The music (Sydney) issue #104

H O L YH O L Y

comedy

JOE MANDE

eat

SLOW COOKIN’

music

FIDLAR

B E R L I N D O E S N ’ T K I C K Y O U U P T H E A R S E

I N S I D Ef i lm

STRAIGHT OUTTA

COMPTON

Sydney / Free / Incorporating

02.09.15

Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture

Issue

104

2 • THE MUSIC • 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015

THE MUSIC • 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015 • 3


I’m Sorry

Saturdays September 5 & 12 @ 6pm, Wednesday September 9 @ 7pm

The World Bar, 24 Bayswater Road, Kings Cross

Find us on Facebook! James Flavin Comedy

www.jamesflavincomedy.com

A married, straight, middle class, middle aged white man apologises

for everything.


www.thebasement.com.au

The Home of Live Music Since 1973SATURDAY 8 JUNE

DAMN GOOD DIVASAFTER A SUCCESSFUL DEBUT TOUR IN 2014, DAMN GOOD DIVAS RETURNS IN 2015 FOR AN ENCORE TOUR. HERALDED BY AUDIENCES AND

MANY VENUES ALIKE AS “ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS THEY’VE SEEN IN A LONG WHILE”, MONIQUE MONTEZ AND DANIELLE BARNES

FLOORED THE AUDIENCES WITH THEIR PORTRAYAL AND PERFORMANCE BY SOME OF

THE WORLD’S LEADING FEMALE ARTISTS.

JUST ANNOUNCED…

FRIDAY 04 SEPTEMBER

SAT 26 SEPT DMA’SSAT 07 NOV MOJO JUJUTHU 19 NOV HAUSCHKA (GER)

FOLLOW US: ON FACEBOOK @ THE BASEMENT & ON TWITTER @ #BASEMENTSYDRESTUARANT OPENS AT 11AM, SERVING FOOD ALL DAY

MEGAN WASHINGTON TANGENTS TOUR

FRI 11

SEPT

JONAH & THE WAILERS + THE ELEMENTALS

SAT 12

SEPT

VINCE JONES QUARTET

SAT 05

SEPT

DAVE GRANEY AND THE CORAL SNAKES

SUN 06

SEPT

ROCK’N’ROLL TUESDAYS FT. THE DOMINOS WK 2

TUE 08

SEPT

TOM FERRIS + SAM MCNALLY

WED 02

SEPT

COMING UP

MEGAN WASHINGTON TANGENTS TOUR

THU 10

SEPT

www.towradgibeachhotel.com.au 170 Pioneer Road, Towradgi 2518 | 02 42833 588

Wed 23rd Sept80s Mania

PAUL YOUNG, GO WEST, NIK KERSHAW and CUTTING CREW

Sat 26th Septtumbleweed

+ The Unheard + The Pinheads + Kaleidoscope + The Dark Clouds

sun 27th SeptDIRTY ROOTS 3

+ STONEFIELD + Marshall Okell & The Pride + Good Oak + The Pigs

+ Transvaal Diamond Syndicate + Tim Stokes & Band

Sat 19th SeptIn Hearts Wake

+ Make Them Suffer + Ocean grove + Stories

Thurs 17th SeptKevin Bloody

Wilson+ Jenny Talia from Australia

Sat 5th SeptXavier Rudd & The United

Nations

“DRILLHORSE”ROCK/SKA SHOW SUPPORTED BY “SKA’D 4 LIFE”, “PEARSHAPED ORANGE”

“THE IRON HORSES”ROCK SHOW SUPPORTED BY “LOVE DRUNK HEARTS”, “SPOONBILL”

“CHRIS DUKE AND THE ROYALS”SKA/PUNK ROCK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM “NERDLINGER”, “7 EVIL EXES”, “MOOF DE VAH”, “LLC”

“MC FILTH WIZARD”HIP HOP SHOW SUPPORTED BY: “DEADBEAT AND HAZY”, “BUSTACAP”

VENOM CLUBNIGHTALTERNATIVE/ROCK/METAL CLUBNIGHT FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY “DROPBEAR”, “UNDERMINER”, “THE MURDERING”, “FIVE DECADE FAINT”

“SHAYKES”INDIE ROCK SHOW SUPPORTED BY “NEW REGULARS”, “THE RADICS” AND GUESTS

THU 3RD8PM

FRI 4TH8PM

BASEMENT

FRI 4TH9PM

LEVEL ONE

SAT 5TH8PM

WED 2ND 7PM

SUN 6TH3PM

BASEMENT

COMING UP Wed 9 Sept: Lord St Collective presents “Crackin’ Eggs” Hip Hop/Spoken Word/Cypher/Live Band; Thu 10 Sept: 8pm Basement:

Hardcore Show with “Imprisoned”, “Ill Natured”, “Time Crisis”, “Burning Season”, “Society’s Chain”; Fri 11 Sept: 8pm Basement: Industrial Rock Show with “Pink Industrial Whores”, “The Damned Humans”, “Contessa Winanrosa & The Thistles” and guests; 9pm

Level One: Rock Show with “Capital Colours”, “Genetics”, “Cosmic Flanders” and many more; Sat 12 Sept: 8pm Basement: Hardcore Show/Album Release by “Culture Of Ignorance” supported by “RUKUS”, “Chatgeaow”, “Inebrious Bastard” and many more; 6pm

Level One: Extreme Metal Show with “Whoretopsy” supported by “Infested Entrails”, “Tortured”, “Gutter Tactic”, “Inhuman Remnants”, “Daemon Foetal Harvest”, “Burial Chamber”, “The Hazard Circular”, “Acheron”, “As Flesh Decays”; Sun 13 Sept: Pinup Doll

Australia - Sydney Regional, come and see Sydney’s finest Pinup babes strut their stuff on stage

MusicMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Failure For Soundwave

Soundwave Festival now has its fi rst three acts with veteran

US alt-rockers Failure joining previously announced performers Bullet For My Valentine and Dead

Letter Circus for the 2016 event. The festival will be the band’s fi rst

time touring Australia.

Credits

Publisher Street Press Australia Pty Ltd

Group Managing Editor Andrew Mast

National Editor – Magazines Mark Neilsen

Arts Editor Hannah Story

Eat/Drink Editor Stephanie Liew

Muso Editor Michael Smith

Gig Guide EditorJustine [email protected]

Contributing EditorsBryget Chrisfield, Steve Bell

Contributors Adam Wilding, Andrew McDonald, Anthony Carew, Baz McAlister, Brendan Crabb, Brendan Telford, Cam Findlay, Cameron Cooper, Cameron Warner, Carley Hall, Cate Summers, Chris Familton, Chris Maric, Christopher H James, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Deborah Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Eliza Berlage, Evan Young, Guido Farnell, Guy Davis, Hattie O’Donnell, James d’Apice, Jonty Czuchwicki, Kane Sutton, Kassia Aksenov, Liz Giuffre, Lukas Murphy, Mac McNaughton, Mark Beresford, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt MacMaster, Mitch Knox, Neil Griffiths, Paul Ransom, Mick Radojkovic, Peter Laurie, Rip Nicholson, Roshan Clerke, Ross Clelland, Sam Murphy, Samuel J Fell, Sarah Braybrooke, Sarah Petchell, Sean Maroney, Sebastian Skeet, Sevana Ohandjanian, Simon Eales, Tim Finney, Tom Hersey, Tyler McLoughlan, Uppy Chatterjee, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan

InternBrynn Davies

PhotographersAngela Padovan, Cole Bennetts, Clare Hawley, Jared Leibowitz, Josh Groom, Kane Hibberd, Peter Sharp, Rohan Anderson

Advertising DeptJames Seeney, Georgina Pengelly [email protected]

Art DirectorBrendon Wellwood

Art DeptBen Nicol

Admin & AccountsNiall McCabe, Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson, Bella [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Contact UsPO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012Suite 42, 89-97 Jones StUltimo

Phone (02) 9331 7077 [email protected] www.themusic.com.au

—Sydney

Zing!

Say hello to Zinger Chips, a lovechild of Smith’s signature

fl avour and KFC’s most popular burger. Zinger Chips adds a layer of heat to the classic

chicken crinkle (not for the weak-mouthed). Available from 8 Sep

in KFC and Coles.

Jack Of All

Trades

National treasure Hugh Jackman

has revealed his Broadway To Oz:

Hugh Jackman Live In Concert tour, based on his successful

Broadway run, Hugh Jackman: Back On

Broadway. Kicks off 24 Nov, Melbourne,

before heading to Sydney, Brisbane,

Adelaide and Perth.

Failure

Hugh Jackman. Pic: Karen Story

c / Arts /Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


For all gig and event details check out theMusic.com.au.

Story Time

The Music is proud to present At The Dakota’s fi rst ever national tour in support of their debut EP, Stories. The Darwin fi ve-piece bring their indie pop grooves to major cities all throughout Oct.

Winged Out

Montaigne, aka Jess Cerro, and her band take her new single, Clip My Wings, cowritten with her producer Tony Buchan (The Preatures, Andy Bull), on a national tour through Oct and Nov.

Bennie Boys

Melbourne-based band The Bennies are touring Australia again. They’ll make

appearances at Poison City Weekender, then join Reel Big Fish and Less Than

Jake, before taking on their own tour in November all across the nation.

Montaigne

The Bennies

At The Dakota

Calvin Harris is again this year’s highest earning DJ. Still $14m shy of his girlfriend Taylor Swift’s $80m earnings.

Source: Forbes Magazine$65,000,000

LifestyleMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Happy Happy Joy Joy

Brisbane-born, Sydney-based Joy. (aka 17-year-old Olivia

McCarthy) has announced she’ll be doing a loop of the country from 30 Oct in support of her

newly released debut EP, Ode. She’ll visit Adelaide, Melbourne,

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney.

A New Liaw

Masterchef winner Adam Liaw’s new cookbook Adam Liaw’s Asian

Cookery School will hit shelves this September to turn even the

most amateur cook into a master of homemade dumplings, pad Thai, lemongrass beef and all

things Asian cuisine.

Dirty Down Under

Swedish death-metal kings Soilwork have announced that they’ll be returning to Australia next February for a week-long national tour, having just released their tenth album, The Ride Majestic. The tour hits Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Soilwork

Joy

Adam Liaw’s Asian Cookery School

Position Calvin Harris would sit in the list of

Top 25 Paid Musicians if Forbes considered

him a musician.

NO. 7

le / CultuMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Don’t Snooze

Aussie indie-rapper Ivan Ooze’s name continues to pop up all over the

place and that’s set to continue, as he

has now announced a seven-date run of

shows for early Oct, named after his third

single Fire.

More Meredith

More Meredith sideshows have been announced. Moon Duo are playing shows with Glass Skies, The Dunes and more. Ratatat take their new album Magnifi que to the east coast. Goat will play double-headline shows with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.

Ring The Alarm

Fresh off supporting tours of a bunch of

Aussie favourites, Sydney pop-rockers

Castlecomer have channelled misfortune and

tragedy into their raw new single, Fire

Alarm. They’ll take it on tour along the

east coast early Oct.

Ratatat

Castlecomer

Ivan Ooze

Music / Music / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Jus hit my momma up and said ma I love you .. She said boy I’m call ya back I’m at the movies watching “straight outta Compton “@2Chainz’s mum is too busy to chat.

Warm Welcome

Barangaroo Reserve will come to life from 6 Sep for the fi rst instalment of the Barangaroo Welcome Celebration,

a three-month program of free music, art, talks, family events and picnics overlooking Sydney Harbour.

All’s Golden

Sydney’s picture house and bar, Golden Age, is celebrating the launch of its spring fi lm program and also its second birthday. The program includes new releases plus old faves like Back To The Future, Thelma & Louise, and Annie Hall.

Hey Dad

Shout your dad dinner or a craft beer this Father’s Day with one of the Dove & Olive or Keg & Brew Father’s Day

specials. Featuring grass-fed steak and hand-pumped ales, either is guaranteed to beat a pair of socks.

Barangaroo Welcome Celebration

Keg & Brew

Annie Hall

Arts / LiMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


SEPTEMBER 04

COSMIC PSYCHOS

SEPTEMBER 10

THE GETAWAY

PLAN// RED BEARD

SEPTEMBER 19

FRENZAL RHOMB

// TOPNOVIL // THE CULTURE INDUSTRY

COMING SOONSEPTEMBER 25 OCEAN ALLEY

OCTOBER 24 RÜFÜS *SOLD OUT*

NOVEMBER 07 BRITISH INDIA

DECEMBER 14 NEON INDIAN (US)

GIG NIGHT HAPPY HOUR MON-FRI 7.30PM-9PM

FOOD AVAILABLE EVERY NIGHT TILL CLOSE

BLD 12, UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG CAMPUS, NORTHFIELDS AVE.

TICKETS NOW ON SALE AT UOWUNIBAR.COM

FOR BAND BOOKINGS CONTACT [email protected]

UOW UniBar uowunibar u

Footy Lovers

Hilarious new webseries Footballer Wants A Wife launches 8 Sep. The parody of TV dating shows, starring Brooke Satchwell, Ben Nicholas and Cassandra Magrath, warm-heartedly sends up football stereotypes.

Cheese Dreams

Sly Fox are launching a new monthly wine and cheese night called ‘Goon + Coon’ on 4 Sep. Hosted and curated by ‘wine-lord’ Mike Johnson, each week will see new wines presented in an intimate and relaxing tasting.

Falling For You

Falls announce more big names for their music and comedy bills. You can now expect SOAK, Jarryd James and Elliphant, and on the comedy set Nazeem Hussain, Randy, Adam Rozenbachs, Nick Cody, Becky Lucas and Tien Tran.

SOAK

Footballer Wants A Wife

LifestyleMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Fry It Up

Stephen Fry has announced he is coming to tour Australia in November. With his charming and funny ‘Fry’ personality, he will be relaying his life stories in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Sydney.

Love On The Terrace

The rooftop of Sydney Town Hall will be transformed into a live music terrace and bar for a series of free performances. From

18 – 27 Sep, the terrace will see one-off performances from Microwave Jenny, Jones Jnr, Twin Cavern and more.

Apocalypse Party

The Run For Your Lives zombie obstacle course lands in Australia for the fi rst time this September. Those who make it through the 5km zombie-infested course will be treated to an Apocalypse Party with food, drink and music.

Rock’n’Shop

Sydney Rock’N’Roll & Alternative Market returns to Manning Bar and Manning House 13 Sep. There’s the usual stalls and live entertainment from Papa Pilko & The Binrats, Hank’s Jalopy Demons and more, plus a special showcase event, ‘Devoted To Vintage’.

