Stations

Let's finish off this week with death-knell Goth punk. Melbourne's Stations (featuring current and ex members of The UV Race, Mollusc and Ex Con) have released this 7" that kicks off with hellish air sirens, haunted organs and piercing wails on 'Work', a murky squall, matted and rancid. It is awful, acrid and awesome, a caterwaul that draws blood. 'Hunting' starts more sedate, more brooding and barren, but this is just a ruse - the nightmare is ratcheted up to unbearable levels by the end. The frenetic expulsion of 'Tension' is intense at a quarter of the time, and it closes with the potent pummelling of 'Master/Disciple'. This kind of noise terrorism is fucking brutal - and brilliant.

Ex Slugs And Butcher Birds Let Fly

 

Ex-Con came to be after Joanna Nilson (Butcher Birds) and James Dalgliesh (Slug Guts) got together in the feverish, nightmare-inducing humidity of a a Brisbane summer awash with monsoonal floods, kneejerk alcoholism and an inexplicable anxiety borne of idleness. The first combination of the band also included Cat Maddin (Dreamtime) and Alex Dunlop (Keep On Dancins), captured on their debut self-titled 7” (out through Bon Voyage).

Recorded live by Blank Realm’s Luke Walsh at the now defunct Woodland Bar this time last year (apparently accompanied by a bottle of Captain Morgan, a Holy Grail reverb pedal and some extra long Rizlas, these 3 tracks are icy fingers dug deep into the skull, tetanus behind the eyes, eczema for the ears. Nilson is at her best when she sounds tortured, and here she moans, screeches and howls like a death wraith with withdrawal symptoms, backed by barbed-wire noise and production-line industrial drum disorder. It’s a nasty mix, yet the heritage here (plus the feverish connection to the “Sunshine” State) gives it the rusted barbs to stay stuck in the flesh for a long time after the last note has been flayed.

Ex-Con comes out on Monday, and can be pre-ordered here. Nilson and Dalgliesh have absconded to Melbourne, and now have a new rhythm section comprising of Steph Cola (Spite House) and Andrea Blake (Chrome Dome).

Ex Con - Cuda '82

A Brutal Punk To The Face

Ouch My Face are brutal. The above picture attests to that. In fact they have loads of kick arse band photos that attest to that. But it takes listening to the Melbourne trio's experimental punk to truly appreciate how much these guys and gal like to punish aurally. Their opening shows for the likes of The Bronx and particularly Shonen Knife blew pundits away with their eviscerating power. I have the guys from Brissie band No Anchor (who are privy to the occasional sonic explosion themselves) to putting me onto their current 7", which you can listen to and buy below. If you are in Brisbane at the back end of July, you can experience the blistering fury yourselves, as Ouch My Face venture north for a couple of shows. They are playing an instore at Tym Guitars July 24, after the Beetle Bar will have imploded under their anarchic presence the night before, July 23 (ably assisted by Butcher Birds).