Reverb Magazine - Issue 47

central coast|hunter|north coast #047 June ‘10

music, arts & culture monthly

Parkway Drive

Inside the palace of

Brothers in arms BAND OF HORSES

speaking volumes the a to z of ASH

last dinosaurs roam the earth

A l s o I nsi de: i a n moss + St ru ng Ou t + C lou d Con t rol + Br i t i s h I n di a + G y roscope

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No. 47

Reverb Magazine is localy owned & published by The Lockup Garage.

Printed by Spotpress, marrickville: sales@spotpress.com.au

index

contents

News Strung Out Ian Moss Gyroscope Band Of Horses CD reviews Gig guide Cloud Control

8-14 17 18 20 21 22 24-25 26

North Coast Section Parkway Drive News The Beautiful Girls Ash Last Dinosaurs Gig guide

27 28 29 30 31 32-33

Fashion Midnight Juggernauts Story Of The Year British India Talking Shop Kaki King Dan Sultan Motoring Live reviews Groovin’ The Moo review Film & DVD reviews Gaming Socials

34-35 36 36 37 38 38 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

empire of the sun

Publisher’s letter

Credits

The passing of one of the greatest rock voices going, Ronnie James Dio, made us all put our hand on our heart and acknowledge the enormous legacy this man bestowed on music. Seeing the great man roar at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre only a short three years ago is one that will live with me forever — I saw Dio live, and I am a happy man.

As Reverb approaches four years in print, and our 50th issue, it feels appropriate for all involved in the magazine to stop for a moment… and plan a bloody big party. Sunday, July 25 at the Cambridge Hotel — Newcastle’s very own Splendour in the Grass sideshow featuring New York’s Alberta Cross. Pre-sale tickets are limited, so don’t leave it to the day.

Much love, Kevin

Editor

Photographers

Writers

Graphic Design

Editorial

Nick Milligan

Johnny Au Tim Boehm Kevin Bull Chrissy Kavalieros Robyn Moore Emma Visman

Amanda Bevan Nick Bilbey Stephen Bocking Kevin Bull Noah Cross Sean Frazer Paul Frost Scott Gilbert Lucy Hearn Michelle Hogan Ben Hoskings Jessica Saxton Byron Struck Lee Tobin Nathaniel Try Kirsty Visman Jordan Watton

Kevin Bull

nick@reverbstreetpress.com.au or 0421 255 566

Cartoonist

Sales Manager: Newcastle/Central Coast

Dave Townley Jones

tommy@reverbstreetpress.com or 0413 166 208

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Sub-Editor Amanda Bevan

IT Manager

Contacts

Kieran Ferguson

Sales

Senior Writers

Tommy Leung Stephen Bocking Kevin Bull Nick Milligan

Peter Douglas Hugh Milligan Mark Snelson

Sales Manager: North Coast stephen@reverbstreetpress.com or 0458 559 938

Gig guide gigguide@reverbstreetpress.com.au

Production cam@reverbstreetpress.com.au

Postal address PO Box 843, Woy Woy NSW 2256

KARNIVOOL n

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AUSTRALIAN TOUR wITH SPECIAL gUESTS AND CAIRO KNIFE FIgHT (NZ) Presented by Fidelity Corporation and Billions Australia

Wednesday 23 June - The hifi, brisbane thurs 24 June 2nd & final show The hifi, brisbane TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 27 MAY from www.thehifi.com.au or Tel: 1300843 4434 or Oztix outlets

friday 25 june - sawtell rsl, coffs harbour Tickets from Park Beach Music (The Plaza), Coopers Surf (Palms Shopping Centre), www.offbeatoperations.com.au & www.karnivool.com.au

saturday 26 june - newcastle panthers Tickets from the venue, www.karnivool.com.au & www.moshtix.com.au

WEDNESDAY 30 june - METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY THURS 1 JULY ALL AGES SHOW Metro Theatre, SYDNEY TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 27 MAY from Metro Box Office Tel:02) 9550 3666 or www.metrotheatre.com.au

FRI 2 JULY 3RD & FINAL SHOW Metro Theatre, SYDNEY TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 27 MAY from Metro Box Office Tel:02) 9550 3666 or www.metrotheatre.com.au www.karnivool.com.au

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Giveaways pugsley buzzard

THE CAT IN THE HAT

5 packs

5 packs of The Road packs, each containing DVD, CD soundtrack and novel.

Pugsley Buzzard has just released his new CD, Wooden Kimono, and is out to convert you with his funky New Orleans grooves and barrelhouse blues. Pugsley describes himself as “a grizzly bear in a porkpie hat rummaging through a piano.” He’s a fascinating character of imposing stature with a rich and raspy blues-drenched baritone voice that can make the ladies sigh and and grown men cry. Catch the cat in the porkpie hat at Lizotte’s, Kincumber, Thursday, June 10; the Lennox Point Hotel, Sunday, June 13; Coffs Harbour Ex-Services Club on Friday, July 16.

2 double passes

2 double passes to the Come Together weekend, Saturday June 12 and Sunday June 13 at the Luna Park Big Top, Sydney

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2 copies

2 copies of the new Cog DVD/ CD release, The Sound Of Three / Twelve Years With You

john spillane

THE CELTIC SPIRIT OF JOHN SPILLANE

Twice-winner of the Meteor Award in the best folk/trad category, John Spillane has toured the country and the world spreading joy with a mix of melodic tunes, which feature entertaining stories and poetic lyrics.

Described as ‘one of the truest Irish voices of his generation’ by Irish Music Magazine, Spillane truly embodies the Celtic spirit.

Spillane has recently released his first ‘best of’ album, So Far So Good, Like. This compiles some of his greatest works, from the memorable anthems of ‘The Dance of the Cherry Trees’ and ‘Dunnes Stores Girl’ to songs from ‘The Gaelic Hit Factory’. John Spillane plays the Lambton Park Hotel, Newcastle, on Thursday, June 17.

british india

BRITISH INDIA LAUNCH AVALANCHE

British India’s new album, Avalanche, hit the top 10 Aria charts on Mother’s Day and has proved to be their most critically acclaimed album to date. Avalanche received rave reviews around the country, as did their live performances on the Groovin’ The Moo tour.

British India will launch Avalanche at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, July 10. With this being their only Newcastle show until the end of the year, it promises to be a good one.

TORTOISE HEAD PLATOON return

Tortoise Head Platoon have decided that the sweat of the stage is better than the stench of the couch, and have reformed. They have recently performed in a heat of the National

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Campus Band Comp at Bar On The Hill, Newcastle Uni, and are primed for their Saturday, June 12, gig at the Lass O’Gowrie Hotel in Newcastle. Following that, it’s Heat 7 of the Bacardi Band Search, Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, Thursday, July 1. Some have been saying that this is the biggest reformation since Rage Against The Machine. Some have said the opposite.

STRUNG OUT FROM THE UNDERGROUND

Strung Out’s signature energy and musicianship is still kicking it hard — concise punk fury seamlessly melded with metal’s technical guitar-work, blistering solos and pounding drums that helped define a genre and made it acceptable for punks to actually explore their instruments instead of only learning three chords. Strung Out’s latest album, Agents of the Underground, will likely draw older fans back to the band, had they ever been crazy enough to depart.

“With Agents of the Underground, I wanted to acknowledge the fact that we are still alive and kicking just below the consciousness of the mainstream media and are celebrating our place here in ‘the underground’,” says Strung Out vocalist, Jason Cruz.

Strung Out, supported by The Loved Ones and The Strugglers, play Newcastle’s Cambridge Hotel on Wednesday, June 16, and the Coolangatta Hotel on Friday, June 18.

CROW REFORM

ebb n flo

EBB N FLO TO NEWCASTLE

With only six months behind them, Ebb n Flo are heading to Newcastle for the first time, bringing with them a strong reggae vibe that bounces with hip-hop and world music.

Reggae is one of the stronger sounds of New Zealand music, and with three of the seven members being of New Zealand background, Ebb n Flo bring their origins alive, pushing for the global recognition of reggae music. Ebb n Flo perform at the Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton, Saturday, June 19; the Laurieton Hotel, Friday, July 2; Diggers Tavern, Bellingen, on Saturday, July 3.

Crow are lead by the dual songwriting talents of Peter Fenton and Peter Archer. Throughout the nineties they produced powerful albums such as My Kind Of Pain, Li-Lo-Ing and the curtain caller Play With Love.

Crow are now re-formed as the original line-up with bassist Jim Woff and drummer John Fenton rounding out the quartet.

The new Crow album Arcane (their first with the original line-up since the fabled Steve Albini helmed My Kind Of Pain in ‘93) was mixed by Midnight Oil’s Jim Moginie at Oceanic Studios and is scheduled for release on Nonzero Records in Autumn 2010.

Crow launch Arcane on Saturday June 5 at the Northern Star Hotel, Newcastle, with The Momos. Tickets through Bigtix.com.au.

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FREE CULT MOVIES EVERY SUNDAY AT THE CAMBRIDGE

The Cambridge are now hosting free cult movie screenings every Sunday evening at 7.30pm. Bookings are essential, so make sure you call the venue to reserve a lounge or a beanbag. So far the Cult Movie Nights have hosted booked out screenings of Labyrinth, Howl’s Moving Castle and Taxi Driver.

For more information and bookings call the Cambridge on 4962 2459.

DEAD LETTER CHORUS

the butterfly effect

BUTTERFLY EFFECT ON WHEELS 4 Wheels and a Heartbeat is exactly what its name implies: four guys, one van, and a hell of a drive. Simple, straightforward, no bullshit.

As one of Australia’s undisputed heavyweight touring acts, The Butterfly Effect are certainly no strangers to this work ethic. Having spent the largest part of the last 10 years on the road, the band have constantly pushed themselves,

working their arses off to become one of the most jaw-dropping live bands in the country.

Twenty-five towns, four states, 10,000 kilometres, one band... coming to Newcastle Panthers on Saturday, July 10; Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay, Friday, July 16; the Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour, Sunday, July 18.

Support for all shows with be Melbourne trio, Calling All Cars.

Dead Letter Chorus return with ‘Covered By Snow’, the first single from their forthcoming release. Having toured Canada, Dead Letter Chorus land on Australian soil to take on their first headlining tour of 2010. The band comes home amidst success in Canada where their previous record, The August Magnificent, was well received — critics declared them best band outside of Canada in the past five years and “Australia s answer to Arcade Fire” .

Dead Letter Chorus will play a very special show at Newcastle’s Great Northern Hotel on Thursday June 24 and also at the Beach Hotel, Byron Bay on Tuesday June 29.

surfer blood

SPLENDOUR SIDESHOWS

Miss out on tickets to Splendour In The Grass?

Never fear, because a huge tsunami of sideshows has been announced. Tickets are all on sale now, so don’t hesitate!

Jonsi (from Sigur Rós) is at the Enmore Theatre on Monday August 2. Foals are at Manning Bar on Wednesday, July 28. Surfer Blood are at Manning Bar on Tuesday, August 3. Band Of Skulls are at Oxford Arts Factory on Tuesday, August 3. Laura Marling is at the Metro on Monday, August 2. Alberta Cross are at the Annandale on Saturday, July 24. Two Door Cinema Club are at Oxford Arts Factory on Monday, August 2. The Magic Numbers are at the Metro on Friday, July 30. Ash, We Are Scientists and Last Dinosaurs are at the Metro on Tuesday, August 3. Kate Nash is at the Metro on Thursday, August 5. The Strokes and Mumford & Sons’ sideshows have all sold out.

Band Of Horses are at the Enmore Theatre on Thursday, July 29.

LITTLE BLUES FESTIVAL ROLLERCOASTER RIDE

The Little Blues Festival will host “Blues ‘N’ Food” at the Toukley Golf Club on Sunday, June 6. The Little Blues Festival, run by professional musicians, is a community event to foster blues music on the Central Coast and is held on the first Sunday of the month. “The local community has really continued to get behind this blues festival. It’s not a big show, but the effort and support from blues musicians, giving their time and talent to the blues, is really an achievement,” said event manager, Julia Starr. The Rollercoaster Blues Band will headline the line-up for the June 6 show. Other guest performers include Ray Mizzi, Al and Jules, Bak To Bak and Mark McLean. Due to limited seating, bookings are advised by calling 4396 1500.

EELS RETURN TO ROCK AUSTRALIA

You never know what to expect at an Eels concert.

One year it’s vocoders and synthesisers and the next it’s gritty garage rock. None of this is designed for the sake of versatility so much as it is answering the deep-rooted creative needs of E. With so many different personas surrounding E it’s about time we were treated to a good old fashioned Eels rock show. Back to basics, hearing all our Eels favourites with distorted guitar, pounding drums and the raucous applause of satisfied fans. Eels will bring the rock to Australia in July.

Eels play the Enmore Theatre on Saturday August 14, 2010.

COME TOGETHER ANNOUNCES SECOND LINE-UP

www.myspace.com/thebeautifulgirls www.facebook.com/thebeautifulgirls

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Kisschasy, Toe To Toe, Jonathon Boulet, Deep Sea Arcade and Parades have been added to an already massive line-up for this year’s Come Together festival at the Luna Park Big Top, Sydney. Over Saturday, June 12, and Sunday June 13, music fans of all ages will be able to see the likes of Gyroscope, The Butterfly Effect, Frenzal Rhomb, The Loved Ones (US), Strung Out (US), House Vs Hurricane, MM9, Deez Nuts, Heroes for Hire, Jericco, Cirlce Pit, Twelve Foot Ninja, Chaingang, Grinspoon, British India, Bertie Blackman, Horrorshow, Calling All Cars, Dead Letter Circus, The

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Jezabels, Boy & Bear, Ernest Ellis, The Snowdroppers, and Last Dinosaurs. DJs will include big battles: Sosueme vs Pash and Hot Damn vs Trash.

Sydney and are apologetic for that, but it is Melbourne, that has taken them into their hearts, minds and backstage riders.

Tickets for the Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow are selling quickly through Ticketek. It takes place from June 11-13 at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre.

Xavier Michelides

MELBOURNE COMEDY FESTIVAL ROADSHOW 2010

The enduring Melbourne Comedy Festival Roadshow returns to the Civic Theatre again for 2010, this time bringing yet another batch of outstanding rising stars. This year you will get to see Melinda Buttle, Smart Casual, Harley Breen, Xavier Michelides and the MC will be none other than Justin Hamilton.

A regular guest on television and radio has seen Justin Hamilton expand his popularity.

Whether it is as co-host of Triple M’s weekend breakfast team, Toast, alongside Charlie Pickering and Terri Psiakis (which Justin did up until 2009), or regular movie reviewer for Perth’s number one rated Mix FM, he has brandished a unique voice in the radio landscape.

Raw Comedy national finalist, Smart Casual, is Roger David (on guitar) and Fletcher Jones (on beard), arguably Australia’s smartest, most casual musical comedy act.

This two-piece will bring their low fi-com-rock to the Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney comedy festivals in 2010, and ask that you be ready, and on time. Smart Casual are from

umlaut

UMLAUT VS DR EL SUAVO IN NEWCASTLE

Umlaut, the brainchild of Bär McKinnon [ex-Mr Bungle, Secret Chiefs 3], has joined forces with the irrepressible parlour magician/social commentator extraordinaire, Dr El Suavo, for a rollicking Australian tour this June. With the release of Umlaut’s debut album late last year, the band is keen to hit the road and bring their whimsical, soundtrack-inspired tunes to the stage. The offbeat mix of shimmering keyboards, woodwinds, quirky percussion and surf guitar has garnered international praise from both Bunglelophiles and music critics alike. The band have played some killer shows with Secret Chiefs 3, The Melvins, Tango Saloon and Neil Hamburger and are thrilled to be on tour with the world’s crankiest magician, Dr El Suavo. Umlaut and Dr El Suavo play the Croation Club in Newcastle on Sunday, June 27.

MATT CORBY IS NOT IDLE

With the imminent release of his first new material for 2010, Sydney singer songwriter Matt Corby will be announcing his first ever national Australian tour this week. The tour will see Matt play 13 shows across a three week period in July and will culminate with Matt supporting Mumford and Sons at their highly anticipated sold out shows at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre. He plays at the Northern Star Hotel on Saturday July 3, 2010.

cypress hill

DANIEL MARCH SELLS OUT RECORD LAUNCH AT LIZOTTE’S

CYPRESS HILL TO HEADLINE COASTER 2010

Daniel March and his eight-piece band released his debut album, The Wonder & Hunger on Thursday, May 13, to a completely sold out Lizotte’s Lambton. The 220 capacity venue saw a full house entertained by Daniel’s new tunes and his humour. This was Daniel’s first ticketed event and he was very appreciative of the results. Daniel’s next move is a Sydney launch then the songwriter is off to New Zealand to promote the CD, following his April tour of the USA. Daniel’s album is available worldwide through iTunes.

THE ENTRANCE WINTER BLUES AND JAZZ FESTIVAL

It’s a weekend of free entertainment at the Entrance Winter Blues & Jazz Festival, held on Saturday/Sunday, July 10 and 11. The Memorial Park Stage and Sails Stage will be in action, plus entertainment will be held throughout local venues in the area including buskers being invited to line the main street. Headlining the event will be one of Australia’s most revered guitarists, Kevin Borich, and National Jazz legends, Galapagos Duck. Add to that a long list of 15+ artists and fireworks display, and you have a weekend not to be missed.

Coaster 2010 may be over three months away, but Reverb has heard word of its headliner — Cypress Hill. With over 18 million albums sold worldwide, the Los Angeles trio of rappers, B–Real, Sen Dog and producer DJ Muggs, have continued to push rap’s boundaries since their inception in the early nineties. Their creative phrasing, distinctive voices and graphic subject matter, coupled with DJ Muggs’ atmospheric, piercing and dusty beats, propelled the trio to international superstar status. As the years have passed, the crew’s stage show — bolstered in 1994 by the addition of percussionist Eric Bobo [also of Beastie Boys fame] — has evolved into one of rap’s most polished, as tunes like ‘Insane In The Brain’, ‘Rock Superstar’, ‘How I Could Just Kill A Man’, ‘We Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That’, ‘Lick A Shot’ and ‘Real Estate’ translated perfectly to the stage. Given this reality, it’s little surprise that Cypress Hill remain a major concert draw, even when they take time off between albums. Coaster 2010 is on Saturday, September 25, at the Gosford showgrounds.

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Alberta Cross

REVERB to bring SPLENDOUR sideshow TO NEWCASTLE

deez nuts

DEEZ NUTS, THY ART IS MURDER HEADLINE REVERB’S MISCHIEF PARTY With the June long weekend just around the corner, Reverb has seized another opportunity to throw a massive gettogether. So it’s with great pleasure that Reverb Magazine presents Mischief. A huge line-up of hardcore and metalcore acts, plus a couple of DJs, will descend on the Cambridge Hotel on Sunday June 13, 2010. The show is presented by Rad on Darby Street.

The roster includes Deez Nuts, Thy Art Is GRINSPOON IN NEWCASTLE Murder, Violence, The Storm Picturesque, Overwhelmed by demand to play shows in May, Safe Hands, Cannons Mouth. DJ regional areas, Aussieand rockers Grinspoon Graz Murds [Thy Art Isnew Murder] DJdates announced an extensive run ofand new keep the party forMitch-Hell their Six Towill Midnight Tour andgoing luckilytill midnighthas with their hectic sets.

Newcastle been included in the run. Catch Nuts are Leagues the brainClub childonofAugust JJ Peters, themDeez at Newcastle man that needs noBigtix.com.au. introduction.

18,a2010.

Tickets from However, if you’ve been in a coma for the past few years here’s the 411. He is a founding member of Australian hardcore/ metal crew I Killed the Prom Queen who are arguably one Australia’s premiere hardcore/metal exports, selling bucket loads of albums and conquering overseas markets before calling an indefinite hiatus in 2007. JJ then launched his blue collar hardcore outfit Deez Nuts, releasing the debut EP Rep Your Hood in 2007 and the debut full length Stay True in 2008 which has established Deez Nuts as one of the biggest Australian bands of the heavy ilk. JJ also appeared as a guest vocalist on the latest Bring Me The Horizon release, adding further international acclaim.

Deez Nuts are about to release their second record, This One’s For You, through Roadrunner.

Progressive, “future-metal” band May, will be making their debut in Newcastle, and Reverb is very excited to have enticed them to our home town.

Thy Art Is Murder is a five-piece deathcore band hailing from Sydney. They have a 2005 self released demo titled This Hole isn’t Deep Enough and a 2008 EP released under Skull And Bones Records

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GIVEAWAY Thanks to our friends at Roadrunner Records, Reverb Magazine has organised some very cool giveaways for Mischief. On the day of the show, lucky ticket holders will win copies of the hot new releases from Cancer Bats, Bleeding Through, Coheed and Cambria, and of course, Deez Nuts.

Our friends from Rad on Darby Street will also be doing some giveaways. Who knows what they’ll have in their bag of goodies? For hip clothing, get yourself to Rad. Mischief takes place at the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle on Sunday June 13. Doors open 4pm.

