Alt rock – Page 7 – 7th Level Music

Bass Drum of Death announces 2023 North American tour.

Having just completed shows in the UK, Ireland, Europe and North America playing select dates and as main support to The Lemonheads, Bass Drum Of Death (John and JIm Barrett, Ian Kirkpatrick) announce a US headline tour beginning February 8th, in support of their forthcoming album, Say I Won’t, released January 27th via Fat Possum Records.

The band have revealed three tracks/videos from the album so far; the Zeppelin-esque ‘Head Change’, the midtempo bruiser ‘Say Your Prayers‘ (a collaboration with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood) and the hi-octane ‘Find It‘ (the video features live footage from the band’s sold out New York show in June of this year). Today, to accompany the tour announcement, they share a blistering live version of ‘Head Change’, to give a taste of what to expect on the road.

Say I Won’t is the first Bass Drum of Death album written, demoed, and recorded with the touring band, instead of bandleader John Barrett doing everything on his own. He found a freedom in working with collaborators that wasn’t available to him before, opening different aspects of the songwriting. It was a process of live recording, layering on different parts and overdubs, and then stripping it all back to the bones of the song, keeping the raw wild heart of the music intact. “My first two records were made entirely by me alone with my gear, my laptop, and a Snowball USB mic,” says Barrett. “They were just made quickly, cheaply, as an excuse to tour. I wanted to take my time with this record. Make something good that I was proud of in itself.”

The band recorded the new record with Patrick Carney of The Black Keys at Audio Eagle Studios in Nashville and the result is a groove-oriented, 1970’s-indebted collection of rock songs, with tempos set for cruising and scuzzy guitars galore. There’s an energy and vitality to the music that feels in line with the best of the Bass Drum songs, but with an added boost that comes from new bandmates and a new perspective.

The albumfinds a reinvigorated Barrett firing at all cylinders, backed by his best band yet. It’s Bass Drum of Death at their loosest and scuzziest and most tuneful, a true rock record in all the right ways. It’s a throwback by way of moving forward, sporting a maturity and swagger that comes from a decade of playing music on the road and surviving to tell about it. More than anything, Say I Won’t is a blast to listen to, music built for driving with your stereo cranked.

2023 dates are below – tickets can be found on the band’s website.

Feb 08 New Orleans LA House of Blues Parish

Feb 09 Houston TX House of Blues Bronze Peacock

Feb 11 Austin TX Empire Garage & Control Room

Feb 12 Dallas TX House of Blues Cambridge Room

Feb 14 Tucson AZ 191 Toole

Feb 15 Phoenix AZ Rebel Lounge
Feb 16 San Diego CA Casbah

Feb 17 Las Vegas NV The Usual Place
Feb 18 Los Angeles CA Zebulon

Feb 19 Santa Ana CA Constellation Room
Feb 21 Santa Cruz CA Moe’s Alley
Feb 22 Sacramento CA Goldfield Trading Post

Feb 24 Portland OR Mississippi Studios

Feb 25 Seattle WA Tractor Tavern

Feb 26 Spokane WA Lucky You

Feb 28 Boise ID Neurolux
Mar 03 Denver CO HQ
Mar 24 Oxford MS Proud Larry’s *

Mar 25 Birmingham AL Saturn *

Mar 26 Asheville NC The Grey Eagle *

Mar 28 Raleigh NC The Pour House *

Mar 29 Washington DC Union Stage *

Mar 30 Philadelphia PA Concourse *
Mar 31 Brooklyn NY Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Apr 01 Jersey City NJ White Eagle Hall *

Apr 03 Boston MA Brighton Music Hall *

Apr 05 Buffalo NY Buffalo Iron Works *

Apr 06 Cleveland OH Beachland Ballroom *
Apr 07 Ferndale MI Magic Bag *

Apr 08 Indianapolis IN HI-Fi *

Apr 10 Grand Rapids MI The Pyramid Scheme *

Apr 14 Chicago IL Riot Fest Presents at Cobra Lounge *

Apr 15 Chicago IL Riot Fest Presents at Cobra Lounge *

Apr 16 Louisville KY Headliners Music Hall *

* w/ Dead Tooth

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

Mosswood Meltdown announces its first 2023 lineup members and early bird ticket pricing.

