilia and

Hallelujah reissues from NZ.

When and where are your next gigs? Very excited for The Blurst

Of Times Festival! 18 October.

Website link for more info?

babaganouj.bandcamp.com

BULLHORNAnswered by: Stevie Buchanan

Album title? Players/Sounds

Where did the title of your new album come from? From the title tracks Players and Sounds – coupled on the album to represent first and second movements. It’s an instrumental tune that really explored all the talents of the bands many members.

How many releases do you have now? Two albums! Self-titled album released in 2012 and the new album Players/Sounds which dropped in 2014.

How long did it take to write/

record? We released three singles before we dropped this album so it’s actually been about two years in the workings.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We just wanted to record what we were as a band at that moment in time. It’s a reflection of the personalities of everyone involved.

What’s your favourite song on it? Resonate Right! It’s an upbeat, feel-good, hip hop soul tune all about finding happiness with yourself, it’s rad :-)

Will you do anything differently next time? For sure! We’re really proud of the new album, but there’s always things you’d tweak in retrospect.

When and where is your launch/next gig? The Motor Room, 17 Oct; Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, 7 Nov; Solbar, Sunshine Coast, 8 Nov; Harrigan’s Drift Inn, Gold Coast, 30 Nov!

Website link for more info? bullhornband.com


the guide

ROLLS BAYCEAnswered by: James Wright

Best record you stole from your folks’ collection? The best one I stole was What A

Fool Believes 7” single by The Doobie Brothers from Dad.

First record you bought? My first vinyl record was a reissue of Get

On The Good Foot – James Brown. There were a couple of deep cuts you couldn’t get anywhere else, still one of my favourites.

Record you put on when you’re really miserable? I like slow moody stuff when I’m sad, the best I’ve heard is the song In A Sentimental Mood – Duke Ellington and John

Coltrane. Try it sometime. Otherwise all of Underneath

The Pine – Toro Y Moi.

Record you put on when you bring someone home? Voodoo – D’Angelo. Start to finish, a very soulful, sensual album, amazing musicianship and sexy as hell. Nothing beats D’Angelo.

Most surprising record in your collection? Fantasia Del Barrio – El Gusano. It’s a bizarre but incredible psych record from the ‘70s. Unassuming cover but amazing music.

Last thing you bought/downloaded? I think it was some edits by Parisian DJ KS French. Disco reworks of Barry White and Marvin Gaye songs.

When and where are your next gigs? 18 Oct, The Blurst Of Times Festival.

Website link for more info? facebook.com/rollsbayce

PERSONAL BEST RECORDS

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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

VIDEO CLIP FOCUS

KUCKAAnswered by: Laura Lowther

Song title? Unconditional

Director: Dominic Pearce

What’s the concept behind the clip? We initially wanted

to create a live video but of

course we can never keep

anything that simple.

How long did it take to make?

The filming was super quick,

like a few hours, but the

background visuals took ages!

Where did you f ilm it? At the

Chris Huzzard Studios in Perth.

What’s your favourite part of the clip? I love the trippy 3D

visuals, and the brightness of the colours. Also the way the perspective is constantly being played with.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The styling and grading was inspired by the DIY aesthetic of a ‘90s era rage clip.

Will you be launching it? 18 Oct, Southside Tea Room

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THU OCTOBER 16THSTUDENT NIGHT: FRANCISCO’S FORTUNE(10:30PM)

+ BUZZBEES (9:30PM)FRI OCTOBER 17TH

HURST (9:00PM)+ SWITCHBLADE SUZIE (8:00PM)

SAT OCTOBER 18THJANTINA AND THE JAGUARS (9:00PM) + LOVE HATE REBELLION (8:00PM)

SUN OCTOBER 19THEXPOSED ULTIMATE HEAT 6:

MON OCTOBER 20THTBC

TUE OCTOBER 21STTERENCE BOYD THALLON (9:30PM)

+ ROB LONGSTAFF (8:30PM)FREE LIVE MUSIC AND INDIE DJS WANT TO PLAY? EMAIL [email protected]

