Second Round of Sonic Masala 15 Announcements

The early bird release for tickets to our 2nd Sonic Masala Fest on Saturday March 14 are now at a close - tickets now stand at $20. Feeling gyped? Well, just remember, with 22 bands on display (less than a buck a band), plus cheap Coopers Pale Ale, plus free barefoot bowls, plus a 4ZZZ stall, plus band, label and festival merchandise and releases - it's still an OK deal. I'm sure the food will be alright too. But just to sweeten the deal that little bit more, here are three more bands that are on the lineup...

Sydney's Dead Farmers have been been blasting unadulterated rock for almost a decade now - can you believe that? They don't get up to the Sunshine State all that often, so it's a bit of a coup that we have the trio involved in Sonic Masala Fest. Furthermore, they will have in tow new album Wasteland (out on RIP Society) which, if first taste 'Can't Go' is anything to go by, is likely to melt faces. They are interested in the purest form of rock, what RIP Society head Nic Warnock prefers to reference as "pre-punk rock" - and namecheck the likes of Neil Young, The Faces, The Stones, Creedence, The Saints - all via a Minutemen-esque work ethic. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

One of the purest, brightest, and most destructive sparks to light up Brisbane in the past twelve months has been Clever. Featuring members past and present of Per Purpose, The Wrong Man, Psy Ants and more, this four-piece are taking the Venom P Stinger route into Brisbane sweatbox oblivion, a white-hot, multi-limbed, irascible demon intent on exploding and regenerating in two-minute spurts.

Brisbane's purveyors of dumb sludge Bottlecock have had a decent few months ey. What with the launch of their record - Record - and their 'Girt By Dickheads' coming in 7th on the 4ZZZ Hot 100 for 2014, the trio are riding high (as high as these slack bastards can ride I guess). They are a good bunch of crude losers - make sure you use your bottles as cocks in their honour.

These three join an already stellar lineup that includes the mighty Screamfeeder, White Walls, Summer Flake, Ghost Notes, Dollar Bar, Danyl Jesu, Barge With An Antenna On It, Unpeople, Thigh Master, McKisko, Pleasure Symbols, Ultra Material, Primitive Motion, theseashallnothavethem, Golden Bats, Vulture Circus, Julia Anderson & the Johnnys, and Go Go Fish. It all happens at Greenslopes Bowls Club kicking off at 11am.

Bottlecock Made A Dirty Record

Brisbane's purveyors of dirty grunge pop Bottlecock have been around for a while without gaining the kind of respect they probably deserve, although they don't really care what people think either way. They are named Bottlecock after all. However some people have been taking notice - the band reached the 7th spot on 4ZZZ's Hot 100 for 2014 with their song 'Girt By Dickheads' - a great title if I've ever heard one.



It's taken some time, but they finally have an album for us, conveniently named Record. It's exactly as you would expect - obnoxious, loud and scuzzy as hell. Although knowing Josh's adamant statement that no songs should really exceed two minutes, opening the album with 7 1/2 minute 'Bad News' is a strong indication that they don't even give a shit about their own convictions. Sell out? Hardly. Bottlecock have always maintained a mainline into the veins of early Magic Dirt and are unashamed of this. Shit, 'Dumbledore' goes for twelve fucking minutes! Don't worry, the punch is still as deadly as the slow kill - the darkly sinuous 'Caan't' slinks up before ripping your face off; 'Intro' is a thirty second caterwaul that bleeds into the growling march of 'I Wanna See Your Insides'. 'Karaoke Quickie' is a downer deadbeat 'Kool Thing'. They even have a downbeat, "quieter" number in closer 'Mopey'. Solid all round bang up job, cocks.



They have played a number of Sonic Masala shows in the past, and I'm also happy to announce that Bottlecock will be playing our 2nd Sonic Masala Festival on Saturday March 14. Bring on the bottles and the cock.

