ETERNAL SOUNDCHECK

Brisbane independent music in the 80's

2012-01-06T02:22:00.004+10:00

This is something a little different for this blog but it should be of some interest to you if you're reading this. The following is an article written by my landlord Frank about growing up in Brisbane during the 1980s. It's a uniquely personal look into the era and a worthwhile read if you have an interest in the history of Brisbane music.

Part 1

A view of the past …..Brisbane independent music in the 80s

At the risk of sounding like an old fart I’d like to say something perfectly stereotypical, and that is, “I don’t feel like an old fart”. Sure I have a wife, kids and a mortgage. Sure I don’t get pissed as much anymore, or see as many bands as I did, but I still don’t feel that old. And believe me this is not a novel position.

By way of example:

It was 1986 and I was in my late teens and I saw The Flamin Groovies, who started in the 60s, live at the Love Inn in Ann Street, the Valley. They were supported by the then, “next big thing” from Brisbane, The Headstones, who had their own large following, and who co-incidentally had been a few years above me at high school. The venue was notoriously small and accordingly packed. I was forced into a corner and started talking to two “old” guys. They were a hoot as they told me about the 60s in Brisbane and seeing the Beatles and the Kinks and all that and I was standing there in awe and I said something like “wow, it’s great that you old guys get out”. One of them laughed and said “steady on, we aren’t that old, and don’t feel old”. They were in their early 40s, the same age as I am now. I now know what they meant, felt. Time is subjective. As Orson Welles once warbled on an ill advised 45 …. “I Know What It Is To Be Young (But You Don't Know What It Is To Be Old)”. That night both bands put on great shows. The Groovies on stage that night are still one of the best live gigs I have seen, and the “young crowd” loved them and the old crowd loved “The Headstones”. Everyone was in sync and age had no bearing on anything.

Music, I believe, to anyone who is genuinely interested in it is not so much about what is new. Sure, in rock and pop there is an overabundance of emphasis on the “here and now” but I suspect that largely this has to do with record companies forever having to create new music to sell to people who are too lazy to find music for themselves. After all, unless you are Elvis, The Beatles or a couple of others where is the money in back catalogue sales?

I believe though that non mainstream music is the most fertile ground for music and for future musicians. Within that arena both “old” music and “new music” including new emerging sounds all co-exist with each other on a more or less equal footing. It is that accessibility to all music which, hopefully, gives the music listener, satisfaction and gives the musician, original inspiration.

Music should transcend time, all the time. Again, the labels don’t want that but that is exactly what jazz and classical music enthusiasts do. You don’t see the Deutsche Grammophon classical label trying to find the next great composer. Sure, they put out new works but they are also forever repackaging Beethoven conducted by Karajan, because that was one of the high water marks in that music. It’s the same with jazz in that you can get as much Miles Davis and John Coltrane back catalogue as you can contemporary jazz. Rock and pop however have been poorly done by despite quite a few enthusiast independent labels (Norton, Sundazed, Bear).

I say here what I have always maintained and that is that I listen to new music all the time though some of that new music was recorded before I was born. If I find a 45 from 1957 by some little known singer from Tennessee banging loudly on his guitar and which I haven’t heard before, that’s still new music to me, isn’t it? If that music satisfies me or inspires me to pick up a guitar does it matter that it’s 50 years old?

“New” doesn’t have to be something on the charts now or even something “forward thinking”. After all if rock history shows anything it is that every time there is a “revolution” in rock music, the sounds that are being referenced are always variations on the basics set down by Elvis and others in the 50s. It is about stripping back and going back to the roots or the essentials …

Similarly, if you are looking for new music you cannot avoid live music. Going to a dance bar where there is a DJ is never going to be enough, no matter how hip the DJ is. That may be a good start but sooner or later you will have to see live music. It may not be “new” or great always but it does open your mind and expose you to music that you may not have come across before. I’m not talking about seeing Pearl Jam at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre here, because there is nothing to be learnt there but I am talking about seeing local bands, interstate acts and small to midsize overseas acts. You will be exposed to music and it will be delivered to you like a punch to the forehead – it will be loud and personal as you would expect from a sweaty, “intimate” Brisbane venue.

Back in the 80s, which were my after school and University years I spent a lot of time seeing bands, discovering new music, listening to music and hanging out with like minded individuals. Roughly, 1983 – 1993, were my most intensive band going years but I never ceased liking or discovering the music that I loved. Unlike my peers I never had a great desire to join a band but also unlike some of my peers I was enthusiastic about the music itself rather than some of the benefits it delivers.

The 70s may have been my formative years as a kid, but the 80s expanded my tastes and established my attitude and world view. Do not get me wrong, I am not defending this era as I’m of the view that nothing good came out of mainstream pop/rock music in the 80s (OK, I generalise). The 80s to me though had the best indie/alternative/underground scene of any era (another generalisation).

Maybe it was because the 80s was that time when the mainstream and underground collided in an organic way without the benefit of the internet or digital downloads and because people listened to music in a different way, a way which was to be replaced by something more immediate.

I do not begrudge technology …for an anal OCD type like me it makes storing, cataloguing, and listening to music easier but the discovery of music should perhaps always be organic …. through friends, zines, books, op shop finds or live music. Sure technology can supply just the same information, and quicker, but perhaps it supplies to much information, so you don’t know where to direct your atttention and you not surprisingly are overwhelmed and give up.

I remember in the 80s thinking there were some records I would never get to hear because they were so obscure. Well now, via ebay, on-line shopping, file sharing I have all that “old’ music. Unless people are lemmings or just not that interested I do not understand why there hasn’t been more people searching the past. The reality is some of the kids have become enamoured with that same music but despite the universal accessibility to that music the percentage of people getting turned on to that music is about the same as it was in the 80s.

I think there are a number of reasons for this which will become apparent … but I have digressed.

This article came about because I was asked by a 20 something year old to write something and the original question had something to do with what was it like in Brisbane in the 80s and the “punk” scene. I wrote what follows then added all of the above as a sort of introduction …….

Part 2

At the outset I should say that the definition of "punk" has probably changed over the years and maybe it isn’t what I call punk or what you guys call punk. Punk in the 80s at various times was California hardcore (Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Germs, Black Flag etc), East Coast or elsewhere (Fugazi, Husker Du etc) or English ( Sex Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, The Damned, Sham 69, Subhumans etc).

I never would have ever referred to myself as a punk and the punks of the time certainly would not have referred to me as the same.....I only ever had a high quiff or long hair which were not part of the “punk” uniform then and all the indie musical genres had a identifiable “uniform” that distinguished you from the mainstream. Accordingly, to be a "punk" in the early 80s you normally dressed strictly according to the English definition - high spiked hair, safety pins, torn clothes etc. By the mid 80s the more casual, less regimented dress of California hardcore and New York punk meant you didn’t have to try that hard to fit in. But, “fitting in” wasn’t a big deal since the “scene” was pretty much open to anyone who wanted to listen, or see, non mainstream acts. I saw a lot of international punk acts.....The Dead Kennedys, The Damned, The Cramps, The Stranglers, The Saints, Iggy Pop, The Ramones (who were not always referred to as punk at the time from what I recall) and I listened to a lot of California hardcore. A little later in the early to mid 90s I saw Rollins, Fugazi, Jesus Lizard and Shellac (are they punk?) as well as Sonic Youth, Pavement, Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Mudhoney and others who blur the lines. There was never a large problem if you did not have the full uniform and anyway my tastes were not exclusively punk.

Generally, the scene was quite small (probably no more than 1000 people at any given time), and clubs (inevitably live venues) would play host to all sorts of different people into a wide variety of non mainstream music coming together. On any given night, depending on the year, if was not unusual to see rockabillies, goths, punks, mods, swampies, rude boys, Detroit rockers and everything in between all converging on the same place.

Because the scene was small there was also a slight “us and them” mentality and that was reasonable in the circumstances. Brisbane in the 80s was light years away from what it is now. The stereotype of the big country town was, in part true, and in some ways endearing. But there was another side, a dark side, where even slight deviations away from the norm were not tolerated. Indie dress codes, styles and haircuts which nowadays would not even raise an eyebrow in the most puritan person where then the subject of abuse, ridicule, laughter and the occasional thumping. And that is both from the public (mainly) and the police (more than occasionally). Maybe, even that moderate attire was too much of a shock to the status quo. I will let the cultural anthropologists do more research on the same if they are interested.

Also and again, because the scene was small, there were only a limited amount of bands playing. You were lucky if there was 100 indie bands at any given time, probably closer to 50. A lot maybe, but not in a town of 1.5 million. Venues (and even then there never seemed to be enough around) normally would try to get bands with similar sounds together on the same bill but generally you had bands of all the indie genres lumped together. Local proper punk acts like Crucified Truth, La Fettes, The Cursed, Death of a Nun, Post No Bills, Mutant Shitbags, Insurrection all ended up on bills with other "indie" bands who weren’t necessarily “punk” like Hotel Breslin, Dirt and the Rebels, The Five Hanks, Rubber Bug, The Girlies, Who’s Gerald, Aloha Pussycats, The Convertibles or Dementia 13. So, you may have had quite a schizophrenic night, but you were also exposed to other forms of music.

Likewise there was a cross-pollination of styles as well as blurred genre lines. My peers and I acknowledged that The Stooges, MC5, Radio Birdman etc were proto punks but they were generally referred to as "Detroit" which is what I was into. I was also into retro old school rock, rockabilly, 60s garage, California hardcore, new wave, power pop, swamp (silly name), early grunge (silly name again) and a couple of things which I was right into, which sounded cool then but now maybe sound stupid, namely, "cowpunk" and "the paisley underground". Both were largely California musical movements. Cowpunk was mainly ex California punks who started to mix punk with country and / or rockabilly. (stuff like Rank and File ( ex Dils and Nuns), The Blasters, The Knitters (post X), True West, Mojo Nixon, Green on Red) whilst "The Paisley Underground" were Californian bands playing 60s US psychedelia, electric folk etc (The Long Ryders, The Three O Clock). I was also into what at the time didn't have a separate name but what came to be known as punk blues ( The Gun Club etc). These last 3 "genres" all blurred the line with each other though (eg: The Flesheaters, Divine Horsemen, X, Wall of Voodoo).

It sounds like I was into a lot of things but I really wasn’t. Most of those styles and genres are inter-related. At around the same time you had all sorts of other music sub genres active in the indie/alternative scene: 60s mod, new wave, goth, synth, ska, oi, electric blues, retro hippie psychedelica, art rock, pop, English soul, folk, jingle jangle and even a bit of poodle metal.

The only thing I’m certain of is that I was into music that was American (or Australian) and not all of it. With a few exceptions I have never cared for English music. Still don't.

It's easy for me to now rattle off the "genres" I was into but at the time you didn't make as many distinctions or even know the name of the genre or sub genre generally. None of the genres above were called "punk" at the time, I don’t think, but I suppose a lot were "punk" or quasi punk. I don't recollect what I “called” myself at the time but I do recall that if anyone asked I would just say I was into "alternative music" or occasionally I would say "indie music" ….I think. I use “indie” in this article as “independent” as it seems to cover all the various non-mainstream genres.

I’ve referred to a number of overseas bands in an article supposedly devoted to Brisbane in the 80s. Like it or not this is unavoidable as most of the Brisbane bands from the 80s directly mirrored what was happening in the USA or in England. That’s not to say there weren’t any number of bands putting their own Australian twist on the music but ultimately they were twists on trends happening overseas.

And, discovering what was happening overseas, as I referred to earlier, was not necessarily an easy process, but one that involved some effort.

In the days before the internet you learnt about music from magazines or friends. You would read a zine and if a band you liked referred to another band or gave credit to their inspirations you would go out and buy that. This was risky business because you were buying a lot of things without having heard them. LPs I think cost about $10 and I was working at Woolworths (whilst I was at Uni) as a Thursday/Saturday casual earning $25. So, accordingly you had to put a lot of faith in the zine you were reading (Forced Exposure, Maximum Rock n Roll, Bucketful of Brains, Kicks and Byron Coley's column in Spin being my favourites), the label the record was on (I still buy anything old I find on IRS, Slash or SST ...or in Australia- Waterfront, Citadel, Red Eye) or your friends (though some of them with hindsight had quite mediocre taste).

There was 4ZZZ public radio but in about 1986 they had a cultural shift and refused to play most of the music I was into. For instance they banned the Hard Ons and The Johnnys. Haven't listened to them since .....

