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Australia/NZ LP Reviews T-Z
Australian lps A - G
Australian lps H - L
Australian lps M - S
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TALL TALES AND TRUE
Shiver (rooArt)
The rooArt label is single handedly doing more to retard the advancement of Australian music than any force outside of the Little River Band. With a big time advertising budget they're able to get themselves heard in places where the far superior Aussie independents can't get a foot in the door, but they do it with all these soft mainstreamish bands (their one exception, the Trilobites, have become fairly emasculated since joining the label and getting big dollars for studio time). Tall Tales and True are another one. They had a nice single, "Wasted Life", with REMish tendencies while back, but this lp is totally unremarkable MOR pop. People who have heard only the buzz about Aussie bands and then hear rooArt records must be wondering what the hell all the fuss is about.

DENIZ TEK
Orphan Tracks (Revenge)
This is a mixed batch of fairly low key demos and odd tracks that Deniz Tek sold to the French label Revenge in the mid 80s at a time where he thought there was little chance he’d ever be recording music again. It’s an interesting glimpse into a bunch of different sides of Tek’s musical persona. The first four tracks feature his wife Angie Pepper (formerly lead singer for the Passengers) on vocals; "Miss You Too Much" was a Visitors song, and its sultry feel is enhanced by the feminine vocal sound, and "Why Tell Me" was released in a more polished form as an Angie Pepper solo single, but the other two songs are new as far as I know. They’re also nice pop tracks. Side one closes with Tek singing "100 Fools", which appeared on a Citadel solo single many years back. Side two kicks off with a rocking cover of "RPM" that mixes surf and Detroit rock the way a lot of Radio Birdman tracks did. "Big Ride" is a Ventures sounding instrumental demo on acoustic guitar that has a riff that I know comes from some well known song which I just can’t remember now. "A C M" is a Birdman sounding instrumental with a real tinny drum sound, but it’s a good track that would be great with a proper band behind it. Then there’s a rough cover of Lou Reed’s "Sweet Jane", which seems like an unlikely influence for Tek, but what do I know? Sounds like the Tek was feeling pretty loose when he did it. And finally, there’s a rough and tumble version of Tek’s old band T.V. Jones doing "Monday Morning Gunk", which later became part of the Radio Birdman set. All in all, it’s one of those records that you only buy if you are a big fan, but there’s a lot of fun tracks on it, and it’s well worth having for my tastes.

DENIZ TEK
Take It To The Vertical (Red Eye)
The first word out of Tek in over 10 years, this CD came as quite a surprise when I found out that it existed. The legendary guitar payer had not abandoned his love of music after all! So there was much anticipation when I popped it in the CD player. I really didn’t have any idea what to expect, but what came out of the speakers was an instrumental sound not unlike the pop/rock of the Angie Pepper single on Citadel many years back...clean, undistorted electric guitars, keyboards, occasional horns, and a bunch of different styles. "Dead If Looks Could Kill" has a soulful, almost Motown feel, and the next track "Where Dreams Go", has guitar that sounds like early ZZ Top topped by Angie Pepper vocals (she’s Tek’s wife). "Don’t Axe Me" has the swing of several of the better Visitors tracks in the rhythm playing, but then gets a frosting of Spanish styled acoustic guitar to change the feel. And if they played "Is It Good Enough" with distorted guitars and put a little more ooomph! Into the playing, it could be a Radio Birdman track. Overall this is a nice CD with a good bunch of tunes, but it has to be enjoyed on its own as a separate thing from the Radio Birdman legend or its mellow feel will come across as a let down for some.

DENIZ TEK
Outside (Red Eye)
This is where Deniz Tek rises up to challenge Rob Younger head on for the title of best post-Birdman album on earth. And he’s made it too close to call. This is an incredible effort; it’s loaded with powerhouse tracks that would’ve fit into the Radio Birdman firestorm seamlessly. And the razor sharp production just adds to the impact. The opening "Blood From A Stone" serves fair warning...it’s based on a murderously punishing drumbeat and ride groove and then it’s topped with a devastating guitar line the likes of which you won’t have to worry about hearing out of any of these junior league nuevo-punk outfits making headlines today. "Dozen On Ice" is a knockout slab of Celibate Rifles styled power crunch. Same goes for "Condition Black" and "Rough Slide Drag". These are all seasoned with a handful of more mellow tracks like "Give It Up" or "Walking" that give you a moment to catch your breath for the next assault. And it all together serves to set you up for the final, fatal impact of the title track... "Outside" is an all out monster; as good a track as Tek has ever written with a dynamite riff that’s completely overpowering but stunningly simple. Anybody who can form a bar chord can play this track, but few will get the feel that Tek and his cohorts manage to pull out of it. It’s like swimming out in the ocean and seeing the biggest damn wave you ever saw about to break right on top of you and just crush you flat on the rocky bottom. The anti-climax of the acoustic "Sailor’s Hymn" sounds like the house music after a great live gig by comparison. You can’t afford to miss this one. (PS - early copies come with a 4 track bonus disc that includes alternate versions of "Rough Slide Drag", "Outside", and two others. It’s not as essential as the main CD, but still fun to have.)

DENIZ TEK GROUP
Le Bonne Route (Citadel)
Having been completely stunned at how great Outside was, I opened this with huge expectations. What I got was a substantial surprise, as this is a considerable change in direction...it’s really amazing how different the three Tek solo CDs are from each other...Take It To The Vertical being a relatively mellow rock/pop affair, Outside being a crunching progression from Radio Birdman, and this one being, well, being quite adventurous. There’s a lot of really hard and tough tracks here, but there’s a lot of weirdness, too. The bulk of these songs are collaborations between Tek and erstwhile Celibate Rifles guitar great Kent Steedman, and it’s clear that some of the kinds of ideas that Kent has used on his side project, Crent, are leaking into the Tek proceedings as well (check out "Away From Here", for example). What that means is that you don’t get Son of Radios Appear, instead you get something that’s quite unlike anything you’ve heard before. How much you like it depends on how well the experiments connect. For me, some do, some don’t. I find the shifts and turns of a song like "Rabbit’s Foot" to be entertaining for a few listens, but it feels more like a novelty thing and lacks the staying power of his best work. More interesting is "Lunatics At The Edge Of The World", especially the intro bit which features an ascending guitar bit over a pummeling tom beat. "Clear Itself" features the kind of dynamics that made "Outside" such a great track, but though it’s damn good it doesn’t reach quite the same heights. And "Dave’s Insanity" has a nifty little bass solo to break up the sections of a pretty hard driving song. It took me quite a few listens to get comfortable with Le Bonne Route, and if it had been a release by a band I knew nothing about, I might not have given it a chance. But I find I like it quite a bit after 20 or so plays; it just takes a while to sink in. This record is the most consistently hard hitting and all out rocking of Tek’s trio of solo CD releases, but it’s unique style will lose some people who are mostly interested in straight ahead Stooges styled rock. It’s the price of taking chances, and no one ever accused Tek of standing still.

DENIZ TEK
Equinox (Citadel)
Former lead Radio Birdman guitarist/songwriter Deniz Tek hits with his fourth solo album. Like his last release, Le Bonne Route, this CD doesn’t try to recreate the past. But despite a weird track or two, Equinox is played a lot straighter than that last album. Tek’s lack of versatility as a vocalist is a problem here, though…on his best previous solo efforts, instrumental pyrotechnics disguised this weakness, but here it’s revealed too often, especially when his wife, former Passengers lead singer Angie Pepper, joins on vocals…it almost makes me wish that she sang all the time.

THRUST
Go Insane (Grown Up Wrong)
Brisbane's Thrust were responsible for the awesome version of "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell" on the Stooges compilation reviewed in #14. They pick up where they left off here; their leadoff "Caught Out" on this record reminds me a lot of Channel 3's "Manzanar" (fabulous LA hardcore single of a few years back) with a lot of similar chord changes, except it has this ripping guitar lead on top of things in the intro; sounds like all the guitars falling off the wall at Music Mart at the same time. And the good news is that it doesn't let up here; the rest of the stuff burns with equal parts Stooges-style punk and hardcore influence...a similar spirit to the Hellmenn's great effort on Waterfront. For fans of great, tough guitar hooks (count me in!) there's lots to be had; "Inside" and "Liar" are particularly infectious, but if I had to trim the lp back a track, it'd be hard to pick any of them. The lyrics are pretty routine horny adolescent type stuff (from the pictures I'd guess the ages at 16-19), but when the music's great, the lyrics aren't so necessary, right? Get it through Augogo.

THRUST
Mindless (no label)
Like their last single, this record has a considerably toned back guitar sound from their hard hitting mini-lp, Go Insane. They're now a three piece, having swapped their old bass player and a guitar player for one new bass player. The sound is a little less metally and more punkish in a sort of poor man's Hard-ons way. Like the Hard-ons, Thrust's singer also drums, which is a hard thing to do well live but shouldn't hurt that much on a record. I was a bit disappointed in this when I first got it because it isn't as immediately flashy as the other 12 incher, but it has its share of tuneful songs and wears well. The production is a little flat sounding and monotone, leading me to wonder if this is one of those bands that Rob Younger was talking about when he complained about groups that hire him and then won't listen, since it certainly isn't the kind of crackling powerhouse sound he got on his own record or those by Toys Went Berserk and the Happy Hate Me Nots. These guys sound like what's probably a good live band that hasn't yet gotten its sound onto vinyl right.

