Posts By Ryan Saar

WATCH: Gunslingers – ‘I’ll Always Be Waiting’

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John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda: gunslingers. Forty years since the last time anyone saw a Wild West movie, these guys live on in the cultural lexicon as idols –  chiselled, steel-gazed figures of masculine lore. The mere mention of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly is enough to turn anyone over the age of 50 into a mess of horny nostalgia.

Putting that gross imagery aside for just one moment, there is a new crop of youngsters looking to rip the title of ‘gunslinger’ from Clint’s bony, liver-spotted hands. Gunslingers are a Melbourne four piece that thrash with the fury and tension of a Mexican standoff and coat their tunes in a layer of fuzz thicker than the salt on the edge of the best Margarita in Tijuana.

They’ve just shared the new clip for ‘I’ll Always Be Waiting’, a tune that follows in the path of pop-soaked garage heroes Palms, Velociraptor and Dune Rats. The latter even gets a cheeky shout-out in the clip. Gunslingers continue their lo-fi garage approach in their videos, which feature patchy, VHS graphics. They keep the sun-soaked vibes rolling throughout, with gratuitous shots of beerz, poolz, and guitar soloz. Gunslingers? More like Funslingers, amirite? (please don’t hurt me).

Gunslingers will launch ‘I’ll Always Be Waiting’ at Melbourne’s John Curtin Hotel on 21 February, with support from Covers and Pretty City.

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WATCH: Jonny Telafone – ‘Inferno’

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jonny-telefone

Your partner has just broken up with you. You’re lost, alone, depressed. No one in this world understands you, no one cares. The entirety of your existence is confusion, a strangeness that you will never be able to comprehend. Loneliness settles into your life like a dark storm. Comfort is a forgone memory.

Enter Jonny Telafone. This man is an ice queen. Sorrow is rife in his new tune ‘Inferno’ – the second single to be dropped from his highly anticipated new record, Romeo Must Cry. If the Catholic Church ever wanted to get a revamp, blast this shit in the Vatican, and wait for the accolades to roll in.

Percussion ticks over with unnerving precision and synths loom with an almighty presence while Jonny’s vocals get more auto-tune than a Kanye West B-side. Accompanying his track is a clip that’s like some sort of avant-garde introduction video to the cult of Jonny Telafone. There’s a sultry lady beckoning, Liam from the Ocean Party shredding guitar against a background featuring astronomy’s deepest secrets – and the man himself, Jonny Telafone, crooning with palms outspread, begging the audience to join him in his pain.

Jonny Telafone is going on tour to launch Romeo Must Cry. Catch him at one of the dates below:

Sat March 28 – Brisbane, The Underdog Pub w/ Lucy Cliche, Multiple Man, Workshop, 100%

Sat April 18 – Melbourne, The Tote

Thur April 23 – Sydney, Golden Age Cinema

Sat April 25 – Canberra, Front Gallery

+ Inca Roads Music Festival

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WATCH: The Gooch Palms – ‘Trackside Daze’

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It is a sad, sad day for Australian music indeed. Loveable ruffians/serial nudists/one of Australia’s best bands, The Gooch Palms are relocating from humble Newcastle, to USA. Everyone’s favourite twosome named after the bridge between two genitals are waving goodbye to the home. It’s not that Newcastle has ever been short of amazing acts – Bare Grillz, King Single and a lil’ band called Silverchair all call the ‘Steel City’ home. The Goochies’ relocation means adieu to arguably the best mullet in NSW, no more covers of Twisted Sisters’ ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It’, and less of the usual shenanigans that will be spoken of in slack-jawed awe.

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The Gooch Palms have made a huge impact with their sweaty and chaotic bubblegum punk. However, there is always a silver lining – they’ve released a crazy new video for their latest jam, ‘Trackside Daze’. Besides being a funner than a night out with the Kardashians, the clip is a visual smorgasbord that defies rhyme or reason. It’s like Tumblr got hacked by Anonymous. It also contains lots of sexy neon undies. Enjoy.

The Gooch Palms are playing their last Australian shows for a while. The band just played MATES Festival on the weekend, with a tour to follow in February. Make sure to check out the dates here and buy tickets for all the looseness that will inevitably ensue.

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INTRODUCING: Le Pie

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Le Pie

Who doesn’t love pie? Whether it be the home-cooked apple variety that spawned an infatuation with Sean William Scott, or the meat pie grub catcher that you can buy for $9 at the SCG, pie has thoroughly wormed its way into the collective conscience. Now, with the introduction of Le Pie, the world is about to get even friendlier with everyone’s favourite pastry delight.