Also, this was in the days before JJJ – some people have said, and I would not disagree that the potency of musical categories were diluted when 2JJJ went national. Perhaps, that was the worst thing for local music because it only predated the internet by 5 or so years, but it did change, perhaps negatively, "the local scene".

Also there was the street press (Rave and Time Off) which were handy and at the time champions of local music even though they concentrated largely on acts touring and not on back catalogue or on the sounds that inspired the emerging music.

Live music was certainly a way of getting exposure to the new. And some of the musicians were old dudes in their mid 20s! The trouble was that their access to older and newer music had the same limitations we had. And of course, then as now, there never seemed to be enough venues for all the bands to play. Accordingly there were many DIY back yard gigs, some where hundreds of people attended.

The op shops were a treasure chest if you were looking for old back catalogue, which I was. There were records from the 50s and 60s in abundance from all sorts of “exotic” acts which I had never heard of but then subsequently found out the bands were well known ….. The Youngbloods, The Hombres, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Grin and a hundred others were op shop finds. Amongst my group of friends (largely) and the scene generally there was no distinguishing music by its age. So, a op shop find of a band from the 60s, if good, was going to get as many spins as something recent.

Basically you were looking for anything that was different and wasn't in the mainstream ...it doesn't matter if that band had been in the top 10 in 1965 because they weren't in the mainstream in 1985.

A friend of mine maintains that it was also a time when songs were listened to the whole way through. Albums even. Many a hidden gem was found because "the record kept spinning" or "the tape kept playing", instead of the ADD approach today of lining up the "hits" on mp3. Simply, it wasn't like now, an mp3 curiosity, it was an investment of time and thought. I can’t disagree with that though I will say there still seems to be that small percentage of people who do take the time to search out and listen.

The 80s were a great time to kick against the (mainstream) pricks. That spirit is alive today every time someone buys a record from an op shop, puts on music which is 20 or 40 years old, joins a band that plays something left of centre, puts on a show in their backyard, or otherwise releases a record, CD or tape of music which has “limited commercial appeal”.

I’m not really sure if I have discussed punk or even music in the 80s in Brisbane but I have tried to give you some insight to what I think was the mindset at the time.

Cheers
Franko

http://franklycollectible.com/

RAW PRAWN - SOUND SUMMIT 1/10/2011

2011-10-13T12:37:00.007+10:00

Raw Prawn are a great new band hailing from Sydney. Consists of members from Holy Balm, Whores, Circle Pit etc. This was the last song of their set at the Croatian Club in Newcastle for Sound Summit 2011. Some of the best stuff I've heard all year.

Blah

2011-05-31T21:37:00.006+10:00

It's been dead quiet around here the last 2 months. I guess I've been on a break or I'm just lazy or poor or something. Here's some recent music videos from some of the best bands Australia has to offer right now (in my fucked opinion). All are worth my time and maybe yours too.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE - Clock of 12's

From "Twelve Dark Noons" EP on Sacred Bones Records.
Directed by Jacqueline Castel.
Shot by Jacqueline Castel, Caleb Braaten, & Matthew Hopkins.

WOOLLEN KITS - Maths

Official video for the A-side of the upcoming RIP Society 7", Maths/Out Of Town. Out June 20.

BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS - Nobody Else

Video by Angela Bermuda - silvervideo.tumblr.com
Nobody Else 7" out June 20 on R.I.P Society Records.

THE TWERPS - Black Eyes

Filmed by Johann Rashid and James Eisen.
Edited by Johann Rashid.

EAT SKULL AUSTRALIAN TOUR 'PLUG'

2011-03-29T23:43:00.002+10:00

This is a shameless plug for something I've had a small part in putting together over the last 6 months. One of my favourite contemporary American bands Eat Skull are going to be touring our fine country in April. That's right, fuckin' EAT SKULL!

April Tour dates:

FRIDAY 8 WOODLAND, BRISBANE

SATURDAY 9 TOTALLY AUTUMN FESTIVAL, NEWCASTLE

SUNDAY 10 THE PHOENIX, CANBERRA

FRIDAY 15 FORMAT, ADELAIDE

SATURDAY 16 THE WORKER'S CLUB, MELBOURNE

SUNDAY 17 THE SANDRINGHAM, SYDNEY

Slug Guts will also be joining them on all dates to launch their second LP "Howlin' Gang".

Facebook event

ETERNAL SOUNDCHECK: THE FIRST YEAR (2010)

2011-03-21T11:41:00.007+10:00

My humble little film about Australian music, 'Eternal Soundcheck: The First Year' can now be watched in full on Youtube. It was originally shown in Brisbane in September last year, followed by Melbourne and Sydney screenings in January, and in New Zealand at Camp A Low Hum in February. Now you can watch it on your laptop while drunk in bed. I've divided it up into 7 parts. Enjoy.

Part 1
Hobart - Ivy St, Drunk Elk, The Native Cats
Adelaide - Bitch Prefect, Terrible Truths, Dud Pills

Part 2
Canberra - Assassins 88, The Fighting League
Newcastle - Alps

Part 3
Sydney - Royal Headache, Naked on the Vague, Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, Holy Balm, Whores, Southern Comfort

Part 4
Melbourne - Chrome Dome, Wasted Truth, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Stabs

Part 5
Brisbane - Blank Realm, Gerald Keaney & The Gerald Keaneys, Scraps, Science, The Seizures, Per Purpose, Extra Foxx, White Cop, Sexual Chocolate

Part 6
Brisbane - Slug Guts, Sky Needle, Cured Pink, Stag

Part 7
Brisbane - The Deadnotes with Everett True, Kitchen's Floor, Blank Realm

THE CLEAN / DEADNOTES / BLANK REALM AT THE ZOO 10-03-11

2011-03-11T11:56:00.004+10:00

It's been something like 22 years since The Clean last played in Australia. (Yet the plane trip over from New Zealand only takes 4 hours, what the hell?!). Anyway I was damn excited, and damn exciting it was.

Epic as always, here's a bangin' new tune from Blank Realm.

DEADNOTES WITH EVERETT TRUE

The Deadnotes were really tight and as Everett True stated during their set, "I'm just glad to here". Definitely one of the best times I've seen them.

THE CLEAN

The Clean. Enough said.

ALPS / BARE GRILLZ AT WOODLAND 5-03-11

2011-03-06T22:27:00.003+10:00

Newcastle's Alps and Bare Grillz have spent a couple of weeks on tour in support of the new Alps album 'Alps of New South Wails'. Brisbane was their last show. Good dudes, fun times.

BARE GRILLZ

ALPS

Thanks to Luke for lending me his camera.

CURED PINK

2011-02-08T11:41:00.004+10:00

I just had a completely shit night of horrific sleep and I feel about as healthy and wholesome as this new video from Cured Pink. Filmed under Brisbane's William Jolly Bridge a few days before xmas last year, it is a soothing visual/audio companion to the inevitable doom. The live footage was shot by Katie Martin, the audio was recorded by Joel Stern. Highly recommended.

ALPS MUSIC VIDEOS

2011-02-06T18:17:00.005+10:00

I'm really liking these two new videos/songs from Newcastle's Alps. They're off the soon to be released fourth album 'Alps of New South Wails'. It's definitely some of his best work so far and I have high hopes it's gonna be a hit.

I'd also like to say a massive thankyou to everyone who has donated money towards a new video camera, it means a lot. Beers on me when I get everything sorted out.

CIRCLE PIT / BOOMGATES / BLANK REALM AT DEADSHITS MOTEL 29-01-11

2011-02-02T20:08:00.006+10:00

Hells yeah. For the first time in it's 19 month history Eternal Soundcheck is in 'Hi-Def' - courtesy of Blank Realmer Luke Spencer who lent me his sweet camera for the day. This show happened under my house and was a follow up to the first Deadshits Motel show in November.

BLANK REALM

BOOMGATES

CIRCLE PIT

SYDNEY SCREENING

2011-01-19T12:46:00.006+10:00

'The First Year' film is gonna be showing in Sydney at Good God Small Club on January 27th. It's also the 7" launch of Adelaide's Bitch Prefect, one of my favourite bands. Also playing is Southern Comfort (also a mega favourite) and Kitchen's Floor.

Facebook event.

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On a downer note, when I was in Melbourne last week both my video cameras were stolen along with a bunch of other stuff of mine that was keeping me relatively sane. I lost all the footage I had filmed while on tour as well, and you can't replace that shit. I basically can't keep doing this blog without a video camera so until I get another one there won't be much happening here. Depressing. You can help out heaps by donating some funds (Paypal button on your right), which will go towards a new camera. I'm extremely broke which is why I'm asking but as far as I can tell everyone is poor as fuck right now too so I don't expect anything. I just want to keep filming bands etc.

KITCHEN'S FLOOR TOUR

2011-01-05T17:29:00.006+10:00

Shameful plug. My band Kitchen's Floor is going on tour this weekend. Very psyched that I get to play with some of my favourite bands, and I will try to get some awesome footage as well.

Shows:

Saturday 8 January - The Exeter, Adelaide
w/ Dud Pills, Hit The Jackpot + Rites Wild (Facebook)

Sunday 9 January - Bar Open, Melbourne
w/ Absolute Boys, Breaker Morant + Asps (Facebook)

Tuesday 11 January - Woodland, Brisbane
w/ Thee Oh Sees (USA) + Sulphur Lights (Facebook)

Saturday 15 January - Black Wire, Sydney
w/ Fabulous Diamonds, Interzone, Cured Pink, Per Purpose + Whores (Facebook)

Sunday 16 January - Summer Vibes Festival, Newcastle
w/ Thee Oh Sees (USA), Straight Arrows + more (Facebook)

DEADSHITS! TWO - PREVIEW

2011-01-04T20:02:00.012+10:00

The second instalment of the Deadshits Festival series is happening at Woodland, Brisbane on January 28. Here's a preview of the line up we've put together and check out the facebook event for more info. Or just take my word for it that it's gonna be awesome and get your ticket here.

BOOMGATES

"With a lineup consisting of Brendan from Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Steph from Dick Diver and a rhythm section of members from Teen Archer and The Twerps, you know right away Melbourne’s BOOMGATES will be great. Their music is rich with goodtime summer vibes, listening to it makes you want to get out of the house more and generally be less of a shitty person. Debut 7” out now on R.I.P SOCIETY RECORDS." Myspace

CIRCLE PIT

"CIRCLE PIT are a glam/scum/rock ‘n’ roll band from Sydney, Australia. Formed in 2008 by Jack Mannix and Angela Bermuda, they are now a five person gang consisting of Harriet Hudson, Al Haddock & Jeffrey Lewis, with Owen Penglis (Straight Arrows) occasionally making six. This is their first show in Australia since returning from a 40-date, 6-week USA tour promoting their new Bruise Constellation LP, out now on Siltbreeze Records." Myspace

HOLY BALM

"Holders of the controversial title “the best band in the world”, HOLY BALM are in fact three humble young adults from Sydney’s inner suburbs. The only thing discerning these guys from your neighbours is that on weekends they happen to be the best freaking weirdo-electronic-dance¬band in the world. If you happen to like your dance music served with weird shit like butter prawns and oregano then this is for you." Myspace

ASSASSINS 88

"ASSASSINS 88 are a two piece from Canberra that mix the Lightning Bolt aesthetic with 60’s pop sensibilities. Their debut album Go Go Second Chance Virgin was a worldwide blog hit of 2009 and the band have only gotten higher and higher since." Myspace

SUPER STAR

"SUPER STAR equals Kieran Hegarty and Esther Edquist, who make wandering, slow space songs. They combine synthesiser and guitar to make a type of music that is rhythmic, wonky and repetitive. Self described as “floating music”, these are slow rhythms, strange sounds and simple songs." Myspace

No Super Star footage sorry, I filmed them in 2009 but it didn't work out. They are awesome good though.

PER PURPOSE

"PER PURPOSE are a three piece band of Brisbane that formed early this year in Queensland, in and of other acts and that. Their debut 7” Heil Progress is out now on B.S. Records, with a tour of Aus in Jan/Feb 2011 to support. Oh pretty please." Myspace

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DEADSHITS TWO

FRIDAY JANUARY 28

8PM

WOODLAND BAR
CONISTON LANE, FORTITUDE VALLEY

PRESENTED BY BEDROOM SUCK RECORDS, THE OUTPOST AND ETERNAL SOUNDCHECK

MY DISCO AT THE ZOO 27-11-10

2011-01-03T19:07:00.004+10:00

I've been sorting through a bunch of stuff I filmed during the time my laptop was dead and here's some footage from My Disco's Brisbane show in November, which was in support of their latest album 'Little Joy'. The song is called Sunray.

