The War on Drugs continue to deliver some brilliant post-Springsteen/Velvets jangle, drone folk on last year’s Slave Ambient album. Here’s the latest video to come from that LP – Brothers. Continue reading WATCH: The War on Drugs | Brothers
Hoodoo Gurus have decided to celebrate their 30 years together in fine style with a run of shows across Australia featuring some impressive acts and a best of compilation titled Gold Watch: 20 Golden Greats. The Sydney show in particular will be a blast with Hoodoo Gurus performing Stoneage Romeos in its entirety (plus other smash hits) + The Sonics, Died Pretty, Redd Kross, the 5.6.7.8’s, … Continue reading NEWS: Hoodoo Gurus curate their own 30th Anniversary parties…
written by Chris Familton J Mascis’ recent solo album Several Shades of Why isn’t his first release under his own name, that honour goes to Martin + Me (1996) – a collection of acoustic Dinosaur Jr songs and covers recorded on tour. In that sense the new album is probably considered Mascis’ first true solo record as it was recorded in a studio with original … Continue reading INTERVIEW: J Mascis
Lee Ranaldo has timed things well with current question mark over the future of Sonic Youth in light of Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon’s split. He is set to release a new solo LP on March 20th via Matador who describing it as a “shimmering and melodic tapestry of sounds” and ” a fascinatingly approachable song collection”. The album features production from John Agnello and an impressive line-up … Continue reading NEWS: Lee Ranaldo to release new solo LP…
Following their brilliant album West, Wooden Shjips have used the talents of Andrew Weatherall, Sonic Boom and kandodo to remix three tracks for the vinyl/digital only EP Remixes. The Remixes 12″ is limited to 2500 copies, with 500 of them on special color vinyl. All pre-order customers will receive a free instant MP3 download of all the 12″ tracks. All pre-orders will also ship on the … Continue reading NEWS: Wooden Shjips release limited edition remix EP…
written by Chris Familton The Bats are about to celebrate 30 years as a band in 2012 and one that can still boast the original line-up. Not many groups can lay claim to that milestone yet the New Zealand quartet have quietly gone about crafting a considerable body of work that has never taken drastic directional changes or seen them seeking to box above their … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: The Bats | Free All The Monsters
The Jim Jones Revue return to Australia for the Southbound and Falls Festivals as well as a couple of solo shows early in the new year. The English garage rock band have spent 2011 touring the hell out of their album Burning Your House Down so this will probably be the last time to catch them down here before the bunker down and start working … Continue reading NEWS: The Jim Jones Revue Australian Tour…
written by Chris Familton Jane’s Addiction cemented their place in music history with their seminal albums Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual, both over 20 years ago. Since then they’ve made a few attempts to reignite the band and re-capture some of that magic with only limited success. 2003’s Strays had moments of brilliance but too often lost focus and cohesion. When they re-connected … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Jane’s Addiction | The Great Escape Artist
STEPPING UP “We get talked about as a lo-fi band but it isn’t what we are trying to do,” says Step-Panther’s Stevesie as he takes Chris Familton through the recording of their debut album. For any new band the biggest step after writing a batch of songs and establishing your live show must be the recording of the debut album. Many have built a career … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Step-Panther
written by Chris Familton The Drones have been one of Australia’s hardest touring bands over the last decade with frequent trips to Europe where they have garnered a healthy following. Now, as they look toward the writing and recording of their next LP in 2012, they have decided it’s about time to release a visual document of some of their most incendiary performances alongside an … Continue reading DVD REVIEW: The Drones | A Thousand Mistakes
There have been a bunch of new local bands that have appeared on my radar this year, many of them hailing from Melbourne. Dick Diver, The Twerps and Iowa in particular stand out and the latter now have a video to go with their recently released single Complete Control. Continue reading WATCH: Iowa | Complete Control
written by Chris Familton It is somewhat unavoidable when it comes to making comparisons between the new Dick Diver and Twerps albums as both have been released at the same time on Melbourne’s Chapter Music and both share a style that strongly echoes the music being made in New Zealand and particularly Dunedin in the 1980s. Variously the ghost of The Bats, The Clean, The … Continue reading ALBUM REVIEW: Dick Diver | New Start Again
Doubtful Sounds 