Saturday night: Serious Beak, Pirate and Dumbsaint at the Lansdowne
This Saturday 26 November, Serious Beak will be launching their debut album 'Huxwhukw' at a free show at the Lansdowne Hotel, joined by their progressive pals Pirate and Dumbsaint.
The even kicks off at 8pm and is absolutely free. More info over at the Facebook event.
Haven't heard Serious Beak? You can stream the album here. The band features members of Squat Club, Adrift for Days, Slimey Things, Battle Pope, Squid, Ebolie, the Mabobs, Push Air and the Puffy Jackets, Dyke Destroyer and many more.
Press release to follow:
"Huxwhukw" is an eccentric amalgamation of mind-melting, toe-tapping, psychedelic, progressive and poly-rhythmic discordant music, sure to please fans of Meshuggah, Mastodon, Botch, The Mars Volta and King Crimson.
Huxwhukw is the supernatural long-beaked cannibal bird and servant to Baxwbakwalnuksiwe, the Cannibal-at-the-North-end-of-the-world in Kwakwaka'wakw mythology. Huxwhukw uses his long, snapping beak to crack open the skulls of men to eat their brains and pluck out their eyeballs.
All hail Huxwkwux and the Crooked Beak of Heaven.
Free download of Serious Beak’s single
Serious Beak have just thrown up their first single from their debut album "Huxwhukw" for free download.
Download or stream Tuī / Tuō now.
Find Serious Beak on Facebook.
Press release follows:
Sydney quartet Serious Beak represent an eccentric amalgamation of mind-melting, toe-tapping, psychedelic, progressive and polyrhythmic discordant music. Their style is marked by compulsion; by weaving, complex compositions and mind-bending opposing rhythms, which speak as much to the attention-deficient as much as progressive and math music aficionados.
"Huxwhukw" is set to be released on Saturday 26 November 2011, and is available now for pre-order through BandCamp. The album draws from a varied palate of musical influences, including Meshuggah, Secret Chiefs 3, Danny Gatton, King Crimson, Botch, The Refused, Mastodon, The Mars Volta, Horacio Hernandez, Cephalic Carnage and Allan Holdsworth.
Huxwhukw is the supernatural long-beaked cannibal bird and servant to Baxwbakwalnuksiwe, the Cannibal-at-the-North-end-of-the-world in Kwakwaka'wakw mythology. Huxwhukw uses his long, snapping beak to crack open the skulls of men to eat their brains and pluck out their eyeballs.
All hail Huxwkwux and The Crooked Beak of Heaven.
New music for your facehead, starring The Kill, The Guantanamo Bay City Rollers, Helm, Phobia, Altars and more
THE KILL: Melbourne's The Kill could be one of the most intense grindcore bands on earth (alongside the likes of Gridlink, Agents of Abhorrence, Discordance Axis, early Pig Destroyer and the like). They're about to release a live album they did for PBS Radio on No Escape Records. You can listen to two tracks Needs More Napalm and Fuck the Olympics on their MySpace page.
THE GUANTANAMO BAY CITY ROLLERS: There is a cool live clip up from the awesome South Australian grinding stoner/hardcore punk rock band The Guantanamo Bay City Rollers. It's one of those funky Facebook video things, but hopefully you can see it here (you may need to be logged in).
AGENTS OF ABHORRENCE / ROSKOPP: The awesome Agents of Abhorrence have teamed up with fellow Australian grinders Roskopp to release a split 7" from Crucificados, apparently.
HELM: Queensland's Helm have 4 of 5 new tracks off their upcoming album Volume 2... The Winter March - which is quite a lot when you consider their songs are all in the vicinity of 7+ minutes. Their new album is due out early 2010, and their debut album Keehaul... Volume 1 has been in almost constant rotation in my CD player since I purchased it. It is beyond highly recommend for fans of Cult of Luna, Isis and the like.
ALTARS: South Australian death metal band Altars have a new song up, which will form part of their split with Tzun Tzu. I'm not a fan of too many death metal bands these days, but these guys seem to have the whole Morbid Angel vibe going with an evil-as-fuck atmosphere to accompany it. Sounds promising.
GENE POOL SHARKS: Sydney thrashing 90s hardcore punkers Gene Pool Sharks have two demo tracks up.
EYETOFUK: LSD-soaked rocking cyber-grind whack Lithuanian cunts Eyetofuk are letting you download their Grindhead Records split with Putrid Whore for free.
PIRATE: Sydney prog wizards Pirate have some new songs off their latest release. I will go ahead and say these guys shit all over anything The Mars Volta could have hoped to achieve in the last few years.