TOYS WENT BERSERK
Pieces (Aberrant)
Unusual packaging concept here; the lp is presented as two 12" 45 rpm discs, which gives really good sound quality, but it's not clear why this band felt they needed that sound so much more than other groups. Not that the record isn't any good, just that it isn't that reliant on a brilliant sound for its impact. Anyway, this band always get compared to Siouxie and The Banshees, and they always bitch about it when you read about them, but there is a lot of fairness in that, especially if you are talking about the earlier Siouxie stuff like "Israel". There's some really solid bass, and the drums are what you'd expect knowing that they are played by former Happy Hate Me Nots hammerman Mark Nicholson - solid and inventive. And although Aberrant might be generally tagged as a hardcore punk label, I wouldn't brand this band as hardcore, but rather as arty post-punk. No song has a hook that really grabs on first listen, but the album does grow well over repeated listens. My one complaint for the band is that having bought this after hearing the great "One Day My Head Is Gonna Explode" on the TIA giveaway disc, I was hoping for more roughness in the vocals, but on this lp Coo seems to concentrate on a smooth, flawless delivery. I liked the edge of hysteria in "Explode" lots better.

TOYS WENT BERSERK
The Smiler With A Knife (Aberrant)
I liked the earlier Toys records pretty well, but they've sure climbed up a bunch of rungs with this one...maybe it's more experience, maybe it's Rob Younger producing, but this record has a punch that they never got on vinyl before. The guitar is crystal clear, the drums are punishing, the bass throbs, and over the top of it all there are layers of backing vocals that give the whole thing a really lush feeling. Not at all your stereotype Aussie sound, Toys have in the past drawn comparisons to British bands like Siouxie and the Banshees, but here I think they've moved well away from that. They mix some of that Gothic sort of feel with a sense of power that most of those kinds of bands can never get, mainly because Toys base their sound on guitar instead of synthesizer. It doesn't hurt when you pull two near instant classic pieces of songwriting out of your hip pocket, either...the seductive "World's Away" and "Brand-New-Life", both of which make great use of dynamics with quiet bits that flow into powerful passages and back again. If there's any justice, this record will finally get Toys some well deserved overseas attention.

TOYS WENT BERSERK
Have No More (Aberrant)
This is really a single, but in defiance of impending petroleum shortages it's on 12 inches of tasty rich, black vinyl. Ummm... Well, never mind that, "Have No More" is a slower one from the great Smiler With The Knife lp which seems like it might be targeted at the Aussie dance club scene...wonder how it'll do; it might work. "Salvation" is a new one and a totally different sound for the Toys...a much fatter, more immediate guitar sound and a high hat based drum feel instead of the usual heavy duty stuff. "See The Man" is a remake of an older song of theirs that powers in their more usual fashion with everything pounding like mad.

TOYS WENT BERSERK
Sensory (Aberrant)
I waited for this because there were rumors (from Aberrant label chief Bruce Griffiths himself) that there was a US deal in the offing, so I missed last issue with it. Now it's actually pretty old...in fact the songs were mostly written in 1990. Toys were always the one Aberrant band that looked like they had a chance at commercial success, but they seem to have fallen into the usual chasm between the out there and the commercially viable on this record, and as I haven't heard anything about them in a while, I think it may have done them in. This record has a couple of decent tracks and a bunch of real snoozers; where once they specialized in electric high tension songs now there's a batch of fairly soft new wave songs. The band often doesn't seem to know how to provide the proper backing for the vocals and the songs sound heavy handed as a result. There's a couple nice ones..."Wheels In Motion" especially, but I'm not used to klunkers from these guys and there's quite a few here. Aberrant was a great label and Toys were a great band, but both seem to have ended on a bit of a whimper here.

THE TRILOBITES
Turn It Around (Waterfront)
Kind of weird label relationships they have in Australia; the Trilobites started on Citadel for two singles, went to Big Time for a third, and when prior commitments prevented Big Time from releasing an lp of all original material, the band went to Waterfront to release this lp of 7 covers and two originals. The band shows great taste in power pop, with songs like the Barracudas "I Wish It Could Be 1965 Again" (Trilobites do it better than the original!), Paul Collin's Beat's "Walking Out On Love", the Record's criminally ignored "Teenarama" and the Mutants boffo "Piece 'O Shit" (which brands somebody in the band as a serious record collector, since this is a really minor indie single from Detroit). They also thrash through a wild version of their own "American TV" as well as a brand new one in the title track that's as good as their other stuff. "Piece 'O Shit" gets the award for the best guitar work and the "Oh Baby" choruses are fab. If you haven't heard this one before, you are in for a touch of gross-out, so brace yourself.

The production, though fairly rowdy, is still not as punchy as being at one of their shows; they mixed the vocals forward a little, and the guitars, though loud by most standards, are not quite at the level of Moses on Mt. Sinai as they were in the shows I saw in Sydney in 1987. This lp can't be considered the definitive word on the Trilobites since they haven't laid their own material on the line, but it's lots of fun and if you aren't already familiar with the covers they do, it will hook into you like nobody's business, 'cos the band can really smoke and the material is the right stuff to be smokin'.

THE TRILOBITES
I Can't Wait For Summer To End (rooArt)
Their fourth label now, but the Trilobites consistently put out power pop records that really power. This mini-lp is no exception; it's got a huge drum sound and piles of ringing guitar chords like all their best stuff. I can't agree with the theme of the title track, though the tune is cool. "Tall Poppies" is a blistering attack on the NME school of set-em-up/knock-em-down rock journalism. Musically it blisters as well. "Why Can't I Remember" deals more huge chords and provides a sobering view of drunk driving. "Critical Mass" and the excellent "All Hail The New Right" show the political side of the band; the latter track didn't make the jacket song listings, which may be to avoid having the title be misinterpreted, since the band clearly don't see the rise of the new right as a positive thing. I continue to be surprised that the Trilobites aren't rated more highly around the world, since this record and all their others are filled with the stuff that makes great rock and roll, and they are even better as a live band. They're a little traditional in their approach, but that hasn't stopped critics from loving loads of retro 60s bands. Supposed to get a US release soon...

THE TRILOBITES
American TV (Normal)
This is a nice treat...all the great early Trilobites singles on one lp, plus a couple extra live tracks from their Turn It Around mini-lp (re-mixed with the Shea Stadium audience track removed). Of course, it can only happen on a German label because in Australia all this stuff was released by three different record companies, but it's worth hunting down, if for nothing else than the lyric sheet and the comical explanations provided for the songs (who'd have guessed that "Night Of The Many Deaths" was about Mike Dalton getting shot down in his teens by a girl on a church fellowship trip to an amusement park?). Subsequent Trilobites' records have gotten more bombastic sounding musically, but this one still is primarily hook filled rock and roll with lyrics guaranteed to give you a smile. Especially the classic "Legacy Of Morons"; the best piece of Reagan bashing ever written.

THE TRILOBITES
Savage Mood Swing (rooArt)
This is the new one; really their first full lp despite the fact that there are three other 12 inch Trilobites records out there. More than one person wrote me after the Trilobites feature in #17 and said they liked almost everything I did, but they didn't care for these guys. And I might be able to see why if it's based on their I Can't Wait For Summer To End record, since it suffered from a surplus of studio time. Unfortunately, this one has the same problem. For me, I can overcome it...I've been a fan since their first single and I've seen them live twice where they put on powerhouse shows, so my perspective is a little different than the average US indie record buyer. But it's a shame that songs with the punchy tunes and witty lyrics that the Trilobites come up with will be ignored because the record sounds like it was produced for mainstream radio. I mean, who is there out there who writes songs like "The Girl From Mossad", which casts the singer as a tourist used as a plant by Israel's secret police to carry plans for a nuclear reactor past the PLO? Or "Fuck=Love", which gets to the heart of the superficiality of too many male/female relationships. A guy could develop a vocabulary playing Trilobites records, for Chrissakes. There's no way anybody can deny that there are great tunes there, too...the chorus of "Minibar of Oblivion" is massive, and there's lots more as good, but the bombast just drags on this thing from start to finish, so that even for a fan like myself it's tiring. It's as though the Lazy Cowgirls were produced by a guy who wanted them to sound like Kansas or Foreigner. Merely OK when great was a possibility.

THE TRILOBITES
Lost Generation (Citadel)
What goes around comes around department: Sydney's Trilobites flirted with major label success, actually got a US lp release on the fatally flawed rooArt label, and now they're back to Citadel, where they started and had the singles without which nobody would've ever paid them any attention since. Mike Dalton is no longer the singer...instead they've picked up the guy who used to sing for Voodoo Lust, a sort of minor hard-rock/pop combo that had a couple decent records. He can't match Dalton for bloated singing, which is probably good, but Dalton turned some great lyrics and where recent Trilobites records had good songs wrecked by glossy production, this record has a more reasonable production style but some real rubbish for songs. Not worth it.

TUMBLEWEED
Carousel (Waterfront)
Waterfront's Labelmeister Chris Dunn swears by these guys, and I've gotten a good word for 'em from other people in Oz too...they used to be the Proton Energy Pills until a recent, yet to be explained name change. But I'm sad to say that these guys sound fairly tired to my ears, and if this was 1987 they'd hardly rate a mention in the pantheon of Aussie bands. The music is unremarkable rock and roll with no great hooks and just an average buzzing guitar sound. The singing is inoffensive but flat and uninspiring...there's just no emotion or guts to this stuff. Sorry...I'm missing it.

TUMBLEWEED
Weed Seed (Waterfront)
This is the most listenable thing I've heard by this band...the playing actually has reasonable power to it and there's a hint of why many people in Oz like them. It's still not much more than adequate new wave heavy rock, though.

