A Decade of Mere Migration Noise Celebration

Your tiny words don't mean a thing. But if you don't mind, then keep making whatever noise you want to make. Keep it up for ten years. Tiny Migrants launch their little slab of noise (some Mexican hat cum XXXX brewery, back and forth, jumpin', thrivin' and strivin' to survivin' tunes) at a very special show this weekend. Brisbane's own independant stalwarts Mere Noise records are celebrating 10 years on the trot with parties THIS WEEKEND at Black Bear in Bris and Off the Hip in Melbourne.



To do anything is hard. To run an independent record label for ten years in a town renown for siphoning culture southward through its ample storm drains and cultural backwaters... verges on biblical. You thought Job had it tough? He never had to work through an industry re-inventing itself whilst living off beans so he could put out shit-hot local bands on 7" records throughout the world.  The fact that Mere Noise exist is a fucking testament worth your admiration. Get down to one of the shows and party like it's 2003. It may be mere, but it's a lot louder than the silence that would be without them.

  

Running Guns At Tiny Migrants - They're All Friends Though!

I was going to write about these Brisbane bands separately, but seeing as they are interrelated, what with sharing band members and all, it made more sense to join them together, like re-attaching Siamese twins (?!).

 

First up is Tiny Migrants. I have spoken extensively about these crazy space-garage tweaks on many an occasion – they supported Mark Sultan in 2011 in what was the first gig Id been to in Brisbane for almost four years, when on returning from Europe I thought I might be doomed to a dire music scene, just to find it stronger than ever; and they also played Sonic Masala Presents… and The Waiting Room’s 1st Year Celebrations. Now, they haven’t been overflowing with releases, so it’s very exciting to see we are close to seeing their debut 7” EP come to life (thanks to Mere Noise Records). This band has improved exponentially over the past two years, so it stands that this first proper release is going to slay potato chips (I don’t know what that means either – I've just come back from my first day of work in two months and am currently on painkillers and beer). Apparently the record is “a collection of western movie tunes, spazzed out psych and reverb trenches”. They are currently mid-celebration – having supported Nobunny on his ad-hoc party annihilation, and will also support Day Ravies in March (the excellent Nite Fields round out that amazing bill). Who know when we will actually see the thing – Tiny Migrants are predictably slacker than a sack full of sloths – but in the meantime, here is this track. Control yourselves now…

Tiny Migrants – Uncontrollable

 

Wild leading beer monkey Julien James then jumps over to his “other” band Running Gun Sound – he is also in Thee Hugs, Woodboot, has a bit-part in the Shiva of garage gods Velociraptor, and other acts that take his fickle fancy. The rest of his band don’t sleep easy at night either – all in Velociraptor and in bands such as Tiger Beams, Lovely Legs, and The Majors, with some solo endeavours just for shits and giggles, RGS fleshes out with Jeremy Neale, James Boyd, Michael Fletcher and Lauren Jenkins. They have an album coming out, called Friends. Because they are friends, you know? Aren’t we all? Maybe. I haven’t made my mind up yet – are you looking at me with the evil eye, or you just need corrective surgery? Either way, this so-laconic-they-should-be-played-on-higher-speeds-and-on-a-slightly-warped-turntable just so that you are leaning in the right direction. Great, jangly, discordant pop that leaves the tracks because they sold them for scrap years ago. Listen if you like sitting next to an open window which is always open in your house because the rains warped the hinges, drinking from a tallie (or regular stubby – I wont push you into new frontiers if you aren’t ready), watching the neighbours’ weed garden bearing fruit, the sound of lawn mowers and verbal domestic abuse flicking your earlids, and faintly remembering that you owe your housemates money but bought this record instead. Everyone’s been there.

Running Gun Sound – Best Of It All

You can buy Friends (the record, not real friends – although I'm sure if you slip them an extra tenner, some flakes of weed and the pretension that there’s more where that came from, they’ll be friends forever!) here. They are touring next week too – Julien is busy when he gets his shit in rollerskates - Oxford Arts Factory in Sydney and Gasometer next weekend, then Brisbane’s Crow Bar on the 28th. UPDATE - After 5 years of recording, playing shows, and pal'ing about, Brisbane's RUNNING GUN SOUND are calling a hiatus. To celebrate singer Michael Fletcher's big move to Germany the band have recorded Friends for one last hurrah (well, until the next time - Fletcher is considering taking the moniker to Deutschland with him). That means this tour is crucial. Make these shows, or you're jerks! (Unless you have seriously legit reasons - you may still be a jerk, but not because you didn't make it).

Ain't No Sad Summers With Texas Tea

 

After bringing out a cassingle – yes, a cassingle – a month ago, local alt. country luminaries Texas Tea have just delivered their 3rd LP Sad Summer Hits (through Mere Noise), just in time for the summer heat to rear its ugly/attractive head (the Brisbane heat has to be one of the most debated topics of conversation that I know of come October every year), and hot damn if it isn’t a doozy!