KYU: kyü are an extremely promising new Sydney duo who you should all listen to.
PHOBIA: Orange County grinders Phobia have a new video clip up on their MySpace page for their track Rise Up.
- In other more important news, some vapid chick wants me to 'comment her truth box' as she is 'is bored and wants to know secrets'. I have something for her truth box right here.
9 Australian bands you would do well to hear
Alright, it's another slow new day/week. So here is a list of killer bands you should familiarise yourself with. Be forewarned; most of them are not metal (which shoudn't really bother you if you have a taste in music rather than a taste in one genre).
Brian Campeau: an incredible acoustic singer/songwriter originally from Canadian, but now located in Sydney. Brian has an incredible vocal range matched with a very unorthodox style of guitar playing. His recorded works are influenced by the likes of Thom Yorke and Bjork; balancing soaring emotional vocals with equal parts minimalist acoustic recordings and dreamy atmospheric textures.
http://www.myspace.com/briancampeau
Five Star Prison Cell: a totally unique Australian metal band based heavily around the polyrhythmic complexity of Meshuggah with a healthy helping of groove. These guys are further differentiated by an extremely dynamic vocalist. There is definitely no other band like them; and after seeing these guys play last Friday I have to say they are probably the most insanely tight fuck-off musicians I have seen from a band in a long time.
http://www.myspace.com/fivestarprisoncell
God God Dammit Dammit: an 13 piece funk/party band featuring members of The Rivalry, Space Bong, Robotosaurus and I'm sure plenty of others. Somebody's getting FUNKY.
http://www.myspace.com/godgoddammitdammitband
Helm: I cannot say enough good words about these guys. They have taken the high points of Cult of Luna, Neurosis and Isis and transformed those elements into something really unique. Amazing clean sung harmonies accompany anguished screams and an endless back catalog of killer riffs, build-ups and meditations. Musically these guys fucking know how to structure a song. The more I listen to their debut album, the more I begin to realise that it will not take long for these guys to surpass anything Isis and Cult of Luna have had to offer - and considering my love for both those bands, that is not a small statement to make.
http://www.myspace.com/ghostatthehelm
Hospital the Musical: the meeting of Botch, The Locust and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Insanely talented musicians making technically obscene, raging hardcore. Now that could sound like a recipe for disaster, but this bands flirtation with the experimental and dedication to constantly pushing their music in new directions make these guys Australia's best band in the genre since The Rivalry. Their new full length REDorphan is fucking amazing.
http://www.myspace.com/hospitalthemusical
Looking Glass: these dudes hark back to the days when psychedelic rock ruled the earth with guitar-wielding gods with obscene narcotic-based diets. Without a doubt, this is THE BEST fucking band in Australia when it comes to stoner and psychedelic rock. They take the best elements of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix without ever sounding derivative. Their live presence is absolutely fucking crushing; and once more (as seems to be the theme) their musicianship is impeccable. Guitarist/vocalist Marcus is one of those rare virtuosos on guitar that makes everyone shut the fuck up and stare in disbelief at the maniac hacking at his guitar strings in total aural ecstacy. Fucking check them out.
http://www.myspace.com/lookingglass
Pirate: insane psychedelic and progressive rock. These guys are like The Mars Volta... if The Mars Volta were just 4 dudes playing intensely complex prog shit infused with such incredible groove-hooks and catchy rhythms they didn't need a vocalist to back them up. These dudes are relatively new to the Sydney scene; and fuck me if they havent got everyone's undivided attention.
http://www.myspace.com/piratewastaken
Squid: two drummers, a double-bassist and two saxes busting out insanely catchy beats in stupid time signatures, and then proceeding jam and dance. I don't know what to call this other than a party jazz jam band, but that label hardly does the immensely talented band members any justice.
http://www.myspace.com/squidlives
The Bakery: this is THE danceable funk/jazz band in Australia.
http://www.myspace.com/thebakerysydney
The Best of 2008 – Lachlan
The year is nearly fucking over and I am glad. I am done with this year. Despite that pessimism, there have been a few highlights. Doing this AusGrind thang with Matt has been pretty fun as we slowly build up our jerk base.
We really hit our stride this year with Grindhead Records and released some of my favourite albums to date; Gruesome Stuff Relish, Pathology, Beyond Terror Beyond Grace’s amazing full length, Long Pig and Sound of Detestation. We also put on an amazingly successful Slaughterfest II, with the Canberra show selling out at The Basement. Thank you to everyone who helped out or came to a show.