THE TWENTY SECOND SECT
Get That Charge (Sympathy For The Recording Industry)
Released in the US through a licensing deal with Adelaide's Greasy Pop label and sporting a bonus track in the form of their aggro cover of Union Carbide Production's "Ring My Bell", this record features Liz Dealey, one of the toughest female singers you'll ever hear. Sounding like a cross between Legal Weapon's Kat Arthur (on the first two lps when they were a fabulous group) and X's Exene, Liz outpowers either of them. The material here is far superior to the single of a couples years back, with a Stooges simplicity in the song structures but an energy level that comes straight out of late 70's punk. Guitars are bruising right from the opening chords of "I'll Be Your Navigator" to the end of "Get That Charge", a devastating pair of bookends. "Pull The Trigger" is also a powerhouse. Even on "I Never Said" and "Beach Rock", which are a bit below the standard of the other material the passion that the band puts into playing can't fail to win you over. Doug Thomas says this is his best producing job ever, and though I think he's done a lot of other good stuff, there's no denying that this record came out of the oven kicking butt and it hasn't shown any sign of stopping.

THE TWENTY SECOND SECT
Unexploded (Greasy Pop)
If you liked Get That Charge, the mini-lp of a couple years back by these guys, wait'll you hear what the years in between have done for these guys. I'll give you a hint: THEY HAVEN’T GOTTEN MELLOW! They've gotten beefier, nastier, more tuneful, more bashing and are generally shaping up like a band that is about to happen. The tracks here are much more interesting and varied (do not interpret this to mean softened!) Liz is back playing guitar (making THREE in the band), and when you add the improvement of the other players to the great production you've got a record that kicks. You can hear everything going on in the mix despite all the instruments and vocals, yet everything has it's own big punch. Scot, who didn't drum on the earlier record, has a much more rocking approach than David Creese, the Lizard Train drummer who was borrowed for that session, and although Creese is great at what he does, it's clear that Scot is the match for this band. Like the recent New Christs lp, Distemper, Unexploded features a blend of hard as nails mid-tempo songs and a batch of rockers that cut to the bone. I'd take the comparison further...I'd say if you like Distemper then you've gotta try this. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

UPS AND DOWNS
Underneath The Watchful Eye (Mushroom)
Another example of the more mainstreamish side of the Aussie independent scene, Brisbane's Ups and Downs play a British-influenced style of new wave pop. The stuff makes lots of use of keyboards and synth, and where they use guitars, they are often treated to the point of sounding like more synthesizer. The opening "Moments Away" stirs a few hopes, and there are a couple other tracks on side two that shake things up a little, but for the most part the taste that's left is one of a very competent group that's ready to compete with Duran Duran. Pass the mouthwash.

THE U.V.S
The 89 EP (Greasy Pop)
Three of these four tracks are on the Sympathy 7" reviewed last issue, so as far as the US audience goes, this one is mainly for people who are really impressed by this Adelaide supergroup and need to hear the fourth. Count me in; I'm hooked on all these songs. I can't quite categorize them. They rock too hard to be compared to your REMs, but they also aren't as fast as the Birdman type thing, let alone hardcore bands. But the stuff is powerful and it has some super guitar (with three guitar players you'd expect a little punch). "Galilee", the one track that wasn't on the US record, is probably the weakest of the four, but not by much. Oh, yeah, and if you read the review last issue, I've been reminded that singer Ian List was the guiding light of the Spikes. Another note you might make is that List heads two versions of this band; one that plays in the UK and this one in Australia. The UK version has also recorded some stuff (in fact some of these same songs), but I can't say if it compares in quality.

VANILLA CHAINSAWS
Wine Dark Seas (Phantom)
Another guitar band from Sydney, the Vanilla Chainsaws have a surprisingly different sound from the stereotypical Sydney rock band. Rather than drawing from the Stooges, speed metal, or hardcore, they've got an attack that sits somewhere between Candy Apple Grey Husker Du and early U2. There's lots of fat, ringing guitars with some neat leads over the top and the vocals are really expressive with just a touch of raspiness to give them some punch. The five songs here are a little softer and more introspective than on the two singles, but are still solid. The lyrics tend to be anthemic pieces of poetry, and at times they have a ring of pretension to them...it'll be interesting to see how this band goes if it becomes commercially successful, which they certainly have the potential to do. This sort of stuff tends to sound believable from the struggling unrecognized artisan, but can come across like bullshit from the gold record winner. Witness the Alarm.

VANILLA CHAINSAWS
Vanilla Chainsaws (Glitterhouse)
Although all the songs on this record have been reviewed as either Australian single releases or as part of the "Wine Dark Sea" mlp in past issues, this German repackaging is well worth mentioning...you can get all the Chainsaws stuff plus one new track (three if you get the first pressing which has a bonus single). It also has lyrics, which are pretty good now that I've spent some time concentrating on them...a little vague but generally about the difficulty of fitting in when you are one of the few people around with some ideals. In some ways, the Chainsaws material works better on this lp than on any of the other records they've put out, since the full out blast of the singles balances well with the more subtle cuts from the mini-lp. If you've missed the other reviews, the Chainsaws' stuff features dense layers of guitar chords that can remind you of bands like Husker Du, and though they certainly have a lot of power (especially on the stuff from the singles), there's more British influence than Detroit. Simon Drew has a great voice, and this is cool stuff.

VANILLA CHAINSAWS
Thousand (Glitterhouse)
This 6 track mini-lp (which at the moment is only out on Glitterhouse) is the result of Glitterhouse boss Reinhart letting Simon Drew and Mark Alexander hang out in his house too long...at this point the VC's really are those two guys with whatever hired guns they happen to choose. For this lp, it's Cosmic Psychos drummer Bill Walsh; a bit of an odd choice as the Psycho's stuff is pretty much the other end of the spectrum from the Chainsaws, given, at least, that both bands play guitar rock. But I guess having another Aussie to help out must have meant something while our two friends were on the other side of the planet. The results are fairly harder rocking than the Wine Dark Sea mlp, which I thought was a bit of a let down after their strong Phantom singles. This isn't quite as good as the singles, but it's still pretty powerful. The raw feeling of the drums seems a little odd in comparison to the rich, layered guitar sound. Simon's voice gives the proceedings a very serious feeling, in the same fashion as singers like Ian McCulloch of Echo And The Bunnymen, but the music is much stronger than those sorts of bands often are. A strong comeback; hopefully they'll attain a stable line up that'll help them get even more consistent.

VANILLA CHAINSAWS
Red Lights (Phantom)
Haven't heard from this bunch for a while and thought they were cashed out for good...last I'd heard Simon Drew was flat broke living in Crete washing dishes, which is no way to earn the money you need to break the rock and roll world. But he's somehow made it back and gotten together five great new tracks for this effort. The CD, which is what I've got, adds on a batch of solid extra tracks from their back catalog to make the thing be lp length, and if you haven't heard the early stuff you'll rate this a damn good record, since they've picked their best and avoided the weaker Wine Dark Sea era songs. The new material rocks relentlessly in a Detroit-y way...I used to think these guys blended some British early 80s sounds into their music (they've covered an early Psychedelic Furs track here to give you an idea what I mean), but they really don't feel that way now...it's tough, nasty sounding rock played with power. These guys get no respect at home for some reason, but this is one of the better Aussie things I've heard this year.

VENOM P. STINGER
Meet My Friend Venom (No Master's Voice)
Nothing in this 1986 lp packs the wallop of the fab "Walking About" single reviewed last time, but there's still some good moments. Dugald MacKenzie's vocals are the key to this band's sound...his strangled delivery is as ugly as the ranting 70s punk rock music that goes with it. But the main thing that's different between this and the single is that the guitar is pretty weak here; confined to making a lot of dissonant, scratching sounds as opposed to the powering chords that Mick Turner contributes on the newer stuff. "And Suddenly" in particular sounds like it could be an ace track if they re-recorded it with what they know now...it's got a good charging drum beat and an ascending guitar riff that could power. There's potential here, but it doesn't bear enough fruit for me.

VENOM P. STINGER
Waiting Room (Augogo)
More noisy stuff from these Aussies. There's four tracks and they're more organized and straightahead than is usual for this band. "I Try, I Really Try" is damn close to having a good rock and roll hook, but the vocals push it off the beaten path. They've pulled a really good guitar and bass sound on this recording, but the drummer's too busy and he only seems to know one fill which he plays ad nauseum. The singer sounds like a snottier version of the guy in the Stranglers. It's best when he's not singing.

THE VICTIMS
All Loud On The Western Front (Timberyard)
This could be a hell of a great series that Timberyard is doing here...last issue we had a reissue of the earliest Scientists stuff that was totally brilliant, and now here's Perth's Victims with a batch of songs recorded in 1977 and 1978. These 8 tracks don't hit quite the highs of the Scientists record; there's a lot of fairly standard sounding pogo punk and nothing approaching the hooks that a song like "Pissed On Another Planet" have, but it's still a lot of fun to hear a band that was such a big influence for a lot of what followed in Australia without having to pay ridiculous prices of $100 or more for a single (a price I've seen asked more than once!). "Television Addict" is the only song here that I already knew (from a bootleg compilation called Where Birdmen Flew from a few years back), and it's probably the best track on this record, though "Disco Junkies" is also cool with the band stretching out into a long and fairly adventurous (for the time, at least) bit of guitar noise. This record doesn't stand too strongly on its on, but as a piece of roots history it's real nice to have.