MY DISCO

ACID CASUALTY MUSIC VIDEO

2011-01-02T13:34:00.007+10:00

New music video from Melbourne's Acid Casualty. They broke up a few months ago after releasing a self titled 7". This video was filmed just before their split and I was lucky enough to get a copy of it to put on here. Shot in and around inner city Melbourne's infamous Barkley St. (also the home of Shaun South who even makes a cameo), the video shows the band scummin' around in their natural habit as their beer guzzlin', flannel wearin', chain smokin' Acid Casualty dude alter egos. Weird and awesome.

ACID CASUALTY

Edit: Three Thousand recently published a small article saying I was the person who made this video clip, which was a little awkward to hear. They got it wrong, I had nothing to do with it other than put it up on my blog. It was made by Hannah Schiefelbein who is way better at making stuff than me.

DIE! DIE! DIE! AT WOODLAND 31-12-10

2011-01-01T17:35:00.000+10:00

New Years Eve at Woodland with New Zealand's Die! Die! Die! and Brisbane's own Blank Realm. There were even balloons and stuff. I filmed Blank Realm but my video camera is getting pretty run down from years of brutal abuse and I haven't been able to put up that footage yet. Damn technology, the future sucks.

DIE! DIE! DIE!

'THE FIRST YEAR' - MELBOURNE SCREENING

2010-12-20T14:42:00.000+10:00

The movie I made this year is getting screened in Melbourne in January. I'm looking forward to drinking a few 'longnecks' with ya'll.

ETERNAL SOUNDCHECK: THE FIRST YEAR
Video Documents of the Australian Music Underground

The Workers Club
Corner of Gertrude & Brunswick St. Fitzroy.
January 10
Doors: 7:30
$5

Facebook

A Sydney screening will be happening in late January as well (TBA). If any other towns want to see the film, get in touch. highfield85@hotmail.com

LOOKIN' BACK ON 2010

2010-12-10T12:14:00.000+10:00

2010 has been a pretty special year for music around these parts. Here are some of my favourite performances I've filmed over the last 12 months. It's worth noting that a lot of the venues that this stuff is from have closed down (The Hangar, Cubby Hole) or are about to close down (Burst City). Keep supporting these bands/venues etc. stupid rant etc.

Grab a six pack of your favourite brew then lets look back on 2010, eh?

DUD PILLS - Cubby Hole (June 5)

Only about 20 people came to this show, and a lot of people seemed to have the attitude of 'meh' towards this depressingly underrated Adelaide band. Not me though, Dud Pills fucking owned.

CIRCLE PIT - Cosmo's Rock Lounge (October 1)

Not many people came to this show either, and considering it was a fundraiser to help Circle Pit tour the USA, well bloody hell. Circle Pit played an awesome fuck off set.

ROYAL HEADACHE - The Annandale Hotel (October 3)

The RIP Society Records Success Summit was the most epic show I've seen this year. Frontman Shogun was apparently on the tail end of a brutal 3 day bender, and whatever was going through his head at the time definitely added to this performance.

FABULOUS DIAMONDS - Burst City (September 3)

Brisbane absorbs the swinging pendulum of nihilistic glory from inner city Melbourne hypnotists Fabulous Diamonds. That there is the lamest metaphoric sentence you have ever wrote Matt but I will keep it here where no one but you will read it.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE - Burst City (July 30)

NOTV hadn't played in Brisbane since 2006, way too long considering how many people love them here. They had just released their already legendary album 'Heaps of Nothing' and things were good. Damn good.

SUPER WILD HORSES - The Hangar (July 17)

'Fifteen', the debut album from Super Wild Horses has been a big favourite at my place, it always gets a play when we're all hanging out on the stoop. This video was from their first show in Brisbane, and it was a very decent set. I think I bought a pie from 7/11 on the walk home.

CHROME DOME - Burst City (April 23)

Every time Chrome Dome appear in my life I know a few more years are going to get cut off of my life expectancy but it's always worth it as I would probably waste those years anyway. Chrome Dome + Burst City was a perfect match.

BOOMGATES - Repressed Records (October 2)

I mostly like bands that have a passionate dedication to getting wasted and live on the edge of death but sometimes you just want one of those other kinds of bands that promote the almost unthinkable idea of optimism. Filming Boomgates at Repressed Records was a great pleasure.

BLANK REALM - Burst City (September 3)

A massive year for Blank Realm, and no doubt they will be filling stadiums by the end of 2011. I was completely trashed at this show and I think they were too, hell I think everybody was. Burst City.

MEAT THUMP - Alloneword (September 12)

Members of White Cop / cult zine writer form a new band in the shitty outer burbs of Brisbane, lug their shit into a shitty Fortitude Valley venue to play a shitty show on a shitty Sunday afternoon to a bunch of shitty people and the result? total transcendence of said shittiness. Meat Thump's shit is pure and this live debut was nothing short of brilliance.

WHORES - The Annandale Hotel (October 3)

It's hard to write about Whores, they're a band that just make sense to me. I filmed a few of their sets this year and they were all great but this show was perfect.

ABSOLUTE BOYS - Cubby Hole (June 19)

Absolute Boys make me wish I actually spent time trying to learn music, at least enough so that I could 'funk it out' or whatever you kids do. Their first time in Brisbane, and the first time I realised my camera had a motion sensor thing that seemed specifically designed to bring the head nods.

ALPS - Newcastle house show (April 16)

Alps put on a guitar and played a solid set of noisy folk tunes on a Newcastle patio. Reminds me that it's sometimes good to get out of Brisbane. Actually it's always good to get out of Brisbane.

SKY NEEDLE - Burst City (July 18)

Sky Needle sound like a band that prehistoric humans from thousands and thousands of years ago would have created if they had been visited by aliens, harnessed the awesome power of electricity and then invented a foot pump related musical instrument to annoy the moon. This afternoon set at Burst City was great.

SCIENCE - Brisbane house show (January 26)

A show from the beginning of the year, Science (later they changed their name to Psy Ants and became a 3 piece and still haven't released anything and haven't played in awhile) playing in a lounge room in Paddington, down the road from my house. Cops came and shut the whole party down soon after this set.

---------------------

That's it for 2010. Thanks to everyone for taking an interest in this blog. I haven't updated much lately as a large amount of beer was spilt on my laptop a month ago and you'd think that shit would be easy enough to fix but no.

SCRAPS MUSIC VIDEO RETROSPECTIVE

2010-11-26T20:42:00.000+10:00

I first saw Scraps (aka Laura Hill) play about 5 years ago. It was in a large, now demolished warehouse in Woolloongabba. She was playing on a grand piano and her un-amplified voice was nothing but a terrified whisper. It was obvious that she wasn't used to playing her music in front of people. What immediately stood out for me though was the individuality of her songs - simple, painfully honest, heartbroken excursions into pop that I found completely unique. Songs that could take over the world if given the chance.

A few months later I saw her again and drunkenly declared my admiration, she offered to give me a CDR of her music and I awkwardly scribbled my address down on the back of a receipt. What arrived in my letterbox a week later was incredible, a burnt CD with no tracklisting, enclosed within a crudely stapled cut up page from a magazine. She had recorded everything alone in her bedroom. I listened to that CD everyday for freaking months.

Crippled by stage fright, Scraps didn't play again for a few years but my obsession with her music never really ceased and every time I saw her out I'd pester her to play live again. I'd show anybody who would listen the CD that she had given me. I was a complete pain in the arse.

Laura finally started playing regularly again in 2008, mostly house shows and the like, still under the radar of most. Scraps is one of those special artists that define Brisbane for me (along with Blank Realm, Meat Thump, Sky Needle, sure even bloody Slug Guts) - an amazing musical oddity hidden amongst a landscape of shit.

Note: These videos were all made by Scraps.

BITCH PREFECT / YOUNG ROMANTIX / MEAT THUMP AT DEADSHITS MOTEL 6-11-10

2010-11-14T18:06:00.000+10:00

An afternoon BBQ show that happened at my place the day after the first Deadshits Festival. Everyone drank away their hangovers, hung out on the stoop and ate meat. At the moment I'm making a documentary on the Deadshits Festival so I won't put footage from that up just yet.

And as always, great live recordings of this show and others can be found at Turnitupto10.

BITCH PREFECT

Pat from Bitch Prefect made the first video here from his own footage of the day, mixed with audio recorded by Turnitupto10. Like all his other videos, it's awesome viewing. The second is just ya usual shakey cam footage from me (but the tune is great).

YOUNG ROMANTIX

Melbourne's Young Romantix - awesome crazy guys. Totally gothed out synth punk. Features Pat from Bitch Prefect on drums for this tune.

MEAT THUMP

More quality sounds from Brisbane representatives of the day Meat Thump.

Some final sizzlin' hits:

MEAT THUMP AT BREWS BROTHERS 24-10-10

2010-10-25T16:44:00.000+10:00

MEAT THUMP

Brews Brothers is a small time Brisbane brewery situated in the almighty inner city suburb of Woolloongabba, a good place to go to drink some cheap yet quality brew while watching some cheap yet quality bands. It's been a little over a month since Meat Thump played their first show to massive indifference and since then they've expanded into a 4-piece, giving some kid the time of his 15 year old life. Meat Thump's musical references range from the tragically underrated Jim Shepard through to GG Allin and the Rolling Stones, played with as much skill as a bunch of fuck ups from the outer burbs of Brisbane can muster. Damn pure funny awesome shit.

BLANK REALM - FULL MOON DOOR MUSIC VIDEO

2010-10-24T16:27:00.000+10:00

This is a promo video I've made for Blank Realm's epic good vibes song 'Full Moon Door'. Made on a $7 budget (1 x bottle of wine), it features footage from shows filmed over the last year in Brisbane, Newcastle and Sydney. The LP the track is on, 'Deja What?' is getting released in November on Bedroom Suck Records. A worthy addition to anybody's record collection.

DEADSHITS FESTIVAL - PREVIEW

2010-10-17T14:35:00.000+10:00

Deadshits Festival is a new festival series I'm helping put together with Bedroom Suck Records and The Outpost. I don't normally use this blog to plug my shit but hell, I want this to do well. We're getting some of the best damn interstate bands of today to come play Brisbane and depending on how the first Deadshits goes (and the second one which is happening in January - TBA), this could be a long running awesome thing. If you're in Brisbane on November 5th and you're a fan of this stuff, come and support it.

Tickets are only $10 and available online through OZTIX and also at The Outpost, Rockinghorse Records etc.

MEET THE BANDS.

BLANK REALM

Blank Realm are launching a brand new LP 'Deja What?' at the show, it's an awesome record. Mastered by Mikey Young and features hit after hit after bloody hit.

ABSOLUTE BOYS

This video is from the first Absolute Boys Brisbane show in June. I don't dance but they made me come close and considering how dead I am inside, that is an epic feat.

BITCH PREFECT

Adelaide's Bitch Prefect are one of the best pop bands in the country right now, effortlessly summing up life as a twenty-something broke sharehouse idiot (speaking for myself here). They've got the hits (Bad Decisions, Marilyn Monroe) but these two music videos are some of their lesser heard gems.

YOUNG ROMANTIX

YOUNG ROMANTIX is Melbourne icon Shaun South (frontman of CHROME DOME). Shaun also ran the Summer Winds Festivals, which happened every year in Sydney and Melbourne from 2006 through to 2010 and were an inspiration for Deadshits. Young Romantix last played Brisbane in 2007, it was at Ric's and they played for about 3 minutes before being physically removed from the stage by security, thrown out and banned for life. It still holds up as one of the best performances I have ever seen.

TEEN AX

I don't know too much about Teen Ax except that they're 2 guys from Sydney and they play brutal noise. The track on their myspace is pretty awesome.

DEADNOTES WITH EVERETT TRUE

The Deadnotes have been playing together for almost a decade, combining pop simplicity with improvisational approaches to their live performances ETC. ETC. man I hate trying to define bands with words, it's freaking lame. Deadnotes aren't lame though, they're awesome and with Everett True aka The Legend! once again joining them, it's gonna be cool.