It isn’t surprising that the 12 songs on offer are electric – Kate Jacobsen and Ben Dougherty have been in scintillating form in the live arena of late, especially when they flesh out the combo to four or more – but the levels of satisfaction is. It’s all down to both the growing confidence and maturity of the duo’s songwriting, the stripping away of what little apprehensions that may have still been in place, and a surety of aim and purpose. Such is the case with ‘Lily’, a song that there is a burly, robust nature to the track that juxtaposes the stately melancholy of ‘I Know That I Let You Down This Time’ perfectly. You’ll know that I don’t write about this stuff often, but seeing as two of my favourite all time are Neil Young’s After The Goldrush and Songs:Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co., I don’t take this lightly either. Texas Tea are still in my mind a criminally underrated Australian band, and if Sad Summer Hits doesn’t do great things for them, then the Powers that Be are cruel, maniacal bastards of the greatest disrepute. There…I said it.

 

Sad Summer Hits is out now – get it here (as you will see, they love their trinkets, what with the personalised tea towels and teaspoons on offer). They are launching this beauty at The Zoo on October 26, with help from The Gin Club and James X Boyd and the CEOs. I can’t say I'm happy about this, seeing as it falls on both the Dick Nasty album launch (you’ll hear more about this soon) but also (and more importantly) on the middle night of the Waiting Room/Sonic Masala Presents celebrations… But you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess…

Texas Tea - Lily
Texas Tea - I know That I Have Let You Down This Time

1st Birthday of Live Celebrations



(poster by Matt Deasy)

Well here it is, the "Big" announcement. It's actually been floating around the traps and the social medias for a while, but it ain't official before it's launched here. This month marks one year since Sonic Masala started supporting the local bands of Brisbane, putting on DIY shows for friends and bands that I like and want to help out. We have had a single launch, an album launch, and even had a couple interstate and one NZ band join the fray. The future looks incredibly rosy for this arm of Planet Masala, with some bigger shows, niche shows and such planned for 2013, but let's forget about the future and party in the present! As part of local venue The Waiting Room (who are also celebrating its first year putting on amazing shows) we are putting on a three night extravaganza! Its mainly to thank everyone for supporting us over the past year, but also to see bands that we like and who like us. So its a big love in, basically!

THE LINEUP:

Thursday 25 October

Ghost Notes



Anonymeye



Feet Teeth




Friday 26 October

The Rational Academy



Tiny Spiders



Undead Apes



+ DJ Monster Monster

Saturday 27 October

Tiny Migrants



Go Violets



Do The Robot



+ DJs Don Candon & Pete Vegas

Three nights of awesome fun times, Im sure you'll agree! Tickets a $10 on the door, or for $20 you can go to all three nights! And of course its BYO, so you know it will be a cheap and easy night. Tiny Migrants promise to "blow y'all cocks off", so the bar has been set. See you there!

Friday Cover Up #1 - The Horrortones Souled Out.

Leave it up to rock'n'soul cover behemoths The Horrortones to put out something as irregular yet delectable as a triple 7" box set. These guys only play like twice a goddamned year! Seriously though, it's great to have these consummate pleasure machines put tracks on wax, and the six songs on display will have you greasing your hair back and shimmying in no time! Just try to resist the decadent, blitzed charms of 'W.A.S.T.E.D' or the swinging frenzy of 'Mojo Hannah'. None of the band members even know where 'They Don't Know' comes from, but the tune does James Brown and hootenannies proud (trust me, such extremes can co-exist). And it wouldn't be The Horrortones without a Dirtbombs cover - or at least a cover of the Dirtbombs covering The O'Jays ('Living For The Weekend').


Courtesy of Mere Noise, there are only 150 of these suckers on planet Earth, so pre-order this diamante delicacy here. The launch is on Friday June 1 at The Beetle Bar, where they will be joined by Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, Cannon and Lovely Legs (who have just finished recording tracks for an upcoming cassette - I've heard the unmixed tracks and they are special!) And look at that poster! The caricatures are more life-like than the band members in person!

Undead Apes' Mega Launch Of Death, This Friday!

Brisbane's finest purveyors snotty punk Undead Apes have had their second LP Killed By Deaf out for what seems like forever (it's only been a few months), but due to many reasons (chief amongst them, laziness) there has been no official launch. Sure, they killed January with four consecutive Thursdays at the Waiting Room, but that was for shits and giggles. The real deal comes on Friday night as they flood Fat Louie's (yes, they are still doing gigs! And dirty chicken wings!) with simian zombies. Also important are the supports, this time filled by SM faves Tiny Migrants, as well as Last Chaos and Shelby Cobra. And enough with the lame excuses (or flat out refusals, like the douches from last Friday's Sonic Masala show), cos this sucka be free, yo! Don't know why I'm speaking like this. Must be that this will be KILLER! So get there, for the love of your children (real, potential, illegitimate - just think of the children!)

