Posts By Ryan Saar

INTRODUCING: Food Court

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Food Court band

I met the guys from Food Court at a Halloween shindig in Redfern last year where they were playing support for Bad//Dreems.

Anyway, I was struck by how nice the guys were, as well as their drummer’s Prince costume, crucifix earring and everything. And when they hit the stage, by which I mean the living room, they blew me away so hard I thought there was a gale force wind tucked into their amp or something.

Thankfully, Food Court can capture their live nature pretty easily on tape. In fact, there’s almost no noticeable difference, besides the considerable lack of guitarist sweat. Food Court’s debut EP Smile At Your Shoes (now available for free from their Bandcamp page), is a rag-tag slice of ordinary guys doing extraordinary things.

New single and the final track from the EP, ‘She’s Away’ is a strong reminder of what makes these guys so great. Why dig for your old Screamfeeder and Jebediah records, when there’s amazing Aussie rock like this popping up?

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LISTEN: Tropical Strength – ‘Not There’

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Tropical Strength - Not There

You’re rowing down the tunnel of horrors in that scene from Willy Wonka when Gene Wilder’s creep-face is magnified threefold. Instead of facing sleepless nights and years of therapy ahead, replace all those terrifying things with fairy floss, unicorns and Kermit the Frog asking you about your day. That sums up the new tune from NSW’s Tropical Strength, who feature members of Shining Bird. The chimey, 60s regalia here ensures Tropical Strength are here to make sure your day is off to the best possible start. Even if you find out your significant other has been cheating on you with a transvestite, you owe millions in tax and your local pub is closed for the day, ‘Not There’ has the ability to pick you up from the dumps. ‘Not There’ is a delectable track that’s just as impressive as the severely liquified cover.

Go to your happy place by bidding on this track over at Tropical Strength’s Bandcamp. 

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INTRODUCING: Ohms

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ohms

There are a couple of things Melbourne four piece Ohms do well. Firstly, they’re great at making rowdy garage punk. It sounds something like the Ramones clashing with The Vasco Era in a death match. They also do anthemic really well. Their songs seem to be created specifically to cause ruptures in your vocal chords from all the coarse shouting matches you’ll be having with your stereo. Ohms also exemplify that rugged, sticky-carpet feel of your favourite punk dive; the songs from their debut album Pity are like sweat personified.

The main point of Ohms is to get your heart pumping as hard and fast as humanly possible. I think the band must have made a blood oath to get all of Australia jumping up and down screaming, ‘No social life!’ at the top of their lungs and air-guitaring the shit out of ‘Great Riff Your Majesty’. And who are we to deny them their destiny? Just succumb to the loud, noisy bliss of Ohms and thank us later.

Ohms have a couple of gigs coming up in Melbourne – details below:

Friday, 28 February  – Old Bar with Spacejunk, Motel Love, Waterloo and DJ Von

Friday, 21 March – Cherry Bar with Magic Bones and La Bastard

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INTRODUCING: The Cathys

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the-cathys

The Cathys could be called a supergroup, in the same way that Boomgates or Total Control are a super group. In reality, they’re just a bunch of mates fucking around, and it just happens to be noted that these mates spend their free time in amazing bands.

The bands that The Cathys share members with Day Ravies, Oprenda and These Vagabond Hours. But don’t get into that frame of mind where you think you can expect something that sounds exactly like the bands previous outputs. It’s not exactly sterling shoegaze but it is humorous rock ‘n’ roll . The Cathys debut EP Long Lend, recorded by Day Ravies honcho Sam Wilkinson, could be considered a bunch of spiritual Mac DeMarco demos that were perhaps lost.

Three songs long, there is nothing on Long Lend but cool silliness. The Cathys are basically just strumming along with a couple chords and the deepest, weirdest jizz-jazz voice in Sydney. Right now, that’s a great thing.

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LISTEN: Batpiss – ‘Burn Below’

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batpiss

There are plenty of punk bands out there with revolting names; Saliva, Cumstain, Begging For Incest. But hey, those bands kinda suck. Breaking the vile name, shit band category are Melbourne locals Batpiss. Kicking around in Collingwood since around 2011, Batpiss have honed their craft of sluggish oblivion into something that would make Buzz Osborne from the Melvins blush. Although the band released a self-titled cassette in 2012 via Popular Favourites Records, the true gnash of their sound is most apparent on last year’s debut LP, Nuclear Winter.

Starting with a gyrating riff accompanied by a close imitation of Black Flag’s ‘My War’, Batpiss’ ‘Burn Below’ is a punch to the face. It starts with gnashing guitar and buckling bass/drum combinations all come to a halt halfway through the track. It’s only a brief moment of respite though. The band are intent on ploughing through with the incendiary goal to blow out your brain cells – and they’re close.

Batpiss will turn heads, rip off those same heads, stamp them into a bloody mess all over the stage. More please.

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