CURED PINK

CURED PINK IS A ONE MAN NOISE MACHINE MIXING PRIMORDIAL URGES WITH THE BENEFITS OF ELECTRICITY AND AMPLIFICATION, MAKING AN ATTEMPT TO TRANSCEND THE CONFINES OF SOCIAL RESTRICTION AND RETURN US BACK TO THE NATURALLY UNINHIBITED STATE OF EARLY MAN. CAPS LOCK.

Seeya there.

CARBORATOR / WHORES / BLANK REALM / WOOLLEN KITS / ROYAL HEADACHE AT THE ANNANDALE HOTEL 3-10-10

2010-10-08T19:53:00.000+10:00

Over the last year R.I.P Society Records has achieved a lot for all of the bands and people involved. The Sydney label has maintained a strong sense of quality in everything it releases, from Circle Pit to Lakes to Zond, it all rules. This show celebrated a damn good year for R.I.P, it was a great day and one of my fav shows of the year.

CARBORATOR

Sorry about the sound quality on this one, was standing too close to the PA. R.I.P's description of Carborator is pretty definitive - "Carborator are a band formed by Dead Farmers guitarist David Akerman having recorded a bunch of Velvet Underground inspired demo’s on his trusty four track cassette recorder. He’s enlisted Songs drummer Steve Uren, Royal Headache/Bed Wettin’ Bad Boy member Joe Sukit on guitar and fellow Bad Boy/R.I.P Society CEO Nic Warnock on bass. Although the VU’s presence still remains, live the band has a thrust-worthy, primitive hard rock sound reminiscent of early 70’s Rolling Stones, Small Faces, “proto-punk“ and CCR."

WHORES

Whores are criminally underrated as they are one of the best punk rock bands in the country. Pass the goon, mate.

BLANK REALM

This is Blank Realm performing at their very best. The whole set was amazing to witness but this new song "Full Moon Door" is unreal. One of the best songs I've heard this year (The song is off 'Deja What?' which was released as a CDR by Albert's Basement earlier this year but has since been remastered by Mikey Young and will be re-released on vinyl in November through Bedroom Suck).

WOOLLEN KITS

Melbourne's Woollen Kits are a band I've wanted on this blog for awhile now and here they are - great pop tunes and friendly dudes.

ROYAL HEADACHE

Royal Headache are one of those rare bands where everyone agrees on how great they are. I've never met someone who doesn't like this band. This was their last show for the year as they take a break from performing to focus on finishing their debut album which will be released early next year. Definitely something to look forward to.

The second photo of a cake I've put on this blog in the last month. Hopefully not the last.

"HEY WAIT MAN WHERE'S ZOND?? THEY WERE FUCKING AWESOME, WHY DIDN'T YOU PUT THEM ON YOUR BLOG????" I lost the disc with the seminal Zond footage I shot somewhere on the drive back to Brisbane and I'm as destroyed as you. Pass the goon, mate.

BLANK REALM / SONGS / BARE GRILLZ AT THE CAMBRIDGE HOTEL 2-10-10

2010-10-07T00:17:00.000+10:00

This show was part of the annual This Is Not Art / Sound Summit festival. I've never seen so many people at a show in Newcastle - the place was packed. Memories of this night for me are pretty much a blur, a lack of self restraint wiped me out early on and that's why video cameras rule.

BLANK REALM

Blank Realm playing some serious psych jams in Newcastle - hell yeah.

SONGS

One of the last shows Songs are playing with their current lineup. The first video is 'Something to Believe in' from their self-titled 2009 album and the second video is a brand new song. This footage was filmed by Kieran Lavering.

BARE GRILLZ

I was last in Newcastle in April and I played at Rob from Bare Grillz' house and it was the first time they had ever played in front of people I think, they were really sloppy and cool and hurt my ears but what was even better than that was returning to Newcastle 6 months later and watching them play a brutally confident set to a huge crowd of people going nuts over them. I love that shit.

BOOMGATES AT REPRESSED RECORDS 2-10-10

2010-10-06T13:49:00.000+10:00

A sweet afternoon instore show at Repressed Records in Newtown for the release of the new Boomgates 7" (out on RIP Society). I would have loved to stay and video Dead Farmers as well but we had to leave straight after Boomgates and drive up to Newcastle (footage from there up next).

BOOMGATES

Melbourne's Boomgates - Wow. With a lineup consisting of Brendan from Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Steph from Dick Diver and a rhythm section of members from Teen Archer and The Twerps, you know right away this band will be great. Their music is rich with good time summer vibes, listening to it makes me wanna get out of the house more during the daytime and generally be less of a shitty person. A band that can inspire that kinda positivity without coming across as lame is definitely awesome.

CIRCLE PIT AT COSMO'S ROCK LOUNGE 1-10-10

2010-10-06T12:04:00.001+10:00

Tonight was Circle Pit's last Australian show for the year, a fundraiser for an upcoming tour of the USA in support of their excellent 'Bruise Constellation' album. I had spent the whole day in a van driving down from Brisbane, arrived late and wasn't in the right frame of mind to decently film the other bands but this show was really all about Circle Pit anyway and I wish them the best.

CIRCLE PIT

DIRTY MATTRESS AT WOODLAND 25-09-10

2010-09-27T23:44:00.001+10:00

Dirty Mattress is a short term band consisting of Luke Walsh (Blank Realm) on bass, Joe Alexander (Loose Grip, Per Purpose, Bedroom Suck) on drums, and myself. This was our first live performance, a midnight set at Woodland. Consisted of beefed up versions of Kitchen's Floor and look!pond songs. Below are two of the look!pond tunes, which haven't been played live since 2007. Filmed by Sally Edwards.

DIRTY MATTRESS

SCRAPS / FEATHERS AT WOODLAND 18-09-10

2010-09-21T12:57:00.001+10:00

WOODLAND is a great new venue in the valley, a desperately needed fresh alternative to the long running valley staples (ric's, troubadour, step inn etc.), it's hopefully going to be the best place to see decent bands play in Fortitude Valley from here on in. The opening night the week before was massive, with Blank Realm and Slug Guts putting on awesome performances. I filmed it but the audio is farked, if anyone has an audio recording of the night get in touch.

Scraps and Feathers were great as always.

SCRAPS

MYSPACE

FEATHERS

MYSPACE

MEAT THUMP AT ALLONEWORD 12-09-10

2010-09-19T22:04:00.000+10:00

Meat Thump are a new band, all members are originally from WHITE COP (which includes Brendon Annesley, chief writer of cult fanzine Negative Guest List). Besides playing a short unannounced set at a Bardon houseshow a few months back, this was their first show (Alloneword is a weird place next to the Step inn, they describe their venue as a "boutique nightspot swathed in style and intimacy' - I didn't really know it existed, different crowd etc.) and it's hella rough around the edges as you'd expect but in a good way. These guys aren't out to impress you, they're just doing their thing.

MEAT THUMP

PSY ANTS / HEART FLEW / SCRAPS / KNEE CHIN AT LATROBE TCE. 11-09-10

2010-09-19T15:04:00.000+10:00

This was an afternoon show at my house to celebrate Bedroom Suck Records moving in (we even have an office! legit biz yo). Anonymeye played a great early set but the 10 minutes I filmed of it ended up fucking up (sorry tutts).

All of these bands should be pretty familiar to you by now, they're all amazing in their own ways but I'll let the videos do the talking instead of rambling on again. Enjoy.

PSY ANTS

MYSPACE

HEART FLEW

MYSPACE

SCRAPS

MYSPACE

KNEE CHIN

MYSPACE

KNEE CHIN / GERALD KEANEY & THE GERALD KEANEYS AT THE FIRST YEAR 16-09-10

2010-09-17T15:07:00.001+10:00

Wow what a cool night, thanks to everyone who came and enjoyed this. Definitely a highlight of my year.

KNEE CHIN

Over the course of this year Knee Chin have come from being a loose houseshow band into an incredibly great weirdo pop band that can take on the world. Brisbane's finest.

GERALD KEANEY & THE GERALD KEANEYS

Gerald Keaney plays a set featuring both lineups of his band ("Through the ages"), ending the night in great poetic party style.

Sarah from Blank Realm even made a cake!

PASTEL BLAZE / UNDEAD APES / USELESS CHILDREN / TEARGAS AT BURST CITY 10-09-10

2010-09-14T21:50:00.000+10:00

A shit night for me in retrospect, the new camera I've been using lately ended up getting smashed into the ground during Teargas' first song (more money I don't have) but whatever, I was still able to retrieve this footage from it, the bands were decent enough and it's Burst City.

PASTEL BLAZE

I'm tired, I like this band but I'm going to be lazy. Pastel Blaze are an "All girl garage glitter punk extravaganza from Brisbane, Australia" - from their tumblr.

UNDEAD APES

MYSPACE

USELESS CHILDREN

Melbourne's Useless Children were here to launch a new 7", 'Skin'. They have a record with a mind blowing 3D cover (comes with a pair of 3D glasses), my friend bought a copy and we were both pretty wasted and just stared at it in awe for the entire bus ride home and it was awesome. I appreciated that.

TEARGAS

Brisbane's TEARGAS, bloody brutal brisbane hardcore etc. etc. this footage is basically just me filming right up front like an idiot then getting knocked to the floor and the camera gets fucked up forever. The end, man, the end.

SKY NEEDLE - SWEET 16 (MUSIC VIDEO)

2010-09-10T13:19:00.000+10:00

Here ya go, an Eternal Soundcheck EXCLUSIVE. Brisbane's Sky Needle are one of the best experimental noise pop bands in Australia right now. They create a completely unique take on pop convention where the instruments involved are invented and constructed by the band themselves. What results is pure alien space noise from the cosmic junkyard. Here is a music video they made for Side A of their excellent 7" TIME HAMMER. It features real footage of Sky Needle travelling to the moon.

SKY NEEDLE

FABULOUS DIAMONDS / GUY BLACKMAN / SURF CITY / CRAYON FIELDS / HIGH PLACES AT FRANKLY! POP FESTIVAL 4-09-10

2010-09-06T11:09:00.000+10:00

Still feeling messed up from the night before, I stagger through Brisbane's public transport system half dead trying to make it to the Brisbane Powerhouse in time to see Fabulous Diamonds play at 1:30pm SHARP (this is a very professional event). I arrive just as they start and someone remarks to me about the cold atmosphere of the place. The sound is clean, inoffensive and at a ridiculously safe volume. The stage and lighting give off a vibe of distant sterility and I wonder how any band could make a lasting impression with their audience in an environment like this. Putting my personal thoughts aside though this was definitely a fun afternoon out of the house and for the casual gig-goer it would have been fantastic.

FABULOUS DIAMONDS

Melbourne's Fabulous Diamonds play a nicely contrasted set to their one the night previous, playing today to a laid back afternoon crowd of beverage sippers compared to the self destructively brutal yet downright glorious hedonism of Burst City. A truly great band will easily put on a good performance in both of these scenarios, and Fabulous Diamonds do just that.

GUY BLACKMAN

Melbourne legend Guy Blackman, known mostly for his great record label Chapter Music. Breezy lyric driven pop.

SURF CITY

I don't get to see nearly enough NZ bands which sucks because they rule at music. Auckland's Surf City were an enjoyable highlight for me.

CRAYON FIELDS

Another Melbourne based band, Crayon Fields played technically proficient pop at it's most thoughtfully adept.

HIGH PLACES

Somebody a few years ago gave me a burnt CDR of High Places (hailin' all the way from LA) and I remember putting it on my mp3 player and listening to it on the bus a few times etc. so I was fairly interested to see them live and yeah, it was pretty alright. There's another american band that's kind of similar called Reading Rainbow, I like them heaps, check 'em out.

BLANK REALM / FABULOUS DIAMONDS AT BURST CITY 3-09-10

2010-09-05T15:39:00.000+10:00

I know most of the shows I've filmed over the last couple of months have been from Burst City and it might seem a little repetitive but that's because it feels like the cosmic centre of Brisbane music right now. A show with a great lineup like this was going to be awesome no matter what venue it was in, but this was something else entirely. Feathers, Deadnotes and Slug Guts also played amazing sets that I wasn't able to film due to the dark lighting. Audio recordings of the whole night should be available at Turnitupto10 pretty soon I reckon.