Tickets are almost sold out on Moshtix, so don’t delay.

titled Infinite Death. There’s no doubt they’re going to shake the Cambridge to its very foundations.

Originating from Newcastle in 2008, Violence has been working hard to make a name for themselves in the Newcastle hardcore scene. They deliver a full and heavy traditional style of hardcore, while maintaining a distinct originality — particularly through front man Glen Mountford’s vocal style. As well as an incredible talent, this band offers a passion and conviction to their music that has secured them an ever increasing local fan base. The band have shared the stage with bands such as Dropsaw, Shinto Katana, Confession , Mary Jane Kelly, The Hollow, Mark My Words, The Red Shore, The War, For Today [US], Shadows Chasing Ghosts [UK] and The Storm Picturesque. Violence has also played two fundraising gigs for local roller girls Newcastle Roller Derby League and will continue their support to the league.

Yes, you read that headline correctly. Reverb has secured Newcastle's very first Splendour In The Grass sideshow, and in doing so have put together our dream party. The band in question is New York-based Alberta Cross, and we have managed to say all the right things to convince them to make a pit stop at the Cambridge Hotel for our joint Fourth Birthday/50th Issue party.

Alberta Cross released one of best releases of 2009 in the form of Broken Side of Time, an album that made the publisher of Reverb pick up the phone, call the band's record company and plead for an interview. With a sound that has been compared to Kings of Leon, The Band, Neil Young and The Saboteurs, the band have played some of the best support slots going, sharing the stage with Oasis, Dave

Matthews Band, and are currently on tour with Them Crooked Vultures throughout America.

To say that the Reverb office is pleased with having Alberta Cross headline our Fourth Birthday/50th Issue party is an understatement. We are absolutely ecstatic, and we could not imagine a better way to celebrate this massive milestone for the magazine. The date for this very special night is Sunday, July 25, and tickets go on sale Thursday June 3 through Moshtix. In the coming weeks we will be letting everyone know which lucky bands will grab the coveted support slots. Get you tickets before the night, as there are only a limited number of pre-sales available - once they are gone you will have to take your chance at the door. You would really hate to be left on the footpath listening to all the fun inside.

gyroscope muse

MUSE RETURN TO OZ

The Resistance lives on. After taking the nation with sheer force at the Big Day Out in January, Muse will return to bring 2010 to a close with the biggest shows they’ve ever played in Australia – pulling out all the stops to bring their entire, world-class arena production Down Under for shows in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Muse’s music has always been big. Now they’ve got the live show to match. “Even when we were playing pubs and clubs, people would say to me the music had an epic quality to it,” says singer Matt Bellamy. “Then, when you get to a certain level, like arenas, when you get into that environment, people expect something more. So I think you can pull all the stops, ’cos you’ve got literally 20,000 people, they can hear you and they can see you, but you want to throw some balloons at ’em as well!”

Muse perform at Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday December 5 and Sydney's Acer Arena on Thursday December 9, 2010.

Tickets on sale Monday June 7 through Ticketek.com.au.

FUNK N GROOVES BRINGS GYROSCOPE, SPIDERBAIT

For the second consecutive year, the Funk N Grooves Festival will bring the Hunter Valley alive this September. Originally morphing from Bimbadgen Blues, Roots, Funk N Grooves in 2009, this year will see the event settle into its new home at 1882 Broke Road (next door to Tyrrell’s Vineyards).

The festival will let loose its biggest line-up yet, including Gyroscope, who will be in fine form with their new album Cohesion debuting at #3 on the Aria album charts earlier this year. Spiderbait will also make an appearance, meaning drummer Kram will join the bill for the second year in a row. British India, Bertie Blackman, Urthboy, Washington, Resin Dogs, Calling all Cars, The Bamboos, Skipping Girl Vinegar, Red Ink, Samba Frog and Boston Shaker will also be rocking the vineyards.

Funk N Grooves takes place on Saturday September 11, 2010. Tickets are on sale now from the aforementioned website.

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LIVE MUSIC

L I V E S P O R T, G R E AT F O O D JUNE 2

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FIRES WERE STARTED

SEA OF ANSWERS

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GRANNYFIST

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JUNE 5

dave nada and matt nordstrom

Nada and Nordstrom are… Nadastrom

Reigning from Washington DC, Dave Nada and Matt Nordstrom have seen nothing but success since being established as duo DJs Nadastrom in 2007. Their aptitude for pumping out club, house, electro and techno sounds will get any person infused to their music and on to the floor. f2 Proof positive, the debut release from Nadastrom sold out on vinyl and became a digital store annual bestseller. Their debut Pussy EP with Switch’s label Dubsided topped international charts and became the number one download on Beatport in 2008.

Another Dubsided EP release in 2009 led to guest spots on BBC Radio One, playing alongside Diplo, A-Trak, Laidback Luke and Steve Aoki as part of a worldwide tour schedule. In between they created tracks with artists such as Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Kid Sister, Nina Sky, and Pitbull. March 2010 saw them bring their deep and infectious tracks to the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Looking at their credentials, this energetic emerging duo is simply unstoppable.

In an interview at SXSW, Nada described the duo’s sound: “We’re club kids at heart, and we love making dance records. But our background is all over the place. Matt’s produced house and techno. I was coming up in the rave, punk, hardcore scene for years. With our sound, it’s club music with the energy and aggressiveness of Baltimore club music and punk. As far as the quality of our tracks, that’s what we pull for the drum and bass, the techno music. It’s gotta have that funky groove for people to get down to - some of that sleaze to keep people sweating.”

Having met through a mutual friend, Dave and Matt came up with their band name Nadastrom as they wanted to reflect both their names as individual producers and artists. Interestingly, Nada is not Dave’s surname but his nickname as he was in a punk band called De Nada. Never refer to them as “Nada Storm” as they just might bite your head off, particularly because they describe themselves as “yeti”, a hybrid creation of sound hunted around the world.

Nadastrom will be at Newcastle’s CBD Hotel on Sunday June 20, 2010.

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HIP HOP NIGHT, FEAT. URBAN FREEFLOW + PREMBEDLAM + THEME & DJ BEGSY + ONE MIKE + KAYE1 + DJ NTAPRIZE

Winter Warmers

JUNE 13

BIRTHDAY BASH SUN QUEENS HEAPS OF BANDS JUNE 17

THU

TR AiNWReCK

Time Has Come

JUNE 18

FRI

ASHES OF DECEMBER ALLAY THE SEA

RED DAWN

JUNE 19

SAT

L.U.S.T (SYD)

HEARTATTACK AND VINE

JUNE 20

BILL BAILEY FINALLY COMES TO NEWCASTLE

Kicking off on Thursday, July 1, at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre, Bill Bailey’s upcoming tour will take in Newcastle, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Launceston, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney, ending in Canberra on Friday, July 30.

There is no one better qualified to describe the subject matter of this upcoming tour than the genius comedian himself, Bill Bailey.

“Are you sure about our world?,” asks Bailey, with a contemplative tone. “ How many things do you actually know for certain?

There’s not much about the world that is simply black and white, apart from pandas maybe and okay, skunks, but that’s about it.

Most of our world is a grey area. A magical, musical, mystery tour through a human history filled with doubt, to a place where certainty reigns and where religion, death, egg-custard, twigs, and giant African land snails are here to stay. So do you refuse to accept there are things you don’t understand, do you desire to see the world only in black and white, or do you accept doubt into your life, make uncertainty your friend, do you embrace the greyness? There is also a complex subtext about clouds, squirrels and getting older, but you’ll have to figure that out for yourself…”

Tickets are selling very quickly to Bill Bailey’s Newcastle performance so head to ticketek.com.au.

SAT

SUN

JESS LAMBIE

BRAD VINCENT

The Havelocks

JUNE 26

SAT No Su c h L u c k

(Syd)

E XC ITEB I KE

GRAF ORLOCK (US)

DANGERS (US)

JUNE 27

SAT

Live It Up Karaoke

Monday Nights Tuesdays

7PM $9.90 RUMPS, MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, MUSO’S NIGHT, 9.30PM FREE POOL

7.30PM BEAUMONT STREET’S ONLY POOL COMPETITION

Happy Hour

bill bailey

FRI SAT 9.30PM–2.30AM FRONT BAR

THURS SUN 4-6PM $3.50 SCHOONERS

2-6 BEAUMONT ST OPEN 9.30AM-3AM DAILY

02 4961 3852

EXCEPT SUN 10AM-MIDNIGH reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

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news

RENAISSANCE MAN RETURN TO CBD hotel

ash grunwald

ONE RED HOT MAMA

ARIA award-nominated roots troubadour, Ash Grunwald, has been locked away in studios around the country for the past few months laying down tracks to his impending fifth LP, Hot Mama Vibes, due in stores on June 4. Hot Mama Vibes sees Grunwald continue down an unmarked road of collaboration with some of the country’s most respected hip-hop producers — Count Bounce [Urthboy, TZU], Mr. Trials [Hilltop Hoods, Phrase, Funkoars] and Chasm [Astronomy Class], who’ve stepped in to produce and contribute to his unmistakable sound. In June, he will take to the road for a national tour to showcase the new album in the live arena.

Grunwald will be heading to every major city and country town from the beginning of June, dropping in locally at the Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour on Wednesday, June 23; the Laurieton Hotel, Thursday, June 24; the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, on Friday, June 25; the Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay, Saturday, June 26; and Lizotte’s, Kincumber, on Sunday, June 27.

OUT OF THE BOX

Box Set is a dance music-based collaboration that fuses and uses live and electronic instruments, beats, rhymes and the kitchen sink. By focusing on improvisation rather than sequencing, the band strives to keep all shows fresh and driven by the dance floor. Every show becomes a once only. All three members have deep roots and experience in a wide variety of dance music styles and outfits, including highly respected national touring and recording artists Pre Shrunk and On Inc, as well as local favourites, Pow Wow and Fishfry.

As one sweaty, disorientated patron recently quipped after a night on the vinyl tiles under a rotating mirror-ball sky, “Elements of pure funk, house, techno, hip-hop, dub and soul are thrown into a blender, sliced and diced, shaped into a papier-mâché mirror ball and kicked skywards towards a back alley. It’s up to Box Set and the party people to keep that mirror ball intact and the dream alive.”

Box Set performs at the Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle, on Saturday, June 5, and the Great Northern Hotel on Saturday, June 19.

dappled cities

DAPPLED CITIES MIXTAPE

We asked the lovely Tim and Dave from Dappled Cities to tell us five songs that get their juices flowing.

TIM DERRICOURT [vocals, guitar]

DAVE RENNICK [guitar, vocals]

Boys and Girls BLUR

Hunter BJORK

Simply for the reason that it makes me exceedingly happy everytime I here it.

Such an incredible song that is always on my mind at random times.

Mr Bojangles NINA SIMONE

Mind Games JOHN LENNON

I find this song intensely peaceful. And it makes me feel light inside.

So simple and so incredible to put on.

Silent Kid PAVEMENT I get excited about music and how good simple music can be when I put this one on.

1983 [A Merman I Should Turn To Be] JIMI HENDRIX When I put this on I just drift away into mindbending thoughts and feelings.

Sweet Thing VAN MORRISON I put this album on constantly to inspire me.

My Autumns Done Come LEE HAZLEWOOD Really incredible mood song from an incredible man.

Hole In Your Roof AUGIE MARCH A completely and tirelessly rad song from one of Australia’s best bands.

Crying ROY ORBISON Such incredible melodies and feeling from an incredible man.

On Tuesday June 8, Reverb Magazine will launch its very own music trivia night, hosted

by Reverb Editor Nick Milligan. It will take place in The Red Bar at The Cambridge Hotel.

Keep your eyes on Reverb’s Facebook for further details. There will be lots of prizes up for grabs, as well as bragging rights for those that can conquer Reverb’s music questions.

See you there.

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REVERB LIVE and LOCAL AT LIZOTTE’S

Each month, Reverb is quite chuffed to see the quality of the artists being presented at Lizotte’s Live and Local nights. Here’s the skinny for June. Lambton: Wednesday, June 2, Howie Shearman + Kristy Coote + Bobby Virtue + Rein Room. Wednesday, June 16, Andrew Honess + Riley Warren + Croc + Mark Cashin and the Lil Hussys. Wednesday, June 30, Grant Walter + DM & DM + Hayden French + The Kings Fool. Kincumber: Wednesday, June 2, Rob Cass + PJ Kevo & The DO + Dan Conway. Wednesday, June 9, Gilbert Whyte + Hayden French + Mark Easton. There are also a number of special local nights — Central Coast’s Jaywalker plays the Kincumber venue, Sunday June 13, and then the Lambton venue Thursday June 17. Zoe K and the Shadow Catz will be launching their new EP at the Lambton venue, Sunday June 20.

BACK WITH THE BREAK

two hours traffic

REVERB’S SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK TRIVIA

Helsinki’s Renaissance Man head down under in June following the release of their the highly anticipated Babbadabba EP [on Made to Play] next week.

Don’t be fooled by the name: Renaissance Man is actually DJ duo, Downtown and Jaxxon. A self-attributed name when they used to work in an architecture firm, Renaissance Man is “used to jokingly describe our friends… working in several fields simultaneously — the typical young urban freelance type of lifestyle”.

So how did they get from working in an architecture office to being established, groundbreaking DJs? The story is that they combined forces to design a new club, which they opened and started their own monthly night NOW!, having guests such as Boy 8-Bit, Radioclit, Duke Dumont, Mowgli and Zombie Disco Squad.

Both have always been heavily into electronic dance music and used to DJ at friend’s parties.

Renaissance collaboration ‘Spraycan’ [2008], left the likes of Switch, Brodinski, Riva Starr and Duke Dumont raving on about them and soon became the soundtrack to Stereosonic Festival 2009. Described as playful, horn-laced, but heavy-hitting bass sound [Beatportal], ‘Spraycan’ was released on Switch’s influential label, Dubsided. This was followed by ‘Rhythm’ on the Kitsuné Maison 7 compilation, and an EP on Institubes sublabel Sound Pellegrino, ‘What Is Guru’. This track was one of 2009’s underground hits, making Renaissance Man highly sought after as remixers for the likes of Brodinski, Crystal Fighters, Health and Le Corps Mince de Françoise. Their original tracks and remixes have seen support from fellow DJ’s including Diplo, Annie Mac, Claude Von Stroke, Tiga and Jesse Rose.

Catch Renaissance Man at the CBD Hotel on Sunday June 13, 2010.

TWO HOURS TRAFFIC IN NEWCASTLE

Territory is the follow up to Charlottetown band Two Hours Traffic’s Polaris Prize nominated and internationally acclaimed sophomore album, Little Jabs. Once again produced by Joel Plaskett, Territory builds on the promise of Little Jabs as the band continues to write and record sunny pop gems for the heart and head. Territory, however, also finds Two Hours

Traffic discovering the shadows at the side of the road. Right from the get go this becomes apparent as the gold into lead alchemy of the rousing opener ‘Noisemaker’ kicks in and by the time the title track tells its tale of disillusionment and betrayal you know you are settling in for a drive on the darker side.

Don’t miss Two Hours Traffic at the Great Northern Hotel on Thursday June 24, supporting Dead Letter Chorus.

Following a stand-out performance at Byron Bay’s Blues Festival and a brief run of packed-out shows with mates The Hoodoo Gurus, exciting new surf rock outfit The Break is set to pack up the Kombi for a series of headline shows along Australia’s eastern seaboard throughout June and July. As they continue to celebrate the release of their debut album Church Of The Open Sky, the three founding members of Midnight Oil and bandmate Brian Ritchie from Violent Femmes, are musicians at the top of their game. With rolling toms and reverb on full throttle, Hirst, Moginie, Rotsey and Ritchie are set to take music lovers on a trip to the outer limits of surf, beyond the break, in a high-octane performance that is powerful, dynamic and a whole lot of fun. The Break perform at the Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, Sunday June 27, and Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle, Sunday July 4.

s tr u n g o u t

AGeNTS oF oLD SCHooL PuNK After a three year break, Strung Out re-entered the studio with a new producer and a new outlook on how to record.

Sean Frazer spoke with guitarist Jake Kiley as he prepares for the band’s upcoming Australian tour.

What’s changed in the three years since releasing Blackhawks Over Los Angeles?

This time around we just went into the studio and recorded the songs without producing them too much, we didn’t want to spend much time re-thinking the songs. The songs we wrote for the album before we hit the studio, came out sounding almost exactly the same when recorded.

It was a really straight forward direct album.

How long did you guys spend tracking your latest album Agents of the Underground.

We probably did about a month of rehearsing songs with our producer, Cameron Webb, and then probably another two to three weeks was spent recording the tracks. Together, the process took about six weeks.

How did Cameron Webb’s help the record?

He was able to help us get back to straight forward writing — we felt we had lost touch of it for some time. Our last few records were

produced by Matt Hyde — we spent a lot of time doing pre-production and arranging songs. I’m sure it helped us at the time but I believe it took away the intensity of our tracks. Cameron pulled us back to basics a little.

What inspired the new album?

We just wanted to keep playing shows with a new batch of songs. We were trying to capture everything we had done in the past but in the process improve our playing ability by trying some new things. I think overall it’s quite a consistent record — it’s a little shorter than previous ones with only eleven tracks, but it still feels pretty complete to me.

How do you feel Agents of the Underground has been received by your earliest fans?

The reaction so far seems to be good. People that I talk to after our shows have told me that it is one of their favourite albums that we’ve produced so far… so, so far, so good!

Strung Out has been with Fat Wreck Chords for 18 years now. What has kept you there?

Fat Wreck Chords have given us full control of our records, they let us pick the songs on our albums and they don’t interfere in the writing process. They don’t tell us, for example, “You guys need more pop songs” or anything like that.

Along with respect that they have for us, they also give us a good budget to work with.

How do you feel about those that say “oldschool punk is dead”?

Well, I don’t really know what kids want to do these days. I feel totally out-casted from your regular twenty-year-old kid that is listening to the Top 40 and hanging out at the mall going through the latest “fashion phase”. It’s good to see that not all people out there are doing that though. There is enough of them that still go to Bad Religion, The Descendants and NoFX shows. Our shows have been doing really well, we’re just glad that there is still plenty of

old school punk fans turning up to venues dedicated and supportive of bands like us. They’re keeping it alive.

I read that you guys had your van stolen a few years back while on tour, what’s the story behind that?

We were in Philadelphia and we parked our van at this crappy hotel — we had been driving all night and we were really tired. We left our van and headed off to our rooms meanwhile, someone saw the van driving out of the parking lot. We lost all our gear and had to borrow amps, guitars and drum kits from other bands that we were on tour with. It wasn’t the greatest moment for our band I can assure you [laughs].

Agents of the Underground is out now through Fat Wreck Chords. Strung Out and special guest, The Loved Ones, play The Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle, Wednesday, June 16, and the Coolangatta Hotel on Friday, June 18.

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ian moss

Soul Man Australian music icon, Ian Moss — affectionately known as Mossy — has a chat with Nick Bielby about soul music and finding his voice.

At first glance it may seem unlikely that a legend of the Australian pub-rock scene would have a musical awakening triggered by an appearance on a reality TV show. More or less for Ian Moss, this happened.

Moss, who built his fame in the late 70s and early 80s as guitarist for seminal Australian outfit Cold Chisel, appeared on the celebrity duet program, It Takes Two, in 2008. The reaction to his appearance on the show was something of a surprise to him. “People sort of said, ‘I knew you could sing but I didn’t know you could sing,’” says Moss. He had been behind a microphone since his days with Chisel, singing alongside Jimmy Barnes, but much of the attention he drew was for his virtuosity as a guitarist.

Moss says that his experience on It Takes Two really brought attention to him as a vocalist without having the guitar to distract people and gave him the opportunity to

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technically hone his voice with professional guidance. “Back in the Chisel days anyone who’d had formal training, no matter how good they were, wasn’t even considered,” he explains. “It just wasn’t cool at the time to have any form of training.”

This provided the catalyst for his latest album. Soul On West 53rd is a collection of soul favourites that sees Moss step away from a guitar-centric sound and towards a more vocal orientated approach. “I’ve always considered myself a guitarist first,” says Moss. “But being on It Takes Two really helped me develop my range and made me put the guitar down to focus on my vocals.”

The album was recorded in New York with soul legend and producer Danny Kortchmar (Neil Young, James Taylor, Carole King).

“Danny is a legend in soul music. We found him through the record company in sort of a yellow pages way,” Moss explains. “In the

weeks leading up [to recording] I’d spend two or three hours a day at Danny’s house with an acoustic guitar working out arrangements.”

The session band behind Moss on this record is a who’s who of players, featuring the talent of Hugh McCracken, guitarist for John Lennon and Billy Joel, and drummer Steve Jordan, most recently skins-man for the John Mayer Trio. “That was Danny’s job, getting the band together,” says Moss. “When I heard that Steve Jordan was on board I felt like half the battle was won.”