Run For Your Lives

Live On The Terrace

Sydney Rock’N’Roll & Alternative Market

Stephen Fry

le / CultuMusic / Arts / Lifestyle / Culture


Are We Humans

Popular blog Humans Of Newtown is releasing a book of the same name. To

coincide there’ll also be a one-off Humans Of Newtown live event at Newtown Social

Club, 5 Sep, featuring book signing, markets, live music and performers.

Sub It In

The NSW camping music festival Subsonic have announced

more acts to beef up their bill, including Berlin-based Maayan Nidam, Wolf + Lamb, Margaret

Dygas, Frencesca Lombardo, and plenty more.

Four Day Dance Party

MoVement Sydney announces the line-up, featuring international and hometown talents including Spank Rock, Fantastic Man and Seekae. MoVement Sydney will spread itself across a number of venues for four days of dance and electronic music this October.

Fantastic Man

Humans Of Newtown

Subsonic


Holy Holy’s Tim Carroll extends his hand across the table for a hand shake as he takes a seat diagonally opposite. He sports a burgundy v-neck

and has his hair pulled back, which accentuates a stellar example of bushy outlaw beard. His bandmate Oscar Dawson arrives shortly afterwards with long hair flowing free against the sheepskin collar of his denim jacket. Dawson orders a wrap, mentioning he feels as if he’s approaching the blood-sugar precipice - perhaps he’s prone to ‘hangry’ outbursts?

The pair first met as volunteer English teachers in Southeast Asia during their gap years. Carroll reminisces about carefree afternoons spent playing “six-a-side soccer on this basketball court” with the locals before they “moved around and went right up to the north”: “We were staying at a Buddhist monastery both meditating with monks at, like, 4am.” Dawson interjects, “That only lasted for me for a coupla days,” blaming his lack of flexibility and “the wooden floor” for his brief attendance at these sessions.

“There was one funny technological relic that we made use of over there, which was the mini-disc,” Dawson informs. “Our old friend who we were travelling with, Marcus, had this mini-disc [player] and he had a microphone so we could record onto mini-disc. And so we had a couple of guitars and we recorded a few songs whilst we were over there, which, I don’t know where those mini-discs would be now, but they’re definitely not Holy Holy songs and I don’t think that we’d ever want them to see the light of day.” Carroll laughs nervously.

Dawson “had a Discman still” around that time and recalls, “I built up quite a big CD collection just ‘cause that’s what people listened to music on and I’ve got no idea where it is in the world. And it’s just a sign of how defunct that listening medium is that not only can I not

Oscar Dawson and Tim Carroll from Holy Holy recorded over their labelmates’ old tapes when money was tight. Bryget Chrisfield hears their confession.

Music

S A C R E DS O N G S

find them, but I haven’t even looked for them. Where the hell did all my CDs go?” Carroll laughs then Dawson concludes, “I think MP3s are just such a powerful medium; they’re so convenient and convenience really wins the day, I think.”

This outfit relies heavily on the wonders of modern technology for their songwriting because they’re based in different states: Dawson lives in Melbourne and Carroll has moved to Tasmania. “In terms of our pre-production, we’ll quite often do a thing where I record a sketchy little idea just straight onto an iPhone - just with, like, one verse and a chorus idea - and then I’ll send it to Oz [Dawson] and then maybe about two weeks later will come Ozzie’s reply, and that will be multi-tracked with guitars and bass. And then I’ll kinda have a think about that, and then go back and adjust it or put vocals on it. And then we’ll send it to our drummer in Brisbane and then he’ll add drums to it and we can get to a pretty nice position within that process.

“I think there’s something to be said for writing in one room, but there’s something nice about writing separately and having that real moment to kind of work on something before you then present it back to the group. It can be pretty exciting when I get the reply from Oz. I remember when I got the House Of Cards email, I clicked open on it and in the opening few bars I knew that it was something special. And he just sent me another one recently and I was like, ‘Oh, here it is!’ And put the cans on and was just sort of sitting there; there was one moment in particular, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s gonna be great.’”

Dawson believes that “the poverty-stricken way” they initially record tracks “actually works out best for the music”. “We do a take and if we decide we’re gonna do another one, we just record directly over it,” he explains. Carroll elaborates, “We’d be recording over Ball Park Music and, like, Emma Louise records, which was kinda funny ‘cause you’d be hearing these songs and you’d go, ‘Oh, yeah, just erase that now we’re going on top.’ And sometimes we’d be like, ‘Oh, we’ve got this much left on the tape,’ and it would be influencing how long we could play for - how long the songs could be. Looking back on it now it’s kinda funny, ‘cause I’m sure if we asked Sony for some more tape they would allow us to record a bit longer.”

You’ve gotta act on inspiration when it strikes and Carroll gives us some background to their song History. “I was doing a solo country drive late at night, and I just started working on the lyrics and got the first couple of verses out in the car. I remember pulling over to the side of the road


T E M P L EO F T E C H N O

and finding a pen and writing it and then keeping going and pulling over again ‘cause, you know, it can be quite rare to, like, get a run on some lyrics.” Carroll didn’t have any music playing, instead preferring to sing. “I will just sing and/or whistle all the time and people around me find it annoying, like, even when I was in school and stuff. And oftentimes I won’t know that I’m doing it. If I’ve been out, I’ll come home and my wife is asleep, and I’ll just be whistling around the kitchen or something. And she’ll be like, ‘Stop whistling,’ and I’ll be like, ‘I really didn’t realise I was doing it.’”

Carroll’s wife is from Sweden so he’s “been going back and forth from there for the last eight years [they’ve] been together”. “I lived there for a year at one point and I just got back from there,” he clarifies. Gotta love having a European passport! “I had one already,” he says. “I had an Irish one from my parents.”

Dawson has a British passport and lived in Berlin for a year with his previous band Dukes Of Windsor. He reckons a lot of Australians choose to live in Berlin because “it’s really cheap and there’s great big apartments you can live [in] and write your album or paint or draw”. “But what we found happened eventually was that we could write and record demos, and we did that, which was great, but it got to a point where we found it was really hard to get things off the ground, and it’s hard to get a recording project off the ground and hard to get your music out into the world; it’s hard to play gigs, actually. Melbourne’s got a - I would say - better live music scene than Berlin and so we kind of found that this thing happens where the city itself doesn’t give you a kick up the arse.

“You find that your alarm clock starts switching off and you start getting up later and a lot of people lose a lot of days. There’s a really good article that a Melbourne-

based musician and journalist, called Robbie Coleman, wrote and it got placed in The New York Times, and he writes about the experience of a musician moving to Berlin for a few months. And he’s quite funny and quite accurate, actually. So check that out, it’s really interesting. It’s kinda saying how you go over there with these dreams of making a big album and three months later you find that you’ve spent most of the time partying, and on drugs, and you’ve barely written a thing and then the band breaks up or something like that.”

Holy Holy’s Oscar Dawson lived in Berlin for a year, so we’ve just gotta ask: Did he go to Berghain? “I did go to Berghain,” he replies. The club widely referred to as The Temple Of Techno has a stringent door policy and “merciless” bouncer Sven Marquardt (who has penned an autobiography Die Nacht ist Leben (translation: The Night Is Life) dishes a constant barrage of “nein”s. Check out the hilarious blogs offering advice on how to maximize your chances of getting in.

On how he was granted entry, Dawson confesses, “We were lucky. We had a German guy with us who was pierced and tattooed all over, this friend of ours, and that was very helpful as far as getting in; just the language and the look of him, and if you’re with four other foreigners and you’re like [puts on loser voice], ‘Hey, can we come in?’ The guy at the front door’s just merciless, yeah. It’s pretty funny, ‘cause when it’s winter and it’s minus ten or minus 15 [degrees], at three or four a.m. you’ll see all these people just [lining] up in the snow - it’s amazing! We went in summer.”

We’d be recording over Ball Park Music and, like, Emma Louise records, which was kinda funny.

What:When The Storms Would Come (Wonderlick/Sony) When & Where: 10 Sep, Hotel Steyne, Manly; 11 Sep, Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul; 12 Sep, Lizottes Newcastle; 18 Sep, Transit Bar, Canberra; 19 Sep, Oxford Art Factory; 27 Sep, Sounds Of The Suburbs, Cronulla


John Bowker rocks as well as anyone when he’s on stage. He and his band, Sydney up-and-coming punk rockers

Born Lion, are already midway through their biggest tour to date, a national run of shows in support of their debut LP, Final Words. And as he spends his weekends doing his thing in front of fans the country over, his day job - as unlikely as it may seem - shares the occasional similarity.

Bowker works for Uniting Care as a community worker, working with people with a disability on the south coast of NSW. “It’s weird,” he begins, from his home in Shellharbour just south of Wollongong. “I do a lot of presentations to different organisations [about how they can get involved with Uniting Care] and I find it incredibly nerve-racking. Colleagues always say, ‘But you go on stage every week and play in front of heaps of people and act like a crazy man!’ But it’s a different beast.”

Luckily for Bowker, and Born Lion fans, his employer is pretty cool with him travelling all over the country. As a result, the band have scheduled their shows primarily over Friday and Saturday nights. “I’m able to take leave on the Thursday, the Friday and sometimes on the Monday. For BIGSOUND [playing four shows over five days], we’ll be in Brisbane for the entire week. It won’t be their first time at the event, either. “Last time, when we played in 2013, it was a lot more about networking

and wanting people to see us. This time, though, we just want to go and play a show and [have] it not be about any sort of industry gain.

“If something cool happens, that’d be great but, since 2013, we’ve signed to a label, we’ve got a booking agent and we’ve got a manager so all those boxes are ticked. Obviously we’re fucking nowhere in terms of the music industry, but we’re happy; we’re content.”

Listening to Final Words, it’s clear the members of Born Lion are in a good head space. It’s confident without being overly ambitious and Bowker says he’s enjoying playing the songs live. “It feels like we can give a more accomplished performance. Before the album was released all of the songs were half-written, or in an incomplete state. The ideas were there, the bodies of the songs were there and the lyrics were there, but we were just waiting on them to be produced and arranged in the way they’d finally end up. Now that’s happened and we’ve fleshed out all the songs, it’s a really good feeling. Now, all the songs that we play are complete.”

As a result, Born Lion are playing longer sets than ever and racking up plenty of miles as they trek across the country. Teaming up with local bands - “occasionally we’ll fly, but our guitarist, Red, bought a Volvo Caddy van recently and we put a seat in the back, so we’re driving most of the time” - they’re patently enjoying the next step in their musical career.

But as far as they travel around the country - and, inevitably, overseas - there’s a sense Born Lion will always be true to themselves and the Sydney scene from whence they came.

Rock Steady

By night he fronts Born Lion, by day John Bowker leads a very different life. He talks to Dylan Stewart about how he bridges the gap.

What:Final Words (FOUR | FOUR/ABC/Universal) When & Where:4 Sep, Brighton Up Bar; 5 Sep, Cambridge Ho-tel, Newcastle; 2 Oct, The Entrance Leagues Club, Central Coast

Music

LashesGlenn Danzig on Portlandia. Pic via Instagram (@carrie_rachel)

Backlash

Frontlash

Smoothing Things Over

So an easy listening station in Smooth FM gets Sydney’s top FM station? Maybe we’re all turning into a bunch of nanas thanks to lockout laws.

No McWhopper

While it reeks of a publicity stunt, we would have loved to have seen the result of Burger King and McDonald’s teaming up on Peace One Day and creating a hybrid burger.

A Silent Voice

It seems to us The Voice ended more with a whimper than a bang as it seemed to fly under the radar in the grand scheme of things, even if it did win its timeslot in the TV ratings.

Summer Goths

Glenn Danzig on Portlandia? This can only be comedy gold.

The Imperial March

The embattled Imperial Hotel in Erko has been sold and fingers crossed it can now turn things around and stay an important venue for all.

Sam Simmons

Wins Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s top prize for Best Comedy Show, and by a quick scan we think is the first Aussie to win since Lano & Woodley in 1994.


Never Had

So Much

FunJess Ribeiro approaches,

wearing an adorable red satin Snoopy bomber

jacket (which she goes on to explain she’s had since she was nine), hair that could even be shinier than aforementioned

garment and a warm smile. On how it’s possible she can still fit into clothes she wore back in primary school, Ribeiro explains, “I was really tall, but this was really oversized.”

She’s been on a few road trips in her time and Ribeiro shares, “My family have a truck business, so they’ve driven for a very long time and all over Australia. I think when I was a kid I probably thought, ‘Maybe I’ll be the first girl truck driver,’ but I only got my [driver’s] licence a year and a half ago.”

It was during a long drive that Ribeiro heard a song produced by Mick Harvey and knew immediately that she just had to work with him. “It was actually a PJ Harvey song,” she reveals. “It was from Let England Shake. We were driving through the Moab desert.” Ribeiro admits she was “pretty confused about who Mick was... I thought he was related to PJ Harvey - it’s really embarrassing

[laughs]. And it turns out that actually I had been teaching Mick’s son on and off for a couple of years! So when Mick worked out the link, he sent me an email, apologising, ‘Oh, I hope my son’s class hasn’t been too horrible for you!’”

When Ribeiro was a teenager, she was lucky enough to meet Frenzal Rhomb after a show they performed in her home town of Armidale, NSW. Something about drinking vodka and orange... “In their white van!” Ribeiro jumps in. “That was, like, so naughty. And it was at the Cathedral hall, which was, like, our primary school Catholic hall where we would have discos. So, as a teenager, going there and seeing a band from out of town was pretty exciting... And my mum sent the neighbour down to tell me to come home and I was so embarrassed.” She’s relieved that the band was not present when her neighbour rocked up to break up the party. “I had already had a ciggie and, you know,

What:Kill It Yourself (Barely Dressed/Remote Control) When & Where:4 Sep, Red Rattler; 5 Sep, The Phoenix, Canberra

a swig of vodka before good old Peter Clark showed up,” she chuckles.

Ribeiro has discussed these memories with Lindsay McDougall in recent years and confirms he remembers the gig in question. “Absolutely, because I think they got into big trouble afterwards. You know, they trashed a hotel room and they videotaped it and, like, they did all this silly stuff so they had to come back to go to court and things like that.