THE VISITORS
The Visitors (Citadel)
The Visitors are the first stage of the degeneration of Radio Birdman into a mass of splinter bands. The lineup includes 3 former Birdmen and a vocalist (Mark Sisto) who sounds like a relaxed Rob Younger. The sound is very Doors-ey, with a more pronounced keyboard sound than Radio Birdman had. There are some really strong songs here, my special faves are "Haunted Road", "Sad TV", "Brother John", "Hell Yes" and "Living World". These five tracks in particular make me damn glad to have the record regardless of the historical reasons for buying it. Only the closing "Disperse" can be discarded as a klunker; everything else has at least some merit to it. The production is smooth, but the mix could've benefited from a stronger guitar sound (in my book ALL mixes can benefit from a stronger guitar sound. And more distortion, while you're at it, please!).

VOODOO LUST
Voodoo Lust (Rattlesnake)
The first 12" release by this band of Sydney power poppers serves up five tracks that are a bit of a let down after their two super singles. Part of it is the production and mix, which has really flattened the drum sound and also isn't helping the vocals. The singles had a pretty big sound to them which complemented the music well, while here it's a more raw, basic feel that would work better with a punk band. This is most apparent on "Gossip", which is re-recorded from the single and is definitely not an improvement. Of the other stuff here, it's all got a lot of energy and the vocalist has a really good voice (kind of like early Billy Idol from the first Generation X record before his voice changed), but it doesn't make magic the way really memorable power pop can.

WEBSTER
Walk It Like Ya Talk It (Tanc)
From the hometown of the Saints, this Brisbane band debuts with 6 fine power pop/rock tracks that are great for a quick buzz. Strong guitars, catchy melodies and Beatle-esque harmonies rule throughout. Their high energy take of the Paul Collins Beat classic "Walking Out On Love" fits perfectly here, if that’s any clue.

WHERE'S THE POPE
We Want Your Beer (Greasy Pop)
Gang Green would seem like tee-totallers in the alcohol drenched Aussie scene, and Greasy Pop is doing their bit to help preserve this state with releases like the Iron Sheik’s Do They Sell Beer Here? and now this one, the second release by a band of Adelaide drunkards with six of 12 songs dealing with tossing down the Coopers draught. Musically the band remind me a lot of the Iron Sheiks as well...similar vocal style with a sort of hoarse shout but maybe a little more hardcore musically. Like most better hardcore bands, Where's The Pope haven't forgotten that tunes are important, although they have to work a little to get to the level of a band like the Hard-ons. Ultimately I don't find this to have the staying power of a lot of other Greasy Pop records, but it's good for a quick shot of energy.

WIDDERSHINS
Ascension (Waterfront)
I saw this crew in Sydney opening for Died Pretty, and at the time I'd never heard of them...they seemed like a brand new band because they had no apparent self confidence on stage. So I'm a little surprised to find out that the singer Juliet Ward, and guitar player, Greg Ward, both played in the Lighthouse Keepers, a band that reached a fair level of attention a few years back. This record is no great improvement on their show...it starts of with a reasonable power-pop track, but there's a real glut of ballads and in the end you might as well be listening to a Kenny Loggins lp. Ward sings like she has a clothespin holding her nostrils shut...most annoying.

GREG WILLIAMS
Here And Now (Greasy Pop)
Williams played in the band Play Loud, who had a single on Greasy Pop quite a while ago, and subsequently played in the Every Brothers, a sort of country-folk outfit that won a lot of acclaim from people with broader tastes than I have. This solo lp really gets folksy...real similar to early Billy Bragg stuff, except Williams doesn't have a heavy cockney accent. Most of the songs are Williams with acoustic guitar or banjo and maybe one or two friends playing some violin or harmonica to go with him. The one exception, "Even Time", features a full cast of bass, drums, backing vocals, and electric guitar. This track comes across in an REM sort of mold, but the rest is real coffee-house folk stuff which you'll need to be feeling considerably mellower than me to get into. Available from Augogo.

WORLD WAR XXIV
World War XXIV (Aberrant)
I've been waiting since the "A's" to get to review this one, and now I'm finally here! Hurrah! WW24 recorded these songs in 1984 and 1985, and I think they are sadly no more together as a band...the usual troubles getting places to play and rehearse that a hardcore band encounters. Too bad, because these guys had all the best traits of hardcore and none of the worst...they had a vocalist who knew when to scream and when to sing, a drummer whose speed can only be explained by the theory that he works in pharmaceuticals when not playing in the band, and a bass player and guitar player who can both play circles around the competition. Finally to top it all off, they've got songs that could make any band drool. What could be greater than "Why Bother" with its chorus: "Fucking stupid human beings, why bother!" Great stuff for your car tape deck when stuck in traffic. And not that the lyrics are senseless, either; "Why Bother" slams into Australian punks who are picking up on rubbish like the National Front and Anarchy from the British and trying to blend it into an Australian scene where it has no relevance. But when you get to the solo break in the middle and Frank rips into his bass, it hardly matters what the topic is.

And then there's the equally magnificent "Don't", an anti-drug song that says a million times more than any Nancy Reagan appearance, especially at then end where it goes: "I'm not preachin'/There ain't no second chance/It's up to you if you want last".

There's other great stuff like "Doomsday Targets" about life in the nuclear age, or "Goggle Box" about television addiction, and then there are songs about less dramatic issues, like "God's Garbos": "Where does God throw his garbage/Does he throw it on the street/Is he big and aggro/Or just a wimpy spaso."

I rate this lp with Angry Samoans Back From Samoa as the best lp of 80s hardcore punk I've heard. It may have gone out of print, though I still see it in shops around San Diego now and then. Find it!

X
X-Aspirations (X Records)
At Home With You (Major)
feedtime cite these guys as a major influence, and it's really clear why. Although feedtime take the sound one step further, X pioneered the concept of the bass as a co-equal to the guitar in a punk band. These two lps are well spaced apart in time, with the superior of the two, X-Aspirations being released in 1979, and the second around 1984. X-Aspirations was reissued a couple years ago and is not too hard to get, which is good for you because after you read this review, you are going to buy it! This is a prime example of why slick production isn't worth a damn; the sound is more raw than the first Clash lp sounded in 1977, and it works to perfection. The guitars are distorted and loud, the vocals are harsh and loud, the drums are rude and loud, and the bass sounds like it's being played with a hacksaw instead of a pick. And loud. The songwriting is great; from track to track the slate starts with a totally new set of ideas with the only constant being that the bass is going to be up front and the production is going to stay harsh. I can't pick out a favorite because every song with the exception of "Waiting" is great. "Waiting" is merely good. You'd have to call this punk, but it isn't hardcore for sure, and although it has some relationship to the punk bands of 1977, it really isn't that much like them, either. Unlike feedtime, the core of each X song is a really sharp pop hook, but the raw delivery assures that nobody is ever going to call X a pop band. This is one of the major records of the Australian scene, and without it no collection is complete.

On the second lp the original drummer is replaced by Cathy Green, who pounds away with more power than any female I've ever heard. The songs are not as consistent or as insistent as on X-Aspirations, and the bass sound is cleaner (not a plus), though still up front. Strangely, "Movin' On" and "Halfway Round The World" remind me of Ronnie Spector songs like "Be My Baby", the first because of the drum beat and the second because of the vocal pacing. This is still a very good album, but it is clearly not the classic the first one is.

X
And More (White Label)
For anybody who has heard the earlier stuff by Australia's X (especially the crucial X-Aspirations and the tracks from Why March When You Can Riot), this is bound to be a bit of a disappointment. Part of the problem is due to the fact that the band plays a lot better now and so the primitive charm of those earlier records is missing, but the bigger problem is that out of ten songs four are tracks that they've done before and in most cases have done better, too. In particular, "I Don't Wanna Go Out" loses a lot...the treatment here has a definite element of bullshit with a bunch of synthesizer blats and some overdone vocals. Too bad; the original was brilliant and this leaves a bit of a bad taste. "El Salvador" on the Phantom flexi was totally incredible...primitive for sure, but so is the topic being covered. This take of it again adds some production touches that subtract from the overall song. "Dream Baby" was only an average X song as a single, and the version here might be slightly better, but "Home Is Where The Floor Is" is another one that was awesome in the original and only loses in the remake. The conclusion that forms in my mind from all this is that the band looks back on that old stuff with regret and wishes they could take it all back, which is the real shame. Some of the new material is decent...I like "And More" and "Here's Looking At You", and some is lame ("Getting Wet" sounds like something singer Steve Lucas would have done in his solo alter-ego), but none of it makes you think of this band in terms of greatness like their first efforts did.

THE ZIMMERMEN
Way Too Casual (Mushroom)
Never heard the first Zimmermen lp that Augogo put out a couple years back, but there was a fair buzz about it. I did get their "Don't Go To Sydney" 45 from it, and I thought that was a fairly lame piece of overly sentimental pop fluff. "Way Too Casual" is quite a pleasant surprise after that; although it isn't the sort of punk flavored rock that normally scores best with me, it sports a lean country/rock sound that keeps well away from the sort of cliched hokiness that most country exhibits. John Dowler sings a lot like Credence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty did in the 60's when he was making music that mattered. There's some really heartfelt stuff here, like "What Really Hurts", where the singer is cast in the role of the divorcee left with three children to bring up out on the Hume Highway, a fate that can only be understood if you've seen this road. Although it may seem a little mainstream musically, I think this lp ranks with a lot of the Flying Nun type stuff for honest rock and roll.

