Popsicle 2 (1995) - Various Artists

The first cassette comp. that I'm uploading here. It piqued my interest because side 2 starts with a Sandpit song that I'd never heard of before (and had a release date about 6 months prior to their debut EP Lessons in Posture being released).

Just playing on the stereo now, it's an excellent indie comp.

The Beat street press magazine logo is on the back of the inlay, so I assume they were the responsible party.Most of the bands were fairly well-known and pleasingly have available catalogues today. Rail opens, followed by Autohaze (still going today) and Dollop, with the Hatfieldian Rubher (Jane Gazzo) closing out the side. Side 2 starts with the interest-piquing Sandpit track (more rudimentary and less melodic than what was to appear on their debut, but hints towards 'Die 501' in the chorus), The Earthmen, Snout and Header. Following up that Header lead gave this blog, which should prove of interest to you, as well as this Soundcloud set of rare live material from more (Perthling?) Aussie 90s bands. 

For the nerds out there, the signal path used in digitising the tape: Technics RS-B66W deck with line-out into a Tascam US-800 USB 2.0 interface, captured at 24 bit, 44.1 kHz and sequenced in Audacity. I have not applied any equalisation or other processing, and I'm not shelling out $4,458 for Celemony Capstan, so you get what you get from a 22 year old cassette, wow, flutter and all.

N.b. the mp3 files are 160 kbps, if you need higher res let me know. The tape artifacts are worst at the start of the comp, but at least there's decent frequency range (response is lumpy) throughout. Lots of <100 Hz listening to the digitisation on AKG K240s.

Popsicle 2 (1995) - Various Artists

Losin' Your Marbles (1995) - Fur

Like Diolene, Sandpit and Gerling, another band of the Fellaheen Records stable. They amassed a fair following in the 1990s, and like some of their labelmates were the subject of fan sites.

Losin' Your Marbles (1995) - Fur

SmokeStack - Discovering Newcastle (1998) - Various Artists

Surprisingly okay comp. from a government arts initiative in Newcastle. Not all Chili Peppers-esque alt. rock! Ranges from buzzy, jangle pop (Jetson) that somehow prempts Courtney Barnett, to Morrisettisms (Brooke Harvey), to the expected Tool wannabes (Zero One) to screamy brat punk and hardcore (Twin Psyche and Le Bonk). See the shred of the comp's accompanying webpage here.

Disclaimer - I couldn't find any data other than ''97' listed beside a name on the inside, so I actually have no idea if this was released in 1998 or not. If you know better, please tell me.

Also, many of these bands have short bios that can be found here.

When I think of Newcastle I think of Bloody Fist.

1. Jolly Frog    2:44    Jetson
2. Rap Song    3:49    Flat Earth Society
3. Strawberry Jam    4:22    Charlotte's Soiree
4. Dandelion    2:09    Melvin Starr
5. Shiney Car    3:04    Brooke Harvey
6. Morrisseyesque    4:14    Scott Fiddes
7. Mr. Teen    3:30    Supersonic
8. Calling Me    3:37    Zero One
9. Me    3:39    Analagy
10. Permanently Pissed    2:06    Twin Psyche
11. A New World Order    4:00    Human Tribe
12. Split    1:46    Le Bonk
13. Way To Peace    6:46    Limen 10

SmokeStack - Discovering Newcastle (1998) - Various Artists

Us Versus Them (2001) - Us Versus Them




This has been sitting in the box for a while, but for some reason it was only after a rip of this appeared somewhere on Facebook that I remembered that it needed to be uploaded. Another win in the search for period Aussie 'emo', Us Versus Them were a band from Lismore, signed to the veritable Building Records, whose 60 Songs compilation I uploaded not long ago (see former link to see a blurb on the record).


This was purchased off eBay, bur006 in the Building catalogue. The band had a website, which changed from its initial layout in 2001 (see for mentions of a band called Theory of Flight, whom they played with up in Brisbane - addendum: this site called Punk Down Under) to a more spartan look (pun intended) a year later. By around 2003, the site is defunct, so perhaps the band ceased to exist at that point.