“I wanted to go with them to the hotel but, you know, I would have been like, I don’t know, 13, 14 or something.” Had Ribeiro wound up in Frenzal Rhomb’s rock’n’roll home movie, she reckons “it would’ve been great”. “Thirteen-year-old girl in a hotel room with this raucous, you know, bunch of young boys trashing a room. It’s very ‘90s,” she laughs. The bloody internet has taken the fun out of everything, eh? Ribeiro agrees, “Yes. Maybe that was, like, the end of - do you think people still behave like that?”

Music

Jess Ribeiro partied in the back of Frenzal Rhomb’s tour van in her early teens and has since taught children of rock royalty through her day job as a relief teacher, Bryget Chrisfield learns.

Thirteen-year-old girl in a hotel room with this raucous bunch of young boys trashing a room. It’s very ‘90s.

THE MUSIC • 2ND SEPTEMBER 2015 • 23THE THETHETHE HEHE EEEEEEEEEEEEE MUSIMMUSMUSMMMUSMMUMUMUUS C •C • CCC • C •C •CC •C •C • • CCC • CCC CCC 2ND2N2ND2ND2ND NDND2ND 2NDNDNDDDDDDN2N2N2ND2NN2ND SEPSEPTSEPTSEPSEPTSEPTSEPTSEPTSEPTSEPTSEPPTPTPTPSEPTSEPTSEPSSEPTSEPTPTTTSSEPTSSEPTEMBEEMBEEMBEEMBEEMBEMBEMBEEMBEMBEEMBEEMBEEMBEMBEMBEEEMBEEMBEEMBEEMBMBEMBMMBEMMBEEMEM R 2015 • 23


Every piece of work an artist creates has elements of the personal and intimate. In the case of acclaimed

filmmaker Paul Cox, who was born in Holland but has lived and worked in Australia for much of his life, such elements tend to be at the forefront. It has been that way in his best-known films, such as Lonely Hearts, Man Of Flowers and My First Wife, and it’s certainly the case with his latest, Force Of Destiny. The film follows Robert, a sculptor diagnosed with potentially fatal liver cancer, as he confronts the possibility of death while waiting in hope of a transplant that could save his life. On top of all that, he meets Maya, finally finding the great love he has long searched for. It’s decidedly personal material for Cox to tackle, given that he himself was diagnosed with the same disease six years ago, received a life-saving transplant and met a woman he considers the love of his life.

According to Cox’s friend and colleague David Wenham, who plays Robert in Force Of Destiny, making the film was “quite a profound experience”. “All of his work comes from a sense of who Paul is and what he has experienced, but none more so than this,” he says. “He describes being diagnosed with liver cancer as ‘dancing on the edge of the void’, which is a very poetic, Paul Cox way of putting it. And with this film, I think it was

a project where everyone involved in it... was there specifically for Paul because they knew how personal this film was to him.”

For Wenham, playing Robert didn’t come with a sense of responsibility as such but it was accompanied by a desire to pay due respect to Cox and the situation he went through. “I wanted to portray Robert in a way he would have been proud of. I was fortunate in that I knew Paul all

through the period of time from diagnosis and illness through to his transplant. The best form of research for me was a book he wrote called Tales From The Cancer Ward, in which he very, very clearly articulated what he went through - that was extremely helpful to me. But Paul wanted the character to be a version of myself as well, and there’s parts of me in there.”

Despite the somewhat dark subject matter, Wenham says the process of making Force Of Destiny was “incredibly upbeat”. “Paul has an incredible sense of humour, as do many of the people involved in the film. So, strangely, [the process] was exactly the opposite of what you might think.”

And while the film is an earthy, spiritual meditation on life, love and death, it also has a practical message. “I think the driving force behind the film, and why Paul wanted to make it, was that through his own experiences he realised the power of transplantation. Australia has one of the lowest organ donation rates in the world. There are 1,600 people on one list in one Melbourne hospital, and most of those people will die because we don’t have enough organ donors.”

A Life Force

Filmmaker Paul Cox’s latest work, Force Of Destiny, might just be his most personal film yet, leading actor David Wenham tells Guy Davis.

What:Force Of Destiny When & Where:5 Sep, Palace Verona; 7 Sep, Randwick Ritz; 7 Oct, Raffertys Theatre, Riverside Theatres; 18 Oct, South West Roxys

Film

Rancid’s seminal third album ...And Out Come The Wolves turned an impressive 20 years old this month, and it still stands up as one of the fi nest punk records of the ‘90s. Here are three good reasons to dust it off and give it a nostalgic whirl...

Matt Freeman’s Ridiculous The Bass Solo In Maxwell MurderAlmost exactly a minute into the album, Freeman comes along and blindsides everyone with an astounding display of lightning-fast four-string wizardry during frenetic opener Maxwell Murder – and it lives on as an almost mythical piece of bass lovers’ lore to this day for very good reason.

It’s Deceptively Musically DiverseSka, reggae, rock, chanty oi punk, and moments of (relatively) quietude fl eck the edges of the LP’s damn-the-man core of recklessness, and it makes ...And Out Come The Wolves good for several spins, as there’s plenty to pick up and place in terms of musical infl uences. It keeps it fresh, it keeps it imaginative – and it keeps it interesting.

Because You Damn Well Feel Like It And Can Do Anything You Like And Nobody Can Stop You, Even Your Disapproving Mother; Seriously, Don’t Listen To Her, Your Mohawk Is AwesomeDon’t worry about it. You look great. Now go listen to this album already.

RANCID’S

...And Out Come The Wolves THREE REASONS TO REVISIT


There’s plenty going on for blues band The Snowdroppers. Their new release Business was recorded on the Central

Coast north of Sydney, utilising both Grove Studios and Ivory Lane Studios. “It was produced by our friend and long-time live engineer Ryan Hazel,” begins Snowdroppers frontman Johnny Wishbone - real name Jeremy Davidson. “His studio is the Ivory Lane studio but he was adamant that he wanted to track some of it at the Grove just because it’s a really nice atmosphere there.” As it turns out there were certainly some benefits in tracking at Grove. “It’s just got this big live room!We had the space to shed up and really spread out, stretch our wings and fly away!”

Certain elements were then taken back to Ivory Lane for over-dubbing, but the majority of the record was tracked live. “There’s one track on the album that is a completely live cut.” Davidson explains. “Hold On. It’s actually a Tom Waits cover. That was kinda last minute. We didn’t muck around with it until we went into the studio and sorted floated the idea of doing a cover. We sorted of started jamming that and it worked!” This is typically how The Snowdroppers have worked in the past; capturing the essence of their live sound

is an important element. “We were really conscious this time around. This time around we have come the closest to getting that energy than we have before.”

It’s about 18 months since The Snowdroppers last toured. “I wish I could say it’s because we have all been windswept and interesting and jet setting across the globe... but we haven’t,” admits Davidson. In truth Davidson and

guitarist Pauly K originally took four months off to work on a play for the Sydney Theatre Company. “It kind of made me realise how much I truly love music and love performing music!” admits Davidson with sincerity of the experience. “Music truly is my number one love. It definitely sent us back into the writing process and into the studio with sort of a new vigour.”

Joining The Snowdroppers on tour for most of the dates is Food Court. “Food Court, man, they are so good! They are one of the best bands going right now. They just have that ragged, garage, pop, jangle thing going on, which is awesome!” As for other bands on the Australian scene, Davidson has nothing but good words for Royal Headache and High Tension. “I went to see Royal Headache the other night and they are just phenomenal. I also went to see High Tension the other day. They really impressed me! She [Karina Utomo] has a phenomenal voice, absolutely phenomenal frontwoman!”

“I wish I could say it’s because we have all been windswept and interesting and jet setting across the globe... but we haven’t.”

Number One Love

It took writing a play to get The Snowdroppers all fired up to cut their third album, as Jeremy Davidson (aka Johnny Wishbone) tells Jonty Czuchwicki.

What:Business (FOUR | FOUR/ABC/Universal)When & Where:4 Sep, Transit Bar, Canberra; 5 Sep, Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle; 24 Sep, Goodgod Small Club; 25 Sep, Newtown Social Club; 22 Nov, HiFi Days Festival, Gunnamatta Park

Music

Wine & Song

Pinot Noir

Described as being “soft on the palette”, a Pinot Noir “leaves a

velvety finish in the mouth”, just like the super-smooth stylings

of Australia’s ‘Queen of Country’. A Pinot Noir further “takes on a surprising complexity” as it matures, perfectly mirroring

Kasey’s career arc.

1993

Kasey Chambers

A D A Y O N T H E G R E E N

Australian Chardonnay

Known as “gold in the glass”, Australian Chardonnay is a

supple, elegant wine boasting “rich aromas” – so far, so Paul – and one that “with

aging you get complexity and smoothness”. Sounds just like

The Merri Soul Sessions!

1974

Paul Kelly

A D A Y O N T H E G R E E N

The gritty bio-pic Straight Outta Compton, about California’s infamous hip hop supergroup NWA, tells the

story not only of charismatic individuals and the origins of gangsta rap, but also of ongoing black struggle. NWA – formed in the ‘80s by DJs Dr Dre and Yella, MCs Ice Cube and Ren, and (the late) hustler/mogul/hype man Eazy-E – unleashed the controversial track Fuck Tha Police, protesting police abuse and racial profiling in their impoverished Compton, Los Angeles neighbourhood. These cultural revolutionaries raised the FBI’s ire, foreshadowing the LAPD’s widely-televised beating of Rodney King and the ensuing riots.

Directing SOC, its title from NWA’s debut LP, is F Gary Gray, whose credits include Friday (written by and starring Cube). Corey Hawkins plays Andre “Dr Dre” Young alongside O’Shea Jackson, Jr, credibly embodying his father Ice Cube, and Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E – plus Paul Giamatti, unrecognisable as NWA’s likeably roguish manager Jerry Heller. Hawkins views NWA as both political and personal: “I think for me, especially being a young black man growing up in America, it’s one of those sort of cultural markers. What they were doing and talking about back then, the things that they

were tapping into, the social constructs and the things that they were trying to shed light upon, in terms of police brutality and all of that kinda stuff, they were ‘hood stars. They wanted to just make music for their community and they ended up tapping into something that I think a lot of people were afraid of at the time – and they kept their foot on the gas instead of pulling back.”

A star graduate of the Juilliard

School’s drama program, Hawkins is an established stage actor. Recently, he joined TV’s cult zombie series The Walking Dead. Yet, in Young, Hawkins depicts someone who is real, alive and a producer of the film. This was “a daunting, scary task”. Young quit NWA to launch Death Row Records with Marion “Suge” Knight (a menacing R Marcus Taylor), but moved on again as the encroaching street drama became too distracting. Today the stoic super-producer is hip hop’s most private, and inscrutable, figure. “He’s a quiet guy but, when he makes noise, he makes noise,” says Hawkins. Already cast by Gray, he met the “legend” himself over a meal. “At the end of the dinner, I remember Dre had my audition tape on his iPhone – and he was proud of it.”

Gray, meticulous in his pursuit of authenticity, insisted the thespian learn to DJ. However, Young was more concerned that Hawkins capture the intangible – his “inner-life” and, ultimately, “the truth”. Young visited the movie set daily – and Hawkins had him on speed dial. “I could call Dre at four o’clock in the morning if I needed to – if I was still on set and we were working through a moment or something like that. He’d be at the studio working [laughs] and he would answer the phone and we would go through it and work it out.”

Check Your Attitude

Corey Hawkins talks fi nding “the truth” for his role as Dr Dre in a gritty biopic about California hip hop group NWA with Cyclone.

WHAT: Straight Outta Compton In cinemas 3 Sep

Film

Father John Misty

With the line-up for the inaugural Fairgrounds Festival just announced, here’s a brief history of the evolution of the fairground.

1293First fair reported the UK, mainly involving the sale of animals.

Mid-16th century Freak shows become popular attractions in the UK and fairgrounds get weirder.

Early-18th century The fi rst rudimentary carousels were operated at fairgrounds in Central Europe and the UK; kids get involved.

1884 First primitive rollercoaster operated at Coney Island in Brooklyn; fairgrounds get added adrenaline rush.

2001 More than 40 million people gather at the Kumbh Mela fair in India, making it the largest gathering anywhere in the world.

2015 Father John Misty, Mercury Rev, Ratatat, Royal Headache and more announce for Fairgrounds Festival at Berry, NSW. Weirdness, children and adrenaline all encouraged but guaranteed to be less than 40 million punters.


Eat /


Eat/Drink

LP’S Quality Meats - 1/16

Chippen St, Chippendale

These guys know their way around a six-hour smoked lamb belly with merguez sausage, that’s for sure! Maybe it’s because their kitchen is home to the only Southern Pride Smoker in the country. Or maybe because the cordon bleu chefs here know that Tennessee cooking is where it’s at.

4Fourteen - 72a Fitzroy St,

Surry Hills

Like your meat full of flavour, fun and, well, a bit fancy? You’ll love 4Fourteen where you can order lamb shoulder that falls apart simply by looking at it - and you can do it while checking out the quasi-hipster crowd that’s there too. If you’re super daring order the double-crumbed pig’s tail.

Surly’s - 182 Campbell St,

Surry Hills

Old school cheesesteak. Juicy deep-fried chicken. Slow-smoked pork shoulder. Please, say no more - this Southern American dive bar had us at ‘down-and-dirty comfort food’. It surly did. Yum!

Papi Chulo - 22-23 Manly

Wharf, Manly

Oh, grease. Sticky, sweet, sweet grease. It soothes the soul, turns the taste buds on and touches us like a hug from mum. Bless Papi Chulo for giving us what we need - The BBQ Platter. It consists of heavenly things like slow-smoked pork belly, half a rack of ribs, chopped pork, Wagyu brisket and curly fries. Did we say you get a warmed chocolate chip cookie too? Stop it.

Hurricane’s Grill Darling Harbour -

433-436 Darling Drive, Sydney

Pork ribs. Beef ribs. Lamb ribs. Full rack. Half a rack if you can’t commit. But you’ll want to - they’re basted and then tenderly, tantalisingly grilled. Don’t get ribbed off fighting over the last one. Bam!

LP’s Quality Meats

Papi Chulo

Slow-cooked meats are good any time of year. Emma Dempsey went lookin’.

Take It Slow

/ Drink


Eat/Drink

RestaurantProfi le

In the heart of Sydney, Vince Ieraci - with a history of already reputable restaurants consisting of Daltone House, Pink Salt and Bilsons - brings you Bellini Lounge. This Italian 1920s speakeasy, fashioned with marble and rich old timber, combines an extensive drinks menu including some infamous cocktails, with a beautiful restaurant.