BLANK REALM

Wow. There was something otherworldly about Blank Realm's set, a complete transcendental bliss that only this band can achieve. I was pretty out of it and can't really remember filming this but watching it back made me realise how much I fucking love this band.

FABULOUS DIAMONDS

Fabulous Diamonds are one of my favourite bands. This is the soundtrack to get wasted to and forget about your shitty life. They last played Brisbane a year ago supporting Pink Reason and were unfortunately mostly overlooked, but here they return and this time play a much deserved headline set.

CURED PINK / PSY ANTS / FANGS OF / DIE ON PLANES AT BURST CITY 29-08-10

2010-08-30T22:23:00.000+10:00

Back to Burst City... definitely the best place to spend a Sunday afternoon in Brisbane. $5 entry, 4 bands, what a good deal. For this show I tried something new and used a better video camera (courtesy Adam Rogers of Heart Flew fame), featuring widescreen, night mode etc. It's bloody nice is what it is, enjoy the difference.

CURED PINK

Opening with nothing more than a few heartfelt screams which then developed into tape machine perversions and some brutal floor thrusting, Cured Pink shows us why he's one of the best solo experimental noise performance artists in Australia.

PSY ANTS

Once again, here is the ALMIGHTY Psy Ants. Reliable as ever, they battle through technical problems and deliver the brutal.

FANGS OF...

Melbourne's Fangs Of... A TV Evangelist were very decent. Brutal post punk with enough imagination in the songs and structures to keep it engaging for the whole set, something a lot of similar bands don't do (for me anyway). Awesome.

DIE ON PLANES

I love it when I see a band I haven't seen before and they take me by complete surprise. Die On Planes came across as total dumbarse stoner doom and I mean that in the best possible way. I could watch/listen to this shit for days on end.

CLAG RETROSPECTIVE

2010-08-27T21:57:00.000+10:00

So... not many updates this month. I've been busy putting together the Eternal Soundcheck screening night (Get ya tickets here!) but I've been meaning to post these awesome Clag videos for a little while now.

Clag were a Brisbane band from the early 90's - really great and pure lo-fi pop music. Members of Clag went on to play in heaps of bands - Beaches, Minimum Chips, Panel of Judges, Custard etc.

CLAG

This video was filmed in 1993 at their house in Red Hill (the suburb over from mine, lovin' the local history). This song is an ode/anthem to that very sharehouse (I think).

Also here's footage of Clag performing at the 1992 4ZZZ Market Day:

You can download some of their recorded work here.

LOOSE GRIP / GRAVEL SAMWIDGE AT BURST CITY 14-08-10

2010-08-17T01:23:00.000+10:00

A Benefit show to help raise funds for Burst City to keep going, a damn good cause. Only 3 bands, Slug Guts played last and it was the best set I've witnessed from them, I was completely lost in that blurry moment and was unable to film it.

LOOSE GRIP

The first time Loose Grip have played in months (featuring weirdly enough, me on bass). Coast punk with pride saving their last beers from descending flesh.

Filmed by Esther Lilley.

GRAVEL SAMWIDGE

I turned 3 in 1989 and I guess I wasn't paying much attention because I cannot remember Gravel Samwidge forming that very year. It's now 2010 and just like my mental capacity is much the same as it was back then (eat, cry, sleep, repeat) Gravel Samwidge 21 years later on are still playing their own brand of dignified weirdo outsider rock. They played a long, uncompromising set of Gravel Samwidge hits old and new.

THE FIRST YEAR

2010-08-12T00:18:00.000+10:00

FACEBOOK

"Over the past 12 months the Eternal Soundcheck blog has emerged as a key source of video documentation for the Brisbane and Australian musical underground. Conceived and operated by Kitchen's Floor member Matt Kennedy, Eternal Soundcheck celebrates the energy, anarchy, creativity and community of contemporary DIY music. In celebration of it's 1st birthday, Eternal Soundcheck will present a special 'best of' screening featuring the most memorable performances and footage by a host of incredible groups including Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Royal Headache, Sky Needle, Blank Realm, Everett True, Scraps, Slug Guts and many more ... " - Joel Stern, OtherFilm

ALSO FEATURING - CHROME DOME / DRUNK ELK / BITCH PREFECT / PER PURPOSE / ABSOLUTE BOYS / NAKED ON THE VAGUE / TURNPIKE / BATRIDER / THE STABS / WASTED TRUTH / ASSASSINS 88 / WHITE COP / DUD PILLS AND MORE.

LIVE PERFORMANCES BY KNEE CHIN & GERALD KEANEY AND THE GERALD KEANEYS.

TRIBAL THEATRE. 346 GEORGE ST. BRISBANE.

THURSDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 8PM BYO. $8 THROUGH OZTIX.

SUPPORTED BY OTHERFILM, BEDROOM SUCK, THE OUTPOST & BATS MAGAZINE.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE AT GREGORY TCE. HOUSE SHOW 31-07-10

2010-08-03T14:11:00.000+10:00

Short notice house show in Spring Hill and NOTV's second show in Brisbane following Burst City. Weather was cloudly with some rain, kind of cold but not freezing. XXXX Gold. Harry's Fine Foods. Goodbye July.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE

Apparently this is a new NOTV song!! Unrecorded as of yet so check it out.

SLUG GUTS / NAKED ON THE VAGUE AT BURST CITY 30-07-10

2010-08-02T18:18:00.000+10:00

A brutal night at Burst City for the Brisbane launch of NOTV's excellent new album 'Heaps of Nothing'. Not one sober face could be seen amongst the bloody vomit drenched dirge. There were no survivors.

NAKED ON THE VAGUE

Brisbane finally gets to see NOTV in all it's relatively new 4-piece glory, having last been here an unforgivable 3 and a half years ago (!!!!). nah I forgive them. NOTV rule.

SLUG GUTS

This was a highly anticipated show from Slug Guts, who haven't played at all this year besides a recent tour of Japan. New members, singer swappin' and a whole new set of songs equated to a pretty darn exciting set.

AMBROSE CHAPEL / PSY ANTS / 6MAJIK9 / SKY NEEDLE / GERALD KEANEY AND THE GERALD KEANEYS / CURED PINK AT BURST CITY 18-07-10

2010-07-21T14:56:00.000+10:00

A mini-festival presented by Bedroom Suck Records, described as "A FESTIVAL OF THE BRISBANE UNDERGROUND, ALL AFTERNOON BEERS + BBQ IN THE TROPICAL WINTER SUNSHINE." There was no BBQ but there were plenty of beers, all the bands delivered and it was a really nice day. Aww.

AMBROSE CHAPEL

Ambrose Chapel is the solo work of Ian Rogers, well known for his work in No Anchor, AXXONN and back in the day, Iron On. He kicked off the afternoon with some ambient noise in the Burst City courtyard.

PSY ANTS

Psy Ants are so freaking great. Brutal early afternoon set.

6MAJIK9

Psychadelic collaborative improv noise trippers 6MAJIK9 make a rare journey out of the NSW highlands to perform. They played a long set that had grand moments of lysergic bliss.

SKY NEEDLE

Sky Needle are on their own indescribable level of unique awesomeness. Check this out.

GERALD KEANEY AND THE GERALD KEANEYS

One of my favourite things filmed for this blog was Gerald Keaney and the Gerald Keaneys playing at a house show last year in West End. It feels weird that almost a year has past since he's performed in band mode in Brisbane but this set was totally worth the wait. Backed with a new band, Gerald entertains the crowd with his ideas on the future, philosophy, binary code and music videos.

CURED PINK

After playing a bunch of well received Melbourne shows, Cured Pink plays his first Brisbane show back to launch a new cassette EP (out on Sabbatical). The set was awesomely short, brutal and ended the event in blood oceans of doommmmm. doooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm. Doom.

I wasn't able to film all the bands that played (Heart Flew, Teen Sex, Yout Dem) but audio bootlegs of each set can be downloaded from Labyrinth City. More thoughtfully written reviews of the performances are there too.

SUPER WILD HORSES AT LOFLY HANGAR 17-07-10

2010-07-21T11:54:00.001+10:00

Melbourne duo Super Wild Horses grace Brisbane with their presence to launch debut album 'Fifteen'. The Hangar is always a pretty fun place to watch bands and this show was definitely one of my faves.

SUPER WILD HORSES

I wasn't able to film any of the other bands but Loomer and Southern Comfort played awesomely. You can download high quality recordings of all the sets at Turnitupto10.

THE SEIZURES / SOUTHERN COMFORT / BLANK REALM AT BURST CITY 16-07-10

2010-07-20T13:46:00.000+10:00

THE SEIZURES

A new song from The Seizures. These guys go all out and it's freaken cool.

SOUTHERN COMFORT

The second show of Southern Comfort's 3 date Brisbane tour, joined this time with the tight rhythm section of Lee Parker (Slug Guts, Loomer, Insurgents) and Cameron Hawes (I Heart Hiroshima, Slug Guts).

BLANK REALM

A new hit from Blank Realm and it's a total live favourite. The chorus goes something like 'GROWIN' IT INSIDE YA! GROWIN' IT INSIDE YA!' and it's catchy as hell.

FEATHERS / STAG / SOUTHERN COMFORT AT LATROBE TCE. 15-07-10

2010-07-16T18:18:00.001+10:00

Another show at my house and uh, hell yeah. Good bands, minimal property damage, no noise complaints and my local bottle shop gets rich. Success.

FEATHERS

New song from Feathers, 'Darklands' and it's awesome. What a chorus!

STAG

Ravenous carb hungry pop noobs Stag delight the crowd, delight the crowd, delight the crowd.

SOUTHERN COMFORT

Playing their first Brisbane show, Sydney's Southern Comfort (Angie and Harriet from Circle Pit) pack out the lounge room and play through a set of solid hits.

GLEN SCHENAU / PSY ANTS / GUTTERS / EXTRA FOXX AT LATROBE TCE. 3-07-10

2010-07-05T20:36:00.000+10:00

What do you do when there's nothing happening on a weekend in your town? Rent out some DVD's and call it a quiet one? No damnit, you put on a show in your freaken house. ARGH.

GLEN SCHENAU

Glen Schenau - Per Purpose, Marl Carx, Kitchen's Floor. 'Comfortably awkward' acoustic set, enjoyable. Second video is a cover of the Beasts of Bourbon song 'The Day Marty Robbins Died'.

PSY ANTS

Formerly SCIENCE, the renamed PSY ANTS own tonight with a brutally doomed set of Brisbane proportions. One of my favourite live acts of this city.

GUTTERS

VIDEO + REVIEW REMOVED BY REQUEST

EXTRA FOXX

Extra Foxx brings the night to a laid back end with a lot of songs about winter. I guess it was cold.

THEE OH SEES (REVISITED)

2010-07-05T18:22:00.000+10:00

It's Monday and shit, another week. Thee Oh Sees are one of my favourite bands and their Brisbane show in December last year was THE BESTEST. Man I am getting dumb. Anyway this is another song from that show, 'Ghost in the Trees' off the album 'The Master's Bedroom is worth spending a night in'.

KNEE CHIN / POLYFOX AND THE UNION OF THE MOST GHOSTS / BLANK REALM AT LABEL PARTIES #4 26-06-10

2010-06-29T02:02:00.000+10:00

The 4th Label Parties event held in the Fortitude Valley mall, this time the focus is on humble Brisbane label Bedroom Suck Records. It was a lot more laid back than the RIP Society Label Party the month before but still a decent night showcasing some of Brisbane's best bands. There was also a lunar eclipse which made everything a lot more cosmic.

KNEE CHIN

An absolute Brisbane treasure. If you haven't checked out Knee Chin yet then now is the time buddy.

POLYFOX AND THE UNION OF THE MOST GHOSTS

Newcastle's Polyfox and the Union of the Most Ghosts returns to Brisbane and comes as a much more traditional 3-piece rock setup than the solo collaborative experience we saw in September last year. A fun set that mixed revamped versions of the instrumental journey songs he's reknowned for as well as introducing for the first time vocals on a few songs.

BLANK REALM

I've run out of different ways of saying 'Blank Realm are awesome' but despite the fact I've seen them a million times, I never get sick of seeing them play. Blank Realm are awesome.

CHECK THIS OUT

2010-06-29T00:25:00.000+10:00

For anyone interested, I've started a new blog about all the bands and stuff I was doing from 2004 to 2008. Heaps of downloads, nostalgia etc.