VARIOUS
Also Used And Recommended By... (White Label)
This is the companion compilation to Used And Recommended By..., put together by Mushroom Records (of which White Label is a part) and a Melbourne radio station called RRR Radio. The approach taken is one that invariably results in a hard-to-listen to compilation; they try to present a whole spectrum of different sorts of bands, and the result is that most people will only really find a couple things they like a lot. To my ears the mixture leans pretty strongly towards things that are felt to be more accessible for the average radio listener; tracks by the Sparklers, Triffids, Church, and Weddings, Parties, Anything all fit that description. The Everys folky "This Town" doesn't excite me musically but has a strong lyric. But despite the presence of the Stems' ballad "At First Sight", only God's "My Pal" is the sort of rabble-rousing stuff that NFH readers usually associate with Australian independent music. Gondwanaland's "Rainforest" is probably the most interesting track; nothing to do with rock and roll, it's a sort of a new-age jungle song with a didgeridoo bit that sounds like a dragonfly with the wingspan of a stealth bomber buzzing around your head, but which ultimately kills the mood with too much electronics. But overall, I don't think this record makes a good example of the best of Australia's independents.

VARIOUS
Are We Still Here (Dominator)
Dominator is the new Adelaide label whose purpose as declared in a number of other fanzines is to support the thrashier side of that city's scene. Here's their first chance to show off what they can do, and it's pretty good, though not as thrashy as I expected, which makes me happy. Hoot McKloot have a couple of pretty cool punky tracks that would have fit in on the early Aberrant comps. Deadringer have a singer who is a deadringer for Johnny Rotten, and although their "Brain Tumor" isn't at all Pistols-like; it's moody and real cool sounding with a simple guitar line driving it. There's a Twenty Second Sect track that's by far the thrashiest thing they've done...nearly unrecognizable as them other than Liz Dealy's voice. Mark Of Cain sound about half way between Lizard Train and Joy Division; they're pretty cool, and Harry Butler's band Fear And Loathing serve up a rather dull gloom and doom synth thing to close. In between are a few other bands with varying levels of appeal. Nothing here is great unless you are a heavy fan of 70s dole-queue punk, which I happen to be, so I like it quite a lot.

VARIOUS
Boogie Wonderland (Augogo)
This is more of a three way split album than a true compilation...three songs from each of Melbourne's the Meanies, the Throwaways, and Nice Girls From Cincinnati. All three bands trades in simple three chord type punk. The Meanies are the best; they sound a lot like early Ramones the way they blend in a surf influence with their "Ooo-Ooo-Ooo" harmonies on "Mr. Authority" and the catchy "Big Bertha", but when they also pop up with the much darker and heavier "Our New Planet"...a really cool bit of vocals. Nice Girls From Cincinnati have been slagged in Aussie fanzines for having a lame name, but I think it's brilliantly different...they go for a Stooges feel with heavier vocals reminiscent of Bored on "Girlyanderthal", but then later on with "Just For You" they sound like they're heading for Hard-ons metal-punk-pop turf. The Throwaways first two tracks are fairly run of the mill sloppy punk things, but their last one, "Girlfriend's Gone" is a good parody of one of these 60s tearjerker songs where the girlfriend gets killed in a car wreck ("the cliff was high / and so was she") set to a shambolic punk tune. Some potential in these three.

VARIOUS
From Babylon To Brunswick (Nomad)
This one's a compilation of bands playing in and around Melbourne, and as that's where most of the interesting stuff going on down under is going on, you'd hope it would be pretty good. And it's not half bad, with bands like Bored, Seminal Rats, Nursery Crimes and the Meanies it at least has a chance to have some standouts (no Hoss, though). Unlike Wally's Wild Weekend, this one is all studio efforts and sounds better for it. However, a lot of these bands are just aping the grunge metal style floating around and don't really have much to offer. It sure makes me wistful for the heyday of Aussie garage.

VARIOUS
Grind 'Em Down (Dominator)
Everywhere else it's the 90s and grunty metal rules supreme, but in Adelaide it's 1984 and hardcore thrash abounds. Neither environment is particularly gratifying to these ears. This kind of thing has been around so long now that it's almost comforting to have it on, which is hardly the effect the bands are likely to have had in mind. There's barely a hint of originality on any of these tracks...just the predictable snarling obnoxious vocals and dark chord changes. Yet the mere fact that there's fifty pounds of grunty metal for every ounce of this sort of thing makes me more receptive to it and I find it almost interesting. If that's not damnation by faint praise, I don't know what is.

VARIOUS
Groin Thunder (DogMeat)
It's almost to the point where you know that a compilation album is going to be a covers album these days. This one's a Trogg's covers album that DogMeat's Dave Laing has been working on seemingly for years. Now it's out and I can't say I've ever been enough of a Troggs fan to have thought that it was worth a wait, or for that matter that I minded that I had to wait. The only Troggs songs I ever really noticed in the past were "I Can't Control Myself" (why didn't Dave get James Baker's version?) and "Wild Thing", which I always thought was incredibly dopey. So the bands have to rescue this for me, and some of them make a good effort at doing just that. The Original Sins play a nice take of "Say Darlin'", and the Fluid hammer out "Our Love Will Still Be There", the first thing I've heard from them in a while (though they recorded it quite a ways back), and it sounds really nice. The Boys From Nowhere are good to hear from, though it's mainly Mick Divvens' singing that's the attraction since the musical backing is not the best he's had. The Devil Dogs do proud on "Lost Girl"...not as fast as their best stuff, but great sounding guitar anyway. The Muffs version of "You Can Cry If You Want To" is outstanding. Bored! play an elongated "Feel Like A Woman" that hits in spots. The Bevis Frond benefit greatly from being forced to apply their sound to a concise song...maybe they should do a Troggs covers lp by themselves so they couldn't go wobbling off directionless into the infinite. Some good bands that appear but fail to distinguish themselves are the Miracle Workers, the Philisteins, the Dwarves, the Mummies, and the Kings of Oblivion, among others. There's still more...24 bands in all. I have yet to listen to all of this in one sitting and doubt I ever will...I just don't need covers lps that much. I'm a big DogMeat fan, and I can tell that this is something Dave Laing is real proud of, but it needed to be finished about three years earlier before this covers thing got run into the ground.

VARIOUS
Hard To Beat: 21 Stooges Killers (Augogo)
A labor of love, this one is, and that's no lie. The difficulty of getting 21 different bands to cover 21 different Stooges songs, handling all the label bullshit, and ending up with results as magnificent as this boggles the imagination.

I've gotta start by saying that I never was that overwhelmed by the Stooges. I can't deny that they wrote some great songs, and that they had an overwhelming (and overwhelmingly positive) effect on today's bands, but I always thought their records had too much of that late 60's acid damaged metal sound to them. However, I've always seemed to enjoy Stooges covers (Sex Pistols "No Fun", Radio Birdman "T.V. Eye", Damned "1970" etc. etc.). I reconcile this by taking note of the fact that I also acknowledge Elvis Presley's influence on rock, but don't own any of his records, and that I acknowledge the Romans influence on western civilization, but don't wear a toga. Is this making sense? Then you're in a mess of trouble. Anyway, the one constant in Stooges songs seems to be that you find a three or four note guitar line, play it in maybe one or two different ways, and then ram it into your listener's brain by playing it 17,000 times in one song. Usually the guitar line has a minor chord structure played alongside it to give it a dark and sinister feel. Sounds incredibly simple, but it's amazing how hard it is for a lot of bands to learn.

If you have any sense, you wouldn't expect every track here to work, and they don't all, but if you took the best and made one lp out of it, it would be a hellacious slab of vinyl. Thrust lead off with a devastating version of "Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell"; they're the latest thing from Brisbane and I believe this is their first vinyl. From the looks of it, if they can write anything remotely interesting themselves, they'll be awesome. Exploding White Mice follow quickly with another stunner, "Down On The Street"...not quite as frantic as their normal Ramones-like pace, but still good. The rest of side one is pretty mundane (and Stress of Terror's art-damaged "Not Right" is awful), so we'll skip to side two, where God kicks off a "Real Cool Time" including some really on-the-edge sounding guitar...this sort of thing is right up their alley, with the same style of building a whole song from one monster riff by layering different bits around the periphery of the central theme just like their "My Pal" 45 does.

Next is what I regard to be the high point of the lp, Brisbane's Asylum doing a scorching version of "T.V. Eye". It's a decided advantage getting to do what was probably the best Stooges song, but Asylum certainly don't screw up their chance. The drummer especially gets high marks for working his kick drum into a complete lather. Following this is Johnny Kannis (former lead singer of the Hitmen) with an incredibly limp version of "Kill City". It's especially depressing, since you would hope that Kannis would be leading the charge on this lp, but it's clear the young bucks have passed him and his cohorts, (3/4 of the Screaming Tribesmen) by the wayside. The side closes with two raw tracks, one by Magnolia Strip, and one by Raw Power, both OK but not special.

Record two opens with the Hard-ons doing "1970". The band thrashes admirably, but the vocal performance is a little lackluster compared to what I'd expect. Vocal Lizard, who apparently have split now, leave a fabulous version of "Loose" as their epitaph...the epitome of Stooges songwriting style. After a couple ho-hummers by ME262 (pre-Decline of The Reptiles) and the Psychotic Turnbuckles, the pick-up group N.R.G. (featuring various Bo-weevils and Cosmic Psychos) provide an accurate reading of "Now I Wanna Be Your Dog", and are quickly followed up by Feedtime, one of the stranger choices for this lp as they are one band that not only is clearly not Iggy influenced, but also de-Iggify their song "Anne" to such an extent that it sounds like a Feedtime original (which I could have predicted is what would happen without hearing it).

Side four might be the most consistent side; The Plunderer's "No Fun" doesn't top the Pistols version, but is still pretty good, and the Girlies "Tight Pants" is great. The Celibate Rifles cover "Gimme Danger" and fool everybody by not burning up the place with it. Now defunct, Harem Scarem bluesifies "Open Up And Bleed" in their usual style, and then the Hellmen demolish anything left standing with an overpowering "Search And Destroy"; vocals a lot like Vibrators doing "Petrol"...great stuff.