Stranger Marville Gods

Local grunge-addicted duo Marville may not have hit your radars that often, but that's not because they are a new band. Rather, they have been playing the traps for some time since humble beginnings of a solo outlet for Bottlecock aficionado Ash Kerley under the moniker Strangers. After teaming with Linda Dark, the band have been not-so-quietly chipping away, until Sydney band Strangers threatened to take them to task over "their"name, despite Kerley playing under the moniker for ages before the pipsqueak screamos came onto any semblance of a "scene". Anyway, the duo obeyed the lesser of two evils, and are reborn as Marville.

Which is working out mighty fine, as the duo prepare to launch their debut album (in either incarnation) today, Vayan Con Dios. An album of unabashed tension, atmosphere and slack-jawed nihilism in the Adalita-in-mid-career-Magic Dirt mould, with some smouldering instrumental interludes, the album doesn't push the envelope, instead happily espousing the strengths of their limits, comfortable in their brittle skin. With a Bottlecock LP in the ether, Kerley promises to be a busy presence in Brisbane circles over the next twelve months - and if this album is any indication, the 90s alternative scene is coming along for the ride.


Marville launch the album tonight at the Beetle Bar alongside ol' SM faves El Motel (it's been awhile, padres), You In Reverse and the rising glory of The Steady As She Goes. For a $10, it tees off at 8pm.

These Strangers Aren't Losers

 

It's my birthday today, so I'm only giving short blasts of posts. The rest of the day is being spent doing nothing – watching Justified and Workaholics, and sleep probably. Not exciting, sure – but its sounds pretty rad to me.

This track ‘Loser’ comes from the debut vinyl 7” from local duo Strangers, not to be confused with that shitty Sydney hardcore band or any of the many other Strangers bands in the universe. They play Aussie grunge a la early Magic Dirt as if it never left us, yet imbue it with a gentler side as seen by the B-side cover of Nick Cave’s ‘The Ship Song’. Ash Kerley (of Bottlecock) has been Strangers for years now, this being her “solo” outlet with Linda Dark smashing the skins, fleshing things out towards their timely, apocalyptic conclusion. It rarely explodes, just holds that upper-level velocity and intensity, and in the right atmosphere Strangers can kill.

Strangers launch Loser at the Hideaway Bar this Thursday. $8 entry, with support coming from fellow female rocker Sabrina Lawrie. A good night out, and get the 7" there. Splash out on some beers too - the girls love it.
\

Sonic Masala End Of Financial Party Profiles #4 & #5 - Motherfucking Morgan Freeman & DJ Micronations

So this is tomorrow. One more sleep. Or you can go no sleep. I won't endorse it, because your body is gonna get pummelled by the likes of mnttaB, Gravel Samwidge and Bottlecock. But also these cretins, Motherfucking Morgan Freeman. Starting out as We Are Librarians and delving in more bedroom pop, sample heavy meandering ambience, this duo have beefed up their intent and decided to play actual shows for once. Their last show was also a Sonic Masala slamdunk, and they were beautifully shambolic, some noisy pop in all the right places. Expect more of the same tomorrow night. It could be one of the last chances you will get to see this band as is, and it would be a shame to put such a killer moniker to bed just yet without some fanfare. I don't have any sonics to lay out for you - just trust me that they are good.

And providing the mortar that will bind the whole night together is DJ Micronations, who will be leaving his beautiful Anonymeye persona at home and bringing the bling, showering you all with tunes of dubious monetary cred. It's at the Waiting Room from 8pm, just bring a crisp $10 bill and whatever liquor is your poison. See you there!

Sonic Masala End Of Financial Year Party Profile #3 - Bottlecock

Two more sleeps until the greatest 2012 end of financial year party ever, and Bottlecock are raring to rip into it. The local trio are steeped in grunge's afterbirth, sounding like early Magic Dirt yet with even more heroin. They have an elongated song that lovers of punchy grunge music hate, but I love. They are a sight to behold. They are some of the loveliest people Ive ever met, although they look like (and probably will) punch you in the face because you are wearing a Nirvana T-shirt. They just played in Melbourne last weekend with Penguins, another amazing noisy racket of a bunch, but also mnttaB - so they are primed for destruction. Above all else, they will melt your face off and give it to you in a Pablo Picasso Paster of Paris mould. That's worth $10 in itself.