The Bellini Restaurant features a menu consisting of favourite dishes from all around Italy, with the chef’s modern twist. Whether you’re feeling like canapes, tapas or a whole degustation, Bellini will be able to satisfy.

Alfie & Hetty

At Bellini, they support a strict mantra of ‘Eat, Drink, Play’, hosting their own band, and thus turning the late restaurant vibes

Address: 207-209 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe

Answered by: John Tydeman

What is an ingredient you couldn’t live without? Chilli flakes or black pepper. Most mains and entrees regardless of the balance and flavours or the TLC by the chef are enhanced (for my palate) with chili flakes or more generally black pepper.

What’s the design/atmosphere of your restaurant? Building is a two-storey heritage listed terrace house; well, two, actually. It is Federation-style with exposed bricks, chandeliers, original ornate tiles and stain glass windows.

What should I order when I come down? If you come alone a three-course meal could be deep-fried squid or seafood chowder, barramundi and creme brulee for a seafood

into a fun night out, with funk, soul and pop tunes. Bellini Lounge attracts any walks of (night) life with its unique combination of bar, food service and live music.

2 Kellett St, Potts PointWords: Hannah Blackburn

Bellini Lounge

combination or foi gras, steak tartare, steak frites et peppercorn sauce and pain perdu for the basic French carnivore meal. If veg, go for homemade gnocchi and a salad. If you are not dining alone, a signature roast is a must. Lamb, ribs, duck or chateaubriand!

For more info: alfieandhetty.com.au

Bellini Lounge

Alfi e & Hetty


Xx? Xx

In FocusGood GameLive

ABC’s Good Game is a quiz show made for gamers, by gamers. Known for their trivia and all round gaming goodness, they’re taking their comedy and skills out from behind the screen to the Enmore Theatre stage for two shows.

Good Game: Spawnpoint will be their interactive afternoon show for younger gamers at 2pm on 5 Sep, following by Good Game Live at 8pm. Joining hosts current hosts Stephen ‘Bajo’ O’Donnell, Stephanie ‘Hex’ Bendixsen, pictured with robot D.A.R.R.E.N., and Gus ‘Goose’ Ronald will be special guests Tripod, Andrew Hansen of the Chaser, and James Rees of Giggle & Hoot, plus regulars Michael ‘Hingers’ Hing and Nich ‘Nichboy’ Richardson.

Good Game Live is on 5 Sep, Enmore Theatre.

Pic: Josh Groom


17 parramatta Rd. Annandalewww.annandalehotel.com

THURSDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER - 7PM

THE SWEET JELLY ROLLSFRIDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER - 8PM

PROJECT COLLECTIVE SKASATURDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER - 8PM

ARC RIDERSSUNDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER - 3PM

SHANE FLEW


self-loathing so... It’s funny, when you have a writing job with Parks And Rec, you’re there long hours and you don’t get to do as much stand-up. When I’m writing I kind of wanna do stand-up and when I’m doing stand-up for too long I wanna get back to a writing job.

“I’m pretty good at both, but I also know many people who are much better at both than me, so I don’t know where I stand [laughs]. I love doing both and I hope I can keep juggling them as much as I can.”

NBC’s incredibly well received mockumentary Parks And Recreation recently wrapped its seventh and final season (#FarewellPawnee); Mande served as a writer on its last three seasons. Like all fans of the offbeat show and its constellation of stars, this scribe wants to know what the show was like behind-the-scenes. “When I was there I was like, ‘This is the best job I’m ever gonna have.’ I think on most TV shows, the actors don’t really interact with the writers at all, and at Parks, they’re constantly interacting with us and treated us like human beings on the set and asked us for jokes and stuff; it didn’t really feel like there was any kind of separation or hierarchy.”

Breeding an army of actors with impeccable comedic timing, unmatched facial expressions practically built for reaction memes and lightning-fast improvisation, Parks also brought forth the comedic gem that is Chris Pratt, ie. the affable human labrador Andy Dwyer. “I wrote an episode [Bailout, Season 5, Episode 16] which I was on set for and it took place inside an adult film store. We spent a good week in the writer’s room just coming up with hundreds of fake porn titles, it was so fun and so ridiculous. When we got on set, Chris Pratt managed to come up with 15 off the top of his head that were better than any of the ones an entire room of comedy writers could come up with.

“And the whole time he’s doing that, he’s also training to become Star-Lord, so he’s not even eating food, he’s just working out constantly and eating almonds and his brain is still able to come up with jokes!”

So, given that he’s got some time off before his Australian shows, is Mande going to correct the labels that irk him so much on his Wikipedia page? “As good as I am with certain things on the internet, I actually don’t do how to do Wikipedia. I feel like you need to know like, coding and stuff. I looked into it once and I was like, ‘This is too much!’

“The reason I don’t wanna be called an internet personality is, like, I’ve been doing stand-up for ten years and I feel like it diminishes all this actual work I put into being a comedian because anyone can write ‘comedian’ in their Twitter bio and suddenly, they’re a comedian. That said, I put myself in this position so I know what I’ve done to myself!

This writer tells Mande he should probably stop being a smartarse on his Twitter then. “Oh yeah, I’m well aware of this [laughs]. And I’m friends with people like Chelsea who will tell people to do the total opposite of what I want!”

When & Where:4 & 5 Sep, Giant Dwarf

“See, I hate “internet personality” - [that was] Chelsea [Peretti], and then the ‘Twitter rascal” thing is Pete Holmes. I didn’t have a Wikipedia

page and then I did Pete Holmes’ podcast and he told his listeners to make a Wikipedia page for me and describe me as a “Twitter rascal” and an “internet personality”,

all these things that I can’t stand. That whole Wikipedia page is all my friends making me crazy.”

The self-deprecating Mande has a razor-sharp sense of humour. He’s graced the stages of Conan and Late Night With Seth Meyers, recently wrapped up writing for Parks And Recreation’s Aziz Ansari on his own Netflix show, Master Of None, and somewhere in the middle managed to release a tongue-in-cheek comedy mixtape called Bitchface featuring Amy Poehler.

“I’m either very busy or just playing Xbox all day, you know what I mean? At the moment I’m on hiatus from my writing work, so I’m in a real Xbox phase at the moment,” Mande chuckles, explaining that he’s only got “the stomach” to play NBA 2K.

“You’re talking to someone with [he emphasises] real

Don’t Call Joe Mande An “Internet Personality” Joe Mande is a stand-up comic, a writer on such hit shows as Parks And Recreation and Kroll Show, and the author of the iconic (and equally ironic) book Look At This Fucking Hipster, but don’t you dare call him an “internet personality”. Upasana Chatterjee finds out why.

thatI amdo hcodis to

pers

As good as I am with certain things on the internet, I actually don’t know

how to do Wikipedia.

Comedy


“God Is Drunk In Charge” Album Launch Tour

Wed September 9 The Front Bar Lyneham ACT

Friday September 11 The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel

Wickham NSW

Saturday September 12 Bondi Golf & Diggers Club

North Bondi NSW

Sunday September 13 Gasoline Pony Marrickville NSW

(including members of The Paradise Motel)

“God Is Drunk In Charge” out August 28 www.outlandbrothers.com


You definitely got the impression from their 2013 eponymous debut full-length that the members of party-loving skate-

punks FIDLAR lived life on the edge, but not to the extent that their hometown of Highland Park, LA resembles a warzone.

“I’m doing well, there was a drive-by shooting two nights ago and a stray bullet came into our house, but other than that we’re doing fine,” laughs frontman Zac Carper. “Unfortunately we live in a kinda rough neighbourhood, so it’s the price you pay. I’m just glad nobody got hurt.”

Carper is on the promo trail for FIDLAR’s second album Too, and given the stylistic shift away from the brazen balls-out punk of their debut into more diverse terrain he’s aware that he might have his job cut out for him.

“I have a feeling that this new record is gonna go either way - people are going to love it or they’re going to just absolutely fucking hate it,” he admits. “When you’re under the gun to make a record it’s kinda a weird pressure thing, and it’s hard... Especially for our kinda genre - the garage-y, punk kinda stuff - I think you get it in your head that some people expect a certain thing from you and you want to deliver and make them happy, but at the same time, fuck that! There was definitely some weird vibes about where we should go,

but we wanted to try something different - that’s what it really boils down to.

“We’re not the kind of people who can just make the same album again and again - we were fucking two decisions away from making like a full-on hip hop album! That would have been awesome, like a total left-field thing. When things become just ‘standard’ it’s weird - once we went on tour and when we came home all of a sudden there was

this ‘garage rock scene’ and a ‘punk scene’. When we started those scenes weren’t around, it was indie rock and art-punk and all this stuff, so when what we were doing became standard we were like, ‘What the fuck?’ - I felt like I wanted to fight it, I always like going against the grain.”

Carper explains that they didn’t know where they wanted to take Too, just that it was somewhere new.

“A lot of it was kinda written in my head on this road trip, when I put my surfboard in my car and slept in my car for a couple of weeks and just went surfing,” he tells. “A lot of the melodies and lyrics were formulating in my head and I was writing stuff down and singing stuff into my phone - I wrote 30 songs for this new record, but the first 20 songs were just absolute garbage because I had it in my head that ‘I need to write a FIDLAR record’ instead of ‘I just need to write music, that’s the bottom line’. When I learned that all I needed to do was write songs and not worry about things like, ‘How do I make this a punk, garage-y kind of song?’ it all came together.”

Risk Management

FIDLAR might stand for ‘Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk’, but frontman Zac Carper tells Steve Bell that sometimes taking a career gamble ain’t so easy.

What:Too (Warner)

Music

Stephen Fry is soon set to tour Australia and the question we want asked is why is taking coke in royal households so good?

Fry, in his memoir, apologises for snorting coke in a number of places, but we certainly raised our eyebrows when we realised how many of those house the royal family, including Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Clarence House and Sandringham House – all frequented by members of the royal family on an almost constant basis...

Well, they do call it the throne room, don’t they?

As Paulina was being tortured, her masked assailant played a recording of Schubert’s 1824 composition for

string quartet, Death And The Maiden. It’s a terrible association that gets imprinted on the woman’s mind. It also explains the title of Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman’s Olivier Award-winning psychological thriller. While remaining allusive, the play references the reign of brutal Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and ‘80s. Thousands of people were killed or tortured under his regime before he was ousted in 1990. Death And The Maiden explores the plight of those who survived.

“Oh my God, this really happened,” actress Susie Porter says, describing her shock on learning more about what people like her character, Paulina, endured. “People went missing. People died. It’s pretty hectic. It’s a pretty, pretty horrible thing that happened, and the fact there are still human rights violations around the world…” Porter trails off.

Years after her abuse, Paulina suffers what might be described as post-traumatic stress disorder, a deep somatic disturbance that often afflicts soldiers returned from warzones. “You’ll get a trigger,” Porter explains, “some kind of word, some kind of

smell, some kind of thought, and it retriggers your body into the fight or flight situation. Basically, you’re always on edge, even if there has been no danger for a long time.

“By a strange twist of fate, [Paulina] believes the man who drops her home one night is her torturer, that he is the man who did these terrible things.” The play dives into the consequences of Paulina being so significantly

triggered, and her intention to shift her pain onto this man who may or may not be deserving of it. “It’s very important that I’m not playing it mad. Paulina might be slightly unhinged, but certainly not mad. Her trauma plays out in the fact that she’s done nothing for the last 15 years of her life. It’s inaction. Then she finds this guy and puts him on trial because she wants to hear the truth. No one has listened to her. Even though the dictatorship is no longer in operation when we open the play, the criminals don’t get justice. They all have an amnesty. But what about the people who had gone through these horrific things?”

In this sense, Dorfman’s piece asks difficult questions about what happens to individual humans in the aftermath of systematic trauma. They’re not only timeless questions, but particularly timely ones we should be asking ourselves in the unpleasant light of current human rights abuses all too close to home. “What’s interesting,” Porter suggests,” is, when does the victim become the perpetrator? Are the victim and perpetrator the same thing? All of us are completely capable of being violent, so it’s about looking at that as well. The perpetrator can become the victim.”

What If…

What happens to those who survive the most horrific abuses of their human rights? Susie Porter stars in a play about that and more, as she tells Simon Eales.

What:Death And The Maiden When & Where: To 17 Oct, Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company

Theatre

Last week in the US, Burger King called on McDonald’s to open a

combined store with them to celebrate the United Nations declared day of ceasefire and non-violence.

Around the office we wondered exactly what goes into a McWhopper and decided it’s a Big Mac/Whopper cross.

* One of each** McDonald’s Big Mac special sauce

The BURGERS are better at MC JACKS



IndieIndie

Tigerlily

Weapons Of Choice

Answered by: Dara Hayes

Tigerlily, Paradise, Island Australia (2015)Paradise was my fi rst release on my new label! It’s all about being free and escaping to your own paradise!

Audien ft. Lady Antebellum, Something Better, Astralwerks (2015)The vocal on this track is amazing. I am a sucker for a feel good tune.

Axwell /Ingrosso, Sun Is Shining (Marcus Schossow & Years Remix), Refune Music (2015)Not only is the original tune banging, but this remix takes it to the next level for the dance fl oor!

When and where for your next gig? 5 Sep, Rosehill Gardens.

Website link for more info? djtigerlily.com

The Mannequint

Theatre Focus

Answered by: David Todman (writer)

Describe your show in a tweet? A man in a family of compulsive liars must win back his elusive fi ance, while his father and half-brother masquerade as private detectives.

What inspired the work? I’ve always loved comedy and fi lm noir and I liked the idea of trying to merge various elements from both genres. I’d written a short fi lm where an intruder has to pretend to be a PI to explain his presence in a detectives’ offi ce and it just developed from there.

Where did you write most of the piece? I had been cast as Mercutio in a production of Romeo And Juliet, so while I was dead for the second act each night I would work on this script.

What excites you about Australian theatre? Theatre in Australia provides the opportunity to tell a variety of stories that aren’t being told in fi lm. The format is so incredibly different that it relies a lot more on the actors to tell the story completely, rather than relying on the ‘show don’t tell’ method of fi lm. Plus anything could go wrong at any time! What fun!

When and where is your show? Kings Cross Hotel, 1-6 Sep.

Website: themannequint.com

Carmen

Dance Focus

Answered by: Michael Pappalardo, Artistic Director of Melbourne City Ballet

Briefl y describe the piece: Carmen is an infusion of opera and classical ballet with a fl amenco, tango fl are of passion and romance set in Seville, Spain. Melbourne City Ballet dancers encompass the beauty of this ballet through stunning dancing and an operatic experience.