There is also mention of a demo tape, with the following tracks:

1. Chapter Two is Dawning

2. Paint this Town

3. More than Gold

4. the High Cost of Segregation


If anybody has a copy of this, let me know so I can put up a rip.


The PLF #4 compilation also featured 'I Should Have Chosen Impulse', which tipped me off to the existence of the band in the first place.


1. Red Is Blood    5:34
2. As Tears Fall From Blackened Hearts    6:16

3. I Should Have Chosen Impulse    6:03

4. Reveling In Destruction; Ravaging In Defeat?    6:15


Us Versus Them (2001) - Us Versus Them


P.S. Here's an even more complete version of Punk Down Under which says that Us Versus Them's last show was 2/2/2002.

Bungalow (2000) - Bungalow

I haven't posted anything in a while because I've been a bit self-concious about my lack of a scanner. Now I'm running a linux box, and tonight's exercise was to rip, encode, tag and zip a compact disc from the collection entirely via the command line. I've got the scanner/printer thing hooked up to the linux machine and managed to use Xsane to get the cover artwork. For the nerds, this is a quick procedure that I wrote out (comments after the hash in each line):

mkdir [album name]
cd [album name]
cdparanoia -B #rip CD tracks into current directory as wav
for t in track{01..xx}*.wav; do lame -b 160 $t; done #convert tracks from 01 to xx at 160 kbps
mid3v2 -a [artist] -A [album] -t "[track name]" -T [x/x -track number] -y [year] track05.cdda.mp3 #create id3 tags - iterate
cd ..
zip -r [album name].zip [album name - directory] #make zip file

Bungalow were a band that I picked up because they had a PO Box in Glen Waverley listed on the back of the disc. They were a bunch of medicine students that played Rock - General. They also had a Triple J Unearthed page featuring one of the songs on this disc, a few years after the fact. If you're looking for a period-era website (hosted by the creatively named au.com) see here.

1. Fall Into Me
2. Dynamo
3. Cafe Poet
4. City
5. I Love Her

Bungalow (2000) - Bungalow

A Day Of Research (1996) - Gerling

Gerling gradually morphed into an offbeat electronica outfit not dissimilar to the Avalanches (it seems at one point in the late 1990s everyone was willing to trade in those Jazzmasters for MPCs), transitioning through the oddly schizoid (and generally excellent) debut, 1998's Children of Telepathic Experiences. I purchased that very LP at the Salvos down in Elsternwick where I think (but I'm not certain) I also bought Sandpit's Lessons In Posture. Much, much harder to find it seems is their debut EP of 1996, A Day Of Research, which was similarly released on Fellaheen Records.

After a year, it miraculously popped up on my saved eBay searches and I immediately lobbed my hard earned virtual dollars over. A bit over a week later, it arrived, and in lieu of any repressings I supply it below in all its glory.

Far removed from the sampler driven dance and synth-backed rock that Gerling would later purvey, A Day Of Research is surprisingly close to mid-1990s midwest emo, featuring jangly guitars (that I personally swoon over) and those big swells of suspended chord. Pressed to name a band though, I do struggle, though maybe early Get Up Kids and Acrobatic Tenement-era At The Drive-In. On the indie side of the spectrum, there's crossover with their then-labelmates Sandpit and the other kind of stuff you've seen popping up here over the past year or so.

It's great! It's exactly what my own band is trying to rip off! Yes!

Unfortunately, period-information on the band is very sparse. One of the sole candidates is this endearing fansite designed in typical Web 1.0 splendour by 15 year old Erika Findley. IF anyone can point me towards some more early Gerling info, I'd much appreciate it. In light of the release of his new album, it appears that Gerling original Darren Cross has archived some early Gerling info and placed it on a relevant Tumblr.

A Day Of Research (1996) - Gerling

*Photo credit unknown, taken from the archived Gerling Gerl site mentioned above, looks like circa 94.

