OH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!
There are no photos of Immolate. Me and Metz sat drooling over the merch table. They’re not exciting.
Blood Duster fucking rock.
(Clickity)
The Dwarves are genius
Archive for the ‘Reviews’ Category
The Dwarves @ the Gaelic Theatre (w/ Immolate & Blood Duster)
28
Oct
REVIEW: Smash the Control Machine by OTEP “You’re a shit blogger dude, hey”
17
Oct
Why yes, you are correct – I’m a terrible blogger. Essentially, I just can’t be bothered. I really should just record videos of myself on a random rant and upload those here, because by the time I yell what I think at whoever is listening, I can’t be assed repeating it in written word form. It’s kind of like “oh I feel better now, oh wait… I was going to share that on my blog, not that small, now clearly distressed, child”. But in the spirit of pretending-to-be-busy-because-my-manager-can’t-see-my-computer-screen-and-what-she-doesn’t-know-won’t-hurt-her, I thought I’d better actually write something.
So in previous posts I have discussed the song “Smash the Control the Machine” by OTEP. In a nutshell – hated the song, was still vaguely looking forward to the album. So after hearing said album, I have to say that I wasn’t overly excited by it, but it wasn’t really bad. But I have to let go of OTEP as SEVAS TRA and move on. Unfortunately it’s hard because SEVAS TRA was so fucking good. After the dismal effort that I thought ASCENSION was, STCM was actually alright. Once I got over the fact that Otep Shamaya doesn’t sound nearly as evil as she did on SEVAS TRA (or even HOUSE OF SECRETS for that matter), or that Moke’s drumming let me down a little (lol because it wasn’t as good as SEVAS TRA), or that I knew half the lyrics from previous albums / spoken words / journal entries / twitter updates / etc / etc it was actually quite enjoyable. I didn’t feel like punching out the person sitting next to me on the train (like I did with ASCENSION) which was quite a relief because I wasn’t looking forward to explaining it to the cops. At times I felt like I was in that scene in A Clockwork Orange where he’s strapped down to the chair and made to watch horrible clips of violence to condition him against his evil ways. It’s hard to escape Otep’s intense opinions and while she has an effective way of bringing situations to people’s attention, I don’t particularly enjoy feeling like I’m being preached at. But at the same time, her delivery is quick, witty and biting, and the switch in musical direction suits Otep’s voice better. Evil J is a steady backbone as usual and Rob’s extracurricular activities have done wonders for his craft.
I want to be a little more energetic about this post, but the usual amount of obnoxiousness, spite and crassness I usually aim for is reserved for things that really boil my blood / get me hot, and this album is kind of like a hug from your senile grandparents – it’s nice because you love them, but you can’t be too impressed because they’re drooling on you. Part me of me really wants to love the new direction OTEP is going (kind of like how everyone wants to be friends with Regina George), but then I realize I don’t really like it so much (like Regina George is a stuck-up bitch).
Cherry2000 @ Doingitlive Tuesday, 04/08/09
20
Aug
I love Cherry2000. Like, you have absolutely no idea. I can’t even begin to comment on how excited I was to *ahem* FINALLY get to see them live. If you like your rock, and you like your electro, do yourself a favour and check out Cherry2000. And do it RIGHT NOW:
REVIEW: OTEP – Smash the Control Machine – The Working Class Anthem?
05
Aug
I’ve tried to write this review so many times that I’ve given up trying to be intelligent or nice about it.
I hate this song. And it’s sad that I do because I was really pumped about this album. Man, what is this shit? Old-school OTEP line up back together and the best you can do is a cut-up job of the worst song from your last album? I cannot forgive you for the abomination that was “Confrontation.” (Oh Oh! C wut eye did thurr? *Otep joke*)
I can hear it now, the full contingent of Shadow Soldiers hating on me with all their MySpace evil.