Soul music is close to the heart of Ian Moss and this album gave him the chance to lay down some of the tracks that have been part of his musical identity for a long time. “I guess it’s one of those things that is just ingrained from early on and sticks with you,” Moss tells of his connection to soul music.

Old band-mate, Jimmy Barnes, joined Moss in the studio and sang on the final track on the album, ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’. “It’s good, you know, it’s like an old love. In a way it’s like [being] back home,”

Moss says of working with Barnes. “We were pretty young when we started, eighteen and nineteen when we started playing together.”

Having already toured this album with a band, Moss is set to head out alone over the next few months to showcase these songs in an intimate acoustic environment. “It’s all about finding that feel,” he explains. “You think, ‘yeah that’s rock’n’roll, it’s definitely not going to work without a drum line and bass line,’ but you play on that feel.”

Following the tour, Moss is keen to get stuck back into writing original material for his next album. “It won’t be a strictly soul record, but I think it’ll be soul in that my complete approach to guitar is high energy blues and, my vocal approach has always been very bluesy and soulful no matter what I’ve done,” he says. “That’s just the natural kind of spin I put on things.”

Ian Moss is playing at Lizotte’s, Lambton, August 13-14, and Lizotte’s, Kincumber, August 19-21.

Soul On West 53rd is out now.

g y ro s co p e

Finding Cohesion Gyroscope front man Dan Sanders tells Nick Bielby about making album number four and the importance of doing the hard slog.

“Summer’s still hanging on over here, it’s twenty-five degrees and not a cloud in the sky and it’s great,” says the singer from his beloved hometown of Perth. Sanders is well-known for his laid back personality and this is unmistakably apparent as the Gyroscope front man speaks in a relaxed, matter-of-fact fashion.

In early April, the Perth lads released their fourth long-player, Cohesion, following up their 2008 breakthrough, Breed Obsession. According to Sanders, following on from the success of Breed Obsession, the band didn’t feel the pressure to write with commercial appeal in mind. “We always write for ourselves, as most true musicians would tell you,” he explains.

“At no stage would any person say to us, ‘this is not commercial enough,’ or ‘this is too commercial,’ because we don’t focus on that at all.”

Cohesion was recorded in Wales over eight weeks with producer Gil Norton, famous for his work with Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World and Pixies. “We’d demoed thirty-odd songs throughout the year writing and I suppose the big thing was getting a producer on board,” says Sanders. “We spoke to Gil and he’d done all the stuff we grew up on and really put up in our top five records.”

The band got in contact with Norton through fellow Perth band, and mates, Eskimo Joe. There seemed to be chemistry between the

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band and producer from the get go.“He picked up straight away where we wanted to head and what our train of thought was so, I suppose he put us in that direction of more of a ‘rock’ sort of thing this time,” says Sanders of working with Norton.

At the suggestion of Norton, the band travelled over to Wales where they recorded what became Cohesion on a farm in the town of Monmouth. The band also lived on-site at the studio for the couple of months it took to record. Sanders explains that Norton’s choice of studio had a major bearing on the mood of the recording process.“You wouldn’t swap anything to be in a shiny Hollywood studio when you actually realise the history of this place,” he says. “It’s the duck’s nuts man, we just fell in love with the feel and we recorded what we thought was the best sort of stuff at the time.”

Since forming in 1997, Gyroscope have had a slow rise, touring hard, paying their dues and doing things in a way that would seem foreign to the overnight Myspace success stories so common today. This is a part of the band’s identity that just can’t be missed. They have come to be known for their hard working attitude and passion for playing music together.

“We originated as a punk band, everything was DIY,” explains Sanders. “We’d just enjoy ourselves and get it out there and gig with every band we could, from a punk band to an

indie band to a pop band.”

Gyroscope sees major importance in maintaining this attitude as a legacy of the Australian bands they grew up listening to.

“That’s all we wanted to do, be put up in one of those domains like The Screaming Jets, bands that just fucking kick-on and really just enjoy every night,” he explains.

This punk rock ethic has stuck with the band, even at a time when their music has become pursued for commercial purposes. The band does what they want, which doesn’t necessarily mean following the ethos of avoiding commercial success at all costs. “‘Snakeskin’ got gobbled up by the AFL which we’re all massive supporters and players of,” Sanders points out. “So we only put our name towards stuff that comes to us that we think is cool. That sort of stuff we’ll take and the other stuff we’ll just piss off and give to the next bloke.”

Gyroscope hit the road again in June to tour the new record with After the Fall and The Vasco Era, also playing the Come Together festival as well as headlining the Hunter Valley’s Funk n Grooves Festival. “Each festival’s got its own

sort of buzz and vibe so you go out there and get amongst it man, and we’ve always done that. It’s a good melting pot for artists and dudes to just get along and meet people and see people,” he says.

The band is notorious for their full-on stage presence, which closely mirrors the intensity of their songs. “We want to go up there with the most anger, angst or even happiness, whatever it is, and represent what we’re feeling every night,” reveals Sanders. “It’s not hard to do every night if you’re that focused.”

Sanders explains that the benefit of having four albums and thirteen years to draw from, is that the shows become a big mix of songs from the early days through to current material.

“We’ve done some live shows already where we’ve put a couple of the new ones in and people have enjoyed them so it’s all thumbs up,” he says. “It’s good to know the kids still give a shit.”

Cohesion is out now through Universal Music.

Gyroscope play the Come Together Festival Sunday, June 12 and the Hunter Valley Funk n Grooves Festival on Saturday, September 11.

b a n d o f h or s e s

Brothers In Arms The concept of ‘second album syndrome’ certainly has a body of evidence that supports it. A lot of hyped-up bands fire out of the blocks with a potent and impressive debut, but falter in their second attempt. The group’s that last the test of time are the ones that continually get better with age. This could be said of Seattle legends Pearl Jam, who may have become comfortable with their unmistakable sound, but continue to write quality music.

It seems the same can now be said of fellow Seattleites Band Of Horses, who besides being currently on tour with Pearl Jam, seem equally destined to age like a fine wine.

Up until the release of their third record, Infinite Arms, it could be argued that Band Of Horses’ finest moments were also their loudest.

Tracks from their first two records Everything All The Time and Cease To Begin such as ‘The Funeral’, ‘Is There A Ghost’ and ‘Cigarettes, Wedding Bands’ are brazen, southern-rock numbers.

Infinite Arms’ strength lies in its soft, sublime melodies. Songs like the Tyler Ramsey-penned ballad ‘Evening Kitchen’ and the title track, fire an emotional bolt straight through your heart.

Another aching ballad on Infinite Arms is ‘For Annabelle’. “It’s a homage to my daughter,” says singer Ben Bridwell. “At the time of writing my wife was pregnant with our first child and I guess impending fatherhood was probably the main influence or inspiration for the song.

Also, Tyler wrote the intro in five seconds.”

But despite taking a back seat, the group’s

Seattle five-piece Band Of Horses have quenched their fans’ thirst with album number three — and it might be their most impressive album yet.

By Nick Milligan.

“ At the time of writing, my wife was pregnant with our first child and I guess impending fatherhood was probably the main inf luence or inspiration...” penchant for rock is still evident on Infinite Arms.

It’s most obvious on the three-minute stomper ‘NW Apt’, but there’s dashes of it in the radio singles ‘Compliments’ and ‘Laredo’.

“I went to this cabin in Minnesota at the Canadian border and three or four of the songs on this record (Infinite Arms) all came from the same four-day trip up there,” Bridwell says.

A song written on the trip is one of the record’s highlights, ‘Laredo’. “I was just staring out at the lake for a couple of days and this one just kind of came out of nowhere,” reveals Bridwell.

Nature and isolation also proved a source of inspiration on the band’s second record, Cease To Begin. The rocker ‘Ode To LRC’ came from a

trip into the forest where Bridwell stayed on his own in a cabin. The isolation started to get to him and he became paranoid that there were unseen enemies in the surrounding trees.

However, isolation is something that Bridwell was prepared to step away from on Infinite Arms. It’s the band’s first record that isn’t entirely written by their lead singer. The touring members of the group, including lanky guitarist Ramsey who is a respected songwriter in his own right, are now officially in the Band Of Horses posse.

“We were all involved in writing on this one,” explains bassist Bill Reynolds. “We started with 27 to 30 songs. Each of us were kicking in songs, sending them back and forth over the internet if we weren’t together. [Ben] would put vocals on one of my songs and then send it back.”

Critics have already started pointing out the Beach Boys influence on ‘On My Way Back Home’.

“A lot of people reference the Beach Boys with this song, without us even telling them that when we went to mix it, we actually went to the studio where the Beach Boys recorded Pet Sounds,” says Bridwell.

“It’s called EastWest Studios now,” adds Reynolds, about the legendary Hollywood facility.

“In a studio they have a chamber that they blow all the music into and rerecord it — so I rerecorded the vocals and the drums in this

chamber that they used for Pet Sounds. It sounded amazing.”

The chamber that the band used is affectionately known as the ‘Frank Sinatra Chamber’, because it’s where the crooner recorded many of his hits, like ‘My Way’, ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’ and ‘That’s Life’.

Reynolds says that his favourite song from the record is the opener, ‘Factory’. “I really enjoy ‘Factory’ because it was so fun to make it and arrange the strings and horns,” says Reynolds.

“When we play it live for TV we get to have all the string and horn players. It’s fun to be riding by the seat of our pants with all these other players.”

With all members of the group contributing their creativity, the result is a lot of material that didn’t fit on to Inifinite Arms. Reynolds confirms that there are enough songs at their disposal to release another record in the next 12 months.

“I’m sure the touring will lighten up in January and we’ll probably go into the studio while we’re on the road and cut it again. Some of those songs didn’t see their fruition, so we didn’t push them, but I’m sure they’re songs we’ll dig back up and go for,” says Reynolds.

Australian fans of Band Of Horses will get the chance to see them again when they arrive in July for the Splendour In The Grass festival. They will also play a show at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre on Thursday, July 29.

Their latest record, Infinite Arms, is on sale now.

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album reviews Feature albums

Cloud Control Bliss Release Ivy League

4/5 Bliss Release sneaks up on you slowly and grabs you by your ankles. Your tentacles. Undoes your manacles. It’s all tie-dyed lyrics and flippant, sunshiney pop until in a shower of tambourine and handclaps, you will find yourself starting to dance.

For the most part, the record switches between heady and hypnotic cuts like ‘Mediatation Song #2’, ‘Gold Canary’ and ‘The Rolling Stones’, and bouncier tracks like the cheeky lead single ‘This Is What I Said’, and ‘My Fear #2’. These five songs are highlights, but there aren’t really lowlights, just songs that creep more gingerly into your consciousness than others.

Most striking about Bliss Release is that while its near-flawless musical aesthetic offers immediate satisfaction, the melodies take longer to grab hold. So while you’re drawn in the first instance to the album’s good-looks, you’re convinced after several listens by the personality of the songs. Sit with this one a while, and then pass it to the left. ~Lucy Hearn

Local Natives Gorilla Manor Liborator

4.5/5 From the musically fertile suburb of Silver Lake, Los Angeles (Eels, Pavement, Tom Waits etc) comes this incredibly impressive indie-pop five-piece. Local Natives solder together rhythmic drumming with dynamic arrangements — the production on this debut record is incredibly spacious. Their beautiful, multi-layered harmonies are swollen with melodic hooks and off-kilter ideas. They even take Talking Heads’ unusual pop song ‘Warning Sign’ and make it their own.

The single ‘Airplanes’ is a joyous, slow-building anthem that deals with sad, emotionally resonant subject matter. While songs like ‘Sun Hands’ are immediately catchy and direct, they still grow with repeated listens, revealing special secrets you haven’t heard previously. This is supreme songwriting that comes as a very refreshing breath of air.

Inventive and creative, Local Natives’ music is like meeting someone for the first time and immediately feeling like old friends.

With influences of everything from pastoral folk to indie rock and afro-pop, their sound is destined to not only grow in popularity, but endure for a very long time.

For fans of: Band Of Horses, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Midlake. ~Nick Milligan

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Beautiful Girls Spooks Die! Boredom/MGM

4/5 Typecasting is an issue that we mainly associate with actors, however bands too can suffer from the expectations of pigeonholing, and fans and critics can be unforgiving when they attempt to break the mould. Despite their more pop sounding third LP, Ziggurats, The Beautiful Girls are still seen as a surfie roots band.

However, anyone expecting more of the same from this trio will find their fourth album, Spooks, quite challenging. Dub reggae may not sound like a huge leap from roots however, on tracks such as ‘My Mind is an Echo Chamber’ and ‘Gratitude’, the electronic layers, horns and echoing vocals of Mat McHugh show that the band have no time for happy sunshine reggae. ‘After All This Time’ and ‘My Latest Mistake’ still exhibit their well-known acoustic style however, over all, the sound of Spooks is edgy and dark even when the content of the lyrics is generally positive. They have been brave with this release and I hope they are rewarded for it because this is their best record to date. ~Kirsty Visman

Black Francis Nonstoperotik Shock

3.5/5 While the Pixies have been gracing us this year with mesmerising come-back performances, their singer Black Francis aka Frank Black aka Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, ducked into a ‘haunted’ London studio and delivered a new record. Opening with the swampy, southern rock of ‘Lake Of Sin’, Francis coos softly like Josh Homme. The record then takes an unexpected turn with ‘O My Tidy Sum’ and ‘Rabbits’, shifting into more restrained, yearning ballads. Francis sings in an echoed falsetto over soft folk, pastoral arrangements.

Francis then changes gear into country-blues with a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ ‘Wheels’ and a more Pixies-esque rocker with ‘Dead Man’s Curve’.

Of the writing and recording of the record, Francis announced online, “I wrote many a couplet by candlelight in the studio accommodation, slept very little, and only felt the need to get the fuck out of there fast on the last night. The spirits had not ever bothered me, other than low drama moral support, but I was informed that they had heard enough and it was time to move on.”

Fans of Francis’ enigmatic and off-kilter songwriting will probably consider Nonstoperotik to be among his best solo work.

A real treat. ~Nick MilLigan

Boy and Bear With Emperor Antarctic Universal

4/5 Turns out it’s been well worth the wait for the debut EP from Sydney folksters Boy and Bear. Two of the five tracks, ‘Mexican Mavis’ and ‘The Storm’, have had high rotation on radio airwaves for some time, boasting five-part harmonies and 70s folk melodies reminiscent of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The opening track, ‘Blood to Gold’, drives the set forward perfectly. Its galloping rhythm is saddled with a vocal performance

that captures the live energy of the band, who have turned many heads over the last twelve months. The quality of songwriting and sheer depth of sonic colour on With Emperor Antarctica is magnetic and begs another listen every time. For fans of: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Neil Young. ~Nick Bielby

showcasing how forward thinking The Dillinger Escape Plan’s songwriting is. For fans of: Faith No More, Every Time I Die, Converge. ~Nathaniel Try

John Grant Queen of Denmark Bella Union/Cooperative Music

Bullet For My Valentine Fever Sony

3.5/5 Bullet for My Valentine (BFMV) have been a ‘love em or hate em’ proposition for most listeners since they erupted on to the scene around five years ago. Despite this, they’ve garnered a huge world wide fan base that is going to love their latest album, Fever. For everyone else though, it’s really more of the same. Singer Matt Tuck has seemed keen to distance himself from the wider metal community lately, stating in numerous interviews that he’s always considered BFMV to be a rock band with metal influences. Fever certainly has its metal moments, though; with tracks like ‘Begging for Mercy’ dripping in metallic swagger. It leaves you wondering what their true intention is. Fever walks the walk, but it just doesn’t sit right – too clean around the gills for true metal fans and not honestly angsty enough for today’s angsty kids. For fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, Funeral for a Friend and Motley Crue. ~Ben Hoskings

Calling All Cars Hold, Hold, Fire Genius AD/Shock

3.5/5 Melbourne trio Calling All Cars have capped off a year of major ladder climbing with the release of their debut long-player, Hold, Hold, Fire. Produced by Shihad drummer Tom Larkin, who also happens to manage the band, Hold, Hold, Fire is a collection of instrumentally tight and aggressive songs rife with well placed melodic hooks and harmonies. ‘Not Like Anybody’, the album’s first single, is a case in point. The song builds from angry but melodic growls in the verses to tirade-like choruses that are reminiscent of Kurt Cobain in their intensity.

In short, this album has balls without being afraid to be catchy. For fans of: The Butterfly Effect, Birds of Tokyo, Gyroscope. ~Nick Bielby

Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis Party Smasher Inc.

3.5/5 Throughout Option Paralysis, The Dillinger Escape Plan retains the chaotically precise musicianship for which they have been so rightfully praised over the years. Though, more than ever before, the quintet shifts comfortably from the scheduled abrasive mayhem onto cleanly-sung sections, which would fit snugly on many Faith No More and Nine Inch Nails tracks. Throatsmith Greg Puciato convincingly exhibits how varied his vocal arsenal has become since Ire Works (2007); thus allowing the ensemble to become more universally comprehensible. The ambitious six-and-a-half minute ballad ‘Widower’, which marries frenzied metal riffs with piano-guided jazz-inspired minimalism, delicately manoeuvres through diversity while

3.5/5 Following the dissolution of his former band (Denver-based alt-rock outfit The Czars) in 2004, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist John Grant “basically gave up”, by his own admission.

Queen of Denmark is a biting, surreal document of this low point in Grant’s career, where he waited tables in New York and very rarely performed live. Grounded in 70s poprock, Grant’s solo debut also incorporates elements of folk and electro thanks largely to his backing band, indie-folk stars Midlake, who also helped produce the album. Their presence is felt all over Queen of Denmark, from the upbeat piano stabs of ‘Silver Platter Club’, to the synth blurts and distorted bass grunts of the provocative ‘Jesus Hates Faggots’. But the common thread tying these elements together is the beautiful, melancholic baritone of Grant, as well as the songwriter’s odd lyrical mix of selfdeprecation, hopelessness, and surreal humour – a combination that seems jarring at first, but reveals more layers of meaning with subsequent listens. ~Scott Gilbert

TAYLOR HAWKINS AND THE COATTAIL RIDERS Red Light Fever Sony Music

4/5 While his debut solo record went largely unnoticed around the world, with its raw, garage rock sound, this follow-up is set to increase the spotlight on the Foo Fighters’ powerhouse drummer. On Red Light Fever, Taylor Hawkins is on drumming and vocal duties, commanding a much more ambitious sounding record.

Stylistically, this is a tribute to the glam giants of the early seventies (Queen, T-Rex etc). It’s loud, overblown and cocky. Surprisingly, it’s never cheesy. These twelve tracks are all amazing rock songs. Hawkins has a stellar voice — it’s nuanced in the quiet moments and powerful in the louder ones. On opener ‘Not Bad Luck’, he channels Freddie Mercury’s charismatic wail and it’s no coincidence that the backing vocals are in a Queen-like falsetto. ‘Your Shoes’ has a verse that echoes of the Foo Fighters, but steps into a catchy chorus that Hawkins makes his own, with a little help from Queen’s Roger Taylor on backing vocals. ‘Way Down’ swaggers like a Queens Of The Stone Age tune, but again Hawkins employs a chorus that’s straight out of the early glam era. ‘Hell To Pay’ is a highlight on the record and it’s an absolutely epic song. With a shimmering, creeping intro it turns into a rock colossus that’s scintillating from start to finish.

Along with Coattail Riders band mates bassist Chris Chaney and guitarist Gannin Arnold, there’s also some help on this record from Dave Grohl, Queen’s Brian May and The Cars’ Elliot Easton. But none of them outshine Hawkins’ huge presence on this album. When he’s behind his kit, he’s a drumming guru. But this is an opportunity for him to shine as a truly impressive rock vocalist. ~Nick MillIgan

album reviews album of the month

High On Fire Snakes For The Devine E1 Music

4/5 The Cimmerian power trio of doom returneth.

On this, their fifth album, Oakland’s High on Fire deliver yet another pummelling blow of 80s inspired stoner thrash in a vein similar to previous albums such as Death is this Communion and Surrounded by Thieves. Focusing more attention on song structure, yet never compromising, frontman Matt Pike’s trademark Almighty Riff approach to sonic pummelling is ever present — the band is in stellar form on this release. Des Kensel’s drumming remains a stubborn and necessary refusal to bow to over polished, programmed “fairy tapping” that many metal drummers seem to utilise today, while ex-Zeke bassist Jeff Matz holds down the low-end gallop in true Lemmy via Burton via Butler tradition.

Song titles (some of which are absolute gems) reveal the altars to which these guys pay homage, eg. ‘Frost Hammer’, ‘Fire, Flood and Plague’ and ‘Bastard Samurai’ Easily one of the most ‘real’ metal releases thus far this year, this album is a welcome hailing to the less-pretentious and more primal days of the 70s and 80s and oozes with mysticism, rage and flat-out, balls-to-the-wall, hard rocking excellence. For fans of: early Black Sabbath, Motorhead, early Slayer, Celtic Frost, Sleep, Saint Vitus ~Byron Struck

seduced by cabaret and harnessed by the ring leader from a long lost travelling circus. The ring leader is front woman Mojo Juju; with a voice so powerfully hypnotic as to sing you to your feet, into a stomping, dancing frenzy.