The epic Mosswood Meltdown is returning July 1st and July 2nd, 2023 to Oakland’s Mosswood Park. Today, the festival announces its first wave of the lineup, which features Le Tigre for their only Bay Area appearance of the year, Gravy Train!!!!, The Rondelles, and Tina & the Total Babes for their exclusive, only shows of 2023, Quintron & Miss Pussycat, and more. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Mosswood Meltdown without our iconic and punkeriffic host, John Waters. The lineup thus far can be found below and early bird tickets for the festival (for a holiday special pricing) are on sale this Friday at 9am PST/noon EST.

MOSSWOOD MELTDOWN 2023 TEASER
Le Tigre (1st Bay Area gig in 15 years!)
Gravy Train!!!! (Only gig 2022/2023)
Tina & the Total Babes (Only gig 2022/2023)
The Rondelles (Only gig 2022/2023)
Quintron & Miss Pussycat

And more to be announced soon!

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE

Ticket Prices (Holiday Special)
GA Weekend Pass – $99
VIP Weekend Pass – $179
(VIP comes w/ VIP seating, swag bag, ins & outs)

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: The Psychedelic Furs – Made of Rain (2020)

The Psychedelic Furs came back strong in 2020 with Made of Rain, their first album of new material since 1991’s World Outside. Richard Butler‘s voice and songwriting hadn’t lost a step and the rest of the band had plenty of pent-up pandemic energy to release.

“The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll” launches the album with shoegaze guitars and Richard Butler singing about himself to some degree (The Furs are one of the most influential UK post-punk bands still going.) and probably about others he’s seen in his long career who burned out (“the suicidal drunk dance, the sense that things will fall apart”) too soon. “Don’t Believe” has stadium-level grandeur with its expansive sound courtesy of Rich Good‘s guitars.

“When the new black is white and the new lows are high, in the ticking of the time, you’ll be mine,” Richard Butler sings on “You’ll Be Mine” – a gorgeous track with string instruments, alto saxophone work from Mars Williams, and celestial synths from Amanda Kramer. The chorus increases in power every time Butler sings it. Speaking of Butler’s power, it’s on full display on “Wrong Train” – a song about walking away from a relationship and the mixed emotions that come with it. “This’ll Never Be Like Love” continues this theme.

Paul Garisto‘s drums on “Ash Wednesday” seem all over the place but are actually loaded with highly technical fills. “Come All Ye Faithful” isn’t a cover of the traditional Christmas song, but rather a bit of a goth track, as is “No-One,” which has some Cure-like guitars behind Tim Butler‘s heavy, growling bass. A harpsichord plays the role of clock chimes on “Tiny Hands” – a song that seems to be about how time often gets away from us before we realize it’s gone.

“Hide the medicine from the kids,” Butler sings on “Hide the Medicine,” a sad tale of someone trying to hide their depression from their children hidden in a lush rock song. “Turn Your Back on Me” is just as lovely, with Good’s guitars seeming to echo from the back of a workshop behind the studio. “Stars” starts slow and then builds into a big, screeching song that drops out in a quick distorted plunge.

The Psychedelic Furs had a lot to get out of their heads when making this record, and the end result is a fine piece of work.

Keep your mind open.

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shame announces new album and massive 2023 tour.

Today, shame announce Food for Worms, their explosive new album out February 24th on Dead Oceans, and present its lead single/video, “Fingers of Steel.” In conjunction, the band announces their biggest headlining tour to-date, with stops in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Chicago and more. Following 2021’s Drunk Tank Pink, “the sound of a band stretching into new shapes” (Pitchfork), shame finally arrive at a place of hard-won maturity on Food for Worms, which frontman Charlie Steendeclares to be “the Lamborghini of shame records.”

Food for Worms marks a sonic departure from anything they’ve done before, and – for the first time – the band are not delving inwards, but seeking to capture the world around them. Abandoning their post-punk beginnings for far more eclectic influences, Food for Worms draws from the sharp yet uncomplicated lyrical observations of Lou Reed, as well as the more melodic works of 90s German band Blumfeld. They called upon renowned producer Flood (Nick Cave, U2, PJ Harvey) to execute their vision. “I don’t think you can be in your own head forever,” says Steen. A conversation after one of their gigs with a friend prompted a stray thought that he held onto: “It’s weird, isn’t it? Popular music is about love, heartbreak, or yourself. There isn’t much about your mates.”