Look, it’s not that I don’t agree with what Otep Shamaya has to say, it’s just that I’m tired of hearing the same songs. Whatever happened to the fantastic poetry and awesome power of Sevas Tra? Fuck man, regardless of the amount of effects on Otep’s voice, she still slammed a punch into your side while smoking a blunt, and that rap-metal / beat-poet cool was everything Limp Bizkit dreamed they had (but didn’t, because Limp Bizkit suck). Man, I remember rumors that Marilyn Manson was terrified of Otep Shamaya (but I’m sure that might be something along the lines of a big dog being scared of choking on the little Chihuahua).
Hell, I remember when Otep furiously denied any effects on her vocals. Funny that.
It’s disappointing to look at what OTEP are doing these days. It’s not revolutionary, it’s repetitive. It’s not empowering, it’s pathetic. It’s not special, it’s boring. In this day of economic crisis, job market crashes, unhappy political environments, etc, etc, it’s seems like every man and his dog is writing songs about being shat on by the powers that be. You’d think with the charts saturated in complaining, a band with OTEP’s track-record for politically charged tirades would do something… you know… good.
For all my rage about this song, I can’t 100% write off this album just yet. I’m very curious to know what Emilie Autumn contributed, and there’s always the chance that the album is far better then this song.
But Gods, please don’t let there be another shit Nirvana cover.
SMASH THE CONTROL MACHINE will be released on August 18th
Mother Mars EP Launch 02/05/09 @ the Sando, Newtown
26
May
Imagine this – it’s pouring down rain, like, literally BUCKETING. It’s miserably cold, the train timetables are all fucked up and you’ve just spent half an hour in a taxi creeping VERY slowly in congested traffic. You’re desperate for some food. Fuck it, get out of the cab and walk. Need I remind you that you could drown if stood still? May I point out that your shoes are falling apart and you may as well be walking barefoot with the way your socks just drank that puddle of water dry. Food. Haven from the rain. Vegan Thai and ginger beer. This made the hike worth it. You finish, you walk outside. It’s muggy and really wet still, but not raining as much. You make a horrible squelch noise as you walk. Your hair is sticking to you. Fuck man, you’d nearly kill someone for a beer at this point. Oh look! The Sando! Oh! The bar! BEER!
Powerhead
I rolled into the gig too late for these guys and caught the end of their set. I have never been more disappointed with myself. In fact, I was so impressed by the last 2 songs, that I stole the set list and have it hanging on my wall next to the Looking Glass and Nunchukka Superfly ones. That my friends, is special. Remember that.
www.myspace.com/powerheadrocks
Hotel Wrecking City Traders
I saw these guys at Devils Kitchen in January when I was snapping things with Rock Alarm TV. I actually sat downstairs away from the gig and drank beer this time. They’re good, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Sorry guys. If it’s any consolation, I did listen to your EP when I got home…
www.myspace.com/hotelwreckingcitytraders
Buzzard
Brilliant. Fantastic. Ethereal. Transcendental. I can’t tell you how much you need to see this band live. Buzzard is an instrumental 3-piece with more presence and a better sound then a lot of bands will ever wish for. I actually don’t know what to say.
http://www.myspace.com/buzzardsydney
Mother Mars
I like these guys. They’re a lot of fun to listen too (hopefully that doesn’t sound to kitsch), but psychedelic rock is hard to hate. Especially when you’re good at it. The reason we all gathered at the Sando this night (aside from escaping the rain and having a beer) is for the launch of their “Primitives” EP, a fantastic CD that’s nearly as good as watching these guys live.
www.myspace.com/mothermars
Baby Animals – 17 April 2009 @ Revesby Workers
25
May
YOU HAVE BEEN GIMMICKED. THIS IS NOT A FALSE ALARM. YOU HAVE 5 SECONDS BEFORE YOU START THROWING UP SMALL PLASTIC BITS AND POLYSTYRENE FLAKES BECAUSE OF THE LARGE AMOUNT OF DESPERATION, HOPE AND CHEAP GLUE THAT HAS JUST BEEN THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR NIGHT.
The opening act, the Spazzy’s, they were really good. I’d go and see them again in a heartbeat. It actually makes me wish I had been a bigger fan of theirs beforehand.
