If you don't already know by know, DM3 have decided to call it a day. They play their last ever show somewhat appropriately in Spain on the 24th October. For their upcoming European tour, Jeff Baker has joined the band as an extra guitarist. Jeff used to play in the Palisades. The tour dates are up on the DM3 Webpage
DM3's last release, Just Like Nancy, is available on CD through Phantom Records and on 7 inch vinyl through France's Hellfireclub Records. It has already been described as "so far, single of the year" by the Canadian power pop fanzine Shake It Up
Dom Mariani has also been busy recording some solo tracks for the French label Pop The Balloon. After DM3, he is planning to form an instrumental style group, possibly called The Majestic Kelp. Expect something style of Stonefish and the song Rome.
Jack & The Beanstalk have recorded the bulk of their second album. Things like overdubbing and mixing have yet to be completed. A couple of demo recordings were released on the promotional only CD Spin Me Pop that David Hughes-Owen and Spinning Top Records released last year. Joe Algeri, who is currently living in Sweden, has been busy producing Swedish bands Opossum and Happydreadman. He also played solo at this years International Pop Overthrow festival in Los Angeles, supporting his debut solo CD, Everything Under The Sun. Details about Jack & The Beanstalk as well as Joe's solo CD can be found at the Torpedo Records Website as well as at the Egomaniac Website
Jack & The Beanstalk also have a track on the recently released I Wanna Be A Real Kid, a tribute to Boston's legendary Real Kids (Spinning Top Records). Other bands include Psychotic Youth, Jim Basnight, the Rosehips and many others.
Jack & The Beanstalk's other guitarist, Kevin Borruso, has got yet another line-up of Superscope together. This time the band features Craig Maclean on bass, Brad Cleary on drums and just recently Stuart Loasby on guitar. (Stuart also plays bass in Jack & The Beanstalk). They have been regularly playing live around Perth and are currently recording their debut album. If you liked their Generally Electric or Popping Crease CDs then just wait till you hear their new songs.
3 Orange Whips are the only good punk rock band currently playing in Perth. They cite their influences as being bands like the Stooges, Radio Birdman, Black Sabbath, Celibate Rifles, Hellacopters, Fu Manchu etc. The bands second CD, called 3 Orange Whips Rock Up, will be released at the end of the year, after which they are touring Melbourne and Sydney. You can read all about them at the 3 Orange Whips Web page
Melbourne's Icecream Hands will be releasing their third album Sweeter Than The Radio on September 27th through Rubber Records. It is without a doubt, one of the albums of the year and is a more mature and rewarding than the critically acclaimed Memory Lane Traffic Jam. The two singles Dodgy and Yellow And Blue are just a taste of what to expect. There will be a third single, Spirit Level Windowsill released on September 13th.
Labelmates Even are also releasing Sunshine Comes as the fourth single off their great Come Again album. The single comes with one unreleased track Knightfall and their exclusive live tracks.
Sydney's rocking Panadolls plan to release a four-tracker on France's Hellfire Club label before year's end. Four tracks, Bury Me from the Beyond the Valley of the Panadolls EP, Gypsy Twilight from the From the Glitter to the Gutter album and two newies, Road Hog and Used Car Salesman, are planned. Multi-instrumental Ashley Thomson from the 'Dolls is also re-releasing the much-lauded self-titled CD album from Newcastle's The Fools on his Headmiles Record Label. Check the site for some fine-sounding Real Audio samples.
The debut release for Vicious Kitten Records is an 7 inch ep, I Want Her So Bad, by Sheek the Shayk and his Royal Camels. The band describe themselves as Sonics-via-Detroit raunch. Future releases from Vicious Kitten Records include the new solo album, Red Brocade, from Jacobites main man Nikki Sudden as well as records by the Kevin K Band and Freddy Lynxx & The Corner Gang.
Viscious Kitten Records also have an official newsletter called Cat Scratch Fever. Issue 2 of Cat Scratch Fever is out now and features exclusive interviews with Sheek The Shayk, Ricky Rat from The Trash Brats, Texas Terri, Jeff Magnum from The Dead Boys, plus The Donnas, Lucy Desoto, TV Jones, The Hunchbacks, Repo, Deniz Tek, Pulpit Red, Johan Asherton, Jeff Dahl, Bloodsucking Freaks, Killer Klowns plus news, label info, merchandise and much more !! Send an IRC or 45c Australian stamp to GPO Box 20, Canberra 2601 Australia for a copy or check out the web page at http://www.viciouskitten.com.au/
For those of you wondering what Brad Shephard (Hoodoo Guru's, Hitmen and Fun Things) and Greg Hitchcock (Bamboos, Kryptonics and You Am I) are up to, well, they've formed a new band together called The Monarchs. Also in the band is Brad's brother Murray (Fun Things and Screaming Tribesmen). If you can imagine the songs Brad wrote for the Hoodoo Gurus with a bit of Who/Mc5 power then you've got a good idea of what to expect. Apparently the band have just recorded a five song EP of which I know nothing. My sources tell me that Brad, ever the style-master, is playing a white Ephiphone Crestwood and had a very cracked and beautiful old white Mosrite out the back as well. Jeeze I'd like to see his guitar collection one day!