If the music isn't enough to convince you to fork over 15 bucks to get this (get it by mail from Augogo...that's by far the cheapest way), then there's the 12 page full size booklet inside the thing with gobs of history on the Aussie scene centering on the influence of Detroit rock on the founding bands. It took a long time from concept to completion, but the results show that it was well worth the wait. Now excuse me while I slip into my toga...

VARIOUS
Hard To Believe: A Kiss Covers Compilation (Waterfront)
For those of us who've been foolish enough to buy that stuff about rock and roll that has credibility (I confess), here's one that should have been called Hard To Swallow...a set of some pretty cool bands doing covers of songs by one of the most gawdawful poseur bands of all time. I believe the whole thing is meant as a massive (and expensive) joke by Waterfront in parody of the current Aussie Stooges fixation and in particular of the recent Augogo Hard To Beat Stooges covers compilation; after all, the concept that Kiss had any influence on the Smelly Tongues or King Snake Roost (other than to show them what NOT to do) is patently ludicrous. The nagging suspicion is that some of the bands playing on the record (Coffin Break, Nirvana, Skinyard, for example) weren't told it was a joke and they really meant it. Others, like the Hard-ons, All, or Chemical People might mean it, but then they might just be pretending they mean it. One of two things generally happens on records like this...either the bands play to the level of the material or the bands bring the material to their level. Unfortunately on this record it's the quality of the material that dominates, with results that make the joke tire pretty fast. At least they didn't try for a Rick Wakeman covers album. STOP PRESS NOTE: Just released in the US on C/Z Records without the gatefold sleeve and with a couple different bands. You still don't have to buy it, though.

VARIOUS
It Happened But Nobody Noticed (Now Sound)
Where Birdmen Flew (Taz Devil)
Both of these are bootlegs, but can be readily obtained at shops around town or by mail from places like Midnight Records in New York. Haven't seen any of the Aussie mail order places selling them, though. I rate them both as essential as they each contain between $500 and $1000 worth of singles if you bought them at current collectors prices. It Happened contains two great Fun Things tracks, "Let The Birdmen Fly" and "Time Enough For Love", performed in a raucous 70's punk style, an excellent song by the Surf Side 6 called "Can You See The Sign" that fits right in to the Birdman/Hitmen axis of rock, both sides of the crucial first New Christs single "Face A New God" and "Waiting World", and half of Radio Birdman's "Burn My Eye" ep. It also has a cool song by Johnny Kannis (of the Hitmen) called "King Of The Surf", Lipstick Killers "Hindu Gods" and the Victims excellent "Television Addict". There's 5 other tracks besides these that are less than essential. Sound quality is a little hissy but otherwise totally acceptable.

Where Birdmen Flew has more bands but only one song for each. There's a little bit of overlap between the two records, but that's OK; you still need both. Flew includes gems like Screaming Tribesmen’s' "Trans 43" from their first ep, Psychosurgeons "Wild Weekend", X "I Don't Wanna Go Out" (one of the few songs you have a hope of finding elsewhere) and Rocks "You're So Boring", all of which are super pieces of 70s punk. The Scientists "Frantic Romantic" is the real eye opener here; it sounds nothing like any of the records you can find in shops by them...instead it's an almost Undertones-ey piece of pop.

VARIOUS
Not So Humdrum (Aberrant)
Why March When You Can Riot (Aberrant)
There are 3 Aberrant compilations to date. The first was Flowers In The Dustbin, and I'm pissed 'cos I can't find it anywhere. But I'll keep reasonably happy listening to these two, since both are great. Humdrum features early tracks by Happy Hate Me Nots, Itchy Rat, Exserts, Wrong Kind Of Stoneage, Suicide Squad, Vigil Anti and Rocks; 18 cuts all told. Best are the Exserts and Rocks tracks; the Exserts get a much better sound on these cuts than on their own lp. Suicide Squad, who I've never heard of elsewhere, turn in a real nice effort called "New World In The Morning", and the Hate Me Nots tracks, taken from their early days, are fun to compare to the powerhouse full sound they now have. The tracks here are definitely sparse by comparison.

Why March is the better of the two; it's got three great X tracks not available elsewhere in "Home Is Where The Floor Is", "Hate City" and "TV Cabaret Roll". It's got three super Hard-Ons tracks, produced in a much different style than their Waterfront stuff, and to my way of thinking they are much better tunes than most of Waterfront stuff, too. These are "Coffs Harbour Blues", "School Days" and "Squat House". There's two Feedtime tracks "Don't Tell Me" and "Small Talk", both of which were rerecorded for the single. In addition, there are some great tracks by an outfit called Johnny Dole and The Scabs and a batch of other stuff to boot. A classic lp!

VARIOUS
Flowers From The Dustbin (Aberrant)
I have this one courtesy of Bruce G. at Aberrant, truly a gentlemen's gentleman if there ever was one; I'd given up hope of ever finding it, but he was good enough to send me a copy. This 1983 release is the first of the three fast-becoming-legendary Aberrant compilations (the others being Not So Humdrum and Why March When You Can Riot). Being the oldest gives it the most interesting feeling of history; it's got 3 tracks by Positive Hatred, the band that gave Paul Berwick to the Happy Hate Me Nots among other contributions, and two by World War XXIV (possibly the best punk band Australia ever produced) including one, "5 to 9", that isn't on their lp. Also included are the Kelpies, Queen Anne's Revenge, Box Of Fish, Vellocette and What?!!. The bands tend to be a little more derivative of the UK punk sound than the bands on subsequent compilations, but then again since this is a picture of a scene just starting to get off the ground, that's to be expected. Stack this lp on the turntable after a late 70's UK compilation like Beggar's Banquet's Streets and you'll find it fits in seamlessly.

I'm particularly partial to the Positive Hatred tracks, though they certainly don't have the punch (or the pop appeal) of the present day Hate Me Nots. Biggest surprise (almost fell out of my chair when it came on) among these is "Think About Tomorrow", which also just happens to be the best song on the Hate Me Nots smashing new lp. Here it sounds pretty good, and the arrangement is virtually the same, but Positive Hatred just didn't have the ability to make this song into what the Happy Hate Me Nots have. Other good picks are "25 Hour Hoods" by Queen Anne's Revenge, which features a wildly distorted guitar that sounds like it's being played on the far end of fifty yards of sewer main and a good stop-dead chorus, World War XXIV's typically bashing "5 to 9" (which sounds suspiciously as though it may have evolved into "Eaten Alive" on their lp), and the Kelpies "My Wall", which has more of a punky-pop sound to go with the sort of real-life approach to boy-loses-girl lyrics that always made me appreciate punk:

So I sat in my corner
With a rope 'round my leg
And I sat, with my razor blades
And I watched
Watched the wall turned red

You won't hear Kenny Rogers sing a tearjerker like that!

You probably aren't going to find this without scouring the used bins really carefully for a hell of a long time, but it's well worth it if you can come up with a copy of it. I'd say the other two Aberrant compilations have more consistently good bands, but if you're into the history of the music scene in Sydney, this one's a must, too.

VARIOUS
Go And Do It - The Aberrant Compilations (Small Axe)
One of the great small labels of the 80s was Australia’s Aberrant Records, releasing brilliant records (sometimes in quantities of only a few hundred copies) by feedtime, Positive Hatred, Examplehead and World War XXIV to name just a few. Aberrant began their existence by releasing three compilation lps documenting Aussie punk bands from 1977 to 1985…Flowers From The Dustbin, Not So Humdrum, and Why March When You Can Riot? To this day, I regard them as perhaps the most interesting and well conceived compilation lps I’ve ever heard, as they included the only recorded songs by several dozen bands that form the critical link between the Radio Birdman fueled scene of late 70s Sydney and the well documented mid 80s Aussie explosion. This two CD set includes all three lps plus a few more tracks from a 7" ep that was released with the Trousers In Action fanzine that label head Bruce Griffiths used to write. No fan of Oz rock should be without it. There’s minimalist blasts of feedtime and X, Clash inspired punk from Positive Hatred and The Kelpies, the first recordings by the great Happy Hate Me Nots, a more 80s hardcore punk sound from World War XXIV, the Hard-Ons, Rocks and Exserts, and lots of other styles that defy labels. Recording quality is less than pristine but not bad, either…about what you’d have to expect for a bunch of independently produced recordings from the early 80s, but in this case it only adds to the authentic feel of the whole thing. And the band performances are almost without exception inspired. These are groups that were all very capable and well proven live (or Griffiths wouldn’t have picked them), but most had very few chances to get into the studio to record, and their intense approach to their big chance shows clearly. Griffiths told me in a 1988 interview that to him Aberrant meant "not what is expected", and that certainly applies here; there’s a batch of different styles, yet the songs go together like they were meant to. Which, of course, they were. You rarely get a second chance in this life; don’t miss this one.

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Not So Lucky Country (Reactor)
I can't seem to make up my mind about this two lp set of Aussie punk/hardcore bands. Some days I play it and it sounds like a bunch of boring hardcore like the stuff that was coming out of Britain around 1982 (like the Drunk and Disorderly compilations). Other times it hits me as a bunch of thinking man's punk, the way it pulls together a large pile of mostly political bands from all over. There really aren't a lot of cuts that combine a strong hook with the energy and the message, and I think that's why there's a tendency to feel a little flat after the 35 tracks have gone by. Surprisingly (given my tastes on their other stuff), I like Cosmic Psycho's "Custom Credit" best of the lot...it's typical three chord, one-riff and a pile of dust stuff for them, but it seems to have attained more of the Stooges-like effect that their lp tried for (and missed, in my book). Hard-ons "Show Us What You Got" is cool but out of place here. Alligator Parade's "Wild Chicken Farm" is less thrashy and more 70's punk styled...sounds kind of like the Kelpies and generally does OK, and Venom P. Stinger's "Venom P. Stinger" charges around neatly. On side 4, Be Kind To Beaver's "Stop The City" is my favorite; recalls the XL Capris from the Why March When You Can Riot lp, or maybe Action Pact for those more into UK bands. Anyway, there's a lot of music here, and a real nice package with a fat booklet full of lyrics and photos, so it's hard to be too put out by it all, but I can't help but feel that a single lp would've done better.