Oh, and by Killed By Deaf here - it is loud and killer, so it speaks the truth. And all very quickly, so it's pretty painless death - quick and easy.

Undead Apes - Brain Drain
Undead Apes - Death Can Wait
Undead Apes - Stamp Out Thatcher

Keep On Dancin' For A Standing 8 Count

That Meltdown that Mere Noise is promising gets ever closer, so it's high time we threw the limelight on two more local acts that will be brandishing the blowtorch.


First up we have a band we have briefly mentioned here in the past, The Keep On Dancins. Their debut album The End Of Everything came out earlier this year, and it is just another of Brisbane's 2011 Easter eggs of rocking delectability. What's even better though is that in December it's being released on vinyl, so it will be the greatest Christmas gift too! This album is the brooding, maudlin, eyelids-at-half-mast kind of garage rock, less giddy I love the sunshine and more I love twilight (the time of day, not that raping of the vampire genre shtick). you can pre-order it on Bandcamp now if you want to take advantage of a sweet limited edition pack that includes the vinyl (w/ download), a black (of course) tee and a poster, all for $35 + ph. It can be a gift to yourself if you want...


Secondly, it's all about the institutions at the Meltdown, and these guys are elder statesmen of kicking arse. The Standing 8 Counts are the band that pretty much started it all for this label has reformed, with the original lineup getting together just under a month ago at the Crown Hotel in Lutwyche for the first time in over ten years - it was like 2001 all over again! Very exciting.

The Keep On Dancins - Summertime

The Standing 8 Counts - (You Make Me) Stiff

Migrating To The Woodland And Into Your Drunken Heart

Murky fuzz band and local whale enthusiasts Tiny Migrants are releasing their debut EP on CD (7” available through Mere Noise later this year) at Woodland tomorrow night! Ive been a big fan of every facet of this shambolic collective ever since I saw them support Mark Sultan in February - they were literally the first "new" band I saw when arriving back in Brisbane, and they still delight with every show, especially their interesting set when in support of the brilliant Ty Segall.


Now this show will be incrediballs, not just due to this (and they love to drink, so you know it will get fuzzy and friendly), but the supports have stepped up in the form of motivated party-bunch Cannon, reverb spiked Sunshine State and the return of punk trio the Sulphur Lights. That is huge, shitfaced-worthy news, and seeing as its all for $8 you cannot go wrong. CAN NOT. So get there. And to sate you, here is the first song I heard them play that really grabbed me...

Tiny Migrants - Honeycomber

The Horrortones

The next band to come off the Mere Noise Meltdown honour roll is...

The Horrortones. This behemoth of a Brisbane supergroup slash institution slash intermittent rockabilly raconteurs are currently working on a triple 7" box set, which is hugely exciting. The band revolves around ex-Vegas Kings frontman Pete, with a steady backing band and a revolving door of hangers on. The bands cover the gamut of ace Brisbane band - the aforementioned Vegas Kings, The Grates, Texas Tea, SixFtHick, The Stress of Leisure, Wiseacre, The Tremors, Gin Club, Giants Of Science, Butcher Birds...the list goes on and on. The membership is fluid, its all about drinking with buds and having a good time (space permitting). The M.O. is to funk the fuck out, have a hell of a time, systematically destroy everything and everyone in sight, and wake up the next day in a perpetual state of amnesia and pain. And seeing as they list King Khan, The Dirtbombs and Reigning Sound as influences, there isn't much else to do than ensure you catch one of their shows... (And due to their reticent nature to get things down, all I have is this not so great video of them covering King Khan & the Shrines' 'Saba Lou' from back in 2009. Still, as more about the box set comes through, I will let you know).

Hunting The Narwhals

I picked up this 7" a few weeks ago for three reasons.

One, I was on a recording buying binge and couldn't help myself.

Two, I wanted to support local bands, especially good ones.

Three, my mate Dan who plays in the band wouldn't give me a free one.

Instrumental surf rock bands need to err on the side of Dick Dale or The Shadows if they want to avoid being thrown in with the Best Coast crowd, which Narwhals do well. Its at times funky, at times moody, at times addictive, at times surly, at all times it floods the place with hooks.

Unfortunately it's nigh on impossible to see them live anymore due to members being flung far and wide. That said, have a listen to a couple tracks below, hunt down their 7" here through Mere Noise, and then hunt the members down and give them crow pecks, noogies and Chinese burns until they play once more!