From the opening song, ‘Catch a Fire’, they beckon you to abandon inhibitions, whistle in the dark and lose yourself amidst the intangible but engulfing melodies created by this seductive jazz ensemble, and they won’t let you go until the album’s end. For fans of: Modest Mouse, R. Scott ~Jess Saxton

Kate Nash My Best Friend Is You Polydor/Universal

3/5 Kate Nash – noted for her cutesy melodies, no-fuss lyrics and tendency to take a teapot on stage – secured a place in the British indie landscape with 2007’s immensely successful Made of Bricks.

Her latest release, My Best Friend Is You, takes a slightly different and less digestible approach. Tracks such as ‘Do-Wah-Doo’ and ‘Paris’ possess the cheeky charm and downright catchiness fans have come to expect. Similarly, ‘I Hate Seagulls’ showcases Nash’s impressive ability to draw melodies from the mundane. The strange, experimental undertones of ‘I Just Love you More’ and ‘Mansion Song’, on the other hand, are an unsettling reminder that Nash should stick to what she knows. ~Lee Tobin

Hole

Katie noonan

Nobody’s Daughter

Emperor’s Box

Mercury/Universal

Sony Music

2/5 Hole are back. But are they really? With only one of the original members on board to record the first album since the 1998 blockbuster Celebrity Skin, front woman and paparazzi-magnet, Courtney Love enlists the likes of Larrikin Love’s Micko Larkin and The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan to create this flashback to 90s alternative-rock.

Many of the songs originated during Love’s 2005 rehab stint, when she was given an acoustic guitar to play with by her friend, producer Linda Perry, who would later rework the songs into the format we see here on the album. Although, the repetitive structure of ‘The Rehab Tapes’ as Love has dubbed them, including tracks ‘Pacific Coast Highway’ and ‘How Dirty Girls Get Clean’, make this album a monotonous listen. Acoustic guitar introduction. Dribbling and incoherent lyrics.

Band kicks in. Courtney Love screams. Repeat.

However, despite this, there are some highlights to the album — which have all been packed into the first half of the LP. Songs such as ‘Nobody’s Daughter’, ‘Skinny Little Bitch’ and the “widow song” that Love never wanted to release, ‘Honey’, tear back the pretensions and serve as an angst-ridden portrait to the real life behind the reckless rock star that we witness in the tabloids. ~Jordan Watton

5/5 After a cavalcade of musical projects spanning almost every conceivable genre, Katie Noonan here returns to the pop-rock territory that she traversed so successfully in her early career. Such a label is, however, inadequate; like her previous albums, Emperor’s Box is a complex and amorphous hybrid that defies true categorisation. Murky distortion, grand sweeping string flourishes, rippling guitar licks and crystalline piano lines are woven together in tight, almost theatrical arrangements, crowned by Noonan’s utterly mesmerising vocal melodies. It is, at times, nostalgically George-esque, as moments of sweetness collide with others of striking discord, and with even greater emotional urgency. ‘Sweet One’ is particularly gorgeous, a dulcet duet between Noonan and guest artist Sia. ~Hugh Milligan

Mojo Juju and the Snake-Oil Merchants Sellin’ You Salvation Independent

4/5 If there was ever an album to make you grab your finest dress and dancing shoes, and run away to the circus... this is it! It’s an album of hardcore jazz;

Nick Saxon Hide & Seek Hide and Seek

4/5 Nick Saxon is one of those hard-working musicians that earns his crust on the live circuit. He’s a troubadour by necessity, mostly performing on his own or with a percussionist. This stripped-back approach serves to highlight his songwriting, but his laid-back style would have some listeners placing him in the ‘Jack Johnson basket’. On this follow-up to his debut Fireflies, Saxon fleshes out his songs with a lot of in-studio instrumentation, most of which he performed himself. The result is a record that really surprises — Hide & Seek is full of unexpected arrangements and ideas. It opens in a slightly predictable way — ‘Love Is Like’ bounces along with the reggae-inspired folk that has been rife in the

Band Of Horses Infinite Arms Sony Music

4.5/5 While Band Of Horses quickly built a massive following in Australia with their uber-melodic brand of southern rock, their third record, Infinite Arms, is a more stripped-back and folkier affair.

Although singer Ben Bridwell showed his softer side on the group’s breakthrough single and ballad ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’, his songwriting was strongest when it was at its most brazen — distortion pedals pushed to the floor and volume knobs turned up to 11.

Infinite Arms is the first time Bridwell collaborated on the songwriting with the rest of his band, who up until the making of this third effort were simply live performers. It’s a genius move, because this is the best record that Band Of Horses have made. It’s diverse, often breath-takingly beautiful and perfectly crafted. Band Of Horses’ lanky guitarist Tyler Ramsey, who is a solo recording artist in his own right, pens the album’s stand-out, ‘Evening Kitchen’.

While Band Of Horses’ rock takes a back seat on Infinite Arms, it is still present. ‘NW Apt’ is an upbeat stomper delivered in typical fashion. Two of the record’s strongest tracks, ‘Compliments’ and ‘Laredo’ best exemplify the group’s trademark melodic bombast.

Beach Boys fans will appreciate ‘On My Way Back Home’, and country enthusiasts will smile at ‘Older’. For fans of: My Morning Jacket, Neil Young, Fleet Foxes, Beach Boys, Gram Parsons. ~Nick Milligan

surfing culture for many years. But when you hit the title track, Saxon becomes more solemn and direct. With a simple piano hook and a multi-layered chorus, ‘Hide & Seek’ becomes a beautiful folk song. ‘Flying For The Night’ is something different altogether — a restless folk tune infused with electronic elements. It adds a rich atmosphere to the song and had it been handled differently, it could have gone all wrong. ‘The Hunter’, which has some deliciously cheeky lyrics, employs an electric guitar riff under the chorus — it sounds like they brought Angus Young into the studio to add this small nuance. Another risk that works. The record’s highlight is ‘Love At Second Sight’. It has numerous melodic hooks that appear in every aspect of the instrumentation. It’s also features some of the nicest guitar work on the record. In short, it’s a very finely crafted song.

Hide & Seek is an inventive, diverse and accomplished record. These 11 songs confirm that Nick Saxon deserves further attention as a recording artist. ~Nick Milligan

Tame Impala InnerSpeaker Modular

3.5/5 The subject of much hype and anticipation, Tame Impala have finally delivered their debut record. Emerging as a bedroom-recorded project of Perth musician Kevin Parker, Tame Impala is now a coveted four-piece live act in a record deal with the equally coveted record label, Modular.

The sound of InnerSpeaker is exactly the style of sixties psychedelic rock that was hinted at on the group’s low-fi self-titled EP. The radio single from that release, ‘Desire Be Desire Go’, appears again on this full length album, albeit as a slightly more polished version.

Tame Impala are unashamedly reviving hypnotic psychedelia. The album’s production is deliberately hazy and shimmering. The arrangements are repetitive and beautiful.

Parker’s soft, soaring voice floats on jangles of guitar and rainbow hooks. It’s a journey that washes over you and threatens to envelop those that listen to it. This is evident in the dream-like instrumental ‘Jeremy’s Storm’.

The final song, ‘I Don’t Really Mind’, is perhaps not as strong a finale as the record deserves, but this is still an Australian debut album that deserves attention. ~Nick Milligan

Washington Rich Kids Mercury/Universal

3.5/5 Rich Kids continues in a similar vein to Washington’s two previous releases How To Tame Lions and Clementine. There are the same touches of baroque, Broadway and rock’n’roll. The songs are still colourful, unabashed pop that draws just short of being over-earnest. Title track ‘Rich Kids’ kicks off the EP with a trigger-finger piano lick and a rollicking beat, an energy that continues with ‘1997’. By contrast, ‘The Belly of the Whale’ and ‘Someone Else in Mind’ are achingly slow and pared back. Megan Washington has a knack for writing hooks both immediate and slow-growing. Rich Kids is a satisfying collection of songs from a songwriter who seems in love with and unafraid of her craft. It also whets the appetite for Washington’s debut long-player due out later this year. ~Lucy Hearn

We Are Scientists Barbera Liberator

3.5/5 We Are Scientists’ breakthrough record, 2005’s With Love And Squalor, was a whirlwind of furious garage rock guitars and raw production. Their wry lyrics often revealed small masculine admissions and truths, while keeping their tongues firmly in their cheek. The follow-up, 2008’s Brain Thrust Mastery, was a much larger and more ambitious record. It threw the simpler sound of its predecessor out the window and replaced it with walls of synths and bombastic arrangements.

Their new record, Barbara, is very much a continuation of this loud, pop-rock philosophy. The main songwriting duo of singer Keith Murray and bassist Chris Cain, has produced another batch of catchy tunes with lyrics that often celebrate hedonism. They met in college and their humour is consistent with two people who are happy to amuse themselves as much as their audience. This could potentially alienate the listener, but Murray and Cain have undeniable charm.

This is also the first of their records that feature the drumming of ex-Razorlight member Andy Burrows. He was an influential songwriter in Razorlight and has no doubt brought ideas into the Scientists’ laboratory.

If you’re a fan of irresistibly catchy pop-rock, then We Are Scientists are a band to investigate. ~Nick Milligan

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CENTRAL COAST Don’t forget — Live & Local every Wednesday night 5 June

Jon English

8 June

Tim Finn

10 June Pugsley Buzzard

11 June Richard Clapton 16 June Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier 17 June Matt Zarb 18 June Jazz and Chilli Crab Night 19 June Beccy Cole 24 June John Waters 26 June Mental As Anything

27 June Ash Grunwald 2 July

Vince Jones

3 July

Tour de Force – Elton John & Billy Joel tribute show

Wednesday, June 2

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Dappled Cities + John Steel Singers + Otouto Lizotte’s, Kincumber Jetty Road Lizotte’s, Lambton Tim Finn + James Chatburn Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle Mark Wells + The Elevators Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Adam Hole

Cessnock Hotel The Dread Sky Chilli Lounge, Wyong Hold Them To The South + Azlock + Vanstorm Crowne Plaza, Terrigal Jenny Marie Lang Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Half Nelson Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Corotted + Osmium Grid King Street Hotel, Newcastle The Aston Shuffle + Yogi + Jace Cordell + Boogie Saxon + Dsteady Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle Zoe K and the Minor Keys Lizotte’s, Kincumber Jon English + Jonahs Road Lizotte’s, Lambton Floyd Vincent and the Child Brides Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton Crow + The Momos Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington Kirsty Larkin The Metrodome, Gosford Northie + When The World + One, Two, Many + The Never End View Factory, Newcastle Purkinje Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Box Set + Cass Eager

Friday, June 4

Sunday, June 6

Friday, June 11

Beach Hotel, Merewether The Elevators + Little King Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Heartbreak Club + King Cannons + Wiseheimer + Son of Dad Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland Cass Eager and the Mo Debleys Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle The McNastys Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle KC Kavemen + Headkase + Grannyfist Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle The Owls + The Playtapes Lizotte’s, Kincumber Tim Finn + James Chatburn Lizotte’s, Lambton Jon English + Jonahs Road Rhythm Hut, Gosford Wild Marmalade + The Rhythm Hunters The Loft, Newcastle Silverback + Violence + Taken By Force + Morna Point + Resist The Thought

Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland A French Butler Called Smith Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Indiana Phoenix Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Blackie + Hannah + Tim Crossey King Street Hotel, Newcastle Timmy Trumpet + Tenzin Lizotte’s, Kincumber Kirsty Lee Akers + McAlister Kemp + Liam Brew + Chelsea Basham Lizotte’s, Lambton Paul Robert Burton and The Shuffle Kings Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong Revival Ashore + In The Wake + Libations + The City He Loved + Ruins of the Empire Premier Hotel, Broadmeadow Steve Edmonds Band Toukley Golf Club Rollercoaster Blues Band + Ray Mizzi + Bak to Bak + Mark McLean View Factory, Newcastle Kid Mince + The Scorcher + Chuan

Beach Hotel, Merewether PJ Kevo + Catfish Soup + The DO Broadmeadow District Tennis Club Sabretung Blush Night Club, Gosford Angelas Dish Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle The Protectors + Paper Prophets + The Owls CBD Hotel, Newcastle Utah + Dover + Tom Haze + Nick Gurr Chilli Lounge, Wyong Empirical + Katabasis + For All Eternity Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland The Snowdroppers Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Paul Chaplin Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Urban Freeflow + Prem Bedlam + Kaye 1 + DJ Ntaprize + One Mike Junction Hotel, Newcastle Emily Rose Lizotte’s, Kincumber Richard Clapton Lizotte’s, Lambton Bondi Cigars Newcastle Panthers The Beautiful Girls + Washington Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton 8 Ball Aitken View Factory, Newcastle Justin Carter Project

Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Vamp + Candy and the Full Moons + Jet To Vegas Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Merewether Fats Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Sea Of Answers + Fires Were Started Lizotte’s, Kincumber Rob Cass + PJ Kevo and the Do + Dan Conway Lizotte’s, Lambton Howie Shearman + Kristy Coote + Bobbie Virtue + Rein Room View Factory, Newcastle Jess Chalker + TonksGreen + Danny Sullivan Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Rosie’s School of Rock jam night

Thursday, June 3 4 July

The Black Sorrows

9 July

Rick Price

11 July

Jon Stevens

15 July

Dick and Christa Hughes

18 July

The Badloves

23 July Gina Jeffreys 24 July Psycho Zydeco

29 July Dave Graney & Clare Moore

For bookings and information, phone (02) 4368 2017 or visit lizottes.com.au

Saturday, June 5 Avoca Beach Hotel Dan Granero Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Mondo Generator + The Tunstalls CBD Hotel, Newcastle Ryzer + Phil Smart + Tom Haze + Alex Black 24

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Wednesday, June 9 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Sooners + The Speakers Lizotte’s, Kincumber Gilbert Whyte + Hayden French + Mark Easton

Lizotte’s, Lambton Tim Finn + James Chatburn Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Panic Research

Thursday, June 10 Beach Hotel, merewether Jessica Cain Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Origin of Janken + Sabretung + Team + I Am The Agent Lizotte’s, Kincumber Pugsley Buzzard Lizotte’s, Lambton Arrebato Ensemble + Gian Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle Ngariki + Broadway Mile Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle The Fuelers + Funk Party + The Dead Beats

ngariki

Saturday, June 12 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle The Evening Son Chilli Lounge, Wyong Ruins Of An Empire + Overthrown + Datura Curse Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland Mark Easton Trio Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Ngariki Lizotte’s, Kincumber Bondi Cigars Lizotte’s, Lambton Richard Clapton + Zoe K Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington Driver 8 View Factory, Newcastle The Snowdroppers

Sunday, June 13 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Mischief w/ Deez Nuts + Thy Art Is Murder + The Storm Picturesque + Safe Hands + Violence + May + Cannons Mouth Cbd hotel, newcastle Renaissance Man + Kato + A Catts Revenge + B Catt + So-Cal + One Nil + Loods + Salon + Rock & Roll Circus Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay The Beautiful Girls + Washington Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland 8 Ball Aitken Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Catfish Soup Lizotte’s, Kincumber Jaywalker Lizotte’s, Lambton Richard Clapton + Zoe K Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong House Vs Hurricane Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Steve Edmonds Band + Zoe K

The Loft, Newcastle Free For All + Medicine For Robots + There Goes The City + Coldchamber + The Paradox Unseen + I Escape

Saturday, June 19 Blush Night Club, Gosford Illy Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle GLB Productions CBD Hotel, Newcastle Tom Haze vs Utah + Sol Campbell + Alex Black + Jay Parker Chilli Lounge, Wyong Zombie Eats Shark + Ambush In Waco + I, Escape + Kill Crotty + I The Hunter Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland Bowen and the Lucky Dutchman Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Box Set + The Shivering Indies + Alice vs Everything + Scott Forbes Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Five Start Prison Cell + LUST + Heart Attack and Vine Lizotte’s, Lambton Deborah Conway + Willy Zygier Northern Star Hotel, Hamilton Ebb n Flo + DJ Brown Sugar The Loft, Newcastle 50 Lions + Blkout + Persist View Factory, Newcastle Waiting For Guinness Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle The Torpedos

Wednesday, June 16 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Strung Out + The Loved Ones + The Strugglers Lizotte’s, Kincumber Deborah Conway + Willy Zygier Lizotte’s, Lambton Andrew Honess + Riley Warren + Croc + Mark Cashin and the Lil Hussys

Thursday, June 17 Bar On The Hill, Newcastle Uni Paul Dianno + Frozen Doberman Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Time Has Come + Trainwreck Lambton Park Hotel, Newcastle John Spillane Lizotte’s, Kincumber Matt Zarb + Minnie Marks Lizotte’s, Lambton Jaywalker Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle Wolf and Cub Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle The Hatty Farmers + Quiche Richards + Great Toad and the Chameleon Circus

blkout

Sunday, June 20 CBD Hotel, Newcastle Nadastrom + Kato + Meena + Hey Presto! + Park Oh! + Cassi Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Brad Vincent + Jess Lambie + The Havelocks Lizotte’s, Kincumber The Universal Thump + Annabelle Kay Lizotte’s, Lambton Zoe K and the Shadow Catz Oasis Youth Centre, Wyong Deez Nuts Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Annie O’Dee + Dave and the Demons

Wednesday, June 23 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Six & Sevens Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle The Former Love Pirates + Modern Joy + Sleepyhands Lizotte’s, Lambton James Chatburn + Short Back and Sides + Darryl Aberhart Quartet + Ray Beadle Band

Friday, June 18

Thursday, June 24

Blush Night Club, Gosford Angelas Dish Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Dropsaw Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Emily Rose Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Ashes Of December + Allay The Sea Hunter Valley Brewery, Maitland Calling All Cars + Illy + Parades Lizotte’s, Lambton Beccy Cole + Chris E Thomas

Blush Night Club, Gosford Dali’s Angels Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Dead Letter Chorus + Two Hours Traffic Lizotte’s, Kincumber John Waters Performing Arts Centre, Cessnock The Shivering Indies Queens Wharf Brewery, Newcastle Adam Miller + Activate Death Ray Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Heart Attack and Vine

Friday, June 25 Blush Night Club, Gosford Angelas Dish Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Ash Grunwald + Custom Kings + Band of Frequencies Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland Pow Wow: A Tribute to James Brown Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle The Owls + The Preachers + The BeatNik DJs Lizotte’s, Lambton Mental As Anything Newcastle Leagues Club Ink + Kindred + Mz Ann Thropik + Devilution

Saturday, June 26 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Carpathian CBD Hotel, Newcastle Alex Black + Jay Parker + Phil Smart + Sol Campbell Chilli Lounge, Wyong Dark Order + Rampant + Khargish Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay Ash Grunwald Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland The Little Stevies Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle The Pat Capocci Combo + The Jimmy Watts Band Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle No Such Luck + Excitebike Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Newcastle The Preachers Lizotte’s, Kincumber Mental As Anything Lizotte’s, Lambton John Waters Newcastle Panthers Karnivool + MM9 Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington The Wagon

Sunday, June 27 Croation Club, Newcastle Umlaut + El Suavo Grand Junction Hotel, Maitland Quincy’s Birthday with The Junes Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle The James Lyons Trio Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle Graf Orlock + Dangers Lizotte’s, Kincumber Ash Grunwald Wickham Park Hotel, Newcastle Chase the Sun + Nick and Todd

Wednesday, June 30 Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle Greenthief Lizotte’s, Lambton John Grant Walter + DM and DM + Hayden French + The Kings Fool

NEWCASTLE Don’t forget — Live & Local every Wednesday night

3,9 June Tim Finn 4 June Jon English 10 June Arrebato Ensemble 11 June The Bondi Cigars 12-13June Richard Clapton

18 June Beccy Cole 19 June Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier 23 June 100 to 1 Birthday Celebration 24 June Burlesque Show 25 June Mental As Anything

26 June John Waters 27 June Special Movie Day with Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mary Poppins

8-9 July Jon Stevens

10 July 11 July

Rick Price Sunday lunch with Te Vaka 16 July Dick and Christa Hughes 17 July The Badloves 18 July Cotton, Keays and Morris 22 July Bandaluzia 23 July Jennifer Green sings Shirley Bassey 24 July Gina Jeffreys

31 July

Shane Howard

For bookings and information, phone (02) 4956 2066 or visit lizottes.com.au

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c l o u d co n tro l

Set the Controls With a lush and impressive debut record under their belts, Sydney’s Cloud Control are ready to fall out of the sky and grace us with more of their off-kilter indie-pop. Nick Milligan speaks with keyboardist and vocalist Heidi Leffner about their album, Bliss Release.

You guys are on the bill for Splendour — who are you looking forward to seeing play?

Grizzly Bear — I’m really loving their album and I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing them live yet. The Pixies are iconic — so are The Strokes.