Check out the deets to the Sonic Masala part-A here. Here is a funny write up about mnttaB from Nite Fields/Lost Race Records' Danny Venzin for website The Thousands. If that doesn't get you hot and bothered - then we just ain't compatible.

Sonic Masala End Of Financial Year Party Profile #2 - Gravel Samwidge

Marching out the bands from this Saturday's Sonic Masala show, and next up on the catwalk made out of crumbling Deutschmarks we have Gravel Samwidge. Led by the affably irascible Mark Spinks, the band have been around since 1989 when they formed in Sydney and shook the shitcan with the likes of Lubricated Goat, Munroe's Fur, King Snake Roost, and Tex Perkin's Butcher Shop before relocating to Melbourne in 1990, where there dirty grind garnered palying time with the brilliant Venom P Stinger. In 1995 they won a Triple J Unearthed competition, which helped them to actually put some shit out, but not make money - if they had it they would burn it just to keep warm. But seeing as they didnt have money for warmth, they relocated to Brisbane in 2001. In 2009 they came out of a six year orgiastic hiatus to shoot everyone in the ear with their debut LP Nonchalance (through Turkeyneck Records). And whilst these outsider dirgemongers may have put out a "retrospective" in the form of The Old Tapes last year, they are launching new material in 2012 in just another public display of infernal domination. For the best trick the 'Samwidge ever pulled was making people believe they didn't exist...

Combined with mnttab founder dik's connections when playing with Bastard Kestrel (they toured with Killdozer. KILLDOZER!!!), we have a wealth of experience on our hands to help bring about a monetary Armageddon. Get keen - it is this Saturday, with Bottlecock, Motherfucking Morgan Freeman and DJ Micronations all offering their wares! Try out this demo recording to indicate where they are kinda at now...

Sonic Masala End Of Financial Year Party Profile #1 - mnttaB

Only four sleeps until the next Sonic Masala party - and it's gonna be a end of financial year hoedown like none have seem before! With irascible rabblerousers Gravel Samwidge, uber laconic pit dwellers Bottlecock and lichen-growing hybrid enthusiasts Motherfucking Morgan Freeman unleashing all kinds of fiscal knowledge from their instruments, and DJ Micronations plying the Dow Jones commentary with the requisite monetary musical mixes, it's going to be hard to maintain control of bodily movement, function and spending.

But it gets better/worse, as taking up top billing is none other than Melbourne's master of musical mayhem mnttaB (pronounced Mount Tab). Otherwise known as Dik (Bastard Kestrel/S:Bahn), mnttaB focuses solely on brewing a glorious mess of tortured rhythms, deconstructed synth-punk and lo-fi yelling. It has evolved/devolved since the Shiny Stones and Miracles EP I spoke about in 2010 here, which is evident on new mini-release Rocky 4, 2 & 3. Head over to his Bandcamp to collect some slices of digital abrasion and buffoonery. I can't promise you will like it - which means you probably will.

mnttaB - Rocky 4, 2 and 3
mnttaB - Hollywood Nights

Do Away With The Rain With Sonic Masala Tonight!

I may have laid dormant in terms of posts, but Sonic Masala has been movin and shakin in other realms, predominantly in the live arena. December's showcase featured a blistering set by high-concept grungers Sleepwalks, an intimate sojourn with Do The Robot, some cathartic meanderings courtesy of Nite Fields and some balls to the wall blues bust-ups from El Motel.

Matt & Sarah loved that show so much that Do The Robot will kick off proceedings once more at West End's The Waiting Room tonight in a pre-Australia Day knees-up. It's a holiday tomorrow, so why not start the celebrations early? Joining DoT are the glass-eating Bottlecock, the ambient tantrics of Anonymeye and the noir gleam of Keep On Dancin's. Once again it's all for a tenner, all for giving bands a chance to get paid for their efforts for once, and all really just an excuse to see bands I like whilst getting drunk for really cheap (it's BYO, doncha know?)

Fuck the rain. This party is where the shit goes DOWN.