Woodboot's Doing The Crime Time

Seriously, can Woodboot get any more diseased? Since the Brisbane band started out some years ago as a passing concern, the core duo of Dan and Julien cranking out scuzzed out garage punk, they have grown like an Akira homunculus, sucking in Sam McKenzie (Sulphur Lights/Occults) on second axe bludgeoner duties and Donnie Miller (No Anchor/Roku Music/Forevr) eschewing guitars and smashing the kit like the reprobate Troglodyte that he is. Crime Time is the fetid result. Each song is all about brevity with a mainline blast of fuck-you punk, tearing viscera through their serrated sawing and heckling howls. Songs like ‘Trash Dump’ is the kind of punk we hear a lot of around Brisbane parts, from the 70s punch of The Leftovers to the cartoonish chaos of Undead Apes and everything in between, but then you get to the killer slack-jawed, legs-splayed power punk of ‘Prison Planet’, all jagged edges and dripping Neanderthal fangs, that the transmogrified remnants of the likes of Hank Wood, Circle Jerks and the Spits are ripping through the entrails of the four-piece, a chest-burster showing the diseased intent within. ‘Gut You’ is fucking feral, all blood-vessel searing feedback and three-chord torture, throats being shredded almost out of psychopathic glee. ‘I’m Gonna Push You In Front Of The Bus’ is, despite of its name, a more “pop-oriented” punk blast, a Ramones template lynched and dragged along the bitumen behind a busted-up V8, some semblance of attractive melody showing beneath the blood and gashes. I can even hear ‘Return Of The Rat’ in Crime Time’s insistence that there should be rhythm underneath the sledgehammer-and-kerosene debris, if somewhat used and abused.

I’m proud to know Woodboot – I'll do time for them for sure.

Can You Hear Unpeople On The Stereo?

Who wants some stupid and stupidly loud scuzz punk Draino for the soul? Unpeople is your brand. Led by a snarling, demented Sean Campion (Multiple Man), this ever expanding Brisbane cohort (featuring members of Occults, Last Chaos, Woodboot and more - last count was they wanted five guitarists) are tearing a hole in the sewer, flooding your system with their demented bile and shit. This isn't a band of hate though - everything about this band is about taking the pigfuck route without being angry, or even fucking pigs (that is what that maligned genre name should stand for anyway - I am sure Yow was never far off that copulation). Thrash, growl, laugh, cry. Let loose all control of all spasming muscles and enjoy the release - become one of the Unpeople.



You can get this cassette (out through Blow Blood Records) here.

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).

These Indians Find A Bad Path Home

Now this 7" The Path Home by Bad Indians came out aaaaaaaaaages ago - the Michigan collective sent it to me in the early throes of the year, and it had been floating about for a few months by then - yet it somehow escaped me until the title track popped up on my playlist on the weekend. It's three slices of trash can garage that is as infectious as it is sloppy, soaked in tonnes of sunshine and party juice. After the reckless swagger of 'The Path Home', we get female vocals to up the sweetener on what segues into a mini psych squall in 'All Over Now', then slopes to the bar with 'So Long Sam' for some delicious last drinks. Every track kills, evoking some of the whacked out garage rock that is thrumming through the veins of Brisbane at the moment, with the likes of Tiny Migrants and Woodboot doing serious serrated damage around these parts, and seeing as I love that shit, then I love this shit.


The Path Home is out through Gingko Records - you can grab it here. They are about to release another 7" next month - expect to hear more about that then (or in 2014, the way I get around to stuff...)

Bad Indians - The Path Home
Bad Indians - All Over Now

Sonic Masala Presents It's A Knockout - Round 2!

It's now time to dissect the last two acts on Friday's 6th Sonic Masala Presents... showcase. In this case we have two acts that are fledgling in terms of who their big brothers are, but are burgeoning talents in their own right


Star Lion is the relatively new project for Ben Thompson, he of the prolifically epic The Rational Academy. Whilst the band are percolating in preparation for their next tilt at global glory, Thompson has unearthed his inner electronic stargazer - and whilst it isn't that far removed from his day job (really, the spaces created in these suites of sound make sense), it has such a brooding intensity that it pervades the senses. That said, it will be interesting to see how his powers battle the sloppy erraticisms of the next act...




Closing out the evening in a waterfall of sawdust and beer suds, Woodboot are yet another arm of garage shambolism that branches from the Velociraptor/Tiny Migrants/Keep On Dancins tree. There are so many bands in this vein (The Quest For Glory is actually yet another one) that it is hard to keep track - and even harder to believe that each spawns its own personality and fanbase. Yet that they do, which is why Brisbane has such a spectacular scene right now. The simplicity of the duo adds to the allure (plus that the recording of their rendition of 'I'm A Genius' on YouTube has a Spaceshits song down the right hand side - THAT is grand!)



So the eclecticism is in full effect. But as they sang on the titular show...

THAT'S THE NAME OF THE GAME!

Come down on Friday to The Waiting Room in West End. $10, BYO and slapfights between grungy upstarts and elegant wasters to kickstart the weekend - there is no other reason to live.

Sonic Masala Presents It's A Knockout - Round 1!

It's a busy week on Planet Masala. On Sunday we helped send off Auckland noisemakers God Bows To Math (alongside Tiny Spiders and Quiet Steps, both playing their last shows for a while), and whilst it was a disappointing turnout, it was a lively and excellent show. I'm not resting on my or anyone else's laurels however, as this Friday sees the sixth instalment of our monthly showcases down at the Waiting Room. This one promises to be something markedly different than previous shows in that whilst it has always been eclectic, the lineup takes on two sides of the same tawdry coin that is our local music scene.


Today we are focusing on the first two acts playing the bill, squaring off in what I like to call "It's A Knockout!" Kicking us off is an unknown quantity in White Squall, a three-piece of laptop junkies who like mucking around in the bedroom before being coaxed out into the night to play. They have a couple "jams" that they've slammed down on Bandcamp here - below is one of them. Their ambient sample-heavy miasmas are quite impressive - the love of Boards Of Canada/Four Tet/The Weeknd and their ilk stands tall here. They may be a timid bunch, but expect an intense punch on the night.

White Squall - Pushed Pulled Mix


In the opposite corner, with fists cocked and rucksacks packed, are Brisbane's own adventure rockers The Quest For Glory. Embracing GIFs, zaniness, explosions and corny non-sequiters, the quartet don't get out much as a collective - if they did Brisbane would sink into a hole of preposterousness the likes that hasn't been seen since Test Icicles was deemed a good name for a band - so expect them to unleash the woody goodness with both barrels. Grab their "album" Derek Gene and the Gene Scream here - it's free.

The Quest For Glory - Politics
The Quest For Glory - Choose Your Own Adventure

Who will win out? And how will they tap into the ring to aid them in that final sonic piledriver to claim the ultimate accolades? Check back in tomorrow to find out!