LINK

ABSOLUTE BOYS / FEATHERS / VELOCIRAPTOR AT CUBBY HOLE 19-06-10

2010-06-22T16:05:00.001+10:00

Cubby Hole is closing down and I'm unsure whether it'll continue at another venue so this is probably the last thing I'll film from there. END OF AN ERA, MATE.

ABSOLUTE BOYS

Hailing from Melbourne and featuring former members of Eucalypt and Ohana, Absolute Boys play Brisbane for the first time. I really liked it, someone described them to me as 'My Disco meets Fabulous Diamonds' which is kinda maybe fitting but I thought they were different enough to stand on their own. Which is a good thing, Duh.

FEATHERS

Gotta love Feathers, the first video is a brand new song with an appearance by Andrea Blake from Chrome Dome. The second video is a Rolling Stones cover. Enjoy.

VELOCIRAPTOR

Geeez man, Velociraptor have more members than I have mice in my kitchen which is a freaken lot. Spazzed out garage rock and a good example of how to get your friends into a show for free - just give them a tambourine.

SKY NEEDLE AT OBJECTOPHILIA LANEWAY EXHIBITION 18-06-10

2010-06-19T15:02:00.000+10:00

I kind of just staggered into this show and let Sky Needle blow my frazzled mind then left. It happened in Spencer Lane in Brisbane City as part of Objectophilia Laneway Exhbition.

SKY NEEDLE

GREG CHARLES / STAG / PASTEL BLAZE AT BURST CITY 12-06-10

2010-06-13T22:08:00.001+10:00

Damn Burst City is a good venue. With a newly constructed stage and sensibly designed banner proclaiming 'BURST CITY' above it the night went off. I'm gettin' old but this could be the new 610 so enjoy it while it lasts kids. Creepy laugh.

GREG CHARLES

Toowoomba based former Blonde Cobra / 6Majik9 member Greg Charles plays a rare live set. I last saw him play like 5 years ago, shit. Nice guy, for want of wanting to describe it, I'd say this was "bleak doom folk" and it was good.

STAG

Making their venue debut, Brisbane supergroup STAG, undeniably under the influence of carbs and pheromones power through a set of pop hits.

PASTEL BLAZE

Decent fundamental punk rock on display here. Features Innez from Feathers and other Brisbane luminaries. Little to no internet presence EXCEPT THIS which kind of rules.

SCRAPS / EXTRA FOXX / HEART FLEW LIKE AN ARROW / LEWIS O'LEARY & THE CUCUMBERS AT CUBBY HOLE 10-06-10

2010-06-12T06:37:00.000+10:00

Gosh! What a nice n' relaxed Thursday night of music from some of Brisbane's overlooked finest. Gosh! Every second post on this blog seems to be from a show at Cubby Hole. Gosh! I woke up too early today.

SCRAPS

I was born a Scraps fan and I'll die a Scraps fan, damnit. If this doesn't make you feel nostalgic for those days as a kid growing up in a housing complex on the Gold Coast then you aint me.

EXTRA FOXX

"What's the set gonna be tonight, Conwae?" I asked the man behind Extra Foxx right before the show.
"Pure sex" He slurred, confidently puffing away on a cigar and wearing his best suit. I stared.
"Or the lack of," he added. Great set.

The second video 'Horses' is a cover, originally by Sally Timms of the Mekons and was also performed by Will Oldham. Thanks Wikipedia.

HEART FLEW LIKE AN ARROW

Heart Flew Like an Arrow is like liquid. It changes a lot and moves squishy and uh, that's all I got. Shit analogy. Anyway this aint bad, it caters to my preference of 3 piece bands - Straight to the point and no jerking around.

LEWIS O'LEARY AND THE CUCUMBERS

Lewis O'Leary and his band of misfits perform neurotic folk tunes to close out this fine evening and the $5 I paid to see it all was well spent. Gosh!

THE END.

THE IMPROMPTULONS

2010-06-10T13:07:00.000+10:00

The Impromptulons are a long standing, seldom playing Brisbane psych collective with a revolving cast of members - this incarnation includes Sarah Spencer from Blank Realm, Joel Stern from Sky Needle (and a million other awesome projects) as well as other famed notables from Brisbane's noise kingdom. The video was made late last year for an Audiopollen DVD compilation that was never released. It features sweet tripped out visuals courtesy of Leif Gifford.

THE IMPROMPTULONS

KNEE CHIN / BLANK REALM / DUD PILLS AT CUBBY HOLE 5-06-10

2010-06-06T19:06:00.000+10:00

Adelaide's Dud Pills play Brisbane for the first time launching their debut cassette "SEXY AS HELL".

KNEE CHIN

Two new songs from Knee Chin!!!!1

BLANK REALM

Brisbane's hardest working and this blog's most filmed band Blank Realm wrote this song the afternoon of the show which is pretty awesome/fresh.

DUD PILLS

Alright listen up anonymous reader of my little blog, I see a lot of bands play, hell that's all I really do. Most bands don't really do anything for me, then there's a small few that make the nightmare of wasting my life bearable and maybe even agreeable. One of these bands is yep, Adelaide's Dud Pills. They're one of the best bands nobody has ever heard and that's why I've put up four songs from their set here, usually my limit is two but these guys are worth your time.

THE SEIZURES / THE THIN KIDS AT PADDINGTON FAIR 5-06-10

2010-06-06T18:07:00.000+10:00

The third annual Paddington Fair, which happens at the park down the road from my house and is a small celebration of the area in which I live. It was a really nice afternoon, there was even a sausage sizzle and I bought two. Suburb pride ya'll.

THE SEIZURES

There is only one word to describe The Seizures set and that word is 'sick'. Featured an appearance by enigmatic local genius Henry Mills on a mysterious noise belt machine no doubt invented by himself.

THE THIN KIDS

Everett True of The Thin Kids sums up his experience (courtesy of facebook):

"played at on open fair Paddington festival today. think I totally confused all the louche grunge heads stuck in an early 90s (anti-) fashion timewarp by being a) English, b) really fucking old, as old as my mum man and c) quite pop actually.
Fuck the kids man."

I think that's a little harsh but I enjoyed it, despite being a hardened Deadnotes fan myself. This could be due to being mentally destroyed and hungover from the night before or maybe I was just glad to be out of the house.

HERE IS A PHOTO OF PADDINGTON AS SEEN IN 1929. HAUNTING.

BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS / ROYAL HEADACHE / DEAD FARMERS IN THE VALLEY MALL 29-05-10

2010-05-30T21:17:00.000+10:00

Label Parties is a tax payer funded, Brisbane City Council sponsored (!!!!) free monthly event held in the middle of Brunswick St. Mall, each one showcasing a different Australian independant record label. This was event #3 and the label chosen was Sydney's R.I.P Society Records. I had my doubts about the show being in the valley mall right next to McDonalds and the Police Beat, but it turned out to be heaps of fun and hopefully introduced a few randoms to some good n' decent australian bands. The sound engineer deserves an honourable mention too for doing a great job.

BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS

The most solid set I've seen from Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, mostly due to the sobriety of the early slot and also playing with decent equipment and sound. Reinforced the acknowledgement of being Australia's most awesome party band.

ROYAL HEADACHE

Royal Headache's "soul influenced garage rock" (defining music is lame but that one is pretty accurate) sound works surprisingly really well in this outdoors mini-festival environment thing mostly due to Shogun's billion dollar vocals. He's one of the best frontmen of our times and the whole band put on a damn good performance.

DEAD FARMERS

On tour promoting their new album "Go Home", Dead Farmers are freaking good at what they do. No bullshit garage rock played with passion. Grab a beer and watch.

SCRAPS / SCIENCE / PER PURPOSE AT BURST CITY 23-05-10

2010-05-26T21:25:00.000+10:00

An awesome Sunday afternoon homecoming show at Burst City for Scraps, this being her first Australian show this year after touring around Japan and Europe.

SCRAPS

Scraps plays a set of almost entirely fresh material, only relenting to play some of her old hits when verbally abused by a drunk and nostalgic crowd hungry to relive 2009. This song is brand new and really, really nice.

SCIENCE

Science return with a new addition of Sebastian from The Seizures on guitar and the result? Heavy as shit PUNK/METAL/DOOM. Damn cool.

PER PURPOSE

The last Per Purpose per formance for awhile as drummer Joe embarks on an overseas trip. This was the last song of their set and is also a new one. Per fection.

FEATHERS / THE SEIZURES AT TRIBAL THEATRE 21-05-10

2010-05-24T22:09:00.000+10:00

First time at the Tribal Theatre, formerly the Dendy Cinema and located in the Brisbane CBD. Great new place to see bands, it's a massive old luxurious room of MAGNIFICENCE which makes everything epic and cool.

FEATHERS

I said I'd get better footage of Feathers at their next show and here you go. I went a little nuts with the ZOOMING but whatever man, I was drunks. Feathers have good songs and are tight. Enjoy.

THE SEIZURES

The Seizures have come a long way since I saw them play last year. They've got a new drummer and are almost legal drinking age so they're a lot more confident now. They rocked the fuck out at this show and it was awesome and made me remember that not all teenagers suck.

BATRIDER AT CUBBY HOLE 20-05-10

2010-05-22T20:10:00.001+10:00

Batrider's Brisbane performance on their 'Beaks' tour, and once again another show at Cubby Hole in the horrific Brisbane CBD.

BATRIDER

I really like Batrider. I've seen them play sporadically over the last 4 years or so and what always stands out for me is the raw honesty in their delivery. There's no pretention, no delusions of grandeur, no gloss, just a decent down to earth rock band playing for you.

CIRCLE PIT - ANOTHER TRICK

2010-05-13T16:39:00.000+10:00

Great video from Sydney's Circle Pit. This is the first single off their awesome new album 'Bruise Constellation', of which so many songs from it have been stuck in my head the last few days that it's been kind of intense (in a good way).

KITTEN PARTY / CURED PINK / HEART FLEW LIKE AN ARROW / KNEE CHIN / MARL CARX AT CUBBY HOLE 30-04-10

2010-05-07T00:03:00.001+10:00

An epic album launch and last ever show for one of Brisbane's most underrated bands Marl Carx. The lineup featured some of the most creatively progressive and exciting bands this town has to offer right now and it was awesome to see so many people enjoying it.

KITTEN PARTY

Armed with only a casio keyboard, floor tom, loop pedal and not even wearing shoes, Ferny Grove export Kitten Party opens the show tonight and conquers the world. If this little instrumental doesn't bring a smile to your life hardened face then shucks mister, what's wrong with ya?

CURED PINK

Die psychotischen Industrie-und anti-gewerbelärm im Cured Pink hallt drohend über den Veranstaltungsort, wie Andrew McLellan verhandelt mit Kanälen und seine musikalischen Einflüsse mit Hilfe von einer Rolle auf Tonband aus der Hölle reel. Brutal effiziente.

HEART FLEW LIKE AN ARROW

Changing line ups like underwear (almost once a week right? "LOL"), Heart Flew Like an Arrow ditch the improv noise schtick in favour of a set of acoustically driven pop songs. Featured Nicholas from Knee Chin on drums and Lewis O'Leary from Lewis O'Leary and the Cucumbers on electric guitar.

KNEE CHIN

Knee Chin are fast becoming one of Brisbane's best bands and the crowd know it. With a Flying Nun-esque yet still distinctly Brisbane sound and also featuring one of the most hilariously idiosyncratic frontmen of our time, they put on a really great show. Good job guys.

MARL CARX

Having not played a show since June 2009 and with most of their two year existence spent wallowing within the honest yet dank confines of the Brisbane house show circuit, Marl Carx reunite for one last time and get the recognition they deserve. A thoroughly excited and drunk crowd show their respects with a celebratory MOSH as Brisbane's last nu-no wave band is put to rest.

For high quality live audio recordings of all the bands check out Labyrinth City and Turn it up to 10.

EXTRA FOXX AT RIC'S 28-04-10

2010-05-03T19:00:00.000+10:00

Wearing a suit for the occasion, Conwae Burrell aka Extra Foxx treats the dozen or so people who showed up to a great set of downer hits with Per Purpose/Loose Grip drummer Joe Alexander keeping the beat.