It’s a slice of music history to go and see them.

What The Strokes did in capturing a movement of music is pretty amazing. School Of Seven Bells — I’m keen to see them. I could probably just list the whole festival.

Greedy Hen did the cover art for your album Bliss Release and it’s fantastic — did you give them a concept or did they come up with that artwork on their own?

Greedy Hen are so great. We’ve only worked with them from the start. They do all our posters, our EP, all our graphics come from them.

We’ve never given them any artistic direction because we feel that they get our music. We first got to know of them because we heard that they liked our songs, so we got in contact and became friends. But now whenever we need to comission them to do something, we just send them songs. We sent them all our album tracks.

Every time, without fail, they come back with something that we love. [The album cover] is a product of their imagination, as inspired by our music.

Did you have a clear idea of how you wanted this record to sound before making it?

We find that when we write the songs they take on a life of their own, so we don’t go into the songwriting process with a set idea. The diversity of our album is reflective of that. We often follow spontaneity and come up with a surprising end product — that surprises even us.

We all have a good idea of what makes a good song, so we try to write those. We do spend a lot of time trying to create atmosphere. Our songs are a sound experience as much as a memorable melody. It took a long time to create each song on the album because they were built-up in

“ We do spend a lot of time trying to create atmosphere.”

layers. We spend a lot of time trying to balance sound and space. Giving a song space to breathe as much as putting them in.

Is experimentation a large part of your songwriting process?

Yeah, we do experiment a lot in rehearsal as well as in the recording process. Because we recorded

SAT 26 JUNE 2010 OR INSTORE AT

What spaces were this album recorded in?

We recorded in living rooms, primarily. We recorded in the living room of Jeremy’s (lead singer) parents’ house. They went to Europe, so we got to take over. The room had a nice sound to it. It’s a wooden house and is carpeted, so it had good acoustics. The second space was at our producer’s parents’ house (the album was produced by Belles Will Ring vocalist, Liam Judson). He has this makeshift studio in one of the bedrooms, but there’s not sound-proofing or anything. We like the character that bedrooms have, rather than studios. Studios are a very controlled space and bedrooms are less controlled. I think we appreciate that.

Where did the album name come from?

The concept of bliss for the four of us is an expression of joy. We use it quite a lot as a term of endearment for a good situation or a good opportunity. We also feel like this album has been a long time coming. Its been a culmination of a lot of hard work for us. To get it out there was a real feeling of release. Cathartic, like letting something go. Putting it out there for people to appreciate after all the energy we’ve put into it. We’re now loving the process of releasing those songs. Actually, my mother came up with the term ‘bliss release’. She suggested that as a title. We thought it encapsulated a lot of the sentiment we were feelling. Well done, mum!

Bliss Release is out now through Ivy League.

Cloud Control play Splendour In The Grass, July 31–August 2, 2010 in Woodford, QLD.

An Enchanted Eve

PORT MACQUARIE RACE CLUB

OzTix.com.au

over a long period of time we were able to survey the process of a song over various stages of completion.

18+ EVENT

Little Red Vamp FEATURING: DANGER BOY (Alchemical Cabaret Show),

The Oracle (gypsy fortune telling freAkshow), death defying aerialist, fire perfomers and other circus performers PLUs LIVE MUSIC BY: Grant Walmsley & the Agents of Peace and the dark shadows plus much much more!

FOR MORE DETAILS VISIT

www.live2u.com.au

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Dress: Masquerade or Elaborate Fancy Dress

GATES OPEN 6.30PM FOR 7:00PM START

p a rk w a y dr i v e

DRIVING

DEEP WITHIN You landed back in Australia yesterday, after completing a headline tour and a few festival dates throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. How did it all go?

Pretty insane actually. It was definitely the biggest headline tour we’ve ever done in Europe, so it was a bit of a whirlwind. We were pretty surprised with the size of the shows, considering we were at the end of the touring cycle for Horizons [2007]. It was literally the last tour we will be doing on the back of that record and you’d think after three years of hearing those songs, people would be sick to death of them. But, it all went really well — which is almost weird.

Earlier this year, you went into the studio with producer Joe Baressi [Queens of the Stone Age, Tool, Bad Religion] to record your third full length album Deep Blue, which will be released worldwide at the end

Byron Bay-based metallic hardcore pacesetters Parkway Drive will later this month despatch their third full-length album, Deep Blue. The quintet’s fundamentally innovative decision to enlist acclaimed producer Joe Baressi, who had not previously recorded anything stylistically similar, will no doubt acquire the ensemble a revered eminence in their genre. After returning from a headline tour throughout Europe and the United Kingdom just the previous day, ever-humble and forever-chuckling vocalist Winston M c Call chatted amiably with Nathaniel Try.

of June. How did the overall experience differ compared to working on previous albums?

It was really, really different to be honest. It was the first time we’d recorded an album with a different producer. So that was pretty intense for us straight away. We were completely in the dark with what to expect.

Joe operated in a very different way to the way that Adam [Dutkiewicz, recorded 2005’s Killing with a Smile and Horizons] works, which was very awesome. It was also the reason we wanted to work with him in the first place. Everything we did was a hell of a lot rawer. It was a lot less digital technology orientated than anything we’ve done previously. We relied more on our physical skills to create the music, as opposed to digital altering techniques.

What did you hope to achieve by working

to have someone that you regard so highly interested in collaborating with your band?

It is pretty mind blowing. He’s been the owner of our record label and someone that we’ve respected both musically and as a person for a hell of a long time. To have him actually excited to work on it, and saying “Hell, yes!

Get me on that record,” as opposed to him just saying “Oh yeah I guess I’ll do it” is great.

For Brett to come in and say “Well, what about if we do this?” and “Do you mind if I try this?” compared to coming in and saying “Well what do you want me to do?” is pretty cool [laughs].

with a producer who hadn’t previously recorded anything comparable, genre-wise?

We were really excited about the fact that Joe would have no preconceived notion as to how something had to sound, with our kind of music. It was more about bringing his skills and experience to the table. We basically said, “We want it to sound raw. We want to create this kind of sound and this kind of feel. Can you do that?” And he said, “Hell, yeah — and a hell of a lot more!” [laughs] So we got exactly what we wanted out of the experience. It was definitely the most rewarding musical experience of our careers. We worked harder as musicians than we’ve ever done in our entire lives.

Your debut DVD, The DVD, was released last year and went on to become the highest selling Australian artist music DVD of 2009, as well as being voted “best music DVD” at the Rolling Stone awards. How does it feel to receive those sorts of accolades?

Pretty insane! It’s really nice, because that release was so hard for us to make, in the sense that it involved the visual medium which we’d never worked with before. For us to actually put the whole thing together and to work so hard on something we’ve never done previously was quite difficult. We put so much of ourselves into it and tried to make it as honest as possible. To have it received so well is — I guess it’s really nice to know that people appreciate something that is completely honest and completely us. We figured if we didn’t do it ourselves, it wouldn’t represent us the way we wanted it to.

Brett Gurewitz, owner of Epitaph Records and guitarist for Bad Religion is a guest vocalist on the track ‘Home is for the Heartless’. How overwhelming does it feel

Parkway Drive play Byron Bay High School, Thursday, September 23, and Newcastle Panthers on Monday, September 27. Deep Blue is out June 25 through Resist and Epitaph Records. reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

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news

TOE TO TOE ANNOUNCE JUNE DATES AND NEW ALBUM

miles away, break even

MAN, I’D RATHER BE GIGGIN’

Boasting one of the most impressive local hardcore line-ups this country has seen, the “I’d Rather Be Giggin’” Tour travels across six states in just over two weeks. Co-headlining the tour will be two of the most successful punk/ hardcore bands ever to come out of Western Australia, Miles Away and Break Even. Perth hardcore veterans Miles Away embark on the tour shortly after returning from recording their new album with Dean Baltulonis [American Nightmare, Sick of it All] at his renowned Wild Arctic studio in New York City. Break Even are coming off a whirlwind 12 months which has seen them tour heavily, as both a headline band and support, off the back of their acclaimed debut album The Bright Side. Rounding off the line-up are Melbourne’s own Hopeless and The Broderick. Catch the “I’d Rather Be Giggin’” Tour at the Youth Activities Centre in Byron Bay, Wednesday, June 23. This is an AA gig.

miles away, break even

ENCHANTED EVE

It’s not every day you get invited to escape reality and embrace debauchery. That’s exactly what everyone will be doing as part of Port Macquarie’s Enchanted Eve Masquerade Ball on Saturday, June 26. The “Enchanted Eve” is an unconventional bohemian cabaretthemed fancy dress event featuring live music, burlesque, vaudeville, circus acts and art installations; all in a fantastical, opulent setting. Guests are asked reach deep into their psyche and dress like you might never have dared dress before. Suggested themes are Alice in Wonderland costumes, glamorous ball gowns, suits & masks, bohemian top hats and capes, or even Moulin Rouge costumes – anything goes really, so long as it is interesting and quirky! This is a great opportunity to dress up, and the stage is set for some brilliant decadence. So open up your senses for something quite unlike anything you may have ever experienced before. Tickets for the “Enchanted Eve” can be purchased from Little Red Vamp and Sirens at Port Macquarie in the Galleria Building, in person from Port Macquarie Race Club and online from www. oztix.com.au.

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Over nearly two decades the tale of Toe To Toe has been rooted in survival, struggle and conviction. Forming at a time when many felt real hardcore punk rock had enjoyed its day, the band rallied against trends and reared up in the face of fashion to become Sydney’s proudest exponents of a form of music that remains well and truly on the outside. After three studio albums [Threats And Facts, Tao and Consolidated], and multiple EPs, the band have just released Arturo Gatti, their first studio album in over 10 years. Recorded at Three Phase studios in Melbourne with Sam Johnson, Arturo Gatti is perfect hardcore, the kind of music Toe To Toe have always made, full of passion and bile, vitriol and power. Toe To Toe play the Coolangatta Hotel on Friday, June 25.

the devil rides out

RIDING WITH THE DEVIL

Combining the big groove heaviness of stoner rock with the dirty lowbrow swagger of garage blues, Western Australia’s The Devil Rides Out have established themselves as Perth’s premier exponents of balls’n’all rock’n’roll grit’n’grime with their trinity of EPs, Volume I, II and III. With supports to Nick Oliveri’s Mondo Generator, Winnebago Deal, Monster Magnet, Shihad and Clutch, and a 2009 WAMi Award for ‘Best Hard Rock Artist’, the band reentered the studio in December 2009 to lay down their debut album. The resulting album, The Heart & The Crown, charts the sound of a band coming of age, displaying both a musical breadth and lyrical depth previously only hinted at on the Volume EPs, whilst still retaining the bands trademark venom, grit and pitch black sense of humour. Renowned in their home town for blistering live sets, The Devil Rides Out hit The Tatts in Lismore, Friday, June 25.

the hard ons

THE ALFALFA MALE HARD ONS It sounds ridiculous, but right now, the world needs a new Hard Ons album. That’s right, in this era of downloading, socialnetworking and over-the-top consumerism, the world needs a new album from three shirtless middle-aged men who still play like they are the only band on the planet. Clocking in at just over 40 minutes and 19 songs, Alfalfa Males Once Summer Is Done Conform Or Die represents a concise and compact look at the legendary and powerful Hard Ons. With an epic and infamous disregard for popular trends and nice haircuts, the three

50 lions

50 LIONS ON TOUR

Upon returning from their European tour with Parkway Drive, 50 Lions will be teaming up with Blkout this June and July for a full east coast tour that will take in most major cities as well as a number of regional dates. 50 Lions are still roaring off the back of their latest album, 2009’s Where Life Expires, and Blkout will be touring fresh off the release of their new 7-inch EP, No Justice No Peace. Joining them for all dates will be Sydney’s Persist, who will also have a new release in tow, their debut EP, The Untold Story. Catch 50 Lions, Blkout and Persist at the Bayldon Community Centre, Coffs Harbour [AA], Friday, June 18; The Loft, Newcastle [AA], Saturday, June 19; and the YAC, Byron Bay [AA], Thursday, July 1.

MASON RACK CANADIAN DOUBLE LIVE CD

The Mason Rack Band has recently completed their third tour of Canada, and in their back pocket is their brand new double CD, Live in Canada. The Canadian Summer Tour of 2009 ran for 5 1/2 months with over 60 shows across most provinces of Canada — a 40,000 kilometre road trip where two tour vans were sacrificed, and sleep was a rarity. The CD captures the band live and raw, a blessed mix of ol’ Mason originals and transformed covers.

Seemingly not prepared to take a rest, The Mason Rack Band is back on the Australian freeway before heading back to Canada in July. Catch the Mason Rack Band at the Cabarita Beach Bar, Friday, June 4; The Brewery, Byron Bay, Friday, June 11; the Ivory Tavern, Tweed Heads, Sunday, June 13; Greenmount SLSC, Friday, June 18; the Bah Hotel, Murwillumbah, Saturday, June 19; Hotel Brunswick, Sunday, June 20; Lennox Point Hotel, Friday, June 25; Finnian’s Tavern, Port Macquarie, Saturday, June 26; and the Oceanview Hotel, Urunga, Sunday, June 27.

quasi-virtuosos have unleashed their finest album. You may have noticed a disconcerting lack of irony, humour and originality in modern “punk” and “metal”.

Look no further. The Hard Ons’ Alfalfa Males… will leave footprints on top of your skull, yet leave you smiling! Of course, it goes without saying, the cover art features the visually arresting graphics of bassist Ray Ahn. Psychedelic violence with humour, as per usual. To make it all the more tasty, The Hard Ons are taking it all on the road, playing the Great Northern Hotel on Thursday, July 29, and the Coolangatta Hotel on Friday, July 30.

lisa hunt

THE SOUL OF LISA HUNT

With more than a million records sold worldwide, you would think that Lisa Hunt would be a household name. She has worked with artists ranging from Pavarotti to Ray Charles, and shared the stage with the likes of Eric Clapton, James Brown, Brian May, Joe Cocker, Miles Davis and performed in front of 50,000 people with Midnight Oil, yet most people will not know her name. Shame on you! Make amends and catch Lisa Hunt at Club Coffs, Coffs Harbour on Friday, June 25, and the Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, on Sunday, June 27.

GHOST MOUNTAIN AT THE BREWERY

With the surviving members from Brisbanebased alt-rock band Acre, a band that had a string of Triple J hits in the late 90s, Ghost Mountain have been regular visitors to the North Coast venues. Ex-Acre singer/ songwriter, producer Christian Pyle, teamed up with Sal Yates, a powerhouse singer/ songwriter who’s fronted such acts as Mission Ignition and The Mighty Pragmatics to release their self-titled debut in 2007. With their second album about to be released, it feels that the time is right to catch Ghost Mountain at The Brewery in Byron Bay on Friday, June 25.

the beautiful girls

Spooked by the Girls The Beautiful Girls made their first attempt at shaking off the ‘roots’ sound that has been following them since Learn Yourself, with their last, more mainstream record, Ziggurats. Front man Mat McHugh talks to Kirsty Visman about their foray into dub and what fans can expect from The Beautiful Girls’ fourth LP, Spooks.

McHugh recognises that roots got them to where they are today, but he’s tired of the ‘holierthan-thou’ roots band attitude. When discussing the change in direction with mentor and industry legend, Sebastian Chase, McHugh was given the advice he needed to take the leap.

“Sebastian said, ‘draw a line in the sand and just do it!’”, McHugh explains.

When asked about the heavy dub and reggae sound of Spooks, McHugh reveals that from when he first started the band he wanted to make a reggae album. “Not sunshine reggae, more dance hall dub that is a bit darker and edgier. It has always been in the back of my mind, but it would have been career craziness to produce a reggae album as a young band just building up.”

McHugh notes that there is a definite reverence surrounding this genre, with many critics arguing that if you’re not Jamaican, you shouldn’t touch it. “There’s a real attitude that if you’re not black it’s not authentic, but I really wanted to prove that you can still make it your own.

At this stage, I just wanted to create music to please myself and my band.”

You get the impression straight away that McHugh is over the bullshit, evidenced in the album’s first track when we hear a man shouting “we don’t depend on the industry for nothing!”

It’s clear that McHugh and his band are at a place in their careers where they are unconcerned with how this album will be received. And they shouldn’t worry, because Spooks is arguably the band’s best release to date. It’s a rich, nuanced production that sees the implementation of multiple layers, instruments and sounds, resulting

in a retrospective album that is still made personal by McHugh’s now signature lyrical style.

The title of this latest LP, Spooks, is a word that can have some very different meanings, however McHugh says the band see it as a great emotive term when describing music. “I love this word and I think it works perfectly with the idea of a song being like a ghost, trapped forever in time. It’s like the spook of what was and the emotions that a song can bring up are what I really love about music.”

With backing vocalists, horns, samples and keys all present on Spooks, how does the band propose to take this all on the road? “Ha, that’s the very question we’ve been asking ourselves!

We don’t wanna do the whole Hey, Hey It’s Saturday, whole band on the road thing. We want to be true to the dance hall dub-delay style, so we’ve been practising with our keyboard player and we think it’s sounding pretty good,” he reveals.

All in all, Spooks is an album with integrity, made by a band that is focused only on making music that they love. There is a ‘damn the consequences’ attitude that comes through and hopefully, they’ll reward the fans at their shows for making this leap with them.

Spooks is out now through Die! Boredom Records. The Beautiful Girls and special guest, Washington, play the Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, Thursday, June 3 and Sunday, June 6; then Newcastle Panthers, Friday, June 11; The Entrance Leagues Club, Sunday, June 13; Port Macquarie Panthers, Friday, July 12; and Sawtell RSL, Saturday, July 24.

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ash

“…we thought ‘Kung Fu’ would be a B-side and then we started playing it to people and everyone started just freaking out.”

The A-Z of Ash

feeling and it then turns out to be totally wrong. There’s only been a couple of times when I’ve been really sure.

So, you’ve been surprised by the success of some of your songs?

Totally. For example, we thought ‘Kung Fu’ would be a B-side and then we started playing it to people and

Ash’s decision to ignore the traditional album and to instead release 26 new singles, one every two weeks as part of an A-Z singles series, highlights the Irish pop-rock group’s creative and artistic drive. Paul Frost caught up with workaholic front man Tim Wheeler to discuss this project and the band’s role as “pop veterans”.

everyone started just freaking out. It was written and recorded so quickly and we soon became convinced that it had to be our next single. I am a terrible pick of what will end up being a great song; it’s all a total mystery to me!

You have made a big change to the way we get exposed to your music — why release singles instead of albums?

My attitude to albums totally changed when I first got an ipod. I started picking my favourite songs off albums and just putting them into playlists — albums stopped being the ‘be all and end all’ to me. There were quite a few things that I became frustrated about with albums. Creatively, I didn’t like the cycle where you create an album and just as you’re getting your creativity to peak, you get feedback and advice from various groups and this all takes about a year-and-ahalf. I always found that incredibly creatively frustrating because I would prefer to do things as they were happening.

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Has the added pressure of releasing a new song every two weeks helped or hindered the writing and recording process?

It’s put us in a really healthy state. You can open that channel to songwriting, but if you don’t do it for a while it closes; recording this way meant it was open all the time. Not worrying about an album has also meant that we were totally free with the styles that we could do, I feel really inspired at the moment.

Ash are widely regarded as one of the greatest “singles” bands of the last couple of decades — do you know as a songwriter when a song will be a hit?

No idea whatsoever. Sometimes, you have a

I especially love [new songs) ‘Dionysian Urge’ and ‘The Dead Disciples’, they seem to channel the energy of the band, how are they being received live?

Well, we haven’t actually played them live yet, today was our first rehearsal! We’ve got Russell Lissack from Bloc Party, who’s going to tour with us, and we just played ‘Dionysian Urge’ for the first time this afternoon — it was fucking brilliant!

Your first album was splashed with the phrase “guaranteed real teenagers”, now your press release refers to you as “pop veterans”, do you feel that you have come full circle as a band?

The “guaranteed real teenagers” bit had more than one meaning; a friend of ours got it from a porno mag, and it just kind of worked for us.

I don’t really see us as being veterans or anything — I was talking to my girlfriend last

night and she was saying that all the other good bands are dead, so maybe saying we are veterans is the positive side of that!

You run your own record label now [Atomic Heart Records), why did you decide to go with this option?

We didn’t really have a choice. We had just finished the last album on our record deal and the kind of deals that the major labels were offering were horrific — they now want cuts from all of your live income and your merchandise. Also, no labels really understood our concept either and didn’t see how it could work so we went out on our own. The idea of releasing singles didn’t mean that much to them, that’s why some of them freaked when they heard our plan, especially because we are also releasing all 26 singles on 7-inch vinyl!

If you had to pick one of the following of the bands achievements, which would mean more to you personally: a) Having four albums in a row go platinum b) Winning an Igor Novello award for songwriting c) Playing to sold out shows around the world.

