In fairness, as the big bloke with the long hair and the leather jacket, if I were the police I’d have stopped me.
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Category: Rock
B-Side #12, late 1985: Scientists, The Eastern Dark, The Stems, Deniz Tek, Behind The Magnolia Curtain, Mark Ferrie, Reactor Records.
More procrastination on other things!
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B-Side #11, June 1985: Tex Perkins, The Shindiggers, Decline of the Reptiles, Eugene Chadbourne, 21 Faces, The Celibate Rifles, Harem Scarem.
I basically commend all of this coverage.
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B-Side #10, April 1985: James Baker Experience, Triffids, Lipstick Killers, Saints, Tactics, New York garage psych roundup.
Remember when you could get this sort of goodness for a dollar?
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B-Side 4½, June–July 1984: Celibate Rifles, True West, J.F.K. and the Cuban Crisis, Clinton Walker on The Next Thing
B-Side was the Australian indie rock fanzine of the time. Just slabs of text about good bands and records. I straight-up lifted its format for Party Fears.
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Records: Throat (2018, 2020); Microlaxx (2021).
Less Nirvana and more Fugazi, and no fashionability whatsoever. “The kind of rock that was 20 years past its expiration date.”
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Records: Statiqbloom, AC/DC (2020).
A good new thing and an old new thing.
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Jeffrey Lewis & The Voltage: “LPs.” I feel seen.
If the year was from the ’80s it was guaranteed to totally suck.
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Vale Damien Lovelock, 1954-2019 — the last Celibate Rifles show, 19 May 2018.
The Celibate Rifles’ official Facebook posted a link to what turned out to be their last gig — Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 19 May 2018. Here’s the complete video.
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Records: Nero Bellum, Am I Dead Yet?, O.R.k. (2019).
Mary Byker being precisely the right amount of too clever for his own good is a pleasing surprise when clearing down the review pile.
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Records: The Be Positives, Boy Harsher (2019).
Some new pre-punk pop-rock, and a remixed favourite.
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Records: Frog, Keen On Keys, Metal Disco (2018).
Metal Disco is today’s pleasant surprise winner.
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Records: Dew, Irk, Transmaniacon featuring Lydia Lunch and Maya Berlin (2018).
Dew and Irk are both remarkable finds and produce the correct horrible racket, though the loved one compared Irk to a sack of hammers falling down stairs.
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Records: The Rolling Stones, Deerful, Benjamin Shaw (2016, 2018).
A party that everyone’s been looking forward to for weeks. They seem to be having a wonderful time.
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Blacklab: Under The Strawberry Moon 2.0 (2018).
Hey, are you interested in letting a couple of women from Osaka just completely melt your fucking brain? If so I have found the album for you.
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Links: EBM is trendy, managing the Rolling Stones, Swiss modernist post punk, egregious YouTube content filtering.
Post-punk albums in the style of 1960s Penguin nonfiction paperbacks.
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Reviews: Aboleth, Zanias (2016, 2018).
Writing about music is the most ridiculous notion, and the review pile is only getting larger. So I’ll give just embedding players and mumbling something a go. This works for me, and that’s the important thing.
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Links: Why the Rolling Stones suck, “fake artists,” ’80s remixes of current pop, ABBA, Philip Glass and S-Express, YouTube Music.
The Rolling Stones piece certainly answers for me the question “why could I never get into this stuff?”
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Richard Syrett on Theodor Adorno, the Beatles, conspiracy theorists and … me.
Did you know that Frankfurt School philosopher Theodor Adorno wrote all the Beatles songs? I sure didn’t! In fact, I still don’t.
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Mark Rye: Inside Looking Out: More Rock’n’Roll tales from inside the British music business (2017).
First-hand tales from the people down in the engine room.
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Ryder: For What It’s Worth (Live) (2018).
Buttrock band.
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Links: High-Definition Vinyl, Brian Hooper RIP, Eventbrite’s we-take-all ticketing contract.
At least Twitter reaps a bountiful harvest these days.
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Andrew W. K.: You’re Not Alone (2018).
How do you feel about relentless positivity and good cheer? I’m a bit cynical about it myself, but once in a while something comes by that slaps a smile on your face and won’t get out of your head.
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Links: The grunge gold rush, the Lester Bangs play, headphone jacks, Chandra, the first Velvets gig.
A pile of writing.
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Reviews: Dboy, Distant Stars, Cherry Heaven (2017, 2018).
Doing it yourself with trashy rock’n’roll, minimal synth and shoegazy indie.
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Links: Rasa Didzpetris Davies genius of The Kinks, Milli Vanilli, Arthur Baker, Children of Satoshi.
Planet Rock. Nicht halt. Raza DIdzpetris is why the Kinks were that good.
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Reviews: The Glass Eyes, Elektrostaub, Stolen Apple (2016, 2017).
Two indie rock, one industrial bleep.
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Diplomatic escort for David Bowie and Iggy Pop, 1976.
Letters to the Editor, Financial Times, 2 October 2017.
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Links: Piracy doesn’t affect sales, DC hardcore, Bowie and Cale, early proto-blues.
Und Sisters gegen Nazis.
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King Snake Roost: Things That Play Themselves (1988). Vale Charlie Tolnay.
Charlie Tolnay died a few days ago. Here’s a career rundown and a long bit from a 1990 Party Fears about my very favourite record of his. The correct hideous racket from freaks.
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