What made you want to pursue dance? Dance has always been an important part of my life. I grew up dancing and started at a very young age. Having a fl air for choreography and being Artistic Director of MCB has allowed me to develop beautiful ballets.

What was the biggest challenge in making this piece? The biggest challenge was moulding opera into the ballet, and adapting Carmen to encompass a more original story, and really engaging with audiences. I wanted this ballet to be an experience and not just a ballet you watch.

Why should people come and see your show? Because it is unique and original. It is not just a ballet you watch, you also listen and get involved. We have developed a work where you feel you are actually in Seville experiencing that passion and feeling.

When and where is the show? 8 - 12 Sep, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre

Website for more info: melbournecityballet.com.au/seasons

Shanghai

Album Focus

Answered by: Luis Rojas

Album title? The Ultraviolent

Where did the title of your new album come from? Firstly, it is a reference to the amazing Andrew Burgess novel and Stanley Kubrick fi lm A Clockwork Orange. Secondly, it is a nod to the western fi lm The Unforgiven.

How many releases do you have now? Two EPs: Esoterica (2005) and The Battle For Mount Analogue (2010).

How long did it take to write/record? Some compositions date back over 15 years to the initial inception of the band, as does some of the recording. Recording with intent for the album however began approximately fi ve years ago.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Mainly fi lm soundtracks. Everything from spaghetti westerns to science fi ction. The album is a concept album that is meant to be listened to as a soundtrack to a fi lm that does not actually exist.

Will you do anything differently next time? We will defi nitely produce the next album in a quicker timeframe.

When and where is your launch/next gig? 4 Sep, The Basement, Canberra; 12 Sep, Dicey Riley’s Hotel, Wollongong; 10 Oct, Town Hall Hotel, Newtown.

Website link for more info? theultraviolent.com

“I’ve been more and more into younger bands,” Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers observes. “I really

like tonnes of old music of course, but there’s something that’s completely new and refreshing when you’re seeing something unlike anything you’ve ever heard or seen before. Some of these bands are really making something cool happen and I think there’s a bunch of underground bands that are doing that kind of stuff.

“Obviously there’s people rehashing some sort of old ideas, but the stuff which excites me the most is something [whereby] you’re just completely surprised and floored by something that’s new. Hopefully that’s what everybody’s kind of searching for. [However], I’m not really excited about a band who is just as wacky and weird as possible, just for the sake of it. It has to have some sort of direction.”

It’s the innate belief there are perpetually fresh phrasings and interpretations of long-held notions to be uncovered, or a new energy that can breathe life into convention that helps spur on the Brooklyn-founded outfit. Their psychedelic-infused, shoegazing rock can also be inextricably linked with the outfit’s other ventures, namely effect pedal company Death By Audio and the associated, now defunct DIY venue/artists’ workspace.

When he takes The Music’s call, Ackermann’s been working on pedal designs. “I get to just do whatever I want,” he marvels, “make crazy stuff and people want to buy it. But it’s been a long time coming. We built it from the ground up... Playing in the band and all sorts of stuff, at least we get to do what we love to do, so it’s not bad work. Both of those things sort of feed off of each other and help each other out. I still

get the opportunity to do both, but there’s definitely times when I don’t have any time to build effects pedals ‘cause the band is really busy. But that helps and is fun, to be a change of pace.”

The band’s uncompromising reputation for sheer eardrum-punishing volume when performing live precedes them, which must be troublesome to maintain on a nightly basis. The frontman admits there’s often “resistance between venues and shows”. “That’s what’s exciting,” he continues. “If you feel, like, worn down and messed up or something, that’s what strives you; pushes you to go further and keep things exciting. I guess when things sort of get to be comfortable is when it’s, like, you get bored of it or something. So we try to just keep it as non-comfortable as much as possible.”

Was performing at near-deafening decibel levels an early objective? “Not really, it was really just creating music to be what we just liked to listen to. I guess I just played in a lot of loud bands and at some point discovered that was what I really loved. I loved to hear the sound of crazy, loud bass and tonnes of feedback. It wasn’t necessarily such a goal [so] much as a taste that was just enjoyable. So you run with it and go with those things, and as time goes on I guess you like things even crazier and more insane.”

Pedal To The Metal

Guitarist/vocalist Oliver Ackermann of A Place To Bury Strangers tells Brendan Crabb his band find comfort in discomfort.

Music


When & Where:5 Sep, Manning Bar

The Weeknd — Beauty Behind The Madness (Universal)The Dead Weather — I Feel Love (Every Million Miles) (Third Man Records/Warner)Deerhunter — Snakeskin (4AD/Remote Control)Elliphant — Love Me Badder (Sony)Montaigne — Clip My Wings (Wonderlick/Sony)Neon Indian — Slumlord (Popfrenzy Records)Northeast Party House — Perfect Lines (Stop Start/Inertia)

Triple J Additions

FBI New Music AdditionsBad//Dreems – Dogs At Bay (Ivy League)Beach House – Depression Cherry (Mistletone)Little Simz – Dead Body/Wings (Independent)No Zu – Ui Yia Uia (Chapter Music)WebsterX – Lately/Doomsday (Independent)Friendships – Pedal To The Metal (Independent)Montaigne– Clipped Wings (Wonderlick/Sony)Polish Club – Beeping (Independent)

The Weeknd — Beauty Behind The Madness

Bad//Dreems – Dogs At Bay


ReleasesBlank Realm

Illegals In HeavenBedroom Suck

The LibertinesAnthems For

Doomed YouthEMI

AngieFree Agent

Rice Is Nice

RegurgitatorNothing Less Than

Cheap Imitations: Live At The Hi-Fi Melbourne

Valve/MGM

This Week’sReleases

Music

It seems almost surreal to think that Pivot, as they began, initially formed in late 1999, a good 15 years ago. They’ve proven to be

one of those bands who consistently produce quality material, popping up once more just when you think perhaps they’re done.

Not so though - they’ve made some changes over the years, but they’re far from done. Initially a five-piece, the band released their debut, Make Me Love You, in 2005, almost immediately afterwards morphing into a three-piece and eventually changing their name to PVT (as a result of legal action brought by an American band, also called Pivot).

Make Me Love You was nominated for a J Award (in the first year of the award’s existence), and their follow-up, O Soundtrack My Heart, was awarded Sydney Album Of The Decade (2000s) by local radio station FBi. Since then, they’ve added Church With No Magic (2010) and Homosapien (2013) to their catalogue, all the while honing their experimental electronic rock’n’roll sound, brothers Laurence and Richard Pike and Dave Miller ensuring PVT kept on keeping on.

This year then, marks a decade since the release of their debut, and what better way to celebrate than to reissue on vinyl? “The idea of reissuing has popped up two or three times in the past few years,” concurs Laurence Pike. “People are always asking for

it, and it’s been out of print for a long time. So the idea of doing a ten-year anniversary would be fun,” he says, before adding with a laugh, “mainly because it’d be nice to have a copy of it on vinyl.”

It’s a seminal record for the group. The only album made with ex-bandmates Adrian Klumpes (keys), Neil Sutherland (bass) and Dave Bowman (turntables), it sees a raw yet disciplined group (years of rehearsal preceded

its release) starting a musical journey together. And despite how different the group is now, Make Me Love You still stands up for Pike.

“I hear it and it’s so naive in some ways; the music sounds naive, but to me that sounds really enduring, that sense of joy. We were never making that record to prove anything to anyone but ourselves, really. I think as a young band you throw caution to the wind a lot more, and that sense of discovery I think is really enduring.”

Releasing alongside the reissue of the album is a bonus disc of sorts, containing various demos and B-sides from sessions recorded prior to its release.

The band will also play their first shows in a couple of years together at Sydney’s Small World Festival, which, given Richard Pike is currently based in London, is something special again. “People keep referring to this as an anniversary show, but to me it’s a bit of a homecoming gig really,” Pike smiles. Add to this the fact the band are well into recording their fifth studio album, due for release next year, and you’ve got a band who just won’t stop - their journey continues.

Won’t Stop

A decade on from their debut, which still stands up today, and PVT are far from done, as Laurence Pike tells Samuel J Fell.

What:Make Me Love You - 10th Anniversary Edition (Independent) When & Where:19 Sep, Small World Festival, Sydney Park

OPINION


Opinion

OG Flavas

Urban And

R&B News

With Cyclone

In which we present fresh theories on the true identity of Banksy.With Banksy recently unveiling his largest work - an entire theme park titled Dismaland in the insanely named region of Weston-super-Mare, England,

staffed by the rudest people imaginable - I felt it time to examine and/or propose a fresh theory on the identity of the elusive politically-charged artist.

So, without further ado: is Clive Palmer Banksy?Firstly, if the leader of the Independent Palmer United Party and member for

Fairfax in the Australian House of Representatives is one thing, it’s politically-charged. No?

Secondly, Clive is also a poet, having published a collection titled Dreams, Hopes And Reflections in 1981. Clive will be performing alongside Les Murray, Quan Yeomans from Regurgitator and TISM’s Damian Cowell at the Queensland Poetry Festival this month. Is it mere coincidence that much of the wry commentary included in Banksy’s work is considered poetry of the street?

Thirdly, and this is where it seems Clive/Banksy may have got a little lax, a touch too confident in their cunning double existence, Clive has previous experience owning and operating a theme park. Palmer’s Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast is the notorious site of display for his own Jurassic Park, featuring more than 100 animatronic dinosaurs.

ModeratelyHighbrow

down with post-dubstep soulsters Sietta - his ‘offi cial’ debut, Louvres, out independently, was recorded by James Mangohig, while Caiti Baker handled the artwork.

Bennett, raised in regional Victoria, relocated to Darwin from Melbourne nearly fi ve years ago. Louvres chronicles the MC’s adjustment, as much as his new equatorial life, its title symbolically referencing the multicultural city’s aluminium window shutters. Darwin’s humid, and occasionally volatile, climate has infl uenced Bennett’s downbeat sound, laidback fl ow and meditative lyrics. Indeed, Louvres has the atmosphere of ‘90s illbient - 2013’s jazzy number Early AM, included here, provides the template.

Signifi cantly, Louvres spotlights other Territorian artists - from Alice Springs soul diva Jacinta Price (False, about the Top End’s binge-drinking malaise) to John Coulehan, frontman of Darwin band Roymackonkey (the languid, G-funk Tropical Low). Production-wise, Bennett has largely collaborated with South African emigre Cam Bluff, who counts among his credits Allday (plus he’s Illy’s tour DJ). The title track (and fi rst single) evokes DJ Premier’s most epic beats, its (mock) strings also a bit Stevie J. Bennett loves classic boom-bap - Louvres has turntable cuts and beatboxing. However, Sore Thumb, masterminded by Melbourne-based Brit expat Arctic, who normally specialises in grime, is trappy garage!

Aussie hip hop is shedding all vestiges of the barbecue rap era with such fresh, original acts as REMI, Tkay Maidza and L-FRESH The LION. Even

Ur Boy Bangs has shaken up the scene, the Sudanese-Australian, famed for his LL Cool J-meets-Soulja Boy charm-rap, unleashing a succession of viral diss joints. But we’re also digging Darwin’s MC Requiem, aka Clayton Bennett, with his tropical hip hop. Notably, Bennett is

The HeavyShit

Bansky Swinger

Disturbed

Requiem

OPINION


Opinion

Recently I wrote about the battle for

pole position in the ARIA charts between Northlane and Lamb

Of God. Northlane ultimately won out but, at the risk or sounding totally cliched, metal was the big winner overall, haha.

The battle was repeated two weeks later with Bullet For My Valentine and Dead Letter Circus competing for the top spot, which was awarded to the Welshmen from BFMV.

As I write this, the next chart battle is between Disturbed and Bon Jovi. So over the course of a month or so that’s six bands, albeit it in decreasing heaviness with each progressive week, topping the offi cial album charts. And not just at the top end of the chart; the whole top 40 is littered with heavy stuff and has been for quite a while.

New albums from Ghost and The Devil Wears Prada are going to debut well and, with albums from Bring Me The Horizon, Five Finger Death Punch and Parkway Drive coming, the chart domination by heavy bands looks set to continue until the year’s end and beyond.

Speaking of Parkway Drive, their new track called Crushed is incredible. The love child of Fear Factory, Rammstein and a bit of RATM, it delivers and any fringe-dwelling metal purist who still keeps them at arm’s length because of their ‘core’ status would do well to check them out. The song is a stadium fi ller and they will rise to that position themselves with this new release.

Tour-wise, October is well and truly overloaded with news that black metal’s fi nest, the mighty ravendark himself Abbath will be bringing the best Immortal songs and some of his new ones to town - and when it couldn’t get any busier, Megadeth and Children Of Bodom decide to team up and play some very big rooms. Save your pennies!

The above mentioned BFVM and DLC were defi nitely guided into their superior chart debuts by news that they were also the fi rst two bands confi rmed for next year’s Soundwave Festival, which is being compressed into dates in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne only with a day off between Syd and Melb. It doesn’t leave much room for the usual week of Sidewaves but who knows what the guys have planned when it comes to that. Word has now come down that another act has been confi rmed. US alt-rockers Failure, whose roots go back to

the early ‘90s and infl uence spreads as far as being covered by Paramore and A Perfect Circle. After a massive 17-year hiatus, which makes Disturbed’s self-imposed four-year one look like a coffee break, Failure came back to life early last year and have been selling out shows ever since.

Best rumour of the moment is that since Slash and Axl kissed and made up they are now potentially going to reunite Guns N’ Roses and headline Soundwave. While that sounds fantastic, I think it’s very premature to think they’ll go from a handshake and man hug to a festival inside of six months. Stranger things have happened and if it does go on to come true, SW will have scored something very special indeed.

Looks like we will be seeing Iron Maiden fl ying in again next year too! Bruce and the boys have upgraded Ed Force One into a full-on 747-400 Jumbo Jet! It’s twice as big and three times as heavy as the plane on their last tour. How do you top that? Next time maybe they’ll get an Antonov from the Russians and just lower the cargo door and do the concert from the fl ight deck!