Oh man...probably the last two. The Igor Novello Award meant so much to me because that was real kudos from other songwriters and it had nothing to do with politics, it was people who just liked the song [‘Shining Light’). It was my real dream award to win.

But, fuck I love playing live shows, it’s really hard to choose between those two.

Is this concept of releasing singles rather than albums likely to continue for the band in the future?

Yeah, it has worked really well for us. We’ve been connecting with our fans on a fortnightly basis rather than just going through the usual method of releasing an album every two years. It’s funny, around the time of 1977 [Ash’s debut album) we weren’t even allowed to record an album because we were still at school and we did a string of singles — ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Girl from Mars’, ‘Angel Interceptor’ and ‘Goldfinger’ all came out in the space of a couple of months between them — so, when the album came out the anticipation was awesome. I guess, in some ways, part of that album was a singles collection.

The compilation A-Z Volume 1 is out now.

Ash play the sold-out Splendour in the Grass festival in Woodford, QLD on July 30–August 1, and The Metro in Sydney with We Are Scientists on Tuesday, August 3.

BALLINA

BALLINA BALLINA

Here’s why you’ll

The Aussie last dinosaurs

JUNE THU 03 JAM NIGHT “’Honolulu’ kind of put us in the box of tropical music — we can do tropical stuff, but we’re not tropical people at all,” admits Caskey. “We’re trying to keep down that path because people seem to like that stuff. We do different styles of music, but I think it would be smart to stick to the tropical stuff.”

While it may not be their favourite style of music, their debut EP, Back From The Dead, is incredibly impressive and catchy. For a band with an average age of 18, there’s an undeniable cleverness in their buoyant, danceable pop tunes.

While Last Dinosaurs are happy to pursue this musical style for the moment, Caskey pragmatically explains that they won’t sound this way forever. “I really want to do heaps of other stuff,” Caskey says. “I’m listening to all of these bands at the moment like Violent Soho and MGMT — it really inspires me to branch out and do something else. But I can’t do that yet of course, because we’re too young.”

Despite their age, the band are already notching up accolades and achievements that other groups wait years for. Along with being on high rotation on Triple J radio, Last Dinosaurs are already booked in for Sydney’s Come Together festival alongside Grinspoon, British India and Kisschasy. They’re also on the giant bill for 2010’s Splendour In The Grass festival, alongside their heroes and influence, The Strokes.

“This year has been absolutely ridiculous because we’d never really done a real tour before we did our first one with YKB [Yves Klein Blue],” Caskey enthuses. “That whole tour was huge for us — since the EP we’ve been quite busy.”

After their run of Australian dates, Caskey hopes that his band can crack the Japanese market. He and his brother Lachlan Caskey, who plays guitar in the band, are of Japanese descent.

“Our dream is to crack the Japanese market, because that would be absolutely ridiculous.

I think it’s the second biggest market in the world,” says Caskey. “For Australian bands it’s really hard to penetrate, because they don’t have a streetpress or anything. So the dream would be to get on to the Fuji Rock festival. If you’re signed to a major label in Japan, you’re on a salary.”

Caskey’s father is a Japanese teacher and travels to the country often, while Sean has

Dinosaurs Roam The Earth A song written as a joke has made Last Dinosaurs one of the success stories of 2010. As singer Sean Caskey explains from his home in Brisbane, the four-piece pop band’s radio single ‘Honolulu’ was never intended for public ears.

“I was writing stuff that was influenced by the music I listened to, predominantly The Strokes,” Caskey says. “But then I wrote ‘Honolulu’ as a joke — I thought it sounded stupid.

Then we took it further and made it sound a

little bit better.”

It’s a brand of tropical flavoured afro-pop that for the last few years has been successfully rebooted by New York City-group Vampire Weekend. When ‘Honolulu’ sparked interest in the music industry Last Dinosaurs went along with it, finding themselves in a record deal with Dew Process. Now their labelmates are the likes of The Panics, The Living End, The Hives and Mumford & Sons.

With appearances booked in at both Come Together and Splendour In The Grass, and an EP that’s currently savaging the airwaves, afro-pop outfit Last Dinosaurs are impossible to ignore.

Nick Milligan gets the skinny from their lead singer, Sean Caskey.

FRI 04 MARK EASTON SAT 05 ROCHELLE LEES DUO



THU 10 JAM NIGHT FRI 11 DAN DOON SAT 12 CHRIS ARONSTEN SUN 13 CLAY BLYTH

 THU 17 JAM NIGHT FRI 18 TWOTRAX DUO SAT 19 BRIAN WATT

 THU 24 JAM NIGHT FRI 25

MOSSY ROCKS DUO

SAT 26

TWO BOBS WORTH

 Thurs Jam Nite 7pm Friday & Saturday Entertainment from 7pm Sunday Entertainment from 1pm

Digita your lly record p from erfomanc $10 p e er so ng

been there three times. He hopes to get back there more often. “I’d like to go there heaps more — I feel like its part of my culture that I’ve completely ditched. All I know is about Australia, I know shit about Japan. It would be good to embrace that part of my life.”

Back From The Dead is out now. Last Dinosaurs play Splendour In The Grass from July 31 to August 2 in Woodford, Queensland.

The Australian Hotel

103 River Street 02 6686 2015

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gig guide

Wednesday, June 2 Unibar @ Southern Cross Uni Comedy Night w/ Mandy Nolan

Thursday, June 3 Gollan Hotel, Lismore Birdbrain + Big Storm Little Feather Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay The Beautiful Girls + Washington Neverland, Coolangatta Children Collide + Cabins Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour Common Ground The Brewery, Byron Bay Invisible Friend Unibar @ Southern Cross Uni Cath Simes Band

Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Marc Daley Laurieton Hotel Funhouse Lennox Point Hotel Solver Neverland, Coolangatta Miami Horror Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Geraldine The Brewery, Byron Bay Shika Massie ft. Favourite Son

Sunday, June 6 Beach Hotel, Byron Bay The Red Eyes Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay The Beautiful Girls + Washington Greenhouse Tavern, Coffs Harbour MIck Boogaard Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Mick Bateman Lennox Point Hotel Elizabeth Lord Quartet Sawtell RSL Ian McLaren + Rowland Stones

Thursday, June 10 Children Collide

Friday, June 4 Australian Hotel, Ballina Mark Easton Bangalow Hotel Raindance Beach Hotel, Bonny Hills Glenn Heath and the Deep Blue Sea Cabarita Beach Bar Mason Rack Band Coast Hotel, Coffs Harbour Ben Francis Finnians, Port Macquarie Stuey Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Lost Valentinos + Easy P + Oh! Lalaland, Byron Bay Goodwill + Stafford Brothers Lennox Point Hotel Polaroid Frame Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Sarah and Harry Seagulls, Tweed Heads Bluesville Station Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga Cletus The Brewery, Byron Bay Supermario Yamba Bowling Club Pixie Jenkins

Saturday, June 5 Australian Hotel, Ballina Rochelle Lees Duo Bangalow Hotel The Fire Tree Coolangatta Hotel Shapeshifter + DJs Swoob and Walrii Federal Hotel, Bellingen Bo Jenkins Finnians, Port Macquarie Dazed Goonellabah Tavern Pink Zinc Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Polaroid Frame 32

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Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Beatronica Gollan Hotel, Lismore Thunder Gods of the Multiverse Neverland, Coolangatta Rocketsmiths + Red Ink Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour David Strauss Port Macquarie Hotel The Spys

Finnians, Port Macquarie Mojada Goonellabah Tavern Strangers Inc Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Rocketsmiths + The Good Ship Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Quick Fix Lennox Point Hotel Nitestar The Brewery, Byron Bay Christian Pyle Yamba Bowling Club Rod Dowsett

Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Shika Massie Greenmount SLSC, Coolangatta Mason Rack Band Lennox Point Hotel Painted Crows Nimbin Hotel The Snowdroppers Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Snapshot The Brewery, Byron Bay Blaze Sound System

Sunday, June 13

Australian Hotel, Ballina Brian Watt Bah Hotel, Murwillumbah Mason Rack Band Bangalow Hotel Chris Aronsten Coolangatta Hotel Full Scale Revolution + Jerrico Federal Hotel, Bellingen Heart Tribe Finnians, Port Macquarie Andy Mammers Trio Goonellabah Tavern Mossey Rock Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Fat Albert Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Nite beat Laurieton Hotel The Snowdroppers Lennox Point Hotel Tightrope Alley Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Rochelle Lees Duo The Brewery, Byron Bay Pink Zinc Twin Towns, Tweed Heads Jon Stevens and Daryl Braithwaite Yamba Bowling Club Little Fish

Australian Hotel, Ballina Clay Blyth Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Cotton, Keys and Morris Coolangatta Sands Hotel Bluesville Station Greenhouse Tavern, Coffs Harbour Keogh Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Ben Francis Ivory Tavern, Tweed Heads Mason Rack Band Lalaland, Byron Bay Graz Lennox Point Hotel Pugsley Buzzard The Brewery, Byron Bay Off The Beat’n Track

Monday, June 14 Ivory Tavern, Tweed Heads Bluesville Station

Friday, June 11

Thursday, June 17

Australian Hotel, Ballina Dan Doon Bangalow Hotel The Grains Beach Hotel, Bonny Hills Martini Bros Federal Hotel, Bellingen Mary Janes Leopard Finnians, Port Macquarie Kolider Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Cloud Control + Glass Towers Lalaland, Byron Bay Yolanda Be Cool + Dcup Lennox Point Hotel Charlotte Marshall Lismore Workers Club Cotton, Keys and Morris Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour The Spys Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga The Weekenders The Brewery, Byron Bay Mason Rack Band

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay The Universal Thump Coffs Ex-Services Club John Stevens and Daryl Braithwaite Gollan Hotel, Lismore Memshalah + Wild Jester + Daniel Pinkerton Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour Marc Daley The Brewery, Byron Bay Dave Scott Band

Saturday, June 12 Australian Hotel, Ballina Chris Aronsten Ballina RSL Nearly Neil Bangalow Hotel Blues Vein Club Coffs, Coffs Harbour Cotton, Keays and Morris Coast Hotel, Coffs Harbour Dirty Deeds

The Universal Thump

Friday, June 18 Australian Hotel, Ballina Twotrax Bangalow Hotel Phil Mayer + Gaz Bayldon Community Centre, Coffs 50 Lions + Blkout + Persist Beach Hotel, Bonny Hills Whiskey Rock Coolangatta Hotel Strung Out + The Loved Ones + The Apprentice Finnians, Port Macquarie Psycho Magnet

Saturday, June 19

Sunday, June 20 Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick Heads Mason Rack Band Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Kids of 88 Greenhouse Tavern, Coffs Harbour Razor and Harvey Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Rod Dowsett Lennox Point Hotel Matt Marwick Shaws Bay Hotel, East Ballina Bluesville Station The Brewery, Byron Bay Leigh James

Wednesday, June 23 Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Ash Grunwald The Brewery, Byron Bay Mark Easton Youth Activities Centre, Byron Bay Miles Away + Break Even + Hopeless + The Broderick

Thursday, June 24 Gollan Hotel, Lismore Rob Black + Captain Freedom + Sideshow + Dougal Binns + Glen Tendon + Damien O’Dwyer Greenhouse Tavern, Coffs Harbour DJ Brown Sugar

gig guide

Laurieton Hotel Ash Grunwald + The Band Of Frequencies Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour Jesse Emmanuel Port Macquarie Hotel Broadway Mile The Brewery, Byron Bay Shoebox

Broadway Mile

Friday, June 25 Australian Hotel, Ballina Mossy Rocks Bangalow Hotel Mescalito Blues Beach Hotel, Bonny Hills Cover 2 Cover Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Dappled Cities + John Steel Singers + Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire!

Cabarita Sports Club Nitestar

Club Coffs, Coffs Harbour Lisa Hunt Coolangatta Hotel Toe To Toe + Dreamkillers Finnians, Port Macquarie The 9th Chapter Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Birdbrain + Slug and The Antibodies Lalaland, Byron Bay Cassian Lennox Point Hotel Mason Rack Band Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Guy Kachel Sawtell RSL Karnivool + MM9 + Cairo Knife Fight Seaview Tavern, Woolgoolga The Ford Brothers The Brewery, Byron Bay Ghost Mountain The Tatts, Lismore The Devil Rides Out + Ox + The Smokestack Lightning

Federal Hotel, Bellingen The 9th Chapter Finnians, Port Macquarie Mason Rack Band Goonellabah Tavern The Rochelle Lees Band Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Jade Porter and Friends Lennox Point Hotel Bluesville Station Neverland, Coolangatta Parades Pioneer Tavern, Goonellabah Los Garbos Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour Acca/Dacca + Snake Port Macquarie Race Club An Enchanted Eve The Brewery, Byron Bay Broadfoot

Sunday, June 27 Bangalow Hotel Sommersault Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay The Break Greenhouse Tavern, Coffs Harbour Slim Jim and the Boney Hardmen Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour Jade Porter and Friends Lalaland, Byron Bay Tenzin Lennox Point Hotel Luke Yearman Oceanview Hotel, Urunga Mason Rack Band The Brewery, Byron Bay Jon J Bradley

Tuesday, June 29 Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Dead Letter Chorus + Two Hours Traffic

Saturday, June 26

Wednesday, June 30

Australian Hotel, Ballina Two Bobs Worth Bangalow Hotel Kieren Glasgow Beach Hotel, Byron Bay Ganga Giri Coolangatta Hotel 28 Days + Behind Crimson Eyes

Plantation Hotel, Coffs Harbour Purple Sneakers DJs

Thursday, July 1 YAC, Byron Bay 50 Lions + Blkout + Persist Parades

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33

f a s h i o n — p h oto g r a p h y b y t i m b o e h m

top Cloud shirt $NFS. Striped skirt $NFS. Leather and fabric necklace $199. Handmade French earrings $59.

above Blue and magenta cocktail dress $NFS. White studs $22.95. Pink ring $29.95.

Clothing by Karissa Shrubb, 2009 Frock On! entrant. Accessories from Fashion Precinct, The Junction. Ph 02 4962 1160.

The Frock On! Newcastle fashion show will be held at Newcastle City Hall on Saturday, July 3, 2010.

Book by phoning 4929 1977, the Civic Theatre box office, or Ticketek.

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now

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and then

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Photography by Tim Boehm. Hair & make-up by Blue Lotus Hair Salon. Styling by Vanessa Swilks. Modelling by Tegan Martin.

reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

35

MI D NIGH T JUGGE R NAU T S — S T O R Y O F T HE YEA R

The Crystal Method Since starting their career above a small Chinese take-away store, Midnight Juggernauts have toured the world with their experimental electropop.

Inspired by old Italian cannibal films, The Crystal Axis — Midnight Juggernauts’ sophomore record — has just made its debut. Michelle Hogan sat down with their drummer Daniel Stricker to discuss the past, present, and future of Midnight Juggernauts.

What can fans expect from your new album, The Crystal Axis?

I guess it [The Crystal Axis] is pretty different to our first record, it still sounds like us but much more organic. It is a pop album though, even more so than our last album, but weirder as well. It has darker elements, and lighter elements. We have been touring so much that it was a natural feeling to make a live record. I think as a record, it has a lot of happy accidents — the last album was written separately and very studio sounding.

Italian cannibal films and that influenced your music; in what way?

When we tour overseas we always watch a lot of movies on the bus driving around, we watched this one strange Italian cannibal movie called Cannibal Holocaust which was a pretty crazy film. We’ve always been into old movie soundtracks, but we watched this film and it was weird, you get this normal music, but under the surface there is something wrong and we loved that.

What was the writing style and direction of the album?

We got back from touring overseas at the end of 2008; we were really excited to just start writing as we had came up with so many ideas while touring. When we did come back, we got this house on the coast and took all of our stuff down there and just started getting all our ideas out as a band. We made demos of some of the music and then took a break as it had been so intense for so long. We wrote some more songs separately, and when we got back together to work on those we found they were actually a bit darker, which was a good element.

There are a variety of musical instruments used on this album, is it ever a struggle to keep up such a huge performance on stage?

I think for me it makes it more fun! It’s definitely harder and it keeps you on your toes but it makes it really interesting. While we recorded it [Crystal Axis] live, there are so many layers to each song. We kept on coming up with more ideas as we recorded, we were doing a lot of the songs in parts. For three people to do that on stage it is quite hard, but cool. Even though we use a lot of electronic stuff, we still do it all live on stage. I do think it is better, if you are doing it live, you can jam on something for five extra minutes if you want to go off on a tangent.

I read that at the time of recording The Crystal Axis, you were all watching a lot of

Dystopia, Midnight Juggernauts’ first album was released under your own label, Siberia.

You guys have chosen again to self-produce your second record, why is that?

It is essentially our label but EMI facilitate everything so it’s great. There are always major labels offering us deals, but we’ve got a pretty strong vision of where we want to take our music and video clips; we like to be heavily involved in all aspects of Midnight Juggernauts. With this record we’re going to try and do as much as we can on our own because we feel like we can in this day and age. While it is a lot more work for us, we feel like we can achieve some really cool stuff and hopefully we can release other people’s music on our label.

Will it be a genre-specific label taking on musicians similar to your own music?

Not at all, it will be music that we like and we like a whole lot of music! There is one guy from Sydney who we might put out on our label; he does really interesting stuff, really

different to us. It will always be music we like or people we believe in, but who knows what style or genre that might be. It’s funny actually, we have an address for our record label on our website and we get so many messages from Russian acts that we may even put out a Russian compilation in the future.

I read somewhere that when Midnight Juggernauts first started out, you all played above a Chinese restaurant and incorporated menu items into the lyrics of your songs, is that true?

I wasn’t in the band when they first started out, and in those days they would write a song in the morning and then play it that night and sometimes there weren’t lyrics ready for it.

But there was one particular gig that I can recall where the boys used a Chinese menu from downstairs for the lyrical content of the show! Now, hopefully, I do think the lyrics make a bit more sense…

The Story Continues Story Of The Year front man, Dan Marsala, sat down with Michelle Hogan to divulge their behind-thescenes stories.

What would you say are the influences on Constant, your most recent album?

We just got into a room and just jammed together every day. It was definitely a more collaborative effort this time, just us jamming in a room until we liked something, all working on the stuff together. This time there was no pre-demo making, it was just us getting together and writing music. So, we are the only influence; rock bands from the mid-nineties for the most part, shaped our sound. I mean anything from the grunge era — Nirvana and Pearl Jam to Rage Against The Machine and Bad Religion, NoFX and Rancid — everything from that era, it all morphed together. Lyrically, it is a combo of everything we have done in the past. For me, some socially political stuff and some things more personal — just a good balance of everything, really.

Can you describe other changes in Story Of They Year since first starting out?

I think we definitely mature a little bit with every record. I mean obviously, and naturally, of course. But I think we have just figured out and found our comfort zone and what type of

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reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

music we actually want to play; we know how to write our heavier stuff and also how to write some of our softer stuff. We know how to work off of each other really well now; we’ve found our spot and we’re not afraid to try anything new because we know what Story Of The Year sounds like and when we go to write music we don’t really have any plans or anything.

Where do you think you would be if Story Of The Year had never came to be?

I just don’t know, hey. I always try to think about what that could be and I just really don’t know. I know I would play music either way; whether I was making music for money, or just as a hobby. I’ve always loved music since I was a little kid. Either way I would be trying to do

that, but I don’t know. Before this I delivered pizza and that wasn’t very fun, I had pizza stolen out of my car before and that wasn’t nice, so hopefully I would not still be doing that… But it is a good band guy job, you get to drive around listening to music all night and just take pizza to people.

Out of all the bands Story Of The Year have played with, is there one moment that sticks out in your career?

That would be different for all of us I’m sure…

We have toured with a lot of different bands; we toured with The Deftones about four years ago and that was a big influence on us in the early days, and a couple of the guys hold them as their favourite band, so you know, I’m sure

they would say The Deftones. We’ve toured with Linkin Park, which is the biggest tour we have ever done I think, in arenas with like 15,000 people every night. That was probably one of the most amazing, huge things we’ve ever done because it was such a big tour and it did so well for us over here in the States. But, this tour we just did in Europe had Bouncing Souls on it and they are one of my favourite bands ever and I got to watch them from the side of stage and hang out and just get to know them and that was awesome… I know I will remember that one forever.

Constant is out now. They play the UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney on June 12 and the Hi-Fi, Brisbane on June 13.

B R I T ISH IN D IA — k i tc h e n co m p l a i n t

Surviving The Avalanche With the release of their third studio album, Avalanche, upon us, British India front man Declan Melia catches up with Nick Bielby to talk about writing records and working with icons.

Thankfully, Declan Melia knows what day it is today. After missing our first scheduled interview because he forgot it was Tuesday, the British India front man tells me that management have made it his mission to plug the hell out of the release date for the band’s third long player, Avalanche.

“They told me to just keep saying it,” Melia explains in an amused tone. “So how old are you guys?” he asks himself in a mockinterviewer voice. “Thirtieth of April,” he answers with a laugh.

