FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Vice Blog

RETTSOUNDS - THE SCENE DOWN UNDER

Deaf Wish

Believe it or not, I know an Australian guy named Bruce and he was kind enough to send me a hell of a large satchel of goods to talk about here on Rettsounds. This Bruce guy is the man responsible for the Easter Bilby distribution ring down south that's turned on many an ugly USA type to the skuzzy, aural beauty coming out of Australia as of late. The whole recent stampede of greatness coming from that country has really turned my head around and made me a born again record monger foaming and frothing for the newest and greatest shit from that overgrown insane asylum. Trying to nail down all this stuff from the asshole know-it-all perspective can be a real toughy. Just when you think you're caught up, some out-of-nowhere ass wallop comes out of nowhere to both humble and make you gooey in the salamander with wide-eared glee. My suggestion is just let go of your shallow nerd boy "Where do I start?" paranoia and just dive the fuck in. It seems no matter where you start, finish, or begin, everything coming from the Land Down Under is the boobies.

Advertisement

One thing I'm more than content to listen to over and over again is this latest full length from Melbourne's Deaf Wish entitled Mercy. Past releases from this constantly on-again/off-again group of frequent flyers and fiancés blew me away in how they could bear fists and raise skirts in one blurry choreograph to show you what they were made of. On Mercy they got original member Sarah Hardiman back in the fold, which helps stretch it into a very emotionally nude affair with enough pregnant amp buzz and shaky male/female vocal twists to make you imagine a less weepy version of something Brian Crook might have cooked up with one of his units like The Terminals or The Renderers. Rumors abound that some sort of formation of this band will hit our shores in the fall of this year and who knows… maybe I'll take these tissue boxes off my feet long enough to go see them. Until then, I'll just listen to this and continue to weep the tears of content confusion.
[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/deaf-wish-the-beat-of-nothings-wrong-01.mp3]
Deaf Wish - "The Beat of Nothing's Wrong"

Sydneys' Straight Arrows debut full length, It's Happening, is another Aussie import that's been getting a lot of spin time around here lately. Some have dismissed this thing as just another muffled sounding garage rock record from a bunch of tight shirted floppy haired types, but I think there's something more to it than that for sure. Anyone who has spent serious time with a record like Tommy James and The Shondells' Travelin or even The Bachs' Out of the Bachs (If you wanna get super duper nerdy) will definitely dig on the squiggly strut these kids have and grin the grin of a true blue retard. First pressing is pretty much gone from what I've heard, so grab one now before your little cousin calls you a poser.
[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/straight-arrows-golden-torch1.mp3]
Straight Arrows - "Golden Torch"

Advertisement

The Aarght! Label out of Victoria seem to be putting out a poop load of great stuff lately. The single they recently released by a trio who call themselves The Unfuckable is a good one to throw on when the beer and what-have-you hit you in the right way and you just want to slobber and clap your hands. The two tracks on the A Side sound like Ed Kuepper and Chris Bailey after a full frontal lobotomy, while the B comes off like Tex Perkins after an all expense paid trip to the colonic clinic. Supposedly there's a whole LP of this stuff collecting dust somewhere. Am I going to have to sell all my free weights to get this thing released or are you?
[audio: http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/unfuckable-complicated-medication-class-01.mp3]
The Unfuckable - "Complicated Medication Class"

Another single from this label that really made me come out of the basement and wipe the chocodile crumbs from my face was the coverless four song wonder from a unit called Knife Fight. Not to be confused with the American Hardcore band of the same name, this New Zealand-based group conjures up images from my mind that are just plain fucked. Freight trains full of old, dry dynamite and B.O.C bootlegs… Bored Youth listening to the first Montrose album before recording their infamous Dave Rice produced demo… the destruction of every leather jacket-wearing garage rock moron… stuff like that. There's another 7" of this stuff lurking around out there that I haven't been able to find via interwebs. Anyone who's holding… let's talk arugula, shall we?
[audio: http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/knife-fight-boredom-01.mp3]
Knife Fight - "Boredom"