EXTRA FOXX

This was my first time at the newly renovated/under new management Ric's and wasn't expecting much but it's actually pretty alright now. I freaking hated old Ric's. Sure it was alright when I was 18 and didn't know any better but by the end almost every decent band in Brisbane was banned from the place which was stupid and lame. Nu-Ric's is cool, the staff aren't jaded jerks (yet), you can drink/smoke out the back and the place doesn't smell like piss anymore. Hell yeah.

THE STABS / IVY ST. AT CUBBY HOLE 24-04-10

2010-04-27T07:42:00.000+10:00

A great show with two interstate bands, Melbourne's Stabs and Hobart's Ivy St. Anzac weekend regulations meant the venue had to be completely shut down by midnight, cutting the Stabs' set short which was a damn shame. Way to give Brisbane a reputation, regulation jerx.

THE STABS

With both the crowd and the band visibly frustrated by the midnight curfew, The Stabs set is intense as they milk everything they've got out of the 20 minutes or so they've been forced to play within. The second video is of their last song (6ft Rodent) complete with audience stage invasion, collapsing PA and a 5 minute noise meltdown at the end.

IVY ST.

One of Ivy St.'s last shows for the whole year which sucks because I love this band. This song is the A Side from their new 7" "Oh Their Faces / Talk to Strangers".

CHROME DOME / FEATHERS AT BURST CITY 23-04-10

2010-04-26T18:23:00.000+10:00

Burst City is a brand new venue in Brisbane, it's an old community hall situated across the road from the museum dinosaurs in South Bank. This was my first time there and although there were some sound/lighting issues I have no doubt that once the place gets settled down (or doesn't get shut down) it's going to be one of the best places to see bands play in Brisbane.

CHROME DOME

On tour for their new album and their first time in Brisbane, Melbourne's Chrome Dome are living the hedonistic wastoid dream to the fullest. This is artistic expression at it's most pure as the songs are an uncompromisingly harsh soundtrack to their fucked up lifestyle. There is no separation between the people/music here folks, this is the real deal. I wish more bands were like this instead of living their art only on the weekends inbetween uni assignments like some lame arse indie rock band. Chrome Dome live this shit 24/7 and deserve your respect.

FEATHERS

The last time I saw Feathers was at least 2 years ago and I can barely remember it which makes for a weak opening to this paragraph. Since then they've lost members, acquired some new members and written a bunch of new songs. I was looking forward to filming them but the lack of lighting in the venue made it hard. I've added some sepia brightness effect crap to this to make it watchable because I thought the song was really good. I promise next time Feathers play I'll get some Grade A premium beef footage because they're worth it.

SKY NEEDLE / THE SCRAPES AT THE TROUBADOUR 21-04-10

2010-04-25T14:40:00.000+10:00

A painfully sober Wednesday night at the Troubadour for the Brisbane launch of The Scrapes' new album "Electric Mourning Blues". Not drinking at shows is weird but I somehow managed not to buy any beer while there to save a few $$$. Not recommended.

SKY NEEDLE

I tried to describe Sky Needle when they played at the Newstead Gasworks last year, basically they've invented and made their own instruments and then they get together and improvise and you get this uniquely strange sound that is as captivating as it is odd. They even had a scale model of the iconic Brisbane Sky Needle they were named after on stage with them as a prop. Spared no expense.

THE SCRAPES

The Scrapes are very technically adept. The Scrapes practice a lot and have spent years diligently studying their craft within the confines of University. They can probably even read sheet music. I still like them though. For fans of Dirty Three etc. but they have their own style and if you're in the right mood (Example: you've gone out to a show because the idea of spending the night alone in your room depresses you but you're hungover from the night before and don't want to party either so you're pathetically crying for that middle ground) it can be pretty nice.

THE FIGHTING LEAGUE / ASSASSINS 88 / ALPS OF NEW SOUTH WALES / KITCHEN'S FLOOR AT THE PHOENIX 18-04-10

2010-04-22T13:58:00.000+10:00

Canberra on a Sunday night. My expectations were low because we went there in 2008 only to find out our show had been booked but not promoted. There was literally noone there so we didn't play and it was pouring rain and freezing and we spent the night at a random guy's house in his housemate's beds who he said 'may or may not be coming home' that night. At the time I was like 'fuck Canberra, this place is shit' but that was then and this is now. I met heaps of great people and the show was awesome and totally worthwhile. Canberra, we are cool.

THE FIGHTING LEAGUE

I had never really checked out these guys before except for an obligatory glance at their myspace and was nicely surprised by what was a very entertaining show. A+ for showmanship.

ASSASSINS 88

A set with less emphasis on the 'heavy' than their Brisbane shows in November, Assassins 88 switch the bass for guitar and the noise for melody. Suited perfectly in this venue, totally underrated as they're one of the best bands around.

ALPS OF NEW SOUTH WALES

A very solid set from Alps who revisits some old favourites.

KITCHEN'S FLOOR

Filmed by Lachlan from Assassins 88 on his own camera. Thanks Lachlan.

HOLY BALM / BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS AT THE FRIEND IN HAND HOTEL 17-04-10

2010-04-21T13:27:00.001+10:00

The R.I.P Society endorsed "best pub in Sydney", the Friend in Hand Hotel hosts the dual 7" launches of Bed Wettin' Bad Boys and Kitchen's Floor with Holy Balm as support. The turn out and enthusiasm at this show was awesome, Sydney knows how to party.

HOLY BALM

Holy Balm kick out the psychadelic dance jams and completely hypnotise me with unabashed adoration for this band. Fan for life right here, mate.

BED WETTIN' BAD BOYS

Sydney's best/worst band Bed Wettin' Bad Boys play an uncompromisingly loose set of hits turning the whole place into a massive party. Awesome.

BARE GRILLZ / ALPS OF NEW SOUTH WALES / WHORES AT NEWCASTLE HOUSE SHOW 16-04-10

2010-04-20T19:04:00.000+10:00

Eternal Soundcheck finds itself on a suburban Newcastle patio on a Friday night faced with a killer line up of bands from Sydney (Whores, None Music), Brisbane (Kitchen's Floor - no footage) and Newcastle (Alps, Bare Grillz). I'm pretty sure most people left this with a brutal hangover and the vague memory of having a good time.

BARE GRILLZ

Local residents Bare Grillz perform for the very first time and despite the treble on the guitar amp cutting through my squishy edible brain like an epidural into the spine, they were really enjoyable. The last song ruled and was the best but I didn't film that one so this last sentence you're reading don't have nothing useful for you.

ALPS OF NEW SOUTH WALES

An international world first australian exclusive - Alps playing guitar! and it sounds good, I'm liking this direction a lot. First 10 seconds of video are highly unprofessional, sorry gang.

NONE MUSIC

A new project from Sydney's Nic De Jong (Ghosts of Television, NOTV), None Music is really good quality noise. He played in grim darkness so I've added some cosmic brightness effects.

WHORES

By this time everyone was smasheddddd, mannn. This communal inebriation suited the doomed apocalyptic swamp punk of Whores nicely and resulted in a generalised exodus into the dark unreturnable abyss.

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING / KITCHEN'S FLOOR AT THE ZOO 8-04-10

2010-04-12T01:59:00.000+10:00

This is special not just because it's ECSR but because for these videos I've collaborated with Brendan who does Turnitupto10, he's recorded hundreds of shows over the years in amazing quality. I've sync'ed his audio to my video so you can uh, rush to relax. This was their sold out Brisbane show of what is almost an entirely sold out national tour. If anyone deserves that kind of success, it's these guys.

EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING

Enough has been written about ECSR and everyone knows who they are and what they sound like so I won't bother with any of that. I loved their passion and dedication to what they're doing and they were cool enough to let me film from the side of the stage and made sure I didn't run out of beer later in the night. The two songs here are from their new album 'Rush to Relax'. Tuning Out is my personal favourite.

KITCHEN'S FLOOR

I feel weird writing about my own band so I won't. The first video is a new song though. Myspace.

You can download high quality recordings of the whole show here. Thanks again to Brendan for letting me use the audio.

PER PURPOSE / LOOMER / MOTHER AND FATHER AT ROSIES 10-04-10

2010-04-11T16:35:00.001+10:00

Argh. The Brisbane CBD on a Saturday night. Totally depressing. This show however was worthwhile enough to warrant an expedition into it's hellish epicentre and luckily the footage turned out not too bad too. too. huh?

PER PURPOSE

Per Purpose is improving with every show they play. This set was solid and I reckon by the end of the year everybody will be talking about them. Even the guy with the weird smile down at the deli.

LOOMER

Probably the best Loomer set I've seen. I've had horrible luck trying to film these guys before but this turned out pretty good so check it out.

MOTHER AND FATHER

Melbourne band Mother and Father's final show for this tour they've been doin' for their album nothin'. I was a bit skeptical about this band and wouldn't of gone had it not been for the supports but I ended up enjoying it and I liked how they weren't in denial about their influences but enthusiastically embraced it in a 'Hell yeah, we've all heard this kind of music a million times before but that's because it's awesome. Let's get drunk and party!' kind of way. I'll happily drink to that.

IMMORTAL WARLORD / BIRTH GLOW

2010-04-05T16:13:00.000+10:00

I think Adelaide is fast becoming my favourite city for music in Australia. I never would have imagined writing that sentence a few months ago when I knew shit all about the place but the city has some really great bands. Here's two that are currently residing in Adelaide and their respective music videos.

IMMORTAL WARLORD

ANOTHER project from Liam and Pat, the prolific guys who brought you Bitch Prefect, Dud Pills and many more awesome bands. Immortal Warlord is their foray into the realm of psychadelic pop and damn can they pull it off. This video/song is dreamy lysergic bliss at it's most euphoric and any brutally intense nightmarish acid freakouts are very far away from here.

Check out Pat's youtube video channel, he's the guy who makes the videos and it's a damn fine body of work.

BIRTH GLOW

I played a show with Birth Glow about 3 years ago and I can barely remember it because I was pretty messed up at the time but they had this song about Batman that I heard way too many times (Suburban Revolution compilation CDR, anyone still got a copy that isn't scratched to death?) and it screwed up my idea of the band. Watching this video blows away any doubt I had - It's really incredible and as soon as I can I'm getting a copy of their album to make up for lost time. The video is from a few years ago but I just found out about it recently so if you haven't seen this and you like things that are awesome, check it out.

GUTTERS

2010-03-26T09:29:00.000+10:00

Gutters is an on/off project between Hannah Scheifelbein (Acid Casualty, Teeth with Pussy, Radiation Nation) and Julia Norris (The Harpy Choir, Kitchen's Floor). No wave drums/guitar with dual feline vocals, what more could you want/need in a band. I filmed this when they were practicing under my house in July last year. The audio is a little out of sync but does not detract from it being worth your time.

JANDEK / BLANK REALM / THE LOST DOMAIN AT THE HI-FI BAR 21-03-10

2010-03-23T00:10:00.000+10:00

The Hi-Fi Bar. It cost $6.50 for a can of Carlton Draught and I was dumb enough to buy 4. Besides that the show was quite good and it's a shame more people didn't come. I'm looking at YOU.

THE LOST DOMAIN

The Lost Domain formed in 1990 and this show was a 20th anniversary special performance of sorts. I liked it, one long jam that got more eccentric as it went on and by the end it nicely deteriorated into the band coercing the audience to yell 'MOTHERFUCKER' over and over again.

BLANK REALM

The constantly evolving musik machine that is Blank Realm play an epic set of good ol' fashioned stadium rock. It was great to see them play on a really big stage and it was easy to imagine them playing to hundreds of thousands of adoring fans crying from excitement and it's 1981, love is in the air and the world is ours to ruin.

JANDEK

Jandek is hard to describe. It made me feel very lonely, a mind fuck of sounds that lasted a little over an hour which was even more pronounced in the sparsely attended cavernous hi-fi venue. It was a very surreal haunting experience that won't be forgotten, very unique and amazing. Strangely enough I found myself afterwards at a party in his hotel room and we drank beer and ate cheese until 2am and he was a damn nice guy.

Black Widow also played and it was a great collaboration between Joel Stern and Rob MacManus but the footage I filmed decided to jerk me around and don't ya just hate that?

IVY ST. / PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE / CAUGHT SHIP AT THE BRISBANE HOTEL 6-03-10

2010-03-11T14:37:00.000+10:00

The Brisbane Hotel is like the Hobart equivalent of the Tote, or maybe to a lesser extent the Step Inn in Brisbane. A bit of a shit hole but a good atmosphere and I didn't mind it. This was the launch of Paint Your Golden Face's new album.