The “Fingers of Steel” video, directed by James Humby, sees the band work 19-hour shifts creating fake social media accounts to like, follow, and comment on their own material. Of the video,Steen says: “Self-obsession, social media flagellation and death can all be seen in this Oscar-nominated performance. No one’s ever done a video like this before and when you watch it, you’ll see why. Think Casablanca, but in color, and better.”

WATCH SHAME’S “FINGERS OF STEEL” VIDEO

On one hand, Food for Worms calls to mind a certain morbidity, but on the other, it’s a celebration of life; the way that, in the end, we need each other. The album is an ode to friendship, and a documentation of the dynamic that only five people who have grown up together – and grown so close, against all odds – can share.

Back in 2018, around debut album Songs of Praise, shame were at the vanguard of a transformative scene that changed the underground music landscape in the UK; paving the way for artists soon to come. Then, Steen suffered a series of panic attacks which led to the tour’s cancellation. For the first time, since being plucked from the small pub stages of south London and catapulted into notoriety, shame were confronted with who they’d become on the other side of it. This era, of being forced to endure reality and the terror that comes with your own company, would form shame’s second album, Drunk Tank Pink.

Reconnecting with what they first loved about being in a band hotwired them into making the album after a false-start during the pandemic. Their management then presented them with a challenge: in three weeks, shame would play two intimate shows and debut two sets of entirely new songs. It meant the band returned to the same ideology which propelled them to these heights in the first place: the love of playing live, on their own terms, fed by their audience. Thus Food for Worms crashed into life faster than anything they’d created before. The band recorded while playing festivals all over Europe, invigorated by the strength of the reaction their new material was met with. That live energy, what it’s like to witness shame in their element, is captured perfectly on record – like lightning in a bottle.

Food for Worms sees shame enter a new, surreal landscape, as reflected in the cover art designed by acclaimed artist Marcel Dzama. It’s suggestive of what is left unsaid, what lies beneath the surface, the farcical and fantastical everyday that we are living in, in a society where both everything and nothing is possible. Recording each track live meant a kind of surrender: here, the rough edges give the album its texture; the mistakes are more interesting than perfection. In a way, it harkens back to the title itself and the way that with this record, the band are embracing frailty and, by doing so, are tapping into a new source of bravery.

It’s through this, and defiance, that the band have continually moved forward together; finding light in uncomfortable contractions and playing their vulnerabilities as strengths. The near-breakdowns, identity crises, Steel routinely ripping his top off on-stage as a way of tackling his body weight insecurities – everything is thrown into their live show, and the best shows of their lives are happening now.

Pre-order Food for Worms

Food for Worms Tracklist
1. Fingers Of Steel
2. Six-Pack
3. Yankees
4. Alibis
5. Adderall
6. Orchid
7. The Fall of Paul
8. Burning By Design
9. Different Person
10. All The People

shame Tour Dates
Wed. Mar. 1 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Fri. Mar. 3 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
Sat. Mar. 4 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
Sun. Mar. 5 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
Tue. Mar. 7 – Sheffield, UK @ Leadmill
Wed. Mar. 8 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
Thu. Mar. 9 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Sat. Mar. 11 – Manchester, UK @ New Century Hall
Sun. Mar. 12 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed
Tue. Mar. 14 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
Wed. Mar. 15 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
Thu. Mar. 16 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
Sat. Mar. 18 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
Sun. Mar. 19 – Madrid, ES @ Nazca
Mon. Mar. 20 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2 de Apolo
Wed. Mar. 22 – Nimes, FR @ Paloma
Thu. Mar. 23 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
Fri. Mar. 24 – Zurich, CH @ Plaza
Sun. Mar. 26 – Munich, DE @ Technikum
Mon. Mar. 27 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
Tue. Mar. 28 – Hamburg, DE @ Markthalle
Thu. Mar. 30 – Oslo, NO @ Vulkan
Fri. Mar. 31 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser
Sat. Apr. 1 – Copenhagen, DK @ VEGA
Mon. Apr. 3 – Brussels, BE @ AB
Tue. Apr. 4 – Cologne, DE @ Floria
Thu. Apr. 6 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
Fri. Apr. 28 – London, UK @ Brixton Academy
Wed. May 10 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
Fri. May 12 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
Sat. May 13 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sun. May 14 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
Tue. May 16 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
Thu. May 18 – Montréal, QC @ Foufounes Électriques
Fri. May 19 – Ottawa, ON @ Club SAW
Sat. May 20 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Mon. May 22 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
Wed. May 24 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. May 26 – St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Sat. May 27 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
Sun. May 28 – Fayetteville, AR @ George’s Majestic Lounge
Tue. May 30 – Dallas,TX @ Granada Theater
Fri. Jun. 2 – Austin, TX @ The Scoot Inn
Sat. Jun. 3 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
Sun. Jun. 4 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Rewind Review: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol – Burger Time Classics (2017)