Brad Shephard also covers the song Alex Chilton on the recently released tribute to the Replacements called I'm In Love With That Song (Antfarm/Tomboy Records). Other bands featured include You Am I, Challenger 7, DM3, Icecream Hands, Celibate Rifles, Jack & The Beanstalk, Onyas and many more (virtually a who's who of Australian music if you ask me). Ian Underwood has put up a Replacements Tribute Webpage up with all the info, liner notes and band links, and (hopefully some MP3 clips of the better songs).
Ian Underwood's band Challenger 7 have also been busy of late putting the finishing touches on their debut album, which will be released through Japan's 1+2 Records. The record is apparently sounding great. Some of it is full on detroit rock, some of it's a bit Neil Young and some it's all acoustic...I think people will be kinda surprised by the songwriting, with the more softer moments coming from the pen of new guitarist Stuart 'Leadfinger' Cunningham (ex-Asteroid B6-12)....
Challenger 7 also have a track on the forthcoming Saints tribute album also on 1+2 Records, which is due out in September sometime and also features the likes of the Onyas, Nomads, Monomen & Jeff Dahl. Check out the 1+2 Webpage for a full listing.
Don't forget that they also have a split 7 inch with Perth band Rollercoaster on Hellfireclub Records.. The Challenger 7 songs are not available anywhere else (either are the Rollercoaster songs) and were the first songs we recorded when Leadfinger joined the band on 2nd guitar. The Rollercoaster songs are your typical Perth power pop, but bit tuffer. Rollercoaster feature Dave Shaw from The Stems, Duane Smith from The Chevelles, Grant Ferstat from A Month of Sundays and Craig Maclean from Superscope. Unfortunately, the band has long since split. It has a nice full colour cover as well.
Stuart 'Leadfinger' Cunningham also plays guitar in two other bands, Brother Brick and The Yes-Men. Brother Brick have just released their debut CD album called A Portable Altamont through (you guessed it) Hellfire Club Records. Brother Brick have also just released a 3 song vinyl EP on Estrus and a 2 song 7" on Rockinhouse records outta Philadelphia.
The Yes-Men have also just released an album called Prosody (how does he have the time?) through Stolen Records/International Trash locally and through White Jazz Records in Sweden. The Yes-Men also features Sean Greenway, who used to play in the Freeloaders, Tas (from the Meanies/Maiko), Jay Curley(ex Tumbleweed) and an incredible drummer by the name of Mark Hurst who was in the Guttersnipes. The band have been compared with Sonic's Rendevous Band and are touring Europe with the Hellacopters and Scott Morgan Band sometime in October/November. The band's first single in also out now on a small NY label called 007 Records.
If Leadfinger isn't the busiest musician around then Michael Carpenter is. He has just released his debut album, Baby, through the acclaimed power pop label, Not Lame. Described as popšs latest Brad Jones, Michael Carpenter plays every instrument on this release. A merging of Beatles harmonies and the unique Down Under 12 stringed pop sounds of DM3, The Someloves and The Orange Humble Band, this is a passionate power pop to usher in a new millenium. When he played the International Pop Overthrow festival this year, he went down a storm. Expect big things I think.
Michael Carpenter also plays in The Finkers, a new band from Sydney featuring Mickster (Crusaders/Pyramidiacs) on drums, Funter from The Pyramidaics on guitar/keys and Matt Allison (ex-Lawnsmell). They have also just released their debut album, Fresh Set O Prints which has been released through Melbourne's Stolen records. They combine all the elements of rocking, pumping psych pop ala The Stems with the pure pop flavor of a variety of modern day Aussie pop bands (including not a lot of dissimilarity to Michael Carpenter's own release, Baby).
If that's not enough, he also plays drums in The Pyramidiacs and runs his studio Stagefright. He has recently produced such bands as 78 Saab, Challenger 7 and Youthgroup.
Perhaps my favourite band of all time is You Am I, who are releasing a retrospective live album entitled Saturday Night, Round Ten on September 20th. The album features such songs as Cathy's Clown, Berlin Chair, Mr Milk, Purple Sneakers and the new single 'Round Ten. Initial copies also come with a bonus disc called Ignorance and Vodka, which contains a 15 minute CD Rom film as well as 5 tracks from the #4 Record sessions.
Deniz Tek recently played with a re-formed line-up of Sonic's Rendevous Band in Detroit. By all accounts the band floored everyone present. Deniz also plays on the second Deep Reduction record with the Stump Wizards, which is released through Get Hip. Apparently the new record is a lot more 60's flavoured than the first. Also available is the new single by Deniz Tek / Chris Masuak on the French Undead label. Well, not really new as what you have are two live studio recordings from the 1991 Sugar Hill, Houston Sessions. Great version of Let The Kids Dance' b/w 'Sweet Jane (with Tek on vocals) and great picture sleeve.
In other news, Radio Birdman will not be reforming for a European tour as rumours were suggesting earlier this year and the version of I-94 on the TV Jones 7 Inch actually is a Radio Birdman outtake or demo. Deniz has revealed that a mix-up in the labelling of a cassette dub of the song is responsible for a Birdman outtake or demo making its way onto the single. However, the song Skimp The Pimp is by TV Jones.
Finally, Washington DC label No-Mango Records are issuing Flattery - a Tribute to Radio Birdman in late August. Volume two will follow in October. Some of the featured bands will include the Nomads, the Streewtwalkin' Cheetahs, the Hellacopters, Adam West, the Onyas, Red Shift and the Powder Monkeys. Label head Dave Champion says every track is a killer (and we believe him). Read the full listing at the Fandango Records Webpage.