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321 BRUNSWICK STREET MALL, FORTITUDE VALLEY

Pierce Brothers: Black Bear Lodge 16 Oct

Jack Carty: New Globe Theatre 17 Oct

The Blurst Of Times Festival: The Brightside, The Zoo 18 Oct

Kucka: Southside Tea Room 18 Oct

The Meanies: Prince Of Wales 18 Oct

Ball Park Music: The Tivoli 18 Oct, Alhambra Lounge 2 Nov (U18)

CW Stoneking: The Hi-Fi 31 Oct

Steve Smyth: Black Bear Lodge 2 Nov

Radio Birdman: The Hi-Fi 7 Nov

Airlie Beach Music Festival: The Whitsundays 7-9 Nov

Daniel Lee Kendall: Black Bear Lodge 13 Nov

Gorguts: Crowbar 16 Nov

Gossling: Black Bear Lodge 19 & 20 Nov

The Smith Street Band: The Hi-Fi 21 Nov

Davey Lane: The Brightside 21 Nov

Jungle Love Festival: Lake Moogerah 21-22 Nov

Mullum Music Festival: Mullumbimby 20-23 Nov

Dallas Frasca: 29 Nov Irish Club, 13 Dec, Solbar; 31 Dec, Bramble Bay Bowls Club

The Delta Riggs: The Factory Maroochydore 5 Dec, The Triffid 6 Dec

The War On Drugs: The Zoo 10 Dec

Gyroscope: The Brightside 11 Dec

Festival Of The Sun: Port Macquarie 12-13 Dec

Dead Letter Circus: The Hi-Fi 18 Dec

Thy Art Is Murder: Crowbar 20 Dec & 21 Dec (U18)

Real Estate: The Zoo 27 Feb

London Grammar: Brisbane Riverstage 7 Mar

Mojo Burning Festival: New Globe Theatre 21 Mar

Bluesfest Byron Bay: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, 2-6 Apr

Tuffy: Victory Hotel, Brisbane

Various DJs: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville

FRI 17 Various Artists: Alexandra Headlands Hotel, Alexandra Headlands

Various Artists: Allenstown Hotel, Rockhampton

Busby Marou (Acoustic Duo) + Fiona Bevan + Zeek Power: Beach Break Bar, Agnes Water

CactusDemonDoom + Smoke + Moonshine + The Steady As She Goes: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Ryan Bingham + Harry Hookey + Tim Wheatley: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Various DJs: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim

Various DJs: Breakfast Creek Hotel, Breakfast Creek

Knockoff + Various Artists: Brisbane Powerhouse (Turbine Platform), New Farm

Fingerprint: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda

Various Artists: Buderim Tavern, Buderim

Acoustic Artists + Various Artists: Burleigh Heads Hotel, Burleigh Heads

Various DJs: Caloundra Hotel, Caloundra

Various DJs: Capalaba Tavern (Sports Bar), Capalaba

Mojo Webb: Cardigan Bar, Sandgate

Lucy Street: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba

Bottlecock + The Busymen + The Barmaids + Eugene & The Egg + The Wet Fish: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley

Vinai: Club Liv, Surfers Paradise

Various Artists: Commercial Hotel, Nerang

Various Artists: Dalrymple Hotel, Garbutt

TGIF + Various DJs: Deception Bay Tavern, Deception Bay

Anti Heros + Tooshoes + Benibee + Hynzey + Migs: Eatons Hill Hotel, Eatons Hill

Hilltop Hoods: Fogarty Park, Cairns

Dana Gehrman: Habitat Restaurant & Bar, South Brisbane

Dubbaray + The Dragon + The Turtle + Auraview: Hervey Bay RSL, Hervey Bay

The Grahams: Joe’s Waterhole, Eumundi

Various Artists: Kawana Waters Hotel, Kawana Waters

Various Artists: Kirwan Tavern, Townsville

Various Artists: Lawton Tavern, Lawnton

Som De Calcada: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End

Musique: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central

Various Artists: Miami Tavern, Miami

Alla Spina + The Meaniacs + Being Jane Lane: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami

Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

Sarah Head: Mudgeeraba Bowls Club, Mudgeeraba

Jack Carty: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

VanderAa: Prince of Wales Hotel, Ipswich

Green Jam Sessions + Various Artists: QPAC (Melbourne Street Green), Southbank

Hurst + Switchblade Suzie: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

Rodriguez: Riverstage, Brisbane

Recharge DJs: Russell Tavern, Dalby

The Velvets + The Black Alleys + Tea Society: Solbar, Maroochydore

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema feat. DJ Mikey: Southbank (Rainforest Green), Brisbane

Various Artists: Springfield Tavern, Springfield

Freakin Fridays + Rotating Residents: Springwood Hotel, Springwood

Various Artists: Stones Corner Hotel, Stones Corner

Various Artists: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba

Teenage Mutants: TBC Club (The Bowler Club), Fortitude Valley

Pretty City: The Bearded Lady, West End

Prepared Like A Bride + Graves + Saints Alight: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley

Josh Rennie-Hynes + Elbury: The Crosstown Eating House, Woolloongabba

DJ JD7: The Four Mile Creek Hotel, Strathpine

The Whitlams + Guests: The Hi-Fi, West End

Women In Voice + Various Artists: The Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley

Bullhorn + Mr Speaker + The People Party: The Motor Room, West End

Ada: The Plough Inn, Southbank

The Peep Tempel + The Worriers: The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba

Hello Hoikkaido + Fox & Fowl + Brother Fox: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

Various Artists: Victory Hotel, Brisbane

Soviet X-Ray Record Club + Bat Nouveau + Nature Trails + Replikant + Vore: Vision Gallery, West End

The Wet Fish + Mammoth DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley

Rock n Roll Cowboys: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum

Juice + DJ Jarrd + DJ Blitz: Wynnum Tavern, Wynnum West

SAT 18 Creek Bar Saturdays + DJ Indy Andy: Albany Creek Tavern, Albany Creek

Jazz Saturdays + Various Artists: Albion Hotel, Albion

Various Artists: Alexandra Headlands Hotel, Alexandra Headlands

Ghost Audio + Fox N Firkin + Junior Danger + Return To Sirius + Bare White Knuckles: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Yacht Rock + Various DJs: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Various Artists: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim

Sweet K: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda

Various Artists: Caloundra Hotel, Caloundra

Various Artists: Captain Cook Tavern, Kippa-Ring

Brooksy & Co + Various DJs: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba

Bree’s 30th Birthday Bash + Psychosis + Wornaway + Universe + Tensions Arise + Whiskey & Speed + Sons Of The Soil + Kingsmoor: Chardons Corner Hotel, Annerley

Grave Upheaval: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley

Lil Jon: Eatons Hill Hotel (2pm), Eatons Hill

Whole Lotta AC/DC: Hinterland Hotel, Nerang

Amaya Laucirica: Junk Bar, Ashgrove

Various Artists: Kawana Waters Hotel, Kawana Waters

Astro Travellers: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End

Black Majic: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central

Hilltop Hoods: Mackay Showgrounds, Mackay

VanderAa: Miami Tavern (Shark Bar), Miami

Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

GIG OF THE WEEKVELOCIRAPTOR: 18 OCT, THE ZOO

WED 15 All Our Exes Live In Texas + The Phoncurves + The Company: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Miley Cyrus + Lolawolf: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall

The Zouk Social: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba

Prepared Like A Bride + Graves + The Lane Cove + Promises: Miami Tavern, Miami

Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

The Vibe Band: Nomads Noosa (KB’s), Noosa Heads

Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Solbar (Lounge), Maroochydore

Jam Night + Various Artists: Stones Corner Hotel, Stones Corner

MKO + Madboots: The Bearded Lady, West End

Slaves feat. Jonny Craig + Awaken I Am + Far From Paris + Serene: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley

Dan’s Hot 5 + Various Artists: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane

THU 16 Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Allenstown Hotel, Rockhampton