The debut EP from Austin, Texas’ Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, Burger Time Classics, is a protein-packed wallop in just six songs.

I mean, the opening chords and vocals of “Born to Lose” alone will smack you upside the head – and that’s before the heavy snare pounding and cymbal sizzling enters the fray. “Dickhead” starts sounds like an old Weezer track they never released and then drops chugging guitars that Weezer still dreams of playing.

“Maggot” is almost sludge metal. “Kill for the Thrill” is so hot and that it’s practically charbroiled. It’s hard to tell which instrument is putting out the most volume in it. The title of “All Beef, Patty” is not only funny, but it also lets you know what’s in store for you over the next three minutes and thirty-seven seconds: pure beefy rock with a little extra grease. “Maniac” has touches of thrash metal sprinkled in for good measure.

It’s short, but satisfying – not unlike a slider.

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Bass Drum of Death undergo a “Head Change” on their new single.

Today, Bass Drum Of Death share ‘Head Change’, the Zeppelin-esque third song taken from their forthcoming album, Say I Won’t, released January 27th via Fat Possum Records. Bandleader John Barrett says of the track,”We kind of wanted a mid-tempo psych stomper, and really didn’t change a whole lot from the demo. We added the dueling guitar bridge in the studio spur of the moment, and it ended up being one of my favorite parts on the whole record.” Watch the video HERE.

The band shared two tracks previously, the midtempo bruiser ‘Say Your Prayers‘ (a collaboration with Mike Kerr of Royal Blood) and the hi-octane ‘Find It‘ (the video features live footage from the band’s sold out New York show in June of this year). Say I Won’t, comes at a time of massive change for Barrett, having relocated from New York to his hometown of Oxford, Mississippi during the pandemic. The record is also a homecoming of a different sort, with the band rejoining the ranks of Fat Possum, also in Oxford, the label that released their first record GB City in 2011.

The point of an odyssey is to return home changed—still the same person, but deepened somehow, wiser and better, wearing your traveling scars proudly. Bass Drum of Death’s new album is the end result of a journey that took singer and bandleader John Barrett from a small town in Mississippi and sent him across the world and back home again. The music still rips, with blown-out guitars and drums, and the melodies are catchier than ever, hollered in Barrett’s trademark yelp. But the music hits differently now, more at peace with itself, propelled by a new swagger. Say I Won’t is the record of a veteran band finding its stride and leaning into it, stripping back the excess and finding the raw core of their sound.

“Moving back to Oxford was a much-needed reset,” says Barrett. “When I started, I just wanted to play in a punk band and drink beers and travel around. I didn’t really think much past that. And I got really burned out. When I moved back home, I started writing songs again, just for fun. I realized I wanted this record to have more of a hometown feel. The switch back to Fat Possum was easy. It’s much better working with people I know and love and love everything they do.”

Say I Won’t is the first Bass Drum of Death album written, demoed, and recorded with the touring band instead of Barrett doing everything on his own. He found a freedom in working with collaborators that wasn’t available to him before, opening different aspects of the songwriting. It was a process of live recording, layering on different parts and overdubs, and then stripping it all back to the bones of the song, keeping the raw wild heart of the music intact.

“My first two records were made entirely by me alone with my gear, my laptop, and a Snowball USB mic,” says Barrett. “They were just made quickly, cheaply, as an excuse to tour. I wanted to take my time with this record. Make something good that I was proud of in itself.”

The band recorded the new record with Patrick Carney of the Black Keys at Audio Eagle Studios in Nashville and the result is a groove-oriented, 1970’s-indebted collection of rock songs, with tempos set for cruising and scuzzy guitars galore. There’s an energy and vitality to the music that feels in line with the best of the Bass Drum songs, but with an added boost that comes from new bandmates and a new perspective.

