by Chris Familton Palma Violets fight a gallant fight and show flashes of exciting talent but ultimately this feels like a band trading on raw energy and still finding their songwriting feet. 180 is one of those albums that comes laden with tabloid music press hype so it was always going to be hard to live up to those constructed expectations, especially on one’s debut … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Palma Violets | 180
by Chris Familton Everyone heading to the Sydney Entertainment Centre would have been sure of one thing – that they were about to experience arguably the greatest rock vocalist of the last forty years. For many there would have also been doubts about whether they were going to get a trip down Led Zeppelin memory lane or whether Robert Plant would be exploring his fascination … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Robert Plant & The Sensational Shape Shifters @ Sydney Entertainment Centre (28/03/13)
I caught these guys playing at the Nuggets event at the Sydney Town Hall during the Sydney Festival earlier this year and I was damn impressed with The Murlocs’ bluesy take on garage rock. It was white hot, ramshackle RnB soaked rock n roll and they seem to have bottled some of the essence of that sound on their new single Rattle The Chain. It … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: The Murlocs | Rattle The Chain
by Chris Familton Bruce!, a name so good it warrants an exclamation mark, hail from the Wollongong area and brought some of their no-frills rock up to the big smoke. They played hard, fast and exceptionally tight rock and showed their record collections are probably populated with albums by bands like Misfits (who they covered), Clutch and Queens of the Stone Age. Having three vocalists … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Endless Boogie @ Goodgod Small Club, Sydney (27/03/13)
by Chris Familton Royal Headache have scored a few international supports but this was the best fit by far as their melodic, hardcore inspired brand of music shares many traits with the night’s headliners. Their sound translated well to a larger stage and venue and the crowd response was enthusiastic. They dispatched each song with their usual taut rush and energy, deciding on the spot … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Dinosaur Jr, Redd Kross, Royal Headache @ The Hi-Fi, Sydney 16/03/13
Many thought they’d never amount to anything but Sydney’s Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys have gone and recorded one of the best albums we’ve heard so far this year. Ready For Boredom hits the mark with it’s Television/Replacements take on suburban punk that bristles with dissent while still possessing a streak of bitter melancholia amid the spiraling riffs and pseudo solos, sandpaper vocals and rock solid … Continue reading VIDEO: Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys | Any Day Now
We’re loving Caroline, the new single from Bad//Dreems, you should too. It rips, rolls and jangles and with parched vocals killing the chorus. Here is the new video to prove it… Continue reading VIDEO: Bad//Dreems | Caroline
by Chris Familton The term ‘Flying Nun sound’ gets bandied around a lot but in truth the acts on the New Zealand label’s roster were a diverse bunch. Popstrangers released an early single on the label and have been tagged with Flying Nun references but unlike usual suspects The Bats and The Clean, Popstrangers sit firmly in darker sonic corners where Gordons, JPS Experience and … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Popstrangers | Antipodes
Purling Hiss have just released their new album Water On Mars via Drag City/Mistletone and we’re hooked on first listen. They’ve refined the noise and boosted all the great elements of psych, pop and garage rock to produce an album that embraces all the greatness of 90s guitar music from Nirvana to Dinosaur Jr to The Lemonheads. The band come out of the same loose … Continue reading NEW MUSIC: Purling Hiss | Mercury Retrograde
by Chris Familton 26 years after departing what many felt were the most important UK band of the 80s Johnny Marr is finally releasing his debut solo album after collaborations with Bernard Sumner, The The, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and others yet The Messenger defiantly signals a return to those original tumbling notes and familiar sparkling chords. The immediate thing that stands out is the … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Johnny Marr | The Messenger
by Chris Familton Pissed Jeans… how can anyone go past a name like that? As a descriptor of the band that the moniker graces it is a pretty appropriate for these Pennsylvanian miscreants who ooze bodily fluids, sordid themes and many forms of self loathing and disdain. Following on from 2009’s Hope For Men, Honeys sticks to the same template of that and previous records … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Pissed Jeans | Honeys
by Chris Familton The previous night at the Bimbagden Estate winery in the Hunter Valley was a superb 2 hour show from Neil Young & Crazy Horse with only one thing missing – his full stage setup. Of course musically it didn’t matter, everything still sounded as widescreen and epic as usual but it certainly felt comforting to arrive at the Sydney Entertainment Centre to … Continue reading LIVE REVIEW: Neil Young & Crazy Horse @ Sydney Entertainment Centre (10/03/13)
Doubtful Sounds 