P.S. I was aware that these tracks are up somewhere on the internet on a dodgy mp3 site or something but I completely forgot about them and waited to buy the physical release instead, which has a booklet printed on really nice paper.

2019 UPDATE: A couple more websites for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of the Internet Archive. Includes pics.

Thunderhead (1993) - Clouds

Clouds were an indie rock band from Sydney, active for about 10 years from the late 80s onwards. Thunderhead, released in 1993, was their third album. A friend of mine described it as Breeders-esque, and she wouldn't be far off. Off-kilter song-structures, prominent bass, distorted guitars, female vocal harmonies and catchy melodies, though perhaps a little abstract than the Deals. Another common comparison are fellow Sydneysiders the Falling Joys (who WILL get a write-up here at some point), who are even less abstract (and I'd personally favour Suzie Higgie's songwriting, but it's all good).

I implore you to purchase this album from a legitimate source (such as iTunes, though the legitimacy of DRM is debatable...) so that you can get higher bitrate mp3s and support wherever the Clouds royalties are going.

Their first album, released in 1991, was called Penny Century, which as a Love and Rockets (not the band or the stripclub) fan, I really like. Did you know I own a few of Dillon Naylor's old Love and Rockets issues? I do, it's true.

1. Kathy    5:10
2. Bower Of Bliss    3:03
3. Domino    3:26
4. Alchemy's Dead    3:59
5. Ghost Of Love Returned    6:31
6. Oooh    3:28
7. Red Serenade    2:45
8. Universal    3:07
9. Close My Eyes    4:31
10. Baby    3:00
11. Expecting    3:10
12. Motherson    3:28
13. Kitten    2:55
14. The Rocket    11:16

Thunderhead (1993) - Clouds

Kid Indestructible (1999) - 28 Days

After adding the 'Thunderbirds Are Coming Out' to the Suburban Superheroes post, I thought I'd add another band featured in that video. 28 Days came from Frankston (outer suburbs represent) and added an element of rap/nu metal to the pop punk popular in the period and begun to round out lineups of the Bodyjar/Frenzal ilk.

Here I've attached their first EP, 1999's Kid Indestructible. Of course it's produced by Kalju Tonuma (wasn't everything back in those days? Or Lindsay Gravina).

It's very brief and upbeat and was the first (?) record released on the Mushroom imprint Sputnik Records. By sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to a PO box in Camberwell, you could receive your own set of 28 Days lyrics and stickers.

According to their period website, the band was formed in 1996 and featured members of Mindsnare, S.I.C. and Self Reliance. The discography page lists a single, album and 7" which are all probably difficult to find now.

Open up the booklet and you'll see spraycans. I've always found the punk/hiphop dichotomy interesting. There's a similar spirit embodied by the Beanz Baxter zine of the time, which covered 28 Days in Issue #8.

1. Never Give Up    1:34
2. La Tune    1:44
3. The Right Place    2:44
4. Kid Indestructible    3:36
5. Kool    2:26

Kid Indestructible (1999) - 28 Days

Cop It Sweet (1997) - Various Artists

Another evening, another late 1990s compilation. I picked this up from a Salvos in Newtown on a recent trip to Sydney. Not much springs to mind when I badger it about Antfarm Records. According to Discogs, they seem to have issued little aside from a series of comps whereby this is the second (with catalogue number ANT002), No Guts, No Glory being the first and True Grit the third. I'd initially tried to track down the first for... the Lustre track (see Suburban Superheroes)? Snorkel? I forget.