The album finds a reinvigorated Barrett firing at all cylinders, backed by his best band yet. It’s Bass Drum of Death at their loosest and scuzziest and most tuneful, a true rock record in all the right ways. It’s a throwback by way of moving forward, sporting a maturity and swagger that comes from a decade of playing music on the road and surviving to tell about it. More than anything, Say I Won’t is a blast to listen to, music built for driving with your stereo cranked.

“I had to relearn that making music is fucking fun,” says Barrett, “and you should have fun doing it. If it’s miserable, what’s the point?” He laughs. “But man, when a song hits, it’s the best feeling in the world. That’s what this record is about. Getting back to that good place and staying there.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jo Murray.]

Eaves Wilder releases her second single – “Morning Rain.”

London-born-and-raised musician and producer Eaves Wilder presents her second single, “Morning Rain,” via her new label, Secretly Canadian. Wilder fuses “indie rock tropes with pop to create a raucous yet melodic sound” (Clash). While her first single, “I Stole Your Jumper,” was described as “cool and vengeful” (Brooklyn Vegan), “Morning Rain” airs more on the melancholic side. It finds the 19 year old toying with the struggle of returning to school. Growing up, Eaves spent more time doodling pianos in her workbooks than paying attention to her teachers. Frustrated with having to allow another person to take control of her day, she’d long to be at home, writing music in her bedroom. “For me, school was something that postponed life from starting. I spent the entire time trying to get out of it. You spend 18 years memorizing so much information and then they turn around and expect you to know who you are and what you want, but you’re not given a chance to really figure that out.”

Watch Eaves Wilder’s “Morning Rain” Lyric Video

Eaves Wilder began songwriting around the age of eight, harnessing an early obsession with ‘60s Motown records and the left-field pop of Lily Allen. She plastered pictures of her idols on her bedroom wall, but realized in her mid-teens that it was lacking any women. From then on, she made an active effort to get into more female musicians, coming across the riot grrl movement, a discovery that completely changed her life.

She began filing her own teenage obsessions into her collection and while doing so, uncovered the ugly sides of the music world, but also empowerment in the punk feminist fanbase; how artists took ownership in male dominated spaces, and what a powerful tool community could be. Online, and in real life at shows, Eaves saw these elements in the contemporary fan bases of the bands she loved. She became captivated by the idea of reclaiming the worth of the fan girl (which she considers herself to be) and how one can be hyper-feminine without the baggage that comes with it.

Since that self-realization, Wilder has been recording, producing and releasing her own music since the age of 16. Her honest and deceptively cutting lyrics have earned widespread praise from UK tastemakers, including The Sunday Times, NME, Clash, DIY, Dork and The Line of Best Fit, which hailed Eaves as “a star on the rise” (The Line of Best Fit). Signing to Secretly Canadian in 2021, something she waited until she was 18 to do because she thought it would be “uncool” to have her mom sign her record deal for her, Eaves has now swapped her bedroom for the studio, spending 2022 co-producing a run of new music with Andy Savours (Arctic Monkeys / Black Country, New Road / Rina Sawayama).

Watch the “I Stole Your Jumper” Video

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[Thanks to Jessica at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Midnight Oil to release rare, raw 1982 live recording for Support Act’s Roadies Fund.

Midnight Oil are the 29^th act to throw support behind Support Act’s Roadies Fund through the Australian Road Crew Association (ARCA)’s awesome Desk Tape Series.

The Series was created by ARCA to raise funds to provide financial, health, counselling and well-being services for roadies and crew in crisis.

The recordings are made off the sound desk by a crew member. MIDNIGHT OIL LIVE at the OLD LION, Adelaide 1982 was recorded by Mark Woods, and is another fantastic tribute to the great sounds engineers produced for the early Aussie pub rock scene. This live tape is released on ARCA’s Black Box Records through MGM Distribution and on all major streaming services.