Metal And Hard

Rock With

Chris Maric


Album / EAlbum/EP Reviews

Blank Realm really shouldn’t be this good. Even the title of this record from the Brisbane band, Illegals In Heaven, seems to suggest the band themselves still don’t believe they belong in the critical spotlight they’ve innocuously found themselves standing under. They claim to have started as something of a joke seven years ago, making improvised noise together without any careerist ambitions or thought for the future of the project. And yet, through their slew of early releases there was a sense the band was slowly creeping towards something truly individual and unique. That’s the background to the fuzzy, intoxicated edge in Blank Realm’s sound, which continues to evolve on Illegals In Heaven, their fifth major release and first studio album.

If there was ever a single anthem that transmitted their mission statement, the opening track, No Views, is the perfect candidate. Simultaneously frantic, manic and irreverent, Daniel Spencer succinctly distils the band’s approach to music in one hilarious couplet, “I’ve got no views on it/It’s just something that I do.” Luke Walsh’s ripping guitar solo shreds any doubts that they’re kidding, sounding sharper and meaner than before. The band’s shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach is complemented by fellow Brisbane producing legend Lawrence English’s treatment of their aesthetic, bringing a fuller, thicker sound that still keeps all the scrappy messiness of their Flying Nun influences. Experimental tendencies and pop experiments combine in one glorious amalgam of sound, making for another instant classic in the band’s catalogue.

Roshan Clerke

After nearly 15 years of solid garage blues rock with The Black Keys, singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach has stepped into fronting a new outfit he’s dubbed The Arcs.

Yours, Dreamily originally began as the singer’s second solo album, but grew into a proper collaborative band effort with a number of his musical friends joining in on the record, including indie rock production royalty Richard Swift. This collaborative approach is clear in the result, with every song undoubtedly having Auerbach’s trademark mix of classic blues rock and fuzz as showcased over eight Black Keys records, yet weird flourishes not seen in his discography are peppered liberally throughout the album.

While the majority of Yours, Dreamily is made up of the same style of mid-tempo psych-coloured blues rock as lead single Stay In My Corner, there’s enough variation

Adam Curley sings like a man from nowhere. On Gold Class’ debut album, Curley’s morose baritone falls somewhere between Ian Curtis and Andrew Eldritch without the English tone, an affectation that hides his soft-spoken Australian accent. For the first few minutes it’s jarring, but by second track, Life As A Gun, Curley’s voice is utterly intoxicating.

Though It’s You’s nine tracks revolve around those deep and bleak laments, Gold Class are fundamentally a guitar band, and an exceptional one at that. Evan James Purdey’s guitar tone remains constant throughout, but he’s a masterful riffsmith, offering sombre bluesy fretwork to manifest the slow dance sadness of Half Moon Over before busting out a series of irresistible, off-kilter hooks on The Soft Delay.

None of which is to say Gold Class is defined by half its membership. On the contrary,

The ArcsYours, DreamilyNonesuch/Warner

★★★

Gold ClassIt’s YouSpunk

★★★★

in the production and soundscape to keep the straightforward compositions from feeling too dreary. The biggest surprise on the album comes from the guest appearance of female mariachi band Mariachi Flor de Toloache, sharing lead vocals on the charming Chains Of Love.

After seeing The Black Keys drift into relatively straightforward alt-rock territory with their recent success, it’s reassuring to see Auerbach loosen up and have a little fun here. There’s ultimately nothing revelatory or groundbreaking about The Arcs’ debut album, but it does serve as a gentle reminder of Auerbach’s songwriting chops outside of a strict minimal guitar and drum format.

Andrew McDonald

the strength of It’s You lies in the whole of this band sounding far greater than the sum of its four parts. Bassist Jon Shub and drummer Mark Hewitt resemble Joy Division’s rhythm section in their formative years, underpinning each song with a nervous energy that imbues Curley’s words with a poignant fragility, like the whole thing could collapse at any minute.

And it almost does collapse on the closing piano ballad Shingles (Stay A While), where Curley sheds the persona and sings with an Australian accent, and a beautiful one at that. It’s a sublime portrait of vulnerability and a perfect closer to a tremendous debut.

Matthew Tomich

Album OF THE Week Blank

Realm Illegals in Heaven Bedroom Suck/Fire Records

★★★★


EP ReviewsAlbum/EP Reviews

AngieFree AgentRice Is Nice

Five Finger Death PunchGot Your Six Eleven Seven/Sony

FidlarTooWarner

Iron MaidenThe Book Of SoulsParlophone/Warner

★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★

Free Agent stands somewhat removed from the darkness that permeated Angie’s 2013 release, Turning, yet is just as beguiling.

Opening with the sparse Breathing In Blue, it doesn’t take long before she takes us around the various backwaters of distorted lo-fi rock - the chugging churn of Crocodile Tears and the heady garage ramble of Down For The Count. A warped interlude ensues with A Man Asleep, before the punk drive returns on Out Of Age. Paris Face gives a bluesy caterwaul, before Ricky Street grinds forth, bleeding into another bare closer in The Bell Rings True. Sublime.

Brendan Telford

Up there with Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed among some of the lamest bands in heavy music, your favourite misogynistic frat boy rockers Jive Pickle Butt Munch have come out with another absolutely exuberant display of mediocrity.

Keeping in line with history it’s clear that no one takes Five Finger Death Punch more seriously than Five Finger Death Punch. To be fair their lead guitarist has some nice solos, such as on Wash It All Away, but it’s really not worth wading through all the recycled garbage to get to. Let’s be real - did you really expect anything more?

Jonty Czuchwicki

These young LA hoodrats could have easily replicated 2013’s debut skate-punk opus FIDLAR but instead decided to push their boundaries, heading to Nashville and utilising a producer (Jay Joyce) for the first time. The results are more considered and less vital, but there’s still plenty of energy and a healthy dose of nihilism in tunes like single 40oz On Repeat, Bad Medicine and closer Bad Habits. Other sonic detours include the creepy Overdose, the poppy West Coast, the classic rock-sounding Punks and the tirade of abuse that’s Sober, making Too an interesting diversion.

Steve Bell

Vocalist Bruce Dickinson’s cancer scare unfortunately underscored Maiden’s inevitably finite lifespan, and threatened to derail the veterans’ post-reunion perpetual momentum. This double-album defiantly brims with progressive ambition. Bookended by cuts solely penned by Dickinson, the 18-minute, orchestral-laced Empire Of The Clouds sees him making his piano debut. It’s a reputable addition to their canon of epics. Bassist Steve Harris’ The Red And The Black is coherent and offers palpable character. More immediate Speed Of Light and Death Or Glory effectively counter-balance the sprawling affairs. A few arrangements and tracks could’ve been culled, but metal’s luminaries are evidently running free again.

Brendan Crabb

Dam-FunkInvite The Light

RegurgitatorNothing Less Than Cheap Imitations: Live At The HiFi Melbourne Oct 2012

FKA TwigsM3LL155X EP

More Reviews Online theMusic.com.au


Album / EAlbum/EP Reviews

Lou BarlowBrace The WaveDomino/EMI

The LibertinesAnthems For Doomed YouthEMI

Oh WonderOh WonderDew Process/Universal

Thirsty MercShifting GearsMGM

★★★½ ★★★½★★★½ ★★★

The king of lo-fi is back. The ever-versatile Lou Barlow takes a break from return forays with old flings Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh and strips things back to their quiet essence for his third solo effort, Brace The Wave. Recorded on the fly with recent Dino Jr engineer Justin Pizzoferrato, the album’s routinely sparse instrumentation - featuring his trademark down-tuned ukulele - puts focus squarely on Barlow’s melancholic worldview, which remains as intimate and rousing as his best Sentridoh work on tracks such as Nerve, Moving, Wave and Pulse. Lust in space.

Steve Bell

It feels like 2004 again as The Libertines finally release their long-awaited third album.

There’ve been bust-ups, addictions and new bands since then but none of the solo projects quite matched the combustible creativity these boys had together. That chemistry is back on Anthems For Doomed Youth as Barbarians rolls out their trademark tightly-coiled spiky rock before single, Gunga Din, goes reggae. Iceman is beautifully evocative and The Milkman’s Horse is a nice little ballad but for all the lovely melodies and rousing choruses, there are probably too many subdued tracks. Still, it’s good to have you back, lads!

Paul Barbieri

London pop duo Oh Wonder, aka Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West, sent songs off their self-titled debut out into the world once a month over a year.

Hungry fans that cottoned onto their unorthodox PR exercise were rewarded with emotion-charged songwriting and indie-infused synth pop. Drive is sleekly styled with clipped strings and dynamic guy/girl interplay, Body Gold’s lounge vibe is pouty and taut, while All We Do drips with emotional piano tinkling and tumultuous lyrics. The breathy piping does make some tracks sound the same, but Oh Wonder’s gorgeous production and pop savvy make it a solid debut.

Carley Hall

It’s been a long time between drinks for Sydney band Thirsty Merc, but after around half a decade, they’re back at it.

Shifting Gears is a decent return into the scene, albeit a little bit of a cold opening. Often criticised for being rather middle-of-the-road, the group unapologetically sticks to their guns and writes the songs for their own sake - commendable to say the least.

Nothing about this album particularly suggests a drastic change in pace or direction (or shifting of gears, so to speak), yet the Merc has turned out another reasonable piece of material.

Lukas Murphy

JOY.Ode

Jack ColwellOnly When Flooded Could I Let Go

Sui ZhenSecretly Susan

More Reviews Online theMusic.com.au

L i v e R e


Live Reviews

VOLUMESOxford Art Factory, Cliff Dive, Brighton Up Bar29 AugThe fi rst VOLUMES festival was a resounding success; a boon for the format. A multi-venue extravaganza: one wristband, four venues, infi nite (actually only four) musical possibilities. That’s not to say Sydney nailed it. From all accounts Brighton Up Bar was rarely packed. Not the case with both Oxford Art Factory venues. Cliff Dive had its moments as well, overcoming some odour issues to be, for the most part, a delightful place to dance the night away. The crowd, for those playing at home, was an extra two to three per cent hipster more than usual; likely a fallout from the progressive festival structure. It seems only those with tucked-in high waists and thrifted overalls were progressively minded enough to comprehend the multi-venue premise: “Wait, so you mean I can go over there and music? But I can music here as well? Two musics? Woah, hang on just a second, what about those places over there? Four musics?”

Early birds were treated to Low Lux, Jon Dory, Mezko and WIld Honey at each venue respectively. Low Lux were their sultry, sensual best. The crowd at least feigned early afternoon enthusiasm. It was like the dance move pre-season, devotees testing out their repertoire so they could have everything locked in for the main event. Sadly, planning went out the door for the majority of diehards for one key reason: they started drinking at 2pm. The moves they thought weren’t going to make the cut were out in full fl ight a few hours later: we’re talking the Sprinkler, ladies and gentleman.

Methyl Ethel were a bit of an early evening revelation: synthy, electronic tunes with feeling. Lead singer Jake Webb’s feminine vocal style didn’t shine through

as obviously as in recorded work; not necessarily to his detriment. What we got here was more akin to a Youth Lagoon meets Superchunk-style power-rasp, nasally in all the good ways. Rogues was the highlight, punchy yet downtrodden, like wandering

through a neon-bathed carnival at midnight.

Holy Balm were indicative of the ‘niche bands’ vibe that Cliff Dive were going for Saturday night. The tunes seemed to match the notably questionable odour emanating from various spots in the venue. The band’s scattershot vocals and discordant bleeps conjured up vibes of walking into a suspicious spice shop in an Indiana Jones-style movie – luxurious on the surface, but with something sinister deep inside. So too with Cliff Dive’s foul stench: “Smells like teen spirit” an optimist was overheard uttering, perhaps a little late on the reference train. “Smells more like shit,” said an accomplice, closer to the truth.

Back at the Oxford Art Factory main stage, drink lines were getting longer in anticipation of the headliners who were curiously awarded the 7pm timeslot, perhaps a way of ensuring the venue wouldn’t reach capacity. Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders were everything you could’ve hoped for: smooth croons, extended, clean guitar solos and shimmering ‘80s synths. Anyone who’s witnessed the group live can attest to their smokey,

The Creases @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Josh Groom

The Drones @ Factory Theatre.

Pic: Angela Padovan

Day Ravies @ Volumes. Pic: Pete Dovgan

Day Ravies @ VOLUMES. Pic: Pete Dovgan

The Preatures @ Metro Theatre. Pic: Josh Groom

Le Pie Goodgod Small Club.

Pic: Pete Dovgan

VOLUMES in a nutshell: the music festival for the Tinder generation.

e v i e w s


Live Reviews

casino showroom-style appeal, intentionally a little more Harrah’s Casino in Reno than Bellagio in Vegas. Ladder’s deep, soulful voice, shamelessly Presley-esque, sliced the air like butter as Donny Benet and company built tension behind him. Several times, on bangers like Hurtsville and Come On Back This Way, the dark synthy undertones reached goosebumps levels. The group have an irrefutable knack for building nostalgia from moments you’ve never actually witnessed and emotions you’ve never actually felt.

Day Ravies weren’t afforded the benefi ts of the best-sounding room, but were impassioned all the same. Their low-key, pop-punk tunes were hard to piece together in the Gallery Bar, but they pulled it together for a string of compact anthems.

A strange closer to a slow, jam-heavy, blast-from-the-past-style night were The Laurels, who got the headline slot without actually being billed as such. Rock and metal fans came out of nowhere for the closing main stage set, headbanging the night away.

Truthfully, there was a good enough spread of styles at the end to keep everyone happy: the 2pm drunks, the headbangers, the downtrodden slow jammers, the sinister spice-shoppers etcetera. That, guys and gals, is VOLUMES in a nutshell: the music festival for the Tinder generation.

Alex Michael

Oh Mercy, Big White, High-TailsOxford Art Factory28 AugBack on the AMP Award nomination list alongside the likes of Courtney Barnett, Marlon Williams, Hermitude and Royal Headache, Oh Mercy fi nally gave Sydney its own in-the-fl esh taste of new album When We Talk About Love.

Written in the US, with Oh Mercy’s frontman Alex Gow in confessional mode, the album’s light and airy, dreamy melodies were fi lled out by the six-piece crammed onto the Oxford Art Factory stage.

Sydney musician Nick Griffi th pulled double duty with his bands Big White and High-Tails both supporting. While Big White offered up jangly guitars and sunshine in a melody, High-Tails kicked it up a notch, drifting into fuzzy indie-guitar-pop territory.

With three singers taking turns across the front, Big White would be perfectly placed to throw a lot more harmonies at their audience and really give them something to revel in. High-Tails played a more hit and miss set. Their cover of ABBA’s The Winner Takes It All was more amusing than poignant but when everything came together their little indie idiosyncrasies and off-kilter guitars really hit the spot.