Ok, so maybe I was a little harsh on Baby Animals. And in all honesty, I’m not a huge fan. But I can show respect where respect is due and if you’re going to reduce yourself to a cliché, then I’m going to reduce myself to catty. Musically speaking, Australian music owes these guys a lot and they are a bunch of very talented people. I would have liked to have seen a gig that showcased their impressive back-catalogue as well as their new album, not a night of Suze DeMarchi dribbling wine into the mouths of her obviously infatuated female audience. I’m not kidding. My next gripe was her pulling a fan on to the stage to “dance with her” but kicking him off because he didn’t know all the lyrics to the song. Yes, because when we dance our mouths do all the work.
I mean, it wasn’t all bad. I know a few of their songs well and was able to groove a little and sing along. Maybe it was the “no photography” rule that was weakly enforced by [venue or band, I’m not sure]. Please guys, if you’re going to do this, make sure you track down everyone with a mobile phone. I refuse to be told that I cannot take photos while there are people RIGHT NEXT TO ME, RIGHT IN FRONT OF SECURITY shooting photos on their phones that have more mega pixels and power then my Nikon D60. Or is it the size of my lens that has you all intimidated and nervous? Don’t worry baby, I won’t hurt you…
And then we got to the end of the night. The encore. I actually had a funny little discussion with my house mate when she –as a fan- exclaimed excitedly “the show is over! Let’s go home!” “Oh no,” I says. “That’s the exit you take when you’re expecting an encore.” And as the crowd wooped! and cheered! I noticed not once were the words “encore” or “more” uttered. It even began to hush and people made their way to the exit. But the band, slinked their way back on to the stage. And this is where I really lost the plot. They all switched instruments. Clever, yes and I appreciate the talent these guys obviously have (even if they only know how to play the one song like that). But it was at this point when I realized how hard it must be to be such a well loved band making a comeback to an audience who has grown up and moved on and is only really there for nostalgia, and how easy it is to fall into cheap thrills and tacky attention-grabbing ploys.
This was not a good gig. But the Spazzy’s were great!
Summonus EP Launch 13/03/09 @ the Sando, Newtown
25
Apr
Fattura Della Morte
Ok. The first time I saw Fattura Della Morte the singer was buzzing around the place with pupils the size of dinner plates telling Rock Alarm TV that he was on pills. “Oh yeah, new EP. Very awesome. I’m on pills. Brooooooodal!” If I may speak as the photographer for a moment, pills plus thrash-laced doom metal does not equal a recipe for great photos (more like “I think _that_ blur is the singer and _that_ one is… also the singer? … the hell???”). The crowd was standing a good 3 – 4 meters away from the stage given vocalist Benny plenty of room to practice breaking the time barrier while throwing himself violently with the music. I can see these guys on much bigger stages starting circle pits and encouraging people to jump from the rafters. These guys are so hardcore that they finished this gig and went to play another one at another venue across town. This band is intense, no other word for them. Benny is one of the most unforgiving, uncaring and punishing vocalists I have seen in a long time.
http://www.myspace.com/fatturadellamorte
Boonhorse
Harmonica in metal? Would never have thunk it and I’m glad these guys did because it was AWESOME. I laughed my ass off, but in a way that symbolized how genius I thought this was! This grime and thrash metal band is made up of members of Looking Glass (see below) and Pod People (stoner metal golden gods). I did catch myself thinking that it was a little bit predictable at times, but then, harmonica. There’s nothing more I can say.
http://www.myspace.com/boonhorse
Looking Glass
Looking Glass are fast becoming one of my favorite bands. Down tempo, psychedelic doom metal – it doesn’t actually get much better then this! Infamy abound, this Canberra band had to cancel a gig once because singer Marcus was too stoned to go on stage. The stoner lords shined upon us on Friday night when the band took the stage and played an amazingly transcendental set which forced the crowd into their very own tripped out Woodstock. Opening with the incredible “Freya” off the Looking Glass 2 EP, I physically had to snap myself out of a trance at one point. I firmly believe that it was Looking Glass that drew the crowd to this gig (over the other 300 bands with unreadble logos that pulled a cone and decided it was a great idea to do a gig on Friday the 13th).
http://www.myspace.com/lookingglassoz
Summonus
Ah, Summonus. Rock based, down tempo doom metal with a lead singer that looks like Jesus. I like Summonus, but unfortunately they were upstaged by Looking Glass at their own EP launch. They didn’t sound quiet as together as they did when I caught them at Devils Kitchen in January. Still, a blistering set and a fantastic showcase of the their even more fantastic EP (doom metal – the only music where 5 songs can take 40 minutes).
http://www.myspace.com/summonusaustralia
(because, God-forbid, any of these bands have an ACTUAL website).
Review: Mz Ann Thropik – “Queen 222″
25
Apr
When I first started exploring the Australian alternative music scene many years ago, one of the first bands I came across was a pop/punk/goth band called Mz Ann Thropik. Torn fishnets, tacky vinyl, bats, cats and everyday-is-Halloween attitude; tell me your 15 year old goth phase wasn’t inspired by Type O Negative’s “Black No. 1”. Singer Magdalena was a dreamboat – all ruby lips, big boobs laced into corsets and deliciously off-key vocals. The music was cliché gothic with a pop kick and a grab-you-by-the-balls punk rock attitude. It was never fabulous, but always cool.
I lost track of the band for a while, only to fall headfirst into Magdalena’s generous bosom at Kings Cross era Club Blink. A breakdown of the line up I knew and an acoustic “funeral” later, a new band was formed (and would continue to reform every two months for the next 4 years, statistic exaggerated). The music took on a quirky nursery rhyme feel with the lyrics drawing on Alice in Wonderland inspirations. Magdalena herself took on a Queen of Hearts look with burlesque influences and a shout-out to her old punk rock flame. I threw myself into stalking the band around the dirty streets of Skidders, buying up all the merch and EP’s I could get my hands on. This new Mz Ann Thropik was a whole lot of high energy fun.
But I started to get a little bored after a year and a half of hearing the same songs all the time. Mz Ann’s live shows became predictable and boring; even Magdalena’s ad-libbing on stage was being recited back to her by the Dracula Biscuits that swarmed the front rows. While I personally adore Alice in Wonderland, Magdalena began to ruin it for me – everything was about falling down the rabbit hole and cutting off people’s heads; and while the original idea was cute (albeit a little obvious – a goth who reads Alice in Wonderland?? Never!), it was being over used and the symbolism was lost.
Out of nostalgia and a certain kind of charm the band possessed I stuck with them, hoping that new line up after new line up would finally settle and the band would become solid, producing some classic pop/punk/goth tunes that they used to back in the day. I really wanted this band to be great. So after waiting for what seemed like forever, we welcomed “Queen 222” into existence. Magdalena taunting her Myspace fans by posting frequent bulletins declaring “it’s coming!” The cover art has Magdalena with 3.5kg octopus on her head.
Oh really?
I tried to be open with this song, but I can’t be. I fucking hate it. Magdalena’s vocals drive me insane with an annoying pig-like pep at the end of each sentence. Her off-key singing is no longer Riot Grrrl cool, but try-hardish and fake. Her lyrics are deranged and nonsensical; the plot line of this song makes no sense and looks like a cut up of about 7 different songs. And unfortunately none of them are particularly good. Cliché whining about not fitting in with “your cotton world” while a vampire knocks at her door and she ties herself into vinyl and lace comprises the first verse before falling to the repetitive chorus with before-mentioned pig-like squeal. The music itself would be exceptional, but I feel its good musicians playing down to an egotistical brat – which of course, ruins the only good thing about this song.
I find it really unfortunate that instead of breaking new ground after getting a line up that is solid, Mz Ann Thropik have flat-lined. I always thought this band had some potential to draw attention to the Australian underground music scene because they were poppy-accessible, but still punk/goth enough to remain alternate. Unfortunately all they have is the same old songs and fan-base of agoraphobic Yes Men. While I will continue to mildly support this band out of nostalgia for the old days of scotch on the rocks and passing out in alley ways, I can guarantee that I won’t be rushing to buy this new single, any new EP, or tickets to the next gig.
I may even be forced to take them off my top friends on Myspace. Now you’ve donnit, eh?