Narwhals - Cosmic Reef
Narwhals - Hell's Gates

HITSing Out For Our Third Mere Noise Post

Time for a look at another Mere Noise artist that will be destroying at the Mere Noise Meltdown in December...and who better than those face-melting miscreants HITS.

HITS played a support show with New York Dolls last week - and that pretty much sums up this band. They murdered that gig, laying it on thick with their thundering, shredding, strutting, "fuckyeahs" and guitar caterwauls. These guys have always thrown every inch of their shit at the wall to see what sticks, and have lost none of their energy (if a few pints of sweat and blood). Its timely too, as the five balltearers have a new release forthcoming - and there is a sweet deal in the mix for it! Entitled the "Smoke Em Like You Got Em Deal", you can pre-order their new 'Gates Of Steel' single which is on a split 7" with Dimi Dero Inc's 'Unfair Enough' - and get a bonus ashtray that's been made out of the initial dud pressing! Head over here to get onto that - it is also HITS' first Bandcamp outing, so they are kinda getting all technologified (but not really).

In other news they have a new 7" in the works and a European tour planned for 2012 - Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain at this stage. All of which bodes well for the future - if you're into a future that will be blackened by rock cliche, evil grins and double entendres...which, let's face it, we all wish for.

Deafened By Undead Apes

Its still two months until the Mere Noise Meltdown comes to our shores, but I thought Id spend each week looking at a band that will be playing it, giving them the individual work over that they deserve.

Brisbane has been a veritable hotbed for diseased, rabid punk in all its guises, and one of the greatest exponents of this in past few years has been Undead Apes. Their take on balls to the wall punk follows in the vein of NY idols The Ramones, and their debut album of last year Grave Consequences was pretty stellar, yet they have gone and pissed all over it with their newie, Killed By Deaf. It was recorded in the back rooms of Tym Guitars and mixed by Eddy Current Suppression Ring's Mikey Young. AS stated by the PR, "If Grave Consequences was a long black then Killed By Deaf is a double shot espresso and a kick in the nuts - 14 songs, 19 minutes you do the math." The coffee references aside - the band really do step up to the plate for some real genital roughhousing - expect many lineages to be abruptly ended when the needle drops.

People of earth can pre-order the vinyl version of this great new record in a limited edition pack right now from here, where you can get a range of awesome presents like an exclusive T-shirt, a hand screened and numbered "glow in the dark" poster and exclusive bonus tracks! PLUS you get an immediate download of the record!! That IS goddamn tasty! So have at it plebs!

Undead Apes - Brain Drain

Mere Noise Meltdown

The guys over at Brisbane label Mere Noise Records are holding their annual Mere Noise Meltdown this year on Saturday December 3rd. The venue has shifted to Woodland due to the shaky nature hanging over the future of the Step Inn, but Im sure it will be as awesome as ever (and the beers on tap won't taste like beer circa 1973 combined with detergent - hey, I love the Step Inn - but bottled booze was the only way to go...). Its gonna be the biggest of its kind, with three stages, a German sausage sizzle and one hell of a lot of noise! At just $32 + bf (grab them here - first 100 tickets get a free album from the Mere Noise catalogue - otherwise they are $40 on the door), and seeing as it's headlined by none other than Japanese garage rock gods Guitar Wolf, its going to be monumentally, retardedly amazeballs. Higher kudos you will not find...

See the current line-up below. Expect a rundown of these bands each week until the Meltdown...err...melts down.

Guitar Wolf (Japan)
Hits
The Horrortones
Texas Tea
No Anchor
Undead Apes
Keep On Dancin's
The Danger Men
Tiny Migrants
Cannon
The Chokes
Go Violets

And here is a video of Guitar Wolf playing in Croatia this year...


Guitar Wolf - Live In Zagreb, 2011. by velimirgrgic

Take These Tiny Migrants For Your Health - And Get Belatedly Covered Up!

I went to my first stand alone gig on Friday night since arriving back in Brisbane - and already Ive been heavily impressed by a local act. Tiny Migrants opened up for Mark Sultan, and are a five piece that specialise in murky, scuzzy garage pop a la The Intelligence - they even did a great rendition of Christmas Island's 'Pre-Apocalyptic', which was pretty ace. The boy/girl vocal chants were good, as was the twin guitar attack - but I was most impressed by the driving bass that really propelled the band down the oil-slick runway to destruction. Their CD-R For Your Health is almost a carbon copy of their setlist, so its a nice lil keepsake, and an indicator that these guys are on the up and up.

I thought Id throw down two songs today - seeing as we havent had a Friday Cover Up for a few weeks, here's Tiny Migrants' Christmas Island cover, plus another track, 'Honeycomber'! Oowoohoo!

Tiny Migrants - Pre-Apocalyptic (Christmas Island cover)
Tiny Migrants - Honeycomber