Open Mic Night + Various Artists: Bay Central Tavern, Pialba

Pierce Brothers: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Jam Night + Various Artists: Capalaba Tavern, Capalaba

Tim Lollback: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba

Torche + Lizzard Wizzard + Indica: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley

The Cope Street Parade + The Jac: JMI Live, Bowen Hills

High Noon: Logan Diggers Club, Logan Central

Des Reid: Loving Hut, Mount Gravatt

Underground Sounds - Open Mic Night Competition + Various Artists: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

Francisco’s Fortune + The Buzzbees + DJ Valdis: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

The Perch Creek Family Jugband: Solbar, Maroochydore

Freedman Does Nilsson & Whitlams Classics + Tim Freedman: Soundlounge, Currumbin

Gladyys + GUNK + Donny Love: The Bearded Lady, West End

We Set Signals + The Brave + Still Water Claims + Take To The Skies: The Brightside, Fortitude Valley

Blues & Roots Night + The Lyrical : The Elephant Hotel (Yard), Fortitude Valley


Mike Blundell: The Plough Inn, Southbank

The Selecter: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

THE MUSIC PRESENTS



Aerials + Drawcard + These Four Walls + Balloons Kill Babies + Mass Sky Raid + Charlie Fingers + House Of Giants + Harlequin + Skadi + After Gryce + Tom Skerlj (DJ Set) + Dan Page (DJ Set): New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Decades Festival feat. John Farnham + The Seekers + Tim Campbell + The Hi Boys + Erza Lee + Pat Capocci: Pine Rivers Park Amphitheatre, Strathpine

The Meanies + Batpiss + FAT + Union Radio: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah

Jantina & The Jaguars + DJ Valdis: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

DJ Ryan: Ric’s Bar (Upstairs), Fortitude Valley

The Grahams: Royal Mail Hotel, Goodna

Recharge DJs: Russell Tavern, Dalby

The Flumes + Dubarray: Solbar, Maroochydore

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema feat. Generik: Southbank (Rainforest Green), Brisbane

Kucka + Maia: Southside Tea Room, Morningside

Guards Of May + Example Of: Studio 188, Ipswich

The Hillbilly Goats: Tallai Golf Club, Tallai


Jack Carty: The Majestic Theatre, Pomona

The Bon Scotts + Moski Jo: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane

Archie Rye + Stereo Blonde: The Plough Inn, Southbank

Ball Park Music + Millions + Pluto Jonze: The Tivoli, Fortitude Valley

The Blurst Of Times Festival + Salvadarlings + Martyr Privates + Day Ravies + TV Colours + Blank Realm + Velociraptor + Dick Diver + The Blurst Of Times Festival: The Zoo, Fortitude Valley

Harley Young & The Haymakers + Go Go Fish: Tupe Aloha, Kirra

Various DJs: Villa Noosa Hotel, Noosaville

The Daisy Dukes: Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba

Atlas: Warner Tavern, Warner

Devils Kiosk + Nick Thayer + Mammoth DJs: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley

Jared Alexander: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum

SUN 19 Suicide Country Hour + Midwife Crisis + Shrewms: Beetle Bar, Brisbane

Bedroom Suck Records 5th Birthday + Terrible Truths + Peter Escott + Superstar + Primitive Motion + Thigh Master + Cannon: Black Bear Lodge, Fortitude Valley

Sunday Sessions + Various Artists: Blue Pacific Hotel, Woorim

Jack Carty: Bon Amici Wine Bar, Toowoomba

Rodriguez: Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, South Bank

Sounds of Sunday feat. + High-tails: Broadbeach Tavern, Broadbeach

Out of the Blue: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda

Sunday Unplugged + Various Artists: Burleigh Heads Hotel, Burleigh Heads

Various Artists: Captain Cook Tavern, Kippa-Ring

Paul Atkins: Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba

The Dwarves + The Flangipanis + The Lost Cause + Goon On The Rocks: Crowbar, Fortitude Valley