Gow’s customary, wryly self-deprecating banter (“This song is called All Roads Lead To You. It was an optimistic song that

turned out to be incorrect.”) introduced Oh Mercy’s tender, ambitious indie-pop. Despite some sound issues that Gow patiently talked through with his man behind the desk, the band gave plenty of aching space and just the right amount of sparkle to songs such as Sandy and I Don’t Really Want To Know. Like the

violin drifting through everything, Gow’s vocals sat low in the mix, never letting them take too much away from the intricate melodies. Gow knows what he’s good at and it is defi nitely this.

Danielle O’Donohue

The Preatures, The Creases, Low LuxMetro Theatre28 AugFor a band that has only been together for about a year, Low Lux sure know how to entice a new audience with their dark, brooding intensity and brighter grooves, with their latest release Ruin a fast favorite. Former Bridezilla member Daisy Dowd absolutely shredded on her violin before the band sauntered off stage, leaving the audience gasping.

The Creases made high-waisted pants and turtlenecks cool again, with their raw, bouncing garage-pop warming the crowd. The immediacy of fi rst single Static Lines and raw pop of How Long ‘Til I Know seemed to get the audience going, but the intermittent interruptions for audio fi ne-tuning took away from a promising set.

The Preatures proved why their versatility and sheer showmanship has seen the fi ve-piece band become one of Australia’s most recent success stories. They set the pace for the show without hesitation, opening with Somebody’s Talking, which had the crowd bouncing and singing along instantly. Frontwoman Isabella Manfredi was the reincarnation of Chrissy Amphlett on stage. She was tough, she was sassy, and she had a rock’n’roll voice that brought the house down during her power-punch rendition of The Divinyls’ Boys In Town. Her self-assured, piercing vocals never once overpowered the band, marrying in perfectly as another instrument among the crunchy chords and syncopated rhythms of guitarists

Gideon Bensen and Jack Moffi tt.Mid-set gave everyone

a breather with the slow, understated softness of Two Tone Melody, Manfredi’s clear, almost breathy vocals in stark contrast to the raw rock goddess we had seen earlier. The rest of the night was as energetically charged as to be expected, with manic dancing, rolling on the fl oor and cheeky wiggles from Manfredi interspersed by a slightly

unnerving tendency to stop all movement and look down the barrel of the gun at nothing in particular. They fi nished the set leaving fans wrung out and high from dancing, begging shamelessly for more.

Brynn Davies

Le Pie, Sophie Lowe, MyamiGoodgod Small Club27 AugMyami from Melbourne has a synth-pop sound, mixing electro madness and calm tones. Myami skilfully staggered her vocals in the more upbeat tunes to imitate glitchy remixes. Her voice was right on every note.

Sophie Lowe, formerly known as Solo, is an English-born Australian actress/singer-

This song is called All Roads Lead To You. It was an optimistic song that turned out to be incorrect.

[Frontwoman Isabella Manfredi] was tough, she was sassy, and she had a rock’n’roll voice that brought the house down.

L i v e R e


Live Reviews

songwriter, her vocals tinged by a slight British accent. She opened with Understand, a track that highlights her sultry style. However at times her voice seemed to lack the requisite power. Her cover of Robyn’s With Every Heart Beat was executed well, showing that pop may suit her best.

Dressed in 1960s Barbie doll attire, Le Pie fi nally took to the stage. She began by channelling ‘60s pop, but with her own dark spin. The next few pieces kept the ‘60s vibes going until she got to Josephine, which took on more of a ‘90s girl grunge-pop feel. Le Pie then switched between these two genres from song to song: this showcased her range but the interchanges were a bit clunky. Her take on Kylie Minogue’s Better The Devil You Know was impressive, making the song her own and almost brilliantly unrecognisable. She followed this with Secrets, which got the crowd going. Le Pie has enough talent and uniqueness within her style and performance to soar, offering that something different the Sydney music scene has been craving from a female artist for a long time.

Kassia Aksenov

The Drones, BatpissFactory Theatre27 AugKicking off a night of loud guitars and high energy were Melbourne’s Batpiss. Knowing what the crowd

was here for, the power trio were more than capable of delivering it; it’s crusty, messy and fi erce punk rock, yes, but with enough slower passages and droning, drenched-in-fuzz aesthetics to keep it from ever sounding stale. Over their short set, the band showcased why their recent Biomass album is as exciting as it is, building whirling nightmarish jams out of angular guitar lines and Big Black-reminiscent noise-rockers. For all the anger and energy, top-tier song crafting still managed to shine though.

Album anniversary and nostalgia tours are more in vogue than ever today, and these tours are constantly walking the line

between worthy fan service and self-indulgence - no surprises for guessing The Drones fell into the former.

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of their landmark Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By record, Gareth Liddiard and crew wasted no time reminding everyone why they’re the critical and audience darlings they are. Kicking off with what is arguably their career-defi ning song, Shark Fin Blues, The Drones were in boisterous, noisy perfection from the word go. The risk in opening with such an iconic tune means the rest of the set has to match this level – an intimidating task for

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Shane Nicholson @ The Basement

The Dillinger Escape Plan @ Max Watt’s

One Velvet Evening @ Factory Theatre

The Drones @ Factory Theatre. Pic: Angela Padovan

the average band perhaps, but this is The Drones. The impossibly perfect mix of Liddiard’s rock swagger, the so-loose-they’re-tight interplay between the band members and the sheer damn energy of the songs served as another mark as the band being one of the best in the country.

With an evening of feedback-driven, high octane and emotional rockers pulled primarily from Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By there was no escaping the fact that The Drones are as essential to the Australian music scene today as when they fi rst wowed critics over a decade ago.

Andrew McDonald

Her take on Kylie Minogue’s Better The Devil You Know was impressive.

The Drones are essential to the Australian music scene.


Arts ReviewsArts Reviews

FilmIn Cinemas★★★★★

With cinema currently drowning in big blockbusters, fi nding an original voice is rare. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl proves one such fi lm.

The fi lm follows teenage outcast and fi lmmaker/cineaste Greg (Thomas Mann), who maintains tenuous relationships with people. His closest is with Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he expresses a mutual love of world cinema through homemade parodies. One day, Greg is forced by his mother to

Me And Earl And The Dying Girl

La Traviata. Pic: Patrick Boland

La Traviataspend time with Rachel (Olivia Cooke), a girl diagnosed with cancer, with whom he fi nds an unexpected bond.This independent coming-of-age fi lm is what cinema is about, an emotional rollercoaster that can make you laugh and cry. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon directs his debut with confi dence, aided by beautiful/unconventional cinematography and an outstanding Brian Eno-soaked soundtrack, creating a fi lm fi rmly about friendship, identity and the love of cinema (the parodies are glorious).

Jesse Andrews’ script (adapted from his own novel) contains spot-on, eccentric humour (a surprise interjection from a particular poster is amazing) balanced with excellent drama unafraid to rip your heart out.

Despite name actors like Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon and Jon Bernthal (who are excellent) the young leads - Mann, Cyler and Cooke - own the fi lm with their endearing, engaging performances.Me And Earl And The Dying Girl is a must-see, particularly for cinephiles. Hilarious and emotional, it will linger long after viewing.

Sean Capel

Me And Earl And The Dying Girl

TheatreBelvoir Downstairs to 20 Sep★★★★

La Traviata deftly skewers the arts and culture world. It takes a once subversive opera and makes it subversive again, pulling it back from the realm of older, largely male, upper-class theatergoers into new light, form and story. This production turns Verdi’s work into something that questions what exactly we value in art, right now, and also brings colour and fun to something that has lost its appeal for younger audiences.

Opening with three ad execs trying to sell the audience “opera in jeans”, Sisters Grimm’s La Traviata descends into playful satire, on the borderlands of performance art and theatre, of opera and comedy. There is no real sense of catharsis or identifi cation with characters, however loosely such a word can be applied, although Ash Flanders shows himself to be one of the fi nest theatre writer-actors working in Australia. Co-creator Declan Greene too is brimming with ideas that burst from the seams of this creation, begging to be fl eshed out. That’s where this production falls down, however. There’s so much happening and most sections could be teased out further.

The second act is a hilarious wish-wash of mimed opera from Michael Lewis and Emma Maye Gibson, Lewis an opera veteran, Gibson a mesmerising force whose cabaret background lends itself to an experimental work such as this. It’s the set that pulls it all together and allows the audience interaction that could seem shallow but instead feels convivial.

La Traviata is everything Brandis never wanted your taxpayer dollars to be spent on.

Hannah Story

Comedy / GWed 02 Songs On Stage feat. Stuart Jammin + Desley Taylor: Balgownie Hotel, Balgownie

SOSUEME feat. Chiefs + Nico Ghost + Leon Osborn: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach

Megan Washington + The Tambourine Girls: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

Phil Jamieson + Tim Wheatley: Cafe Del Mar, Sydney

Blood, Sweat & Tears: Canberra Theatre, Canberra

The Song Company: City Recital Hall, Sydney

Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra: Coopers Hotel, Newtown

Chico Seeds + The Firebird Trio: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney

Confession Booth with Joyride + Madeleine Culp: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney

Evie Dean: Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations + Bobby Alu: Katoomba RSL, Katoomba

Levingstone: Lass O’Gowrie, Wickham

Hammerhead: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Youth Rockin The Black Dog - Heat 1: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton

Naturally 7: Llewellyn Hall, Canberra

The Squeezebox Trio: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe

Scott Bradlee & His Post Modern Jukebox: Newcastle Panthers, Newcastle West

Ed & Astro: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

Strawberry Boogie Launch Party feat. SheerKhan + Capital Coast + Split Visions: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Tom Ferris + Sam McNally: The Basement, Sydney

Drillhorse + Ska’d For Life + Pearshaped Orange: Valve Bar, Ultimo

Lee Kernaghan: WIN Entertainment

Centre, Wollongong

Thu 03

Megan Washington: Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul

Mt Warning + Aquila Young: Bank Hotel (Waywards), Newtown

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations + Bobby Alu: Bathurst Panthers, Bathurst

Alex Lloyd + Sarah Belkner: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

The Consouls: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville

Levingstone: Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington

Winter Comedy Smackdown: Comedy Store, Moore Park

Shir Madness + Tula + Tinpan Orange + Nathan Kaye: Factory Theatre, Marrickville

Jam Night: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor

Glenn Esmond: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks

Jamie Lindsay: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney

Glee Club: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Pacefaint + Big Chief & The Bottle Openers + Sophie Parente: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton

The Dominos: Marble Bar, Sydney

Yeevs + Noire: Marlborough Hotel, Newtown

Scott Bradlee & His Post Modern Jukebox: Metro Theatre, Sydney

Satellite V: Miss Peaches, Newtown

Steve Crocker: Mr Tipply’s, Sydney

Methyl Ethel + Sunbeam Sound Machine + Good Morning + Phantastic Ferniture: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Yon Yonson + VCS + Yeah Nah: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

King Parrot + Spitfireliar + Meridian Theory: Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour

Wallace + 30/70 + The Cosmodelta: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Clash of the Bands - Semi Final #1: Rock Lily, Pyrmont

Songs On Stage feat. Stuart Jammin + Chris Brookes + Bronwyn Eather: Ruby L’Otel, Rozelle

The Sweet Jelly Rolls: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale

Michelle Nicolle + Paul Williamson: The Basement, Sydney

Brendan Gallagher: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham

Avaberee: The Newsagency, Marrickville

Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars: The Pier, Port Macquarie

Hippie Death Star + Smaal Cats + Raindrop: Slyfox, Enmore

The Getaway Plan: The Small Ballroom, Islington

Furnace & Fundamentals + The Sweet Jelly Rolls: The Soda Factory, Surry Hills

The Guide

The Music PresentsWhole Lotta Love: 5 Sep State Theatre

An Evening With Kevin Smith: 18 Sep State Theatre

Yours & Owls Music & Arts Festival Weekender: 2 – 4 Oct Stuart Park North Wollongong

BAD//DREEMS: 9 Oct Oxford Art Factory

Laura Marling: 20 Oct Enmore Theatre

The Phoenix Foundation: 21 Oct Oxford Art Factory

Gentlemen Of The Road: 14 Nov The Domain

Mullum Music Festival: 19 – 22 Nov Mullumbimby

Mew: 2 Dec Manning Bar

Fairgrounds: 5 Dec Hazelberry Park Berry

Bully: 9 Dec Oxford Art Factory

Festival Of The Sun: 11 – 12 Dec Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park Port Macquarie

Bluesfest: 24 – 28 Mar Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm

Mullum Music Festival ft Emma Donovan & The Putbacks and more: 19 – 22 Nov Mullumbimby

Still Spirit

Hugo Race & The True Spirit released their latest album, The Spirit, 14 Aug. The band will take the album for a run including 4 Sep at The Vanguard and 5 Sep at Lazybones Lounge, with Ed Clayton-Jones’ Chordblood.

Methyl Spirits

The ambient and textual guitar sounds of indie-pop trio Methyl Ethel will reverberate around Newtown Social Club on Thursday.

Good Junk

The Junkyard Festival King Street Crawl has announced Alex Cameron, Flowertruck, White Dog and Matrick Jones as the first acts on the line-up for Sunday.