THE BAND

Peter Garrett – lead vocals
Peter Gifford – bass, vocals
Rob Hirst – drums, vocals
Jim Moginie – guitars, keyboards
Martin Rotsey – guitars

CREW

Mark Woods (sound)
Michael Lippold (stage/ production manager)
Ron “Wormy” James (lights)

TRACK LISTING

1 Written In The Heart
2 Brave Faces
3 Armistice Day
4 I’m The Cure
5 Bus To Bondi
6 Quinella Holiday
7 No Time For Games
8 Burnie
9 Cold Cold Change
10 Powderworks
11 Koala Sprint
12 Back On The Borderline
13 Don’t Wanna Be The One
14 Wedding Cake Island
15 Stand In Line
16 No Reaction

The MIDNIGHT OIL LIVE at the OLD LION Adelaide 1982 live tape and all the ARCA Desk Tape Series recordings are available through Black Box Records – ARCA (australianroadcrew.com.au) and the following: Amazon, Anghami, Apple Music / iTunes, Boomplay, Black Box Records, Deezer, MGM, Pandora, Shazam, Spotify, TenCent, Tidal, TikTok, YouTube Music.

The Old Lion show on Friday March 26, 1982 was part of a two-week run through Victoria and South Australia. At that stage, the band were doing 180 shows a year, and firing on all eight cylinders.

Rob Hirst admits: “I’m exhausted listening back to the tape, it’s relentless! We were, excuse the pun, a well-oiled machine, angry young men against the world.”

Mark Woods, who filled in as sound engineer on the run, called it the “Speed and Dust Tour.” It was hot and the tour moved at a frantic pace. Woods had just finished a run with Men At Work, with two weeks off before MAW’s first US visit. When the Oils’ run ended in Whyalla in regional South Australia, he drove 14 hours overnight without sleep back to Melbourne, in time for the Los Angeles flight with Men At Work.

Woods didn’t mind: he was a massive fan. “I thought they were the best band in the world. On this run they were at their absolute peak. Much of the set was from Place Without A Postcard, which was just released four months before, so the songs sounded fresh. It wasn’t that they were loud, it was the power. They weren’t ‘screamy’ or harsh listening, they just had a very full solid big fat sound.”

“They were all red hot players”, Woods recalls, citing how Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey’s guitars intertwined, and how the Peter Gifford/ Rob Hirst rhythm section locked in.

“I loved Giffo’s playing, he was the perfect bass player for them and at his best on this tour. There was something about his beat which worked well with Rob’s drums, they were right on the beat, really driving it forward.”

Gifford left a few years later to become a businessman in Byron Bay. Michael Lippold spent as much time on stage as the band, unravelling Pete’s mic leads from the guitarists’ legs as he danced manically about. Hirst’s drum kit had to be nailed down. Not only did he attack them with exuberance, breaking pedals and sticks, but he’d also jump into the air off his stool for greater power when he landed.

Listening to the Old Lion tape, Hirst chuckles, “It reminds me of the breakneck speeds we used to play those songs! The album versions chugged along but the live versions were 30% to 40% faster, if not faster. It’s almost as if we couldn’t wait to get to the (hire cars) and fishtail out of there!”

Also giving him a buzz on the tape were how the guitars sounded so distinctive and Garrett’s onstage patter recalling which politician or issue was irritating him in 1982. The tape shows how the Oils were starting to musically move around at that time. In 1981 when famed English producer Glyn Johns (Stones, Who) saw an Oils show at Selinas in Sydney, he invited them back to England to record in his new studio in Surrey.

“It was supposed to be our big break,” Hirst relates. “It wasn’t.” Hirst says Johns expected them to arrive with 12 fully formed songs, but he and Moginie, as the Oils’ main writers, had been unable to write songs due to the band’s hectic touring schedule. Even worse, Johns failed to capture the Oils’ live roar on the record.

Hirst: “The creativity and the song writing was getting stronger. But we were frustrated with the sound on the albums so far. They didn’t grab you by the throat and wrestle you to the ground. It was only working with Nick Launay (in 1982, on the 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 album) and disassembling the Midnight Oil live sound in the studio and starting again that we started to understand studio craft.”

Johns had a deal with A&M Records in America to release his productions. A&M wanted the Oils to go back to the studio and cut a single for the American market. The Australians gave them a two-finger salute and returned to Sydney.

The Old Lion tape captures how some of Postcard songs should have sounded. “Armistice Day” was an example of their new found song writing depth.

“I’ve always been obsessed with my family’s military history,” the drummer explains. “Songs like ‘Forgotten Years’ were about my father and grandfather’s military service. We knew as soon as we recorded ‘Armistice Day’ that no matter what happened to the rest of the album, it was going to be the lead track.”

“I Don’t Wanna Be The One” was in the spotlight when the Oils were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006.