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An Oasis In A Desert Of Noise (Greasy Pop)
Poor Greasy Pop...I keep dumping on them and I don't mean to; I appreciate the effort they're making to get Adelaide bands out there, but they just don't have as much to work with as the other labels do. Exploding White Mice here do a nice Stooges cover, "Down On The Street", and there are two passable Primevils tracks, but the rest of the lp is pretty standard compilation stuff; i.e. tracks not good enough to make it elsewhere, and that includes a track by the Mad Turks. Dunno what to say, but keep plugging, guys.

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Oasis 2 (Greasy Pop)
The follow up to 1985's An Oasis In A Desert Of Noise, this compilation succeeds like success, which nothing else does, as they say. There's 13 bands, all from Adelaide, and there's not a duff track in the batch. The style tends to be primarily power pop with an emphasis on power, and the tracks are arranged so that things slide together seamlessly; there's no jarring break in continuity from song to song as on a lot of compilations. That has the drawback for the bands of making it a little harder for you to drill the credits for individual tracks into your head, but on the other hand, it makes you play the lp a lot more. The Little Assassins kick off well with a country-ish "Ant At Your Feet", followed by the basic Sydney-style rock of the Chrisalids on "This Time With You". Morning Glory's Kink-like "Black Dreams" is superior to anything on their mlp. The Handmedowns "Quarter To Twelve" starts softly but builds up into a smart piece of jangly but edgy pop. The Ninth Wave build into the powerful "One Side Of My Mind" like Jefferson Airplane circa "Don't You Want Somebody To Love". Dandelion Wine's "The Park" crosses distorted guitar with creepy organ and then pulls out a soaring keyboard bit for a chorus. Flip it over and get mowed down by the hammerblows of Contrapunctus on "Two Legs"...best track on the lp. The Philisteins' "Early Morning Memory" is great tension-pop, but also is on their lp. This is apparently a different mix, but the differences are subtle. The Preytells, some of whom played in a band with the great name Lobotomies Are Go!, present "I Want Love", a sort of Doors-ey, sort of Scientist-ey stuff, and pretty cool. The Very Sane's "Blackhead Distemper" fits right in between the Handmedowns and the Mad Turks From Istanbul for power pop perfection. The Wipeouts play some pretty full-on Stooges-riff guitar rock on "Organ Dale", while The Weirdoes, including two players named Weirdo and one named Hepatitis Scabs, play some nice monster movie chord progression on the rocking "Inside Hilda's Ribcage". And finally, Liz Dealy and the Twenty Second Sect go jaw to jaw with Union Carbide Productions, covering their brawling "Ring My Bell" with authority. I want to see Liz become Mike Tyson's next wife, and we'll see who goes crying to Barbara Walters then, yes sir!

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On The Waterfront Vol. III (Waterfront )
Fuck or Fuck Off (Waterfront)
Both of these are giveaway lps from Waterfront showcase gigs, although the label seems to have learned a lesson from the Volume II giveaway, which really was limited to the shows and subsequently became highly sought due to the presence of tracks by the Eastern Dark and Happy Hate Me Nots that can't be gotten elsewhere. These two were pressed in sufficient quantity that they can be found in shops in San Diego now and then, and at any rate can be had through Augogo or Waterfront. Volume III leads with one of Ratcat's best tracks, "Razorblades", which has better production than their lp and sounds really good. This is followed by a fairly mediocre pair of tracks by the hardcore band Massappeal and Spunkbubbles, who dish up a more straight punk style offering. Last on side one is "From My Window" by the Hard-ons, one of their slower (for them, at least) tracks, and not too bad an effort. Flip it over and there's the massively fantabulous "Everyday" by the Hate Me Nots; I rate it their best track ever with their trademark speedy Rickenbacher sound and some great lyrics ("I had to show some courage/I had to show conviction"). Love Minus Zero is bland pop, but the kick comes back a little with the Vultees on "Money" which is better than either side of their "Heaven" single. Finishing strongly are the Headstones with "Just Another Name For Rock'n'Roll", a 60s cover that isn't as good as their singles but is still worth hearing.

Fuck or Fuck Off splits into a punk side and a pop side. The punk side rips, leading off with Pummelsloth, who remind me of the Celibate Rifles with a real roaring effort. Hope to see more of these guys on vinyl soon, because this track is great! Asylum, the Brisbane band people are comparing to Eastern Dark, follow Pummelsloth with "High Rise Hatred"; not as strong as their single, but a good fast song. The Hellmenn’s "Look Don't Touch" lays down some hot guitar over furious drumming, but the vocals don't work as well as they could, and the song itself is fairly generic thrashing around with no obvious hook. Next are the Hard-ons with "Got A Baby", which makes 3 chord rock seem positively orchestral: they get by almost exclusively with one and throw in a second only once in a while. The drums are the main feature of this track, which is fun, but not one of their best. On the flip Glass provide the lame pop track of the lp, followed by Primal Scene, who provide a much healthier punch with "Walk You", although their vocalist sounds a little wimpy. Decline Of The Reptiles follow with a track that could only be here because they couldn't figure out how else to release it, since they're already broken up, and finally, Ratcat have another hot number, the psychedelic "Purple Room". This one is apparently from the same sessions as the mini-lp, since it has the same shrieking vocal quality.

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Positively Cleveland Street (Bulb)
If I'd heard this record and read the liner notes before my Australia trip, I probably wouldn't have felt quite so confident walking two miles down Cleveland Street at 3 AM. From what it says here, this avenue that runs east to west about a mile south of downtown Sydney is a haven for the desperate and the depraved...to me it just looked like a slightly run down main road lined by the sort of houses you'd expect to see in a place where a million smelly busses and cars drive by every day. Anyway, the bands on this record seem to fit the description...they're all fairly ugly, dirty sounding bands like King Snake Roost, the Red Planet Rockets, the Splatterheads, Stu Spasm (of Lubricated Goat fame) and so forth. The record actually holds together quite well and even the tracks by the bands that I normally don't go for that much (KSR in particular), seem to fit and sound good in the context. My favorites are the tracks by the Splatterheads, because of the great singing (I've heard they may be split up...too bad) and the Red Planet Rockets. Good concept well done.

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Positively Elizabeth Street (Citadel)
Although it's all Aussie bands and it's on Citadel, this record comes from Germany, which is a little odd. It's got samples of all the more recent Citadel singles, which means it's a cut below the Citadel of a couple years ago. I mean, Died Pretty's "Everybody Moves" is a classy song, but it can't touch "Stoneage Cinderella", and likewise the New Christ's decent "Heading South" doesn't measure up to the devastation of "Like A Curse". Most of the other stuff on here is good (sometimes really good) pop/rock, but none of it rates as classic quality material, which was the tag you could put on about 18 of the first twenty Citadel 45s. (You pick the two to toss and watch everybody else jump for 'em.) Still, if you can't get into the $5 price tag of Aussie singles in the US and you're afraid to try mailorder from Augogo (silly, silly!) this is one way to get a taste of some pretty fair stuff at a decent price.

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Rockin' Bethlehem (Timberyard)
The merits of reviewing a Christmas lp are dubious at best, and when it's done in the summer, the issue becomes even dubiouser. I always hate it when bands do Christmas songs (exception...the Yobs Christmas lp). This one I crumbled for because it had bands like the Lime Spiders, the Dubrovniks, Ratcat, and most of all the Happy Hate Me Nots, and I figured somebody would do something good. Proceeds from the lp benefit Sydney's Royal Children's Hospital, which makes the presence of Box The Jesuit odd, as I wouldn't let them within four miles of a toddler without a peace officer present for the child's protection. Virtually every band here makes a soppy ass of themselves (sadly enough the HHMN's are included in this), with the surprising exception of the Lime Spiders, who have made soppy asses of themselves on their last few records but somehow have created a fairly psychotic version of song I'd never heard, associated with Yule logs or otherwise. One of the more pathetic examples of a generally pathetic breed.

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Screaming At The Mirror II (Ticklish)
Another Melbourne comp but it sounds like it's from another planet than things like Babylon To Brunswick or Wally’s Wild Weekend. This is the second of these (the first was cassette only), and it features more of the dark and the arty sort of thing, although it does feature the excellent Pray TV and other bands that are capable of rocking things a little. Although I suspect I'd rather see a six band festival of groups from the Babylon To Brunswick comp, for sitting around the house this is better by yards since it doesn't sound so worn out. Most of these bands seem to combine a dose of rock and roll with a heavy helping of arty music that's still guitar based more than anything else, which I suppose is why it works for me.. The only bands with any name at all (besides Pray TV) are the Swarm, Slub, Clowns Smiling Backwards, and the Stone Circus, and these are small names. It doesn't seem like I should like it, but I do.

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Swingin' From The Trees: A Sydney Compilation (Augogo)
Kind of funny a Melbourne label doing a Sydney compilation, but they've done a solid job of it, so there's no point complaining! In fact, this is only one of two excellent Augogo samplers out recently (see Hard To Beat below). The fact that this record really doesn't have a lot of first string bands on it doesn't make it a poor compilation; it just shows off how good things are down under.