Advertisement

And then finally we have this single by The Sailors that I've found to be a thoroughly enjoyable and confusing companion. Frontsider "Guilty Pleasure Blues" is a beyond stellar sunny day goodtime groover/jangler; perhaps the first track I'll jam when it gets to that point in the season where it's warm enough to open the window and let the sunshine and guido grease come in. The B-Side homage to inhalants, "Let's Go Chromin,'' is a completely different beast. It rages and stomps and jitters just like someone whose huffed and sucked and drank enough to make them break the arm of the nearest bouncer. The sides don't really add up, and that's probably why it's got me coming back to it like a good girl trying to figure out the mysterious bad boy in her class. Did I just type that? Shit… I think I really need to take a break… See you in a fortnight…

[audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/the-sailors-guilty-pleasure-blues-01.mp3]
The Sailors - "Guilty Pleasure Blues"

In perfect correlation with these present day Aussie no-goods presenting us with their recorded goods, we also got some re-issues here of stuff by corkhatters from the past. The Slugfuckers are one of those bands whose records only get played at parties you're never invited to where paunchy collectors comb each other's moustaches and discuss what it would be like to actually touch a woman. Luckily, the Insolito label out of Germany just did up both their 7"s from 1979 on a single 12" disc just so you won't have to endure going to such a gathering. What nice people. A glance at the bands' manifesto reprinted on the insert will give you an idea of what you're getting into here; idealist mental patient ramblings with names like the Residents, P.I.L, Luigi Russolo, Throbbing Gristle, and Lee Harvey Oswald dropped cinder blocks into vats of rancid ricotta. Much like these folks, the Slugfuckers were looking into the great beyond for answers to the unquestionable. What they brought back from their gaze-off is some of the most challenging sounds to come out of that whole era where some of the brighter people involved in punk wanted to spring off and disturb the masses via sound rather than with a fire engine red mohawk. Having said that, I personally see nothing wrong with playing something like the Slugfuckers' "Schizo-Revolution" right into the Exploited's "Rival Leaders." But hey… that's just me.

Advertisement

And then you got the fine folk at 540 Records going on a campaign to re-issue the entire catalog of Brisbane's Savage Music label, yet another secret delight hidden by the collector scum. As of virtual press time, I have only procured two out of the three singles re-issued thus far, so if you feel the need to speak/cough "poser" under your breath because of this, please do so now. I'll wait. The re-ish of what I believe to be the first release in 1979 on Savage, a three song 7" by Just Urbain is a great fumble into unknown greatness. Echoed out, bored-as-fuck vocals reminiscent of Jeff Atta swim above a guitar/drums (NO BASS!) rumble that has the precision of a 1992 Hyundai being dragged to its death on a long stretch of road just outside of the Little Sandy desert. The Bodysnatchers 7" that was also redone (the third thing released on Savage for those who keep track of these sort of things) sounds like a glorious beef feast; sort of like early Leather Nun minus the leather, shades, and lube. My take on an actual copy of the Young Identities 7" re-ish also done in this series will have to wait until I get my mitts on it in the soonish season. I can tell you from my listening to it via files shared by nerds on computers that it's yet another piece in the "How?/Why?" in that late 70s/early 80s puzzle that includes pieces/bands like The Fix, The Endtables and The Original S.S. To say I'm anticipating the rest of the Savage Music re-issues 540 will lay on us in the next year is truly a fucking understatement. Glorious, glorious shit.

Advertisement

[audio: http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/blogs/en/files/2011/02/bodysnatchers-frantic-01.mp3]
The Bodysnatchers - "Frantic"

Last but not least in our Aussie round-up, we got a cassette by the now defunct White Cop, a mob that included Brendon Annesley (editor of the Negative Guest List 'zine) in its membership. Just like this boys' writing, this tape is a lid-popping punkoid mess that reeks from the stench of self discovery and pill vomit . If these tracks were sandwiched somewhere on the Not So Quiet On The Western Front or Public Service comps in the olden days, I would have declared them lost classics. These days, stuff like this just makes me wanna grab for the extra strength Geritol and my copy of Bryter Layter. That is a compliment, by the way.

BTW…most of this stuff is available here in the US from Goner, Fusetron, or Revolver.

Alright, that's enough of this kiwi shit. Next time around it's all America! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!! (Ala Aware!)

TONY RETTMAN