The label was run by Laura Bailey and Stu Kahn, ostensibly (and appropriately) out of Newtown. The email addresses supplied have an UNSW domain, so perhaps this was a uni student affair. The Scruffs, who contribute the track 'Stand & Rocky' to this disc, also had their debut EP (Take A Bath) released on Antfarm. A quick peruse of their period website reveals their catalogue ca 2000:

ANT001 "No Guts, No Glory", various artists	$10
ANT002 "Cop It Sweet", various artists	$10
ANT003 "Take a Bath", The Scruffs	$10
ANT004 "Crunchtime in Rocketown", Half Miler	$20
ANT005 "True Grit", various artists	$10
ANT006 "Golgi Apparatus", Naughty Stu's Nerdburgers	$10
ANT007 "Im In Love With That Song", Replacements Tribute	$25
ANT008 "Jubilee Park", Love Me	$25
ANT008b "Love Me" tee shirt -tell us size, colour etc!

Overall, a standard period overview of Aussie indie rock. Personal standouts include the Kombi Nation track 'South Easterly' (which is almost proto-dolewave, but less irritating), God Is My Co-Pilot's 'North Coast Holiday' (not to be confused with the NYC band of the same name; like a Pavement/Dino Jr cross but with a singer that sounds suspiciously like Kevin Mitchell) and Plastic Maracas' 'The Publican's Friend' (if only for the lyrics). El Mopa, who also appeared on Au Go Go's Wonder From A Quarter Acre comp after becoming more post-rockified (or is that brit-popped?) Similarly, 2 Litre Dolby make an odd appearance with 'All Hail! King Presser', a cut staunchly different to their later work, sounding (by name and virtue of the actual song) like an all-in Gerling tribute. Kim Salmon's track, closing the comp, is also good.

Surely the most bizarre moment on here is Spurs For Jesus' country and western rendition of Rowland S. Howard's 'Shivers', made famous by the Boys Next Door. It needs to be heard to be believed. Some may shout 'sacrilege'. I murmur 'entertaining'.

I just listened to the entirety of this walking over Gardiner's Creek and the Outer Circle trail multiple times. You too!

1. Step On The Gas    4:02    Orange Humble Band
2. No Return    2:23    Free Moving Curtis
3. North Coast Holiday    3:51    God Is My Co-Pilot
4. The Publican's Friend    3:10    Plastic Maracas
5. Stand & Rocky    2:51    The Scruffs
6. The Single    2:49    El Mopa
7. The Soulthieves    3:57    The Soulthieves
8. Graves Of Saints    5:24    The Harpoons
9. Catfish Loves Naughty Stu    2:34    Scuffy
10. Menacer    2:42    Jim Cobail
11. Another Relationship Fatality    3:04    Half Miler
12. South Easterly    4:45    The Kombi Nation
14. All Hail! King Presser    3:48    2 Litre Dolby
15. Out Done & Maybe    3:14    Catch 22
16. Void    3:42    The Honeyhunters
17. Olympic Gold Medal    3:28    Grapefruit
18. Mess Me Round    4:57    The Goodfight
19. Matchbox Cars And Marbles    3:38    The Shouties
20. Shivers    3:35    Spurs For Jesus
21. Seven Ways    2:30    Seventeen
22. When Your Blood Is Up    3:44    Kim Salmon

Cop It Sweet (1997) - Various Artists

60 Songs (2003) - Various Artists

Compilation released by Building Records in 2003, comprised of artist offerings from both Australia and overseas. The focus here is on hardcore, grind, emo, screamo and various manners of punk. The juxtaposition of Aussie bands such as St. Albans Kids (whom I'm pretty sure weren't kids from St. Albans, but may have been - the name is a movie reference (Firting), Love Like... Electrocution and Conation with overseas groups such as Hot Cross, Off Minor, pg.99 and Melt-Banana is apt for the cross-talk attempted by the compilers. In the search for the Great Australian Emo Analogues, this is a nice little missing link.

I first came across Building Records when I heard an Us Versus Them track on the PLF #4 compilation and tracked down the original release, which was released on building. There's quite a following for this kind of stuff, especially from the Blackwire Records camp (see the Home Taping Killed Music bandcamp for downloads of some of these artists, including the lovably named 'Iron Sausage' whose music is as far a cry from Zappa as I can think of. Well, maybe not...) who I guess sprouted from/continued this scene.