It’s been a rapid-fire four years for British India, in which time they have released three studio albums and toured heavily, emerging as favourites on the domestic touring circuit. “I often wonder, these bands that release an album every four or five years and tour capital cities every six months or so, if they even feel like they’re in a band, you know? It must just kind of feel like a part time hobby,” Melia says.

Avalanche is a return to the heavy sound of the band’s debut, Guillotine, and was produced by close friend Glen Goldsmith. Melia explains there are advantages of having someone behind the controls that they can both trust and shoot unashamedly straight with. “There’re a lot of egos in this band, you know me and Nic alone are pretty bull-headed, so we didn’t want some pencil-necked dweeb tampering with our baby songs or anything,” he reveals.

“With Glen we could kind of accept his ideas or, equally, we could tell him that his ideas were shit without him getting too upset and sulking

about it. He was the obvious choice.”

It was a different experience this time around, as the band took a more hands-on approach to the production of the album, under the guidance of Goldsmith. This proved different to the recording sessions for their first two albums, with industry icon Harry Vanda at the helm.

“The first time we did it with Harry, there was a sense that the lunatics had taken over the asylum,” he says of the band’s experiences with Vanda. “It meant the world to us and we would definitely not be the band we are today without him. I mean, British India is like BH and AH – ‘before Harry’ and ‘after Harry’.”

Vanda discovered British India with the help of Goldsmith and ended up producing the band’s first two records in his newly built Sydney studio. Melia explains that Vanda took a fancy to them, but it was very much a case of being in the right place at the right time. “He was looking for bands, man, and he was sitting around with his millions of dollars and goes: ‘I’m going to build a studio and find some young bands’,” Melia says, impersonating Vanda. “He came across us and thought we were pretty cool and the rest is history.”

Many bands fall over when a second album is rushed out, but this was certainly not the case for British India. The band’s sophomore album, Thieves, did incredibly well, entering the ARIA charts at number five. But did having such a successful second album put pressure on the band to deliver again the third time around?

“As far as the writing, the success of Thieves

didn’t really affect us. We still write our music at Matt’s house. It’s kind of our bungalow, pool room kind of thing,” he explains. “The weight of expectations doesn’t really go with that room.”

Avalanche was recorded in Melbourne in an eight-week session that was spread over a six-month period. Melia concedes that the lack of time constraints and the constant presence of friends and alcohol helped get the album off the ground. “They were really relaxed sessions where any idea was good and worth a try and that’s how we got the record we ended up with,” he explains.

The first single taken from the album, ‘Vanilla’, appeared at number 42 on the Triple J Hottest 100 in January, no mean feat considering the album was far from being released. “‘Vanilla’ doing so well without an album out behind it, to keep the name British India in people’s heads, really blew my mind and we really couldn’t have been happier,” Melia says. “It’s not something we expected.”

This seems telling of the band’s rise. Melia’s take on it is that British India’s fans seem to really

follow the band. “I’ll often talk to people at gigs and it’s like the twentieth show they’ve been to which really blows my mind,” he says.

The coming months will be busy for British India, as they set off on a national tour off the back of Avalanche, including appearances at the Groovin’ The Moo and Come Together festivals. “I’ll check out Vampire Weekend,” Melia concedes. “I think every single pretty girl I know has asked me to get their autograph for her, so I’ll try and see what all the fuss is about.”

It seems British India have no plans to slow down as Melia lets slip that the band have been writing again. He explains that he would like to try a different direction, but is unsure of exactly what at this early stage. “The funny thing about this group is I kind of feel like we could make any kind of record and it’d be alright.

We’ve got that to think about,” he says. “But hey, that’s all off in the distance.”

Avalanche is out now. British India play at the Come Together Festival at Sydney’s Luna Park on Sunday, June 13, 2010.

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t a l k i n g s h o p — k a k i k i n g — D AN SUL T AN

Profiling music industry professionals

Talking shop Hail Kaki King An undeniable guitar virtuoso and songwriting talent, Kaki King has amazed audiences on all her six trips to our shores. Those that have heard her musical prowess will not be surprised that she holds Dave Grohl among her largest fans. King speaks with Noah Cross about her new record, Junior.

If it happens in the music industry, Christie Eliezer knows about it and is quite prepared to tell us all. As senior industry correspondent for The Music Network, it is his job to get the details as they happen.

Who do you work for?

I’m a freelancer, and write for a wide range of magazines including Pollstar, Billboard, The Music Network and syndicate a music industry column through national street magazines.

How long have you been in this position?

I’ve been freelancing for 15 years. Before that I edited an Australian weekly called Juke, and my byline popped up in magazines including NME, Sounds, Record Mirror, Circus, USA Today and Rolling Stone Australia and USA. What are the main responsibilities?

Collate music news, check that they are actually true, listen in at keyholes for gossip, review records and concerts, do interviews.

How did you get involved in the industry?

I sent a story off to the top music magazine of the day, Go-Set. Back came a cheque. Send off another story. Another cheque. Six months later the editor rang and said, “Do you want to do an interview for us? It’s one of the Rolling Stones.” I was hooked.

Proudest moment?

Having Keith Richards light my cigarette and show me how the riff to ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash’ came about.

Is there anyone you would really like to meet?

John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.

Best live show you’ve been to?

Standing side of stage at an AC/DC show at Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne, so near the amps my ears rang for a week.

Free plug – who should we be listening to?

John Grant’s Queen of Denmark, The National’s High Violet, Band of Horses’ Infinite Arms, MGMT’s Congratulations and the Shutter Island soundtrack are essential listening.

What would be on your ultimate rider?

Crate of Heineken, bread rolls for the inevitable “food fight” and Beyoncé — washed, perfumed and brought to my room.

Best way to spend a Sunday morning?

Go through all the Sunday papers, an hour or two at the column, some old Johnny Cash or Muddy Waters, and finally breakfast at 2 pm.

Any advice for people trying to break into the industry?

In this business, it is more who you know than what you know. But having said that, don’t sleep your way to the top because it’s a small industry. If you don’t live and breathe music, you don’t belong in the industry. If you’re an aspiring media person, remember it’s easier to slag off an album than praise it. Your truth worth as a writer comes from digging into the music, finding its soul, and be able to offer constructive criticism.

38 r e v e r b m a g a z i n e i s s u e # 0 4 7 — j u n e 2 0 1 0

I was singing from when I was a teenager.

Singing in bands as a back-up singer, if I was playing bass. When I made my first couple of records, I didn’t intend to not sing. Having sung on the past two records is me coming back to where I was as a teenager.

How old were you when you got your first electric guitar?

I was nine years old. My dad is an incredibly musical person and he always had guitars in the house. All my first guitars were inherited from him.

You’ve been to Australia many times. What have been the highlights of your trips down under?

Watching a very small career burgeon into a very relevant and larger career in a very short amount of time has been very exciting. I was playing to small clubs of 400 people and then all of a sudden we’re selling out venues in Sydney and Brisbane. That’s a lovely feeling.

Having your career grow faster in one area has been interesting, from artistically to business and all of that. Australians are among the best audiences in the world, for me at least.

Did you have clear ideas about what new things you wanted to try on Junior?

Not at the time, but it became very clear because I wrote the album with my band, which was a first for me. I would come in with an idea and we’d structure it. It was a very democratic process, rather than me being the queen of the studio.

You’ve become renowned as an amazing virtuoso guitarist and many young guitarists look up to you. But who are the guitarists who have inspired you?

I don’t answer that question any more.

Um, okay. Some of your songs are instrumental and others have lyrics. What usually determines whether you will sing on a song?

I think you naturally know if you want to write lyrics to a certain song. In the past my rule of thumb is if a song can’t exist on its own, then you try it with lyrics and if you can’t make it work, you scrap it.

You played guitar from a very young age when did singing enter the equation?

You worked on the soundtrack for Sean Penn’s film Into The Wild. How did you find that process?

I’ve been doing that since college, because I went to New York University and there’s a very big film school there. Even before that I’d always been very interested in film and very attentive to what music can do to a film. It’s definitely a challenge because you’re collaborating with people who aren’t there with you. They’re not writing over your shoulder. It’s not like you’re writing as a band and someone says, ‘No!’. You have to write something that you think is great and send it on to the director, the editor or the music supervisor. They’re not always as keen on it as you are. So you have to find the balance between collaborating and giving up enough of your musical self to make the film work.

I’ve seen it be very painful for a lot of people and I’ve also seen it be very natural and wonderfully creative for a lot of people as well.

Junior is out now through Shock.

Sultan of Swing 2010 has been a big year for Dan Sultan. Riding high on the success of his recent record, Get Out While You Can, the rock singer has performed a huge show at Bluesfest and is close to completing a national headline tour. Sultan speaks with Nick Milligan.

that pays a people smuggler to get them out of their war-torn country. They sell all of their possessions, including their wedding rings, to pay this people smuggler and they can only afford one ticket, so he sends his wife. It’s bloody sad. It’s a love song but, at the end of the day, it also provides another perspective on a hot political issue. I think by default we can get a little bit political but, essentially, we write love songs.

Did you have fun at Bluesfest?

I love it in Byron. Bluesfest is always really cool. You get to see people that you really only see at festivals or airports, so it’s a good excuse for a catch-up. Also, I got to see Buddy Guy play which was pretty amazing.

Get Out While You Can is a diverse record — rock, soul, blues etc. Where does that diversity come from?

It just comes out. Scott Wilson [Sultan’s guitarist] and I, we write the songs together. We really enjoy 50s and 60s rock and roll, as well as other styles from that time. I think we just write music that we want to listen to. It just comes out.

It’s very organic, we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves. We work hard, but we don’t necessarily have a particular direction.

Did you have a vision for the sound of the record?

A lot of the music we recorded on Get Out While You Can was recorded live, so we only had a few overdubs. We wanted to capture that energy that we’ve had on stage for the last few years.

Why did you choose ‘Get Out While You Can’ as the title track?

I really like that song ‘Get Out While You Can’, but we were never really going to push it as a

radio song or a single. We didn’t think it would get the attention that we thought it might deserve. I thought it would be a really good thing to make it the title track, so that it gets people talking. But people might have got it anyway, you never know.

What subjects are you drawn to the most as a lyricist?

I find it very natural to write about love. Whether it’s positive or negative, or a love for your brother or your girlfriend. Lost love, or a potential love. It all comes out as love songs. ‘Get Out While You Can’ is a Scott Wilson song, but he writes in a similar way. It’s a very political song — it’s about boat people. It’s about a couple

You were in the recent musical movie Bran Nue Dae. Had you done anything like that before?

Not really. I might have talked a bit of shit with my friends in the past, but that’s the closest I’ve got [chuckles]. It was just an incredible experience. They really helped me through the process. I was introduced to a man named Dave Field, who’s an incredible Australian actor.

He mentored me through the process and we’ve become very close friends. Deb Mailman, who was in the cast, took Jessica Mauboy and I for a couple of workshops to get us into the rhythm of everything. Jess, Missy [Higgins] and I were all shown a lot of support. Everyone was so lovely.

Do you have plans to take your new album overseas?

We’re going to go to the World Expo in Shanghai, which is going to be great. I’d like to have some kick-arse dumplings and I’d like to get some really nice clothes for bugger all money — and obviously, try to put on a good show.

We’re also going to go to the UK and do a showcase and see if we can release in the market over there. We’ve just got to give it a crack.

Get Out While You Can is out now.

g e n e r a l m otor i n g

“ Drop dead gorgeous… great for the ego on a Sunday arvo down at the foreshore.”

Walkin’ on the Wild Side Tom Walkinshaw might be a bit crook at present but his business operations are powering on, particularly here, following the arrival of Walkinshaw Performance [WP] dealers around the country. You won’t see one on every street corner, but each state has a couple or more, and in NSW, they are in Sydney.

An offshoot of HSV, WP specialises in performance modification rather than making whole cars like HSV. But there is crossover.

WP has a particular focus on owners of V8 Holden Commodores and offers a range of hot goodies to suit SS, SSV, Calais, Statesman and Caprice. It will even have a crack at utes and, as you can see here, wagons.

This is the first example of a WP Superwagon that started life as a Commodore SSV Sportswagon. The SSV list price is around $52K but WP went the whole hog with this puppy, adding everything in the cookie jar at an extra $44K. That makes this white witch a $100K proposition — exxy for a Holden but wait ‘til you find out how it goes.

It has the Pontiac front with a couple of rabbit-ear scoops on top of the bonnet under which is a 6.0-litre, Gen 4, V8 — with a WP190 four lobe supercharger bolted into the engine vee.There’s more, including a wilder cam and WP headers, a 3.0-inch bimodal exhaust along with a high(ish) 10.4:1 compression ratio that all combine to kick out an impressive 450kW/770Nm. Not quite as much as the supercharged Clubbie we drove last year but flippin’ heck, what a beast.

The smaller supercharger still whines away and helps cause the fat 20-inch rear wheels to light up at the slightest provocation if you have the ESP off. Is it the fastest wagon on the planet?

Yeah, let’s go out on a limb and give it the gong. It would suck in and spit out Audi’s RS6 Avant V10 twin-turbo which has a mere 426kW/630Nm and weighs over two tonnes.

The boys at WP are a bit coy about calling numbers, but we reckon the Walky wagon will stop the clocks at around 4.5 seconds for a 0-100kph sprint, that’s if you can get it off the line without shredding the tyres.

With ESP on, it’s a fairly jerky ride as power is cut, then fed in, then cut then fed in as the rear wheels light up — pain in the arse and not real flash for the six-speed auto box.

But the good thing to remember is that your Holden warranty holds on with WP mods… fairly comforting, given the amount of grunt feeding through the tortured powertrain.

The test car was kitted out with plenty of goodies including a set of stunning 20-inch composite alloys with Bridgestone rubber. There was also a 650 watt Rockford Fosgate audio system [with 10-inch woofer] and a range of WP style touches like the alloy pedals, door sill kick plates, triple-centre mount digital gauges with volts, oil temp and oil pressure read outs.

There’s a set of Alcon high performance brakes with six-piston callipers up front, four pistons down the back and the suspension has been slammed 30mm and gains stiffer springs. As far as we can ascertain, the six-speed auto tranny in the test car is a stocker. Big ask in our opinion, especially when you boot this thing up and unleash 770Nm of grunt.

As an SSV, the test car was already blessed with rear park assist and had a set of semi-sports seats with leather upholstery.Other goodies include dual-zone climate control, electric driver’s seat, 14 function trip computer, auto headlights, cruise and a really cool wheel with flat sides — sounds whacky, but feels good to drive.

Now that’s out of the way, what’s it like to drive? Well, like the car, the driver tends to grow horns when the engine is fired up. It has a superb

reviewed Holden Walkinshaw Performance Superwagon reviewed by Peter Douglas

V8 rumble that turns into a mad roar accompanied by the whining supercharger when you kick it in the guts.The sensation is so intoxicating, you’d wanna do it all the time, but would soon run out of brownie points with the fuzz and could end up in the clink.

Naughty boy.

As you’d expect, the thing hauls arse deluxe.

There’s a bloke around town with a Ferrari 360 Modena who reckons the Walky wagon would knock it off in a straight line. He should know, he drove the white witch last week and couldn’t wipe the smile from his dial. Bet his missus didn’t like it though — too crass, too loud, too badass, too westy.

There is no point at which you will find the Walky wagon lacking in acceleration, it has truckloads available everywhere. The kickdown function is extra special as the car lights up the rears from 80kmh on the move. You can see other drivers reaching for their mobile phones — wankers.

But there’s a downside to this almost limitless punch and that is in the handling department.

Put simply, the Walky wagon struggles to cope and needs race spec’ suspension to keep it on an even keel when pushing hard. It wallows around and engages ESP all the time when you stir things up. The suspension is comfy and semi-sporty but it needs two modes at least — normal and race. Race needs to be hard to keep the thing under control.But you’re never going to get around the fact that it is a wagon with more weight down the back and over 70 litres of fuel when full. The pendulum effect in operation…

We love this car — it pushed nearly all the right buttons and, with a slight suspension upgrade, would be an absolute ball-tearer. Drop dead gorgeous, too — great for the ego on a Sunday arvo down at the foreshore. r e v e r b m a g a z i n e i s s u e # 0 4 7 — j u n e 2 0 1 0

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Live reviews Regina Spektor

band on stage for ‘Smoke On The Water’. Then the band returned for ‘Hush’ and the afore­ mentioned ‘Black Night’.

In 2010, Deep Purple sound as loud and accomplished as ever. While singer Ian Gillan has lost some of the vocal range that he had in the seventies, he still knows how to wail. Seeing the band continue to master their dark, drawn-out breakdowns is a reason why crowds should continue to see this enduring group. ~Nick Milligan

Sydney Opera House Tuesday, April 27

Spoon Regina Spektor ©Johnny Au

It appears that not a seat is vacant as Regina Spektor struts from a darkened side of stage to her piano in front of a jubilant Opera House crowd. It’s been well over a year since Spektor has graced Australian shores with her music and can’t resist the urge to express how she feels when welcomed to the warmest of receptions.

Spektor begins to play ‘Eet’, a hit off her 2009 album Far which is instantly recognised by the audience from the first chord she presses her fingers to. Spektor’s voice is quite dazzling and at times, amusing — her vocals seem to jolt and syncopate to the sound of the beat on a few songs, forcing a stuttered melody. Accompanying Spektor on stage is a violinist, cellist and a drummer, who create a dynamic switch that flows from verse to chorus. As Spektor sings, strums a guitar and plays her piano in such a confident manner, little would expect that between songs she seems quite shy to the spotlight. Spektor whispers her words and thanks the audience for their quiet attention, explaining how surreal it is to be playing to an audience that surround her from every angle. After a solid hour of play, Spektor walks from the stage.

Ten minutes later the stage lights up and Spektor is greeted to the floor once again by an echoing cheer to play a couple of missing hits.

One of her earlier numbers, ‘Fidelity’ is played, fuelling an eruption of voices singing back the lines to her most popular song of the night. ~Sean Frazer

Deep Purple Newcastle Entertainment Centre Thursday, April 29

Coolangatta Hotel Thursday, May 6

John Mayer Spoon ©Emma Visman

Deep Purple ©Kevin Bull

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OX Lennox Point Hotel Friday, May 7

OX ©Emma Visman

Entering the Lennox Point Hotel, I was encouraged to see that black is still the new black in the heavy-rock scene, and the preferred dance move is still the ‘stand there and nod’.

Some things never change. The Lenno is one of those rare smaller venues where the band is right there, right in your face. And when the noise starts up, the whole place becomes a living, breathing, pulsating thing. Now enter into the belly of that beast a band named Ox. In a world where there’s any number of soft coastal bands full of hair gel and mung beans, it’s refreshing to find a group with a bit of venom in its veins.

Ox hits the stage like a road-train hits cattle.

The vocals of Gray Allsbury are intense. His snarling and direct delivery reminded me of Chris Cornell, and they make the perfect accompaniment to the stinging, whirling guitar riffs and pounding dominant beat of the band.

There were a few cliché moments, but I think that’s to be expected. Heavy-rock is its own genre, and there are some things that just have to be done. However, getting half naked during song two of the first set was perhaps a bit premature. Ox is a band with a future, and as soon as they find their full voice, and their own feet, this band will fill some very big rooms. ~Stephen Bocking

Hoodoo Gurus Newcastle Leagues Club Saturday, May 15

John Mayer ©Chrissy Kavalieros

Big Top, Luna Park, Sydney Thursday, May 6

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Newcastle Entertainment Centre Friday, May 7

Touring off the back of their seventh studio album, Transference, Spoon played to an underwhelming crowd of just a few hundred stage-shy punters. Openers Rocketsmiths however, still managed to put in a frantic and flawless set, reminiscent of the B-52s and Modest Mouse. Five minutes after taking the stage, Spoon’s frontman Britt Daniels commented to his tour manager to ‘take a note’, after a quick audience survey revealed that very few punters were even Gold Coast locals. Managing to put the size of the crowd aside, Spoon squinted into the lights to make a connection with those who were there, playing a stellar set with ‘Don’t Make Me a Target’, ‘Ghost of You Lingers’, ‘Underdog’ and ‘Way We Get By’, clear crowd favourites. ‘I Turn My Camera On’ melding into Paul Simon’s ‘Peace Like a River’ was yet another stand-out moment in the 90 minute onslaught. Daniel’s voice is surprisingly even more raspy and heartfelt than on their records, and this, combined with the tight strippedback band, gave the show a personal and engaging element which was wasted on a mostly empty room. ~Kristy Visman

The Cult

Deep Purple have been regulars to our shores since their monumental visit in 1999. Sadly, that tour was also the last for virtuoso keyboardist Jon Lord, who went on to pursue other musical projects. Since then, Purple’s keys are reigned over by Don Airey, another rock legend who is a mind-blowing musician. Airey’s extended solo intro into ‘Lazy’, was one of the highlights of Deep Purple’s recent visit to Newcastle.