LIVE At The Old Lion Adelaide 1982 is the latest initiative by the Oils to support roadies and crews in crisis. Hirst readily admits that the members relied heavily on their crew, “we had the best sound and lighting guys in the business. It is the crew that helps with any band’s success.”

On their farewell tour in 2022, Hirst’s drum tech for nine years, Clem Ryan, wanted to sit it out. Rob rang him, “I’m not doing this tour until you’re doing this tour.” Long-time front of house Colin Ellis wanted to retire before the run. They talked him out of it. “Retire? You’re younger than us!”

LIVE At The Old Lion Adelaide 1982 also highlights how dedicated the fans were.

Woods recalls: “Big lads, well charged up, a happy blokey crowd which sang along, boisterous, rowdy but never unpleasant.”

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Midnight Oil’s press crew.]

Review: The Beths – Expert in a Dying Field

According to the liner notes of The Beths‘ new album, Expert in a Dying Field, the theme of the album can be summed up in one question: “What do you do with how intimately versed you’ve become in a person, once they’re gone from your life?”

As a widower of nearly a year, I can relate to that. We all can at some point or another, be it a spouse, a lover, a friend, a child who leaves for college, a pet, a coworker, or even a trusted neighbor. The album is a lovely, and rocking, story crafted lyrically by Elizabeth Stokes (guitar and lead vocals) and her bandmates, Tristan Deck (drums), Jonathan Pierce (lead guitar and keyboards), and Benjamin Sinclair (bass).

“Can we erase our history? It isn’t as easy as this,” Stokes sings on the opening title track. It’s not. Letting go of that history is hard, but the risk of holding onto it is being dragged to death. The song has a slight melancholy to it, but also a lot of hope. “Knees Deep” is, after all, about jumping into something new with both feet and braving the risks of adventure (and love). Pierce’s guitar fuzzes out on “Silence Is Golden” – a nice, ironic touch.

“Don’t cry. I’m driving all night to be by your side,” Stokes sings on the lovely “Your Side.” To feel this kind of love, where you’re willing to drive cross-state or even cross-country for even just a few hours with someone, is a gift to be treasured. “It’s been quite a year,” The Beths sing on “I Want to Listen.” That’s a mild way of putting it for certain, but they encourage us to reach out to each other to help us all heal.

“Head in the Clouds” is a great rocker, with Deck’s drums hitting hard for the seats in the back of the auditorium. “Best Left” continues the rocking, even as Stokes sings about her being miserable and feeling she’s “best left to rot.” “Change in the Weather” has her feeling better, and “When You Know You Know” has her thinking that love might still be in the cards for her, and for all of us.

Stokes and the rest of the band have a bit of an angry edge on “A Passing Rain” – in which Stokes calls out someone for sticking around to seemingly just make her like worse. I love the way they jump back and forth between silence and breakneck rhythms on “I Told You That I Was Afraid.” “2am” has Stokes wondering if she could return to a simpler time with a lover, but knowing that moment, like all moments in time, is already gone…and yet it still exists in the present.

The whole album is like this – a look back at the past through the lens of the present, which is truly the only way to see it since the past took place in the present. Expert in a Dying Field is a bit of a Zen koan, a lesson on letting go or being dragged.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Sam at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Live: Bev Rage and the Drinks and The Namby Pamby – Brass Rail – Ft. Wayne, IN – September 22, 2022

This was my second time seeing Chicago queercore punk band Bev Rage and the Drinks, and it was, so far, the loudest set I’ve seen them play.

First up in the small Brass Rail dive bar in downtown Fort Wayne, were The Namby Pamby, who I hadn’t seen before now. Their stuff reminded me of some of Nirvana‘s mellower tracks with harder-edged R.E.M. thrown in for good measure. It’s an interesting sound that feels familiar and yet kind of exotic.

As I mentioned before, Bev Rage and the Drinks came out and proceeded to blast the Brass Rail’s bar out onto Broadway. I don’t know how much of it was the place’s acoustics, how much was their amps turned up to eleven, and how much of it was Ms. Rage and her band’s blazing fury, but the power of their set was palpable. They ripped through tracks from their last two albums, ending with a hard-hitting version of “Permanent Receptionist.”

Necromoon played after them, but I was exhausted after a long work day and had to leave to make it home safe that night. It was a fun night, however, and Bev Rage always puts on a great show.

Keep your mind open.

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