There's a Days of Iris track here, whose eponymous EP will appear in due time (it can be downloaded from bandcamp here). Come to think of it, there's a non-EP track of theirs on the aforementioned PLF compilation, another reason to go download it.

There are two Building Records sites, beyond which information is somewhat sparse. The first is a more cut down homepage with mushed together text and is well worth getting lost in - it seemed to have been taken down ca 2002 (i.e. prior to the release of this comp). There's a small discography page sadly with pictures missing in this iteration (and a reference to Beanz Baxter!). The second appears to have overlapped with the former and was taken down sometime prior to 2008 (though the label ceased operation in 2005). There are lots of artist profiles here and links and you should spend a few hours browsing.

Additionally, you can purchase a very reasonably priced, physical copy of the comp from Trait Records here. I encourage you to do so, not only for better quality sound but also to support small labels and distros. Plus you can play in in your car without having to muck around with an aux or USB cable. It feels better.

One day I hope to have done enough research to tell the whole story. Enjoy the comp.

[Disc 1]
1. And Then The Chuds Came    1:26    Daughters
2. Static    2:40    Bright Calm Blue
3. Five Days Of Shit    1:23    Deadstare
4. The Process Is Set    1:44    Kaospilot
5. 44    4:03    Division Of Laura Lee
6. Tips For Avoiding The Clap. One. I Wouldn't Piss On A Scorpion If It Was On Fire    2:26    Love Like Electrocution
7. Herald Scum    2:12    The Identity Theft
8. Sliding Scale    3:57    Bats & Mice
9. Beautiful Corpses    2:51    Ed Gein
10. Who's Driving This Thing Anyways?    3:18    Four Hundred Years
11. Churches And Bricks    0:35    Charcoal Human
12. Action Items    2:41    Pilot To Gunner
13. I Think I Know Where Elvis Lives    2:43    You&I
14. In Harm's Way    4:31    Fin Fang Foom
15. Distress Of Ignorance    5:45    envy
16. Girls, Girls, Girls    0:18    Iron Sausage
17. Dreaming In Dog Years    3:02    The Red Chord
18. Neck On B1    0:41    Melt-Banana
19. Drones Dream    3:55    Bird Blobs
20. I Am Hiphop    1:21    St. Albans Kids
21. Afternoon    2:42    The Cassettes
22. Constant Nonsense    3:11    Blood Like Water
23. Rogue Rodeo    1:54    Crestfallen
24. Last Name    3:20    Maximillian Colby
25. A Martyr Apart    3:15    Staying At Home
26. High Maintenance    2:17    Transistor Transistor
27. Some Call It Vertigo    2:44    Syndicate
28. Its A Beauty    1:08    Off Minor
29. Looking Back On The Way You Want To Be In The Future    0:57    Neil Perry
30. Landscapes    5:22    Black Sea

[Disc 2]
1. Fortune Teller    3:27    Hot Cross
2. Wet To Dance    2:52    North Of America
3. Crow Quill    2:44    Circle Takes The Square
4. The Flirtcraft Case    2:26    Light The Fuse And Run
5. The Meaning Of Life...    0:55    スピッツ
6. When Tyrants Orate    1:16    Conation
7. Autonomous    2:14    Oil
8. Fighting On The Streets    1:58    Upside Down Flag
9. Grendel    0:41    Tyranny Of Shaw
10. Nanomachines Are In My Bloodstream    1:41    A Trillion Barnacle Lapse
11. Fungry    1:29    Rah Bras
12. It Would Not Have Altered, In Any Way, Our Decision To Participate In This Operation    6:51 Limit Of Shunt
13. Songbird    5:27    Engine Down
14. She's Heroin    1:22    The Now
15. Red Dragons    3:09    Stockholm Syndrome
16. Dead Men    2:27    ShIkaRi
17. Name And Number    3:15    Stop It!!
18. I Wanna Sex You    2:16    Mr. Hyde And The Jeckyls
19. Dismembered With Paper Cuts    2:