Deep Purple used two hours to delve into their back catalogue. Opening with ‘Highway Star’, the band also played powerful renditions of ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’, ‘Space Truckin’’ and ‘Fireball’. Guitarist Steve Morse did another breath-taking solo that morphed into ‘Black Night’. Other stand-outs on the set list were the title track from their 2005 record Rapture Of The Deep and ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’.

Before the encore, Nathan Cavaleri joined the

two distinct halves, the Love album (1985) performed in its entirety (personally I would have preferred Ceremony or Sonic Temple), followed by a classic hits encore.

Attempting to perform an entire album can be problematic - unless that album is solid throughout, you end up highlighting the weaker album tracks when they are played against the true classics. This is the case with Love. ‘Rain’ and ‘Revolution’ were highlights, and ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ held it’s place as one of the greatest rock songs written. However, ‘Brother Wolf, Sister Moon’ simply felt short of the mark.

Following a far too long intermission, The Cult launched into a wonderful, yet far too short, encore of hits that included ‘Wild Flower’, ‘Sun King’ and closed with the roar of ‘Love Removal Machine’. Overall, this was not the stunning show I was hoping for - Astbury’s vocals were unfortunately quite buried in the mix (Billy Duffy’s guitar cut clean and sharp though), and if you remove the novelty of the Love album performance, the set list was rather weak. ~Kevin Bull

The Cult ©Kevin Bull

Question for you Mr Astbury - I know you may have piled on the pounds over the past few years and may not exude that ‘rock god’ persona of the 80s, but did you really need to remove the photographers from the pit after 30 seconds? How vain can you be?

My bitching aside, let’s get into the concert itself. On entering the packed Luna Park Big Top, it became very clear that the love for this band is held close to many people’s hearts punters older in age maybe, but none the less passionate. Tonight’s setlist was broken into

It is easy to forget that John Mayer (perennial ladies man, stand-up comedian, obsessive tweeter and endless source of tabloid fodder) is first and foremost a blues musician.

Most would plonk him in the ‘sensitivesinger-songwriter’ box and be done with it.

Tonight, however, Mayer’s set is peppered with enough guitar virtuosity and blues licks to interest the doubters. Although, for this reviewer, it was still not enough. With such a vast back catalogue to choose from (two EPs and four studio albums), I had anticipated much more variety in this rushed set.

It appeared Mayer was pandering to his younger demographic of fans, clearly the overwhelming majority here tonight, playing mostly hits from his last two long players (‘Heartbreak Warfare’, ‘Waiting on the World to Change’, ‘Gravity’, etc).

I once read an interview with Mayer in which he revealed he couldn’t wait to be famous enough that he could afford not to play ‘Your Body is a Wonderland’ ever again. It appears that day has come, as there was nary a hint of that tune, or any others off his earlier work. ~Amanda Bevan

Hoodoo Gurus ©Robyn Moore

When the Hoodoo Gurus step out on stage, it becomes quickly evident that they haven’t lost any of the spark and charisma that has made them a legendary act.

This set is split equally between new songs from their latest record Purity Of Essence and classics. Opening with ‘What’s in it for Me?’, the Gurus bust-out new tracks like ‘A Few Home Truths’, ‘Let Me In’, ‘Are You Sleeping?’, ‘Crackin’ Up’, ‘Burnt Orange’, and ‘I Hope You’re Happy’. The large crowd listens

all pics © kevin bull

groovin the moo review attentively and responds well to these new batch of songs.

But the excitement is most evident when the Gurus rip through a series of their crowd favourites: ‘Tojo’, ‘Come Anytime’, ‘Miss Freelove 69’, ‘Bittersweet’, ‘I Want You Back’, ‘1,000 Miles Away’, ‘I was a Kamikaze Pilot’, ‘What’s My Scene’, ‘The Right Time’ and ‘Like Wow, Wipeout’.

Like a fine wine, the Hoodoo Gurus are getting better with age, both as performers and songwriters. Guitarist Brad Shepherd plays his wild solos, wearing a shirt that he reveals he used to wear on the Mars Needs Guitars tour. He also sings the song he wrote for the new record, ‘You’ve Got Another Thing Coming’. Dave Faulkner’s voice is as powerful as it ever was.

Not only are the Hoodoo Gurus still a force to be reckoned with, but they’re the best live band in Australia. ~Nick Milligan

Blackrock Civic Playhouse, Newcastle Wednesday, May 18 Based loosely on an incident that occurred in Newcastle in 1989 the, now deceased, Academy Award nominee Nick Enright’s Blackrock illustrates a deplorable possible outcome of teen binge drinking, coupled with the way the calamity affects those involved.

Being staged in Newcastle for the first time since the play’s 1996 premiere, the Tantrum Theatre production explores the emotional personal battles its cast members endure following the appalling group rape and consequent murder of a young girl at a beach party.

After spending the opening scenes leading up to the party - which is taking place to celebrate both the 18th birthday of Toby [Dean Johnson] and the return to town of the rough and influential Ricko [Ben Freeman] - a booze filled shopping trolley, minimally lit set and sandy floor covering truly create the intended mood. With the implied incident happening off stage, the scene concludes with the breakdown of Rachel [Rachel Jackett] who storms onto the set after finding her friend Shana [Cordelia Hamilton-Russell] bludgeoned to death.

In a disturbingly poignant duet between Ricko and his best mate Jared [Dean Blackford], who witnessed the rape, Ricko graphically confesses to being the one who murdered Shana by brutally bashing her face in with a rock. Laden with guilt Ricko, who offers one of the stand-out performances of the production, eventually takes his own life in the concluding minutes of the play.

Littered with colloquial language, Blackrock shifts cunningly through earnestness and humour. One such example of the dialect used occurs when Rachel is quarrelling with her mother Marian [Erika Gelzinnis] and father Stewart (who is played by prominent Hunter actor Rod Ansel). Rachel screams “It’s because he has a dick!” when disputing the rationale behind allowing her brother Toby to have a beach party, which she is prohibited from attending. This outburst engendered a few chuckles from the audience, who remained engrossed for the duration of the engaging 120 minute offering.

In a performance plagued with talent, other noteworthy inclusions were provided by Jared’s mother Diane [Karen Lantry] and Cherie [Brittany Turner], who bestows a touching monologue after the death of her close friend. The high standard of entertainment supplied is courtesy of a brilliant production team and quality cast, of whom many undoubtedly have their best performances ahead of them. ~Nathaniel Try

vampire weekend

GROOVIN THE MOO Maitland Showgrounds Saturday, May 8 With its most über-cool line-up since the festival’s inception, Groovin The Moo had a very different vibe in 2010 compared to previous years. There were a lot of harmless indie kids roaming Maitland Showgrounds, compared to the shirtless hooligans that have been rife in past years. Overall, it was an event packed with world-class music.

Early in the day, Lisa Mitchell had the crowd swooning, and British India whipped their audience into a frenzy with a cover of Nirvana’s ‘Lithium’. Miami Horror played a synth-laden set that failed to fully engage, though the crowd gave a big response to radio hit ‘Sometimes’.

Spoon brought a touch of pizazz to the main stage with their stylish indie rock. ‘The Way We Get By’ remains a fantastic live sing-a-long number.

Tegan and Sara were a highlight of the day, reminding punters of how many killer pop tunes the Canadian twins have penned. From ‘Walking With The Ghost’, to ‘The Con’, ‘Alligator’, ‘Hell’ and ‘Back In Your Head’, they delivered a brilliant set. Perhaps they’re The Bangles of the modern era?

Grinspoon did what they do best and rolled out a big set of festival anthems. They tend to play it pretty safe these days, obviously afraid they’ll get lynched if they omit ‘Champion’ and ‘More Than You Are’. But it’s no surprise that these guys remain staples of Australia’s festival circuit. You can’t put on an event without them.

Vampire Weekend were clearly an act that most people didn’t want to miss. The New York City four-piece have definitely improved since their rather bland debut performances in 2008.

With two albums of material to choose from, they were far more engaging and dynamic on stage. Hit ‘Cousins’, had hands in the air.

Empire Of The Sun’s stage show was a flurry of wild costumes and choreographed dancing.

Their electro-infused pop opuses translated well into the live arena. ‘Walking On A Dream’ and ‘We Are The People’ created an electric energy in the Moo herd.

The grand finale was Silverchair, who opened with one of their best songs, ‘Emotion Sickness’. They fitted a lot of crowd favourites into the set, like ‘The Door’ and ‘Israel’s Son’.

Singer Daniel Johns was in fine form, with his trio unveiling a number of new songs to local fans.

Two were apparently called ‘16’ and ‘Machina Collecta’, and by their sound it seems that Silverchair’s forthcoming record could be their most bold and outrageous yet. ~Nick Milligan

tegan and sara

silverchair

Grinspoon

spoon

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41

film/DVD reviews

Nightmare remake In recent years there have been numerous remakes or ‘re-imaginings’ of classic 80s horror flicks and none that I can recall have been very memorable - or necessary, for that matter. Unfortunately the new Nightmare on Elm Street does nothing to buck this trend.

For the uninitiated, Freddy Krueger is a hideously burned and sadistic villain who exists in the nightmares of teenagers, but has the power to kill them in the real world. He dons a stripy jumper, as well as a hat, and his favourite weapon of choice is a custom-made glove with blades at the end of each finger. In this new version, he is haunting Elm St teenagers Dean [Kellan Lutz], Jesse [Thomas Dekker], Kris [Katie Cassidy], Quentin [Kyle Gallner] and Nancy [Rooney Mara] who are all too terrified to sleep when it becomes clear that this subconscious madman has the ability

reviewed A Nightmare On Elm Street reviewed by Mark Snelson rated 2/5 to take their lives.

This is director Samuel Bayer’s first feature length film after a very successful career in music videos. Stepping into Krueger’s shoes for this outing is Jackie Earle Haley who is given a darker, more serious Freddy to work with, but taking away the playfulness of Robert Englund’s version means he is far less entertaining. To the movie’s credit, it does look great and some of the transitions between reality and the dream-world are impressive, but these factors are not enough to save this by-the-numbers remake.

The saddest thing of all, is that there are probably dozens of fresh and unique horror screenplays that were passed over whilst this was given a green light. The original might look a little dated, but it is a heck of a lot more fun than this.

Hard justice

reviewed Harry Brown reviewed by Mark Snelson rated 3.5/5

Harry Brown is a bleak, yet gripping, revenge thriller from first time feature length director Daniel Barber. Whilst it may not be the most original piece of cinema, it is held together by a stunning performance from Michael Caine.

Caine plays Harry Brown, a pensioner who lives on a public housing estate that has gone to hell. It is overrun with drug dealers and hoodlums who see violence as a form of entertainment. He is an ex-serviceman who leads a very simple life, heading down to the local pub most days to play chess with his best mate Len. His wife has just died and we learn from a visit to the cemetery that his daughter died at the age of 13 many years ago.

When Len is violently killed by a gang of local thugs in a pedestrian tunnel, it pushes Harry to a breaking point and he decides to take the law into his own hands. His search to find and

take down those responsible for Len’s death leads him to the darkest corners of his estate, which are inhabited by horribly seedy dealers, addicts and ultra-violent thugs.

Caine is brilliant as Harry. He gives a commanding performance that leaves you feeling his dismay at a world gone very wrong and siding with his form of justice. Emily Mortimer also give a nice performance as the officer who still cares, despite the area she has been assigned. It is also a well-paced movie that gives plenty of time between the bloodshed to explore its characters and the terrifying world in which they live.

Harry Brown will no doubt draw a lot of comparisons to Gran Torino, and rightly so on many levels, but this is a much darker and violent affair that probably owes an equal amount to the likes of Death Wish.

Taking their turn

reviewed The Sound Of Three — 12 Years With You reviewed by Kevin Bull rated 3.5/5

Bondi’s favourite musos, Cog, have just dropped The Sound Of Three - 12 Years With You, a CD/DVD package that is the perfect summation of their history. The DVD comprises of a 13-track live concert recorded at the Coogee Bay Hotel in 2009, a 45-minute documentary, seven videos, four live cuts, and a bunch of images.

The CD is the companion to the live DVD concert, which leans heavily on their Sharing Space album. The concert footage is not the slickest I have seen, but its rawness does plant you right in the pit with the boys. The sound quality is top notch.

Doco, 12 Years With You, narrated by

Mammal vocalist Ezekiel Ox, begins with the band-members’ pre-Cog outfits - The Hanging Tree and Tax. It traces the birth and development of the band - a beginning where Cog were an instrumental band in search of a singer - and works through the production of their three albums and the rise of the band within the independent music scene. We also see the band loading into the Cambridge Hotel, which is great.

Overall, the narration is far too wordy, and would have carried greater weight if delivered more often by the band members themselves.

As a package though, this will be lapped up by the fans.

In the hood Robin Hood has been given the big screen treatment many times in his 800 year history, often approached as a wirey and mischievous deviant with a wicked sense of humour. He robs from the rich and gives to the poor. He’s been stoically portrayed by Sean Connery and Kevin Costner, and more playfully interpreted

by Errol Flynn and Cary Elwes.

In director Ridley Scott and writer Brian Helgeland’s contribution to Hood’s mythology, Russell Crowe plays the historic title character with charisma and brooding violence - he’s both a charmer and an effective killer. In this vision of the story, we return to the roots of Robin Longstride, who is an archer in the army of King Richard The Lionheart (Danny Huston). Robin’s duties under the King on his famed Crusades have been questionable and when an opportunity to flee presents itself, Robin escapes the military.

He’s joined in his escape by Little John, Will Scarlet etc, who as we know, will become his band of ‘merry men’.

Through a series of eventful twists, Robin and his crew find their way to the small, rural town of Nottingham, where they meet Marion Loxley (Cate Blanchett) and her ancient father-in-law, Sir Walter Loxley (Max von Sydow). When the self-centred Prince John (Oscar Issac) becomes king, political and social unrest sweeps the land, threatening to have monumental consequences.

Robin Hood is another example of Scott’s love of grand, yet traditional film-making.

Fans of his edgier work, like Blade Runner and Alien, might find this a little bland. But those 42

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reviewed Robin Hood reviewed by Nick Milligan rated 4/5 that enjoy epic cinema, will be impressed by the scope of this new imagining. It’s rife with memorable performances, particularly Sydow, and also Mark Addy as Friar Tuck. Crowe seems incredibly comfortable with his lead role and Blanchett brings the grace and strength to Marion that we expect from her.

William Hurt is surprisingly good as William Marshal, a political leader who senses impending doom in his country.

By making this a prequel to the well worn stories of Robin’s escapades in Sherwood Forest, it breaths fresh air into Hood’s character. The finale is perfectly executed and worth the admission price alone.

game reviews

JAWS, PAWS, HORNS AND CLAWS On being sent Monster Hunter Tri, I was slightly chagrined to discover just how little I knew about the franchise — it is, after all, nothing short of a national sensation in Japan, where Tri has already been declared the country’s highest-selling third-party Wii game to date.

Given the title [and the enormous aquatic dragon on the cover], it seemed a fairly safe assumption that I’d be hunting monsters at some point, but the specifics eluded me. Once I’d actually immersed myself in Tri, however, I soon discovered just how much I’d been missing.

HOW TO MAIM YOUR DRAGON

The game begins in Moga, a sunny little fishing village whose tranquility is shattered by sudden earthquakes and coastal storms. The culprit is Lagiacrus, the aforementioned aquatic dragon; he seems to have found a new home in the region, terrorising local waters and roiling up the sea. To whom do good dragonfearing folk turn in such a crisis? Why, you of course, a freelance hunter who [despite being an apparently reputable slayer of beasties] arrives in only his underwear, carrying a cheap sword and very little else. You’ll need legendary arms and armour to defeat your foe — to forge these, you’ll need the necessary parts, and to obtain the necessary parts, you’ll have to hack them off the necessary monsters.

My initial assumption was correct — in Monster Hunter Tri, you hunt monsters. You hunt an awful lot of them, in fact, from the humblest insectoids to the mightiest stone-plated, razor-taloned, fire-breathing behemoths. It’s a simple premise that’s remarkably addictive; kill monsters, strip their carcasses for parts, bring the parts to a Smithy, forge them into stronger weapons and armour, kill stronger monsters, get stronger parts, and so on. While this might seem like just another form of grinding, it never feels laborious, due in no small part to the enormous array of armaments that can be crafted. Whether you prefer your quarry slashed, cleaved, bludgeoned, skewered or shot from afar, there’s a suitable weapon for you to brandish and an armour set to make you look hardcore while brandishing it.

You’re also saved from aimlessness by a basic quest system, which is included essentially to provide context and give a sense of purpose to each of your wilderness excursions. You’ll be

reviewed Monster Hunter Tri (Wii) reviewed by Hugh Milligan rated 8.6/10

contracted by “The Guild” on behalf of various townspeople to complete increasingly difficult tasks — these involve anything from fishing and gathering to killing a particular monster, or even capturing it alive. They all invariably fall into the same basic categories, but each offers a bag of goodies for your trouble while moving the narrative forward.

HUNTING PARTY

In spite of all these features, the offline singleplayer is a somewhat limited affair; once you’ve completed all the quests, there’s very little else you can do on your lonesome. Tri is, however, a game clearly designed with multiplayer in mind, as it features one of the most robust and carefully considered online components I’ve ever encountered in a Wii title.

Once you select a server, you’re dropped straight into Loc Lac City, a bustling trade hub where you can meet other hunters and embark on various quests for up to four players. In lieu of narrative, there are numerous new quests on offer, new locations to explore and new epic monster encounters, all geared towards teamwork. These will provide you with rare, otherwise unobtainable components from which to forge some of the sexiest gear in the game.

Don’t worry if you’ve spent a lot of time learning the ropes offline — you’re able to use the same character for both offline and online play, so your efforts aren’t wasted.

Communication with other players is understandably vital, and Capcom has gone the extra mile to include support for Wii Speak.

Unfortunately, my bundle of the game did not include Wii Speak [though some apparently do]; instead, I was forced to write out messages letter by letter with the D-pad, a truly barbaric act that no civilised person should ever be

forced to perform. There are a series of “gestures” available to your character, but these aren’t especially helpful, and I certainly wouldn’t advise you to attempt them while you’re in any sort of real danger. You can, at the very least, ‘ping’ your location on the map if you need assistance.

IN THE WILD

In terms of presentation, the game maintains a colourful, reasonably detailed aesthetic reminiscent of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

NPC models are kept relatively simple, while greater attention is given to your character, whose appearance you can customise upon creation. It’s nothing spectacular; you’re given a level of control comparable to World of Warcraft, selecting from preset faces, clothes, hairstyles and colours to create someone reasonably unique. Weapons and armour are again more detailed — it’s these that you’ll be showing off to other players, after all.

The environments are deceptively beautiful.

As you explore them, you’re really only moving through a series of small ‘enclosures’ — you’re kept from wandering by conveniently placed boulders, inclines or ravines. Beyond these, however, you’re offered a spectacular view of the horizon, as the landmass stretches towards a vast sea and skyline. A slightly contrived illusion perhaps, but it works; the levels appear genuinely expansive, and you don’t feel nearly so confined. The lighting and environment effects are much the same, economical but pretty, and you’ll see them in play across all manner of settings: volcanoes, icy tundra, desert plains, marshland and forest.

The monsters themselves are similarly diverse, although earlier creatures such as the Aptonoth and Jaggi bear a striking resemblance to dinosaurs [on my first hunting trip, I felt as if

I’d been let loose on an indiscriminate killing spree through Jurassic Park].

MANGLED ANGLES

There are, in spite of its merits, a couple of annoying faults in the game. The first is the lack of a lock-on system — regardless of the reason, it’s an appalling oversight. I very quickly lost count of the times I lashed out at a monster only to go hurtling past its shoulder, slashing stupidly at thin air as if I were concussed. Such clumsy combat is rendered all the worse by the game’s camera system, which seems determined to face away from your enemy at all times. You’ll spend most of your time manoeuvring it manually while fighting, or hammering the ‘C’ button to keep it locked behind your back. The camera is also solely responsible for directing your character underwater, which makes marine combat an absolute nightmare. It’s a real shame that these issues weren’t addressed; they’re a blemish on an otherwise enjoyable experience.

There are two fundamental demands we make of a role-playing game — epic boss battles and epic loot. Monster Hunter Tri doesn’t disappoint in either regard, and yet it never gets mired in the tedious number crunching that so often afflicts the genre. It’s not a perfect game by any means; there are only so many monsters to kill and items to craft, particularly if you only play offline. The game’s online replay value ultimately depends on Capcom, who have already started posting temporary “Event Quests” with the promise of further downloadable content in the future.

In any case, it’s an extremely solid title that you can and will get lost in for some time to come. If, like me, you’re new to the franchise, don’t overlook this one. reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

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r e v e r b s oc i a l i z m

groovin’ the moo, maitland

tonic — Beach House, Port Macquarie

BENI — CBD Hotel, newcastle 44

reverb maga z ine iss u e # 0 4 7 — j u ne 2 0 1 0

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9/4/10 9:26:11 AM