Leading off are Naked Lunch, with a track from their new Things Grow mini-lp; it's a slab of tasty Hitmen style rock (as you'd expect given the presence of guiding light and former Hitman/New Christ Tony Robertson). Not the powerhouse of their first 45, but a good one nonetheless. Next up are Mushroom Planet, a sort of poor man's Celibate Rifles, with a live track recorded before they split in 1986 that has their usual driven playing but also as usual isn't such a sharp piece of songwriting. After a generic punk track by the Sweet Ride come 3 straight winners to close side one; a moody track by Spectres Revenge called "I Told No Lies", the always unstable Psychotic Turnbuckles with a nifty rant called "Mr. Zeppelin Man" complete with lots of wah-wah leads layered over distorted power chords, and finally, the massive Mothers with a really great entry, "Intersection" which has a frantic lead that builds and builds through the song and some great yells from Fiona, a women who is destined to become one of the alltime great female rock singers (screechers?) in my book if she sticks with it.

Side two starts with the moderately paced "Don't Leave Me" by the Conspirators, a Detroit rock styled outfit. This leads into the Eastern Dark's "Stay Alone", a song that was previously only available (in a different version) on a Waterfront night giveaway that's now rare as hell. Despite the undeniable greatness of the Eastern Dark's other stuff, this one doesn't really hold up too well...it doesn't have the guitar-pop mania atmosphere of their other (essential) records.

The next cut quickly clears away the disappointment; it's a great blast called "Mental Blank" by Rocks, a band that has been around Sydney since 1978 yet up to this point have only had one 6 track ep and a couple other compilation tracks. Having seen them live opening for the Hard-ons I can vouch for the fact that they are serious contenders in the field of two-chords-and-a-pile-of-dust punk, and this song backs me up 100%. An mini-lp by these guys is due soon...might even end up reviewed this issue, so look for it!

Closing are Hoi Polloi, No Man's Land and the Space Juniors, none of which do anything terribly inspiring, although the latter's "Skating Down the Boulevard" has a good punk feel that shows some promise. All told, the lp is better than 50% good stuff, which is an impressive feat for any sampler. Handshakes all around!

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Take Everything, Leave Nothing (Citadel)
This is a double lp compilation of single sides from Citadel's glorious beginnings, singles that are starting to become harder to find every day, and most of which are now out of print. Soon this lp will be the only way you have to hear a lot of these. That'll be a real shame, because it's as singles that these songs really made it, and somehow hearing songs like, for example, the Trilobites' "Legacy Of Morons" without being able to flip the record over for "American TV" leaves something missing. There are so many good sides missing from this that it's really sad thinking that for many, this will be the only exposure they ever get to the early Citadel 45s. Also, where are the great Lime Spiders' songs like "Out Of Control" or "Slave Girl"?

Nevertheless, taken as a whole, this is a hell of a pleaser for anyone who hasn't been introduced to Citadel's greatness. Most of the bands here spread the ground between the hard edged blazing guitar rock of the New Christs "Like A Curse" and the softer pop of Angie Pepper's "Frozen World". Citadel has never gone in for hardcore or thrash bands like Waterfront (this is not meant as either a positive or negative statement; just the facts)...not that there aren't any bands who can really blister on this, but rather that the typical Citadel band bases their sound around melody, and then put the attack on top of that.

My advice is to buy the singles from Augogo while you still can, but if you aren't into singles or feel you can't afford them, then there are far worse fall back positions than buying this record.

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Thank You Charles (Waterfront)
Here's some more of the hardcore side of Waterfront, with four bands each serving up a handful of tracks. SSDC starts with some pseudo-Satanic backwards stuff that turns out to be quoting from the Bible and then peel into three songs of fairly typical rant-thrash. The band plays OK...they're actually somewhat Hard-ons like in places, but the shout vocals are just like your stereotype thrash band. Fester Fanatics come out with a lyric for the books: "Straight from school, grab our boards, down the local ramp/Even if it's sunny, windy, cold, or damp". Christ, these tough skatepunks can endure all manner of hardships! But their songs have a better sense of tune than SSDC, and I think I'd actually like to see them play, if only to see how they manage to share three functioning brain cells between four members. Lethal Overdose has tastier guitar but more of those rant vocals, and their lyrics are political stuff for those who have just become aware that the world isn't always nice...like 7 zillion hardcore bands, they divide the world into we/they, and credit all the problems to "they". This is easy, but it won't fix things. The last band, Under the Influence, is slower but equally ranty in the vocal department. God I'm tired of thrashy hardcore. It's almost as bad as thud-metal.

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This Ain't The Plimsouls (Zero Hour)
After the deluge of covers albums lately I haven't really got much taste for any more, but I've gotta say that if this hadn't come on the heels of horribly mis-conceived efforts like the Buzzcocks and Damned records where brilliant songs were horribly done or things like the Kiss lp where the originals were horrible to begin with I'd have been slobbering all over this one. It's a rare accomplishment...Zero Hour has managed to get a group of bands who seem to understand the whole point behind the wonderful power (and powerful) pop of the Plimsouls and the result is a totally listenable record in which a number of the covers exceed the originals and some of the re-interpretations actually have something to offer without dumping the original idea. Lots of good bands like Chopper, the Kryptonics, Chevelles and Droogs, but even some of the lesser names shine. This is the first covers lp in ages that I've played more than 5 times, and I've played it way more than five times. Nice job, but don't try it again.

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Young Blood (rooArt)
This label is financed by the guy who manages INXS, with the goal of helping to break deserving Australian bands outside of Australia. There's a lot to applaud in that (being able to sample 12 Aussie bands for a bargain price even as a domestic is great news). But the label's choices as to what bands are deserving seems to lean to bands that could easily be programmed alongside INXS on American radio, and that's not so admirable. Things start with the promising punch of the Trilobites doing "All Hail The New Right" (also on their new mlp), but from there we get a long string of bands whose influences seem to be primarily bands like Echo And The Bunnymen, U2, or the Smiths. Some bands stray a little further than others from this track, but really everything could be slotted like that until the Hummingbirds "Hindsight", which is a pretty good slab of pure guitar pop. It may be a shock to rooArt, but one of the most refreshing things about a lot of the Aussie independents is that so many of them don't sound anything like those UK bands. I'm not going to deny that most of the tracks on this record stand up to any of their mirror images from the British Isles; on the contrary, there's lots of things here that would probably sound really good to people weened on new wave radio. But do us a favor and put your push behind the bands that are great and can change things, like the Happy Hate Me Nots, Hard-ons, feedtime, Examplehead, Lizard Train, and on and on. These bands are more deserving; they're great and they're doing something different, not just aping the style that's in vogue on the radio.

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Wally's Wild Weekend - Live At The Tote Hotel Easter 1991 (Augogo)
Here's a slab of 8 bands playing roughly two songs each at a series of live gigs in Melbourne. The mood in Melbourne these days is grungey and that's largely what you get on this record. The big names are Hoss, Nursery Crimes and the Meanies, but the Guttersnipes acquit themselves nicely with a heavy guitar style and a vocal sound that reminds me a lot of Bored. The Unclean Spirits rev up to warp speed on "RPM" but still have grunge in the guitar sound on their second cut, which bears the great title of "Heidi Is A Nazi". The Nursery Crimes were a bit of a one hit wonder in my book with their "What Do You Know", which appears here with lots of energy but a fairly flat recording. They also check in with a fine version of the Descendants' "Silly Girl". Spiderbait never did much for me and continue not to...they're a band that tries to rely on being bizarre, and it's pretty much a flop in my book. The Throwaways are a b-league grunge rock band, meaning they are preferable to Barry Manilow records but little more. Hoss do their stuff as well as ever, and the Meanies get a nice guitar buzz but bury the singer in the mix for an odd sound. Overall this is a murky sounding record and I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a bigtime fan of one or more of the bands on it...it fails to meet the main requirement for a compilation of being a representative sample of a good number of bands.

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Young Einstein Soundtrack (Mushroom)
Seems like ancient history when the Lime Spider's "Weirdo Libido" 45 came out accompanied by a cryptic reference to a movie that it came from called "Young Einstein". Now the movie is out everywhere here, and if what I can gather of the story line from this record is any clue, we were better off in our previous state of blissful ignorance. The music is a mish-mash of different stuff...some is really foul AM-radio fodder like Mental As Anything's cover of "Rock and Roll Music", but there's the Saints "The Music Goes Round My Head", which in this company sounds quite good, though as a single it seemed weak. The Stems "At First Sight" is power pop class personified, and of course the Lime Spiders cut is like a beacon, even if it is just "Slave Girl" slightly reorganized. Paul Kelly and The Colored Girls' "Dumb Things" is more mainstream, but comes off nicely. As for the rest, it's either lame or it's music really made for the movie, which is worse.

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Storming The Citadel Vols I&II (Divine Rites)
What was originally to be a 7" tribute to the great Australian record label Citadel got a little out of hand and turned into two 10" records and 12 cover songs.   As with all compilations (and especially tributes) this one is uneven, but the highs are pretty great…especially Frenchmen The Backsliders blasting through the Detroit punk of the Fun Things classic "Savage", Challenger 7 finding hidden treasure in what had been a merely adequate Screaming Tribesmen song, a smoldering vocal by Louis Tillet on the New Christs "Headin’ South" and Mother Jones’ superb take of the Visitors’ "Sad TV" being the best moments. Unlike many tributes, the bands involved here really DO love these songs, and even if it isn’t all perfect the enthusiasm shows in every groove. (17 rue St. Erhard, 67100 Strasbourg, France)

Australian lps A - G
Australian lps H - L
Australian lps M - S
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