IVT ST.

Ivy St. rule, they kind of sound like My Disco crossed with Die!Die!Die! but from their own unique point of view. A Hobart treasure, mate.

CAUGHT SHIP

Caught Ship from Melbourne play a set that mostly confuses the audience. I thought it was great, really strange. They had to fly back to Melbourne early the next morning so they stayed up all night and got really messed up but ended up missing their flight anyway and broke down in the airport terminal.

PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE

Paint Your Golden Face also kind of confused me. I enjoyed it but I wouldn't say I really 'got' it and that was a little frustrating. This was the first time I've seen them though and I haven't heard the album so give it time Matt, give it time.

NATIVE CATS / GLEN SCHENAU / DRUNK ELK IN HOBART 5-03-10

2010-03-11T02:55:00.000+10:00

A few blocks walk from the city centre of Hobart is what's called the Winter Palace. It's a large old sharehouse with a revolving door of tenants and it's pretty much central to the Hobart music scene. The power went out mid show unfortunately but was hastily shifted to another house and all was won in Tasmania.

NATIVE CATS

I don't really feel smart enough to accurately describe Native Cats so I won't but some key words that come into my failing brain are "mind blowing" and "awesome".

Some trivia - their singer is also a stand up comedian. Who would have thunk?

GLEN SCHENAU

Glen Schenau of Per Purpose / Marl Carx / Kitchen's Floor fame finds time in his busy touring schedule to perform a solo acoustic set. First of it's kind and it's really good.

NOTE: AFTER GLEN'S SET IS WHEN THE BLACKOUT STRUCK. I HEARD IT WAS A POWER SURGE. I HEARD IT WAS A FAULT IN THE SYSTEM. WHATEVER IT WAS, THE FOLLOWING VIDEO OF DRUNK ELK WAS FILMED AT A NEW LOCATION LATER THAT NIGHT.

DRUNK ELK

Drunk Elk kind of sum up the idea of a band thriving in isolation. The new Tasmanian cult band = Drunk Elk. Get with it.

BREAKER MORANT / FRANCIS PLAGNE AT BAR OPEN 4-03-10

2010-03-11T02:19:00.000+10:00

BREAKER MORANT

I've always respected this band. I might be a sucker but if I think a band is legit I'll fall straight into them like an ageing drunk stumbles into horrible health problems, awkward sexual regrets and difficult financial perplexions. Breaker Morant don't make me regret anything, they just kind of validate why I like watching bands heaps in the first place. Half of this band originate from Brisbane as well - home town pride ya'll.

FRANCIS PLAGNE

After the downward spiral of my pathetic decay from a week full of constant drinking this was needed. Totally relaxing nice life affirming musically ambitious sounds played by a band with talent yet still in touch with their imagination. Thankyou Francis.

SHARPIE CROWS / PARADING AT HORSE BAZAAR 3-03-10

2010-03-11T01:30:00.000+10:00

Wednesday night at Horse Bazaar in the city of Melbourne. Traditionally the night is called 'Stutter' and reserved for more avant garde experimental acts, tonight it's mostly loud rock bands and I guess the small venue struggled with that. It had a designated smoking room about the size my bathroom which was hilarious. Wish you were there.

SHARPIE CROWS

The main focus in Sharpie Crows for me was their intense frontman. Chewed enough gum throughout the set to put Dave Grohl to shame and looked like he was eyeing a fight in the audience the whole time and/or planning his suicide later that night. Loved it, I saw the guy in the toilets afterwards and went to say hi but he ignored me. Instant respect. Awesome band.

PARADING

Enjoyed Parading a lot, almost came off as "shoegaze" but I would say it's a lot better than that. Would have liked to film more of their set as the song after this one stuck in my mind as being particularly awesome but the camera fucked up. Such is life.

DUD PILLS

2010-03-10T20:25:00.001+10:00

Dud Pills are an off shoot of Bitch Prefect and this is almost as good as the band they sprouted from. This is a new music video from them and it rules. Stop reading my shittily vague writing and watch the video.

TERRIBLE TRUTHS / BATRIDER AT FORMAT FESTIVAL OPENING NIGHT 27-02-10

2010-03-10T13:01:00.001+10:00

Opening night of Format Festival in a neat art gallery. Good night, good times.

TERRIBLE TRUTHS

This was Terrible Truths first show but you wouldn't realise that given how awesome they were. Kind of sounds like Diamond Sea and Love Of Diagrams in places but it's unique enough for this band to stand alone. Really liked this.

BATRIDER

You'll be hard pressed finding a band more drenched in painfully raw emotion than Batrider. You could feel the hurt and sorrow pouring out of the speakers and damnit, I felt like giving them a hug. Very moving performance.

BITCH PREFECT / HIT THE JACKPOT AT SUPERMILD 26-02-10

2010-03-10T06:25:00.001+10:00

I spent the last week and a bit on tour and had the privilege of playing with a lot of great bands. First show was in Adelaide at Supermild, a small dark club with insane drunk bar staff.

BITCH PREFECT

I've already tried to describe Bitch Prefect before, perfect simple pop music etc. I found myself really really excited to see them play and wasn't disappointed. Almost every song sent shivers down my stupid spine and that's a beautiful thing.

HIT THE JACKPOT

Hit The Jackpot are like Adelaide music royalty. They've been playing for years and are respected for being a decent band and good people. I last saw them play in Brisbane at a generator show in 2006 which ruled but I didn't have a video camera back then. This was a very minimal set and I sure do like my minimal.

ROYAL HEADACHE BRISBANE HOUSE SHOW RETROSPECTIVE

2010-02-25T19:56:00.001+10:00

Royal Headache are one of the best live bands around at the moment, for sure. I was thinking about this show today, it happened at my house in September last year and it was one of those amazing good times you would never forget if you weren't so drunk. I already put up a song awhile back but here's two more.

Footage guaranteed to include great tunes + mosh pit + crowd surfing. They're releasing a new 7" right about now and you can get it from R.I.P Society Records.

Credit for filming this goes to Sarah Spencer who took the reins so I could get all bruised n junk.

NEW OLD FOOTAGE - PINK REASON, NEVADA STRANGE + XNOBBQX

2010-02-23T03:07:00.000+10:00

I don't put everything that I film on here. A lot of the time the video turns out too dark and/or the sound is too muddy which equals a shit waste of time for you and me. Here's some footage that I rewatched and thought it was worth posting.

PINK REASON

Pink Reason ruled when they played Brisbane during their Australian tour in September last year. The psychadelic mood they were inebriated in at the time resulted in a freaking great performance as seen in this video, an extended version of "Borrowed Time".

Note: This was originally very dark footage so I've used a cheap 'auto level' effect included in my budget video editing software to moderately enhance your viewing experience.

THE NEVADA STRANGE

The Nevada Strange are from Sydney and played Brisbane January 30th 2010 at the Empire Hotel. The band battled shitty sound and an indifferent audience but still pulled it off. I like that.

XNOBBQX

xNoBBQx have made a name for themselves over the 5 years of their existence by touring all over the world and releasing their noise on labels like Siltbreeze and their own Breakdance the Dawn. This was a show at their squat in Moorooka, Brisbane from August last year. While filming I thought they were just soundchecking until 10 minutes had gone by and I realised it was actually their performance (hence the origin of "eternal soundcheck"). I would describe this set as a complete anti-performance. It is no future music made by musicians that aren't trying to try and if that sounds like I didn't like it then you've got me wrong, this shit rules.

THE DEADNOTES FEATURING THE LEGEND! AT DISEMBRAINING MACHINE 21-02-10

2010-02-22T11:53:00.000+10:00

Disembraining Machine #5 makes it's humble return in 2010, helping to fill the void of experimental music performances in Brisbane and giving us restless folk somewhere to go on a Sunday night.

DEADNOTES FEATURING THE LEGEND!

The Deadnotes and Everett True perform together again after taking a break from shows the last few months. Lots of new stuff, I was told it was mostly improvised which is pretty cool. Hopefully they start playing again more regularly.

SLEEPWALKS / STRANGE FORCES AT THE BOUNDARY HOTEL 20-02-10

2010-02-21T13:13:00.001+10:00

The dubious Boundary Hotel actually delivers a fun afternoon. That's right, it wasn't shit.

SLEEPWALKS

Sleepwalks are from the 'burbs and are a very solid band. This show was the launch of a new single, the title track 'Clicks' from which is watching it them here.

STRANGE FORCES

Strange Forces are from Brisbane but they left and went to Berlin for a long time, then have briefly returned and this was their first show back in Brisbane after being in Berlin for so long but originally they came from Brisbane but decided to move to Berlin so they did but just recently they came back to Brisbane and played this show but they're going back to Berlin soon. Heavy krautrock influence here, what else ya gonna play in Germany?

BITCH PREFECT / WHORES MUSIC VIDEO RETROSPECTIVE

2010-02-15T13:41:00.000+10:00

It's Monday and Monday sucks so I thought I'd post some awesome music videos made by two of my favourite Australian bands at the moment.

BITCH PREFECT

Bitch Prefect are from Adelaide and play really nice simple pop music - Think the Clean, Velvet Underground, a bit of Half/Japanese and mix it up with the retardation that growing up in a small city town in Australia would do to you. They make music videos for pretty much every one of their songs and you can watch more here. I did an interview with them for Negative Guest List zine which should be out in the next issue.

WHORES

Whores are from Sydney and were here in Brisbane a few weeks ago. This video is really really cool, a completely psychotic nightmare that reminds me of my horrible, horrible childhood.

Sorry dad, just kidding.

SWAMPLORDS / LOOSE GRIP AT ROSIES 12-02-10

2010-02-13T18:22:00.001+10:00

Rosies in the heart of the Brisbane CBD is the new haunt for the Clubhouse nights. It's a better place than the Empire bar, it's dark, dirty and rock n roll. This was the 2nd week of business.

SWAMPLORDS

Swamplords bring the psych rock, don't expect no Blank Realm but it aint bad at all. I think this is their last or second last show with the current lineup so that means something.

LOOSE GRIP

Barely legal drinking age punk band Loose Grip cover the seminal Offspring classic "Cool to Hate" which is of course from their glorious 1996 masterpiece genius opus 'Ixnay on the Hombre'.

Do ya like to compare stuff you raging stoner? Check out the original right here (from their brilliantly realised and sprawlingly epic 1997 VHS release 'Americana').

INSURGENTS / SEXUAL CHOCOLATE AT FAT LOUIES 12-02-10

2010-02-13T17:23:00.000+10:00

I noticed this blog was devoid of hardcore and dagnamnit, it's never too late to right a wrong. Unless you're dead.

INSURGENTS

Insurgents are one of the premier hardcore bands in Brisbane. They don't fuck around - it's fast, short and brutal. 'Nuff said.

SEXUAL CHOCOLATE

I believe this was Sexual Chocolate's first show and I didn't mind it. It's your standard kind of local punk rock homage band but not just played by 4 staunch white dudes taking a break from their Xbox 360, which gives it an extra quality. This ruled and at 1:57 in the video I get my face smashed in - I know a lot of people would like to see that.

SCUL HAZZARDS / PER PURPOSE / KNEE CHIN / SCIENCE AT LATROBE TCE. 6-02-10

2010-02-07T17:19:00.000+10:00

This was a show in my house (saves a few $$$ on public transport). I must have really tolerant neighbours because the show was loud, drunken and slightly retarded yet noone complained. If anyone who lives near me is reading this - thanks for putting up with it. Scul Hazzards played a secret set which was DEAFENING.

SCUL HAZZARDS

This was definitely a way better set than the Step Inn show the night before. You just can't beat watching a heavy as fuck rock band in a lounge room.

PER PURPOSE

The first live performance of Glen Schenau's (Marl Carx, Kitchen's Floor) new band Per Purpose. Eccentric guitar pop with just the right amount of Australiana. Go on, give it a look. They're so new they don't even have a myspace.

KNEE CHIN

Knee Chin were cool, they sound like a Flying Nun band. Well done guys, well done.

SCIENCE

I know what you're thinking - "MORE SCIENCE, I WANT TO SEE MORE SCIENCE" and well, okay. Sure I've already put up footage here from their last two shows in the last month but no worries, here you go, even more Science. It's even a new song.

WHITE COP pulled out but you can watch the new music video here.