Wrung from Newtown, Le Pie has only one single to her name, the heart-fluttering ‘Secrets’. But a few seconds in, you can already see that she’s going to be a star. She’s built on the same teen-crush pop panache that Go Violets, Meg Mac and Airling do so well. ‘Secrets’ is a surefire tearjerker, with an ability to evoke emotions we all didn’t even know that we had.

Maybe this is all a bit too flowery, but Le Pie makes a connection that most pop songwriters find unattainable. The fact she’s been able to do so on her first single is remarkable. Le Pie is sure gonna break hearts this year.

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INTRODUCING: Mope City

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Mope City copy

Australia’s in the shitter at the moment. We’re currently run by a bloke who outdoes the definition of misogyny whilst also being the national Minister For Women. That’s an irony to cruel for a higher power. Often, the best sort of bands present themselves to soundtrack dire times. Lo and behold, here’s Mope City.

Featuring members of Day Ravies and few others of Sydney’s finest, Mope City have kicked around for a while. The band have two creatively titled EPs to their name, Disneybland and Boo Fuckin Hoo. Where their former material rekindled the likes of Teenage Fanclub, their latest, Halfway House is a mid-fi pop choke-chain that brings out the darker elements in their music.

The production in this EP sums up with Mope City are aiming for, more firmly than previous material. Only three songs long, the material is tightly wound – but slides from rainy day pop, to more perturbed vibes. For an Aussie climate where the bitter heat is the least of our problems, Mope City provide an uncomfortably appropriate soundtrack.

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Mope City will be performing on the following dates in support of the release:
Jan 8th – Liberty Social, Melbourne (w/ Tam Vantage and Pure Moods)
Jan 10th – The Metro, Adelaide (w/ Wireheads and Men With Chips)
Jan 16 – The Haunt, Brisbane (w/ Bent + W.D. Fordy & Shrapnel + Karl’s Dog + Falco)
Jan 22nd – The Union, Sydney (w/ The Cathys + Avoid Island)
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Mope City’s Halfway House 7″ is out now through Tenth Court.

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INTRODUCING: Kids of Zoo

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Not to be confused with kids at zoo, a search for which will inevitably lead to compilations of kids laughing and pointing at a chimp that hates itself, Kids of Zoo are a Melbourne punk band that sound like something your mum would absolutely hate. They’re loud, brash and more sneering than I imagine Tony Abbott would’ve been when making his cuts to those hippies at the ABC and SBS.

Kids of Zoo have been around since early 2009, when their first 7″ was released, and they’ve had a constant stream of material since. They’ve just put out second album Welcome to Parrot Eyes on legendary punk label Every Night is a Saturday Night Records (Batpiss, the Spinning Rooms, Bad Vision).

But classic Green Day puns are not all that’s amazing about Kids of Zoo. Welcome to Parrot Eyes boasts one-and-a-half-minute punk bliss, straight up ragers – like Refused compressed to an even more frantic pace. If Eddy Current Suppression Ring wanted to be Die! Die! Die!, they would’ve tumbled into what Kids Of Zoo are now. They fit in well with the current scene of thrashers in Australia, such as Us the Band, Heads of Charm and Super Best Friends.

Songs like ‘Drop the Penny’, ‘A Clean Shave’ and ‘Young Children’ are punk rock revellers, brutal and impassioned, but still incredibly fun. For those who have their necks switched to permanent headbanging position, Kids of Zoo are perfect.

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INTRODUCING: Claire & the Cops

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Claire & the Cops have an interesting story behind their name, one that every garage band has surely (and sorely) experienced – that of the piece-of-shit neighbour. In this case the neighbour is Claire, who called the cops on this Sydney trio for playing loud rock’n’roll music in their garage. It feels like Claire’s the kind of person who would call up the Free TV Australia hotline after hearing someone say ‘Damn!’ on a program before 6.30.

Fun-hating sticklers aside, Claire & the Cops brandish a bratty, loud brand of garage music that’ll probably blow out some eardrums along the way. They lean very closely to Ty Segall and other lo-fi idols such as White Fence and Straight Arrows (whose frontman Owen Penglis mastered Claire & the Cops’ debut EP). While their vocals sit low, deep and more chilled than Matthew McConaughey in Surfer, Dude,at an instrumental level the songs bellow with a forthright fuzz that sets them alight. Basing your band name on a prudish neighbour may seem slightly passive aggressive, but at least there’s history there – and these guys make the kind of balls-out garage that forces you to pay attention. Check out their latest single, ‘Need Ya’, below.

Catch ’em playing Jitterfest alongside the Girl Fridas, Piss Factory and the Nuclear Family on Sunday, 7 December at Sydney’s Captain Cook Hotel.

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