Cider Sundays + Various Artists: Dowse Bar (Iceworks), Paddington

Pat Tierney: Habitat Restaurant & Bar, South Brisbane

Hilltop Hoods: Harvey Road Tavern, Gladstone

Take Me Home: Irish Murphy’s, Brisbane

Various Artists: Lawton Tavern, Lawnton

Various Artists: Magnums Hotel, Airlie Beach

Ger Fennelly: Mick O’Malley’s, Brisbane

Mark D’s Big 3: Morrison Hotel, Woolloongabba

Mudgeeraba Music Muster + Carl Wockner + The Hillbilly Goats + The Viper Creek Band + The Buckleys + Karrie Hayward: Mudgeeraba, Mudgeeraba

The Acfields: New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley

Benny-O: Nomads Noosa (KB’s), Noosa Heads

Mimi Macpherson: Noosa Reef Hotel, Noosa Heads

Various Artists: North Lakes Tavern, Mango Hill

Hanja: OMalleys Irish Bar, Mooloolaba

Various Artists: Petrie Hotel, Petrie

Various Artists: Pub Lane Tavern, Greenbank

Various Artists: Raintrees Tavern, Manunda

Ric’s Bar Exposed Ultimate Heat 6 + Various Artists: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

Various Artists: Smithfield Tavern, Smithfield

Busby Marou (Acoustic Duo) + Fiona Bevan + Zeek Power: Solbar, Maroochydore

Ryan Delaney: Solbar, Maroochydore

Bearfoot: Solbar, Maroochydore

Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinema feat. The Altais: Southbank (Rainforest Green), Brisbane

Big Bad Echo + Jouk Mistrow + Pack Animals: The Bearded Lady, West End

Say Anything + Ceres + Inside The Whale: The Hi-Fi, West End


Som De Calcada: The Milk Factory Kitchen & Bar, South Brisbane

Soul2You: The Plough Inn, Southbank

The Bostocks: Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba

Jam Session + Various Artists: Waterfront Hotel, Diddillibah

Hair of the Mammoth + Various Artists + Mammoth DJs + Matt Lapish: Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley

Nik Phillips: Wynnum RSL, Wynnum

MON 20 Uncle Bob’s Music Club + Various Artists: Prince of Wales Hotel, Nundah

Devin Townsend: Princess Theatre, Woolloongabba

Pat Metheny Unity Group: QPAC Concert Hall, South Bank


TUE 21 Sweet K: Brothers Leagues Club, Manunda

The Tea Party + The Superjesus: Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta

Live Jazz with Katarina Rose: Lock ‘n’ Load Bistro, West End

Terence Boyd Thallon + Rob Longstaff: Ric’s Bar, Fortitude Valley

DJ Black Amex: The Bearded Lady, West End


Various DJs: Victory Hotel, Brisbane

RYAN BINGHAM: 17 OCT, BLACK BEAR LODGE



DEVIN TOWNSEND

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20 - 7.30PMPRINCESS THEATRE, BRISBANETUESDAY, OCTOBER 21 - 7.30PM

PADDINGTON TOWN HALL, SYDNEYWEDNESDAY OCTOBER 22 - 7.30PMST KILDA TOWN HALL, MELBOURNETHURSDAY, OCTOBER 23 - 7.30PM

THE GOV, ADELAIDESATURDAY, OCTOBER 25 - 12PM

JOHN INVERARITY THEATRE, HALE SCHOOL, PERTH

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The Acfields: Taps Australia, Mooloolaba

The Peep Tempel + Hackles + The Dangermen + Eyes Ninety: The Bearded Lady, West End

The Blurst Of Times Festival feat. DZ Deathrays + Hard Ons + Dick Diver + Velociraptor + Blank Realm + Jeremy Neale + The Creases + The UV Race + Palms + Die! Die! Die! + Orphans Orphans + Major Leagues + Bloods + TV Colours + High Tension + Babaganouj + Rolls Bayce + Day Ravies + Per Purpose + High-tails + Martyr Privates + I, A Man + Dollar Bar + Roku Music + Scotdrakula + Born Lion + The Good Sports + more: The Brightside (Carpark), Fortitude Valley

the music (brisbane) issue #60

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