Methyl Ethyl. Pic: Jack Brookes

Hugo Race & The True Spirit

Alex Cameron


Gigs / Live


The Guide

Jo Meares: The Vanguard, Newtown

Nick Delatovic + Friends: Transit Bar, Canberra

The Iron Horses + Love Drunk Hearts + Spoonbill: Valve Bar, Ultimo

Passport to Airlie Beach - Battle of the Bands 2015+Various Artists: Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

Fri 04

Sydney Fringe Festival presents Wes Carr: 505, Surry Hills

Steve Crocker: 99 On York, Sydney

Lee Kernaghan: Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park

Scott Bradlee & His Post Modern Jukebox: Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul

Claim The Throne + Rise Of Avernus + Hybrid Nightmares + Daemon Pyre + Voros + Viscera: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt

Ted Nash: Bidwill Hotel, Bidwill

Mad Cow: Blacktown Workers Club (Jack McNamara Lounge), Blacktown

Alex Lloyd + Sarah Belkner: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

Born Lion + Creo: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst

Original Sin - INXS Show: Bull & Bush, Baulkham Hills

Otis Redding Birthday Celebration feat. Johnny G & The E-Types: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville

Pape Mbaye + Chosani Afrique: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville

Rob Eastwood: Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown

Nathan Cole: Chatswood RSL, Chatswood

Yahtzel + Herobust + Twine + Shantan Wantan Ichiban: Chinese Laundry, Sydney

Heath Lincoln: Collector Hotel, Parramatta


Sugar Bowl Hokum: Coogee Diggers, Coogee

Cath & Him: Dee Why RSL (Scores Sports Bar), Dee Why

Steve Edmonds: Dicey Riley’s Hotel, Wollongong

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations + Bobby Alu: Enmore Theatre, Newtown

The Getaway Plan: Entrance Leagues, Bateau Bay

Blake Wiggins: Figtree Hotel, West Wollongong

Drew McAlister: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor

Joe Mande: Giant Dwarf, Redfern

Champain Lyf feat. Mike Who + T-Syd + Jon Watts + Adrian E: Goodgod Small Club (Danceteria), Sydney

Jesse Witney: Howlin’ Wolf Bar, Wollongong

Jess Dunbar: Jacksons on George (PJ’s Irish Whiskey Bar), Sydney

NIghtminds: Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction

Folk By The Sea: Kiama Showground, Kiama

The JHD Revival Band: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Claude Hay + Eddie Boyd & The Phatapillars: Lennox Hotel, Lennox Head

Flaccid Mohawk + Queens of the Foo Monkeys: Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham

Megan Washington + The Tambourine Girls: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton

Vanessa Heinitz: Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale

DJ Somatik: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly

Dub FX: Manning Bar, Camperdown

Dirty Cash: Marble Bar, Sydney

Dave Ireland: Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville

Anthony B + House of Shem: Max Watt’s (formerly The Hi-Fi Sydney), Moore Park

The Whitlams + Perry Keyes + Tim Wheatley: Metro Theatre, Sydney

Adam Miller: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe

Glenn Esmond: Narrabeen Sands, Narrabeen

Night of the Wolverine performed by Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes + Taxi Vs Pigeon: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Reckless + Dave Mason Cox: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

Blake Tailor: Oriental Hotel, Springwood

Pelvis + New Lovers + Greenwave Beth + Death Bells: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

The Hit Makers: Penrith RSL, Penrith

73 Til Infinity feat. DGGZ + XS.if + Edseven + DJ Benny Hinn: Play Bar, Surry Hills

Imagine Dragons + British India: Qantas Credit Union Arena, Haymarket

Soul Tattoo: Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill

Lyall Moloney + Capital Coast + Triple One: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Jess Ribeiro: Red Rattler, Marrickville

Jellybean Jam: Revesby Workers (Infinity Lounge), Revesby

Speedball + Head In A Jar + Cult Killers + Black Knuckles + That’s The Last Straw: Studio Six, Sutherland

The Starliners: Sutherland Entertainment Centre, Sutherland

Michael Fryar: Tahmoor Inn, Tahmoor

Project Collective Ska: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale

Damn Good Divas: The Basement, Sydney

The Garth Prentice Trio: The Beach Hotel, Merewether

Melody Rhymes: The Crest Hotel, Sylvania

John Flanagan: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham

The Pragmatics: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville

The Shane Pacey Trio: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle

Cause feat. Robbie Lowe + Alex Ludlow + Kaiser Waldon + more: The Oxford Hotel (Underground Bar), Darlinghurst

The Roots of Hugo Race with Hugo Race & The True Spirit + Chordblood: The Vanguard, Newtown

The Sphinxes: The Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard

Sarah Paton: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain

Ellie & The Vandelles: Towradgi Beach

Secrets Found

Brisbane based electronic-indie band Avaberee will bring their winsome pop to The Newsagency on Thursday as part of their In Your Arms I Found My Secrets tour, following the release of their debut EP.

Wash It Away

Megan Washington is bringing her powerful indie-pop to the Brass Monkey in Cronulla on Wednesday, Anita’s Theatre in Thirroul on Thursday and Lizotte’s, Kincumber on Friday as part of her national Tangents tour.

Got To Getaway

After releasing their latest album Dark Horses, The Getaway Plan will bring their gritty, hard-rock tunes to The Small Ballroom, Newcastle on Thursday, Entrance Leagues on Friday and Studio Six on Saturday.

Megan Washington. Pic: Averie Harvey

The Getaway Plan

Avaberee

Wet And Wild

The Ocean Party have been doing some hard work in recent years, releasing their fifth album in just three years, Light Weight, and unveiling a lengthy national tour. Catch them at the King Street Crawl at Newtown Social Club on Sunday.

The Ocean Party

Comedy / G


The Guide

Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi

The Snowdroppers + Food Court + PJ Michael: Transit Bar, Canberra

Cosmic Psychos + Zeahorse + Dead Rats: Uni Bar, Wollongong

Chris Duke & The Royals + Nerdlinger + 7 Evil Exes + Moof De Vah + LLC: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo

MC Filth Wizard + Deadbeat & Hazy + Bustacap: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo

Big Dingo + Solid Effort: Vic On The Park, Marrickville

Hits & Pieces: Winmalee Tavern, Winmalee

Selaphonic: World Bar, Potts Point

Sat 05 Joanna Melas: Blacktown Workers Club (Jack McNamara Lounge), Blacktown

Joey Fimmano + Friends: Blacktown Workers Club (Diamond Showroom), Blacktown

Rumours - A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

Pikachunes + Wells + Hunch: Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst

Born Lion + Creo: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West

Baby Et Lulu: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville

Spyglass Gypsies: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville

Sinatra At The Sands feat. Tom Burlinson: Canberra Theatre, Canberra

Got It Covered: Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill

Joe Cocker honoured by Doug Parkinson: Centro CBD, Wollongong

Wankelmut + Dom Dolla + Friendless: Chinese Laundry, Sydney


Troy Kinne: Comedy Store, Moore Park

Nerdlinger + Speedball + Headbutt + Kang: Commercial Hotel, Milton

Red Hot Chilli Peppers Show: Corrimal Hotel, Corrimal

Mark n The Blues: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor

Ted Nash: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks

Joe Mande: Giant Dwarf, Redfern

Halfway Crooks with Tullet + Levins + Captain Franco: Goodgod Small Club (Danceteria), Sydney

The Fudds: Hawkesbury Hotel, Windsor

The Last Exposure + Jessica Allen + Sean Curran + Rhea Mangles: Janes Wollongong, North Wollongong


Oneworld: Kings Park Tavern, Kings Park

Hugo Race & The True Spirit + Chordblood: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton

Altitude: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown

Evie Dean: Macquarie Arms Hotel, Windsor

NAD + DJ Brenny B Side: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly

A Place To Bury Strangers + Flyying Colours + Narrow Lands: Manning Bar, Camperdown

Alphamama: Marble Bar, Sydney

Glenn Esmond: Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville

The Gangsters Ball feat. The Velvet Set + Aurora Kurth + Zelia Rose + Sina King + Richard Vegas + Julia Madotti + Acrobatica + Kali Retallack: Metro Theatre, Sydney

XS.if: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe

Don Walker & The Suave Fucks

+ Karl S Williams: Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club, Mullumbimby

Brendan Gallagher: Murrah Hall, Murrah

Cosmic Psychos + Zeahorse: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Rock Fossils: Oatley Hotel, Oatley

VIP + Krisna Jones: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

BLY: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst

The Spark: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith

Andy Illinois: Picton Hotel, Picton

Shakedown feat. Mark Walton + DJ Hudge + Coolhand Luke + Shan Frenzie: Play Bar, Surry Hills

Werombi Rain: Plough & Harrow, Camden

Spring Break Thru feat. The Unhinged + 51 Percent + Raised As Wolves + Billy: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Renee Geyer + Brad Johns: Revesby Workers (Whitlam Theatre), Revesby

Electro Circus feat. Carmada + Joel Fletcher + Tigerlily + Gladiator + Spenda C + Nemo + Destroy The Machines + more: Rosehill Gardens, Rosehill

Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin Celebration feat. Jeff Martin + Sarah McLeod + Simon Meli + Dallas Frasca + Frank Lakoudis: State Theatre, Sydney

The Getaway Plan: Studio Six, Sutherland

The Arc Riders: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale

Vince Jones Quartet: The Basement, Sydney

Go Stereo: The Beach Hotel, Merewether

The Spit Roasting Bibbers: The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney

Jesse Witney: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham

Aubrey & Purton: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle

Funhouse feat. DJ Jimmy Dee +

DJ Justin Scott: The Oxford Hotel (Oxford Bar), Darlinghurst

Jess Ribeiro: The Phoenix, Canberra

Reckless: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations + Bobby Alu: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Waves), Towradgi

Coda Conduct + Stateovmind + Lash: Transit Bar, Canberra

Venom feat. Dropbear + Underminer + The Murdering + Five Decade Faint: Valve Bar, Ultimo

Blake Tailor: Wentworthville Leagues Club (Wenty Lounge), Wentworthville

The Snowdroppers + Food Court + Ivy: Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

Steve Edmonds: Wyong Leagues Club, Lake Haven

No Aphrodisiac Like

ARIA Award winners The Whitlams are returning to the stage on a national tour, bringing the emotive indie soft-rock of Tim Freedman to Sydney. Catch them on Friday at Metro Theatre – and bring a handkerchief.

That’s Moloney

Following the release of his debut album IAHIB, much of which was recorded in Ethiopia, Lyall Moloney will be performing at Rad Bar in Wollongong on Friday, Sashimi Warehouse Party on Saturday and Birdhouse Bar on Sunday.

Cosmic Vibes

Following their co-headline tour with Dune Rats, the lads from Cosmic Psychos are at it again, coming to Uni Bar on Friday and Newtown Social Club on Saturday. They’ll be joined by Zeahorse.

Stand United

Xavier Rudd, along with his eclectic troop of musicians The United Nations will play shows at Bathurst Panthers on Thursday, Enmore Theatre on Friday and Towradgi Beach Hotel, Saturday.

The Whitlams. Pic: Rohan Anderson

Lyall Moloney

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations

Cosmic Psychos

Gigs / Live


The Guide

Sun 06 Ocean Alley: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt

Polish Club: Bank Hotel (Waywards), Newtown

Tapestry of Fire and Rain - The Music of Carole King & James Taylor: Brass Monkey, Cronulla

Ismael Fadel: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville

Ephemera Trio: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville

Steve Hughes: Comedy Store, Moore Park

Charles Jenkins: Coogee Diggers, Coogee

Tyler Oakley: Enmore Theatre, Newtown

Holly & Ellen: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor

Glenn Esmond: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks

Swinging Willie’s Swillfest feat. Pat Capocci + Key to the Highway + My Old Dutch + Firebird + Satellite V + Mightiest Of Guns: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney

Songs On Stage feat. Stuart Jammin: Harlequin Inn, Pyrmont


Blues Collective: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Lazy Sunday Lunch with Vince Jones: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton

Lj: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown

LA Experiment + NAD + Murray Lake: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly

The Story So Far + Man Overboard + Apart From This + Relentless: Metro Theatre (All Ages), Sydney

King Street Crawl feat. The Ocean Party + Bare Grillz + Joseph Liddy & Skeleton Horse + Heavy Daze + The Bagheads + more: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Eliette: Oatley Hotel, Oatley

Cover Note + Lonesome Train: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

Glenn Esmond: Peachtree Hotel, Penrith

Dead Marines + Brendan Gallagher: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham

Dave Debs: Picton Hotel, Picton

First Sight + Maybe I’ll Live Forever + Punchdagger + The Comfort + Isotopes: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Songs On Stage feat. Andrew Denniston + X-iled + Erin Madeline Clare: Red Lion Hotel, Rozelle

Shane Flew: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale

Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes: The Basement, Sydney

Misbehave: The Beach Hotel, Merewether

The Glammarays + No 4 Band: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville

Rob Luckey & The Lucky Bastards: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle

Nathan Cole: The Mill Hotel, Milperra

Rolling Stoned: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar/3pm), Towradgi

Xavier Rudd & The United Nations + Bobby Alu: UC Refectory, Bruce

Shaykes + New Regulars + The Radics: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo

Stephanie Lea + Cath & Him: Wentworthville Leagues Club (Wenty Lounge), Wentworthville

Blood, Sweat & Tears: Wests, New Lambton

Steve Edmonds: Wickham Park Hotel, Islington

Mon 07 The Story So Far + Man Overboard + Apart From This + Relentless: Cambridge Hotel (all ages), Newcastle West

DinkiDiAcoustic feat. Jim Jarvis & Rob Thompson Duo + Gary Hussy + Owen Keogh: Camelia Grove Hotel, Alexandria

Blood, Sweat & Tears: Canberra Theatre, Canberra

The Sydney Jazz Orchestra: Foundry 616, Sydney

Frankie’s World Famous House Band: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney

Nerd It Up

Nerdlinger rip back to ‘90s punk rock, gearing up for a national tour following the release of their debut EP Back To Winnipeg, which was independently released in 2013. They hit Valve Bar, Friday, and Commercial Hotel, Saturday.

Shir Madness

The Shir Madness festival celebrating Jewish music is on at Factory Theatre on Thursday, featuring the wonderful sounds of Tula, Tinpan Orange, Nathan Kaye and more.

Clowning Around

The inaugural Electro Circus Festival kicks off at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, with a massive line-up including renowned electronic duo Carmada joining Joel Fletcher, Gladiator and Tigerlily, just to name a few.

Nerdlinger

Tinpan Orange

Carmada

Comedy / G


The Guide

Sonic Mayhem Orchestra: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

John Maddox: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe

Swerve Society feat. The Warm Feelings + The Rangoons + Liquid Diet: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Oliver Goss: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

The Monday Jam: The Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst

Tue 08 Sydney Fringe Festival presents Jonny Potts: 505, Surry Hills

The Story So Far + Man Overboard + Apart From This + Relentless: Belconnen Magpies (All Ages), Belconnen

Acronym Orchestra: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville

Andy Kidd + Bowen & Clare + Red Dragonfly: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe

Yukon Blonde: Newtown Social Club, Newtown

Co-Pilot: Orient Hotel, The Rocks

Iron Chic + Postblue + Jacob: Rad Bar, Wollongong

Jimeoin: St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park

Rock n Roll Tuesdays with The Dominos: The Basement, Sydney

Graney Pictures

Dave Graney together with The Coral Snakes are set to play his album Night Of The Wolverine along with a set of classics at Newtown Social Club, Friday, Lizottes Newcastle, Saturday and The Basement, Sunday.

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The music (Sydney) issue #104

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