Ebolie recorded a full length album that I am very proud of. Kill A Celebrity managed to put together a split with my favourite chaotic grinders Krupskaya. I got to see Pig Destroyer, Meshuggah, The Mars Volta, Grave, Against Me!, Graf Orlock and many others, and even got to play with the mighty Insect Warfare - twice. Meanwhile local Sydney bands like The Crooked Fiddle Band, Hospital the Musical, The Bakery, Pirate, Squid, Club Consolador and Squat Club reinvigorated my love for the local music scene.
All I want to do with my life is play music and tour, so lets hope 2009 brings more of that. I’m a total fucking narcissist, so while here are my top albums of the year, expect a more verbose bat-off in the next few days with a description of each.
What albums did you guys really enjoy – inside and out of the grind scene? I’m curious.
Lachlan’s top 10 albums for 2008
1. Cult of Luna - Eternal Kingdom
2. Secret Chiefs 3 - Xaphan
3. This Will Destroy You - This Will Destroy You
4. Gridlink - Amber Gray
5. Venetian Snares - Detrimentalist
6. Meshuggah - Obzen
7. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
8. A Storm of Light - And We Wept the Black Ocean Within
9. Kill the Client - Cleptocracy
10. Ef - I Am Responsible
Lachlan’s top 5 grind albums for 2008
1. Gridlink – Amber Gray
2. Kill the Client – Cleptocracy
3. Agents of Abhorrence – Earth.Water.Sun
4. The Kill – Hate Sessions
5. Phobia – 22 Random Acts of Violence
Lachlan’s top 5 Australian albums for 2008
1. The Bakery – The Bakery and the Beast
2. Pirate – Demo
3. The Kill – Hate Sessions
4. Agents of Abhorrence – Earth.Water.Sun
5. Sleepmakeswaves – In Today Already Walks Tomorrow
The Biggest Disappointments of 2008
Fuck these goddamn safe-playing pandering shitheads - especially bands as fucking innovative and original as the first two. Way to ruin a good thing.
1. Genghis Tron – Board Up The House
2. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Ire Works
3. Gronibard – We Are French, Fukk You
When a local band reminds you why you fell in love with music
So I went and saw a band called Pirate last night at The Lansdowne Hotel.
Every now and again you might be lucky enough hear a band that totally reinstates your faith in music; a band that reminds you why you fell in love and were inspired by music in the first place. These bands do not come around very often. Usually they're so rare you could be forgiven for never hearing one of them in your local scene unless you really hunt it out. You might be fooled into thinking that the larger international bands really are all on a different level to anything being produced locally. Then a short while later a band might come along to turn that perspective on its head.
Pirate are one of those bands. Squat Club are one of those bands. From what I hear, Squid might also be one of those bands. I ranted a few days ago about the state of the Australian music industry; that the lack of grass roots support means that bands who truly deserve recognition will never achieve it. As I've alluded to a few times before, this truly is a double edged sword. Faced with huge geographic hurdles and no chance at achieving even moderate commercial success, bands are forced to play out of love and an innate desire to play their music for themselves. It might frustrate me occasionally, but ultimately it can breed some amazingly unique bands. It's quite evident within the ultra un-commercial grindcore scene.
I consider myself quite lucky to have found at least two bands of that caliber in the last six months - totally unique, talented bands that both inspire and depress me; knowing that I'll never achieve that level of musicianship unless I quit my job, lose my hobbies, give up sleep and take up a healthy ice habit.
I watched in awe of this four piece - drums, guitars, bass and a saxaphonist with a bigger effects pedal board than the guitarist - playing psychedelic, all instrumental progressive rock in the vein of The Mars Volta. The drummer had an absolutely beautiful feel to his playing. There were times where everyone was playing in total chaos, with no one playing on the one but that bassist who held the groove impeccably. The progressive build up and dynamics had me praying that a joint might fall from the sky.
It was fucking amazing.
On Wednesday the 12th of November, Squat Club are playing at La Campana in the Spanish Quarter (near Town Hall) with my grind band Kill A Celebrity. The night after, Pirate take the stage at The Lansdowne again. I strongly suggest you drop whatever you were fucking doing and go and see these two amazing bands.
And are Squid on the same level? I'll find out at about 1AM tonight at Louie's warehouse in Marrickville.
Time to go play some bass. Oh, to quit my job and become an indulgent musician. Maybe one day.
http://www.myspace.com/piratewastaken
http://www.myspace.com/squatclub
http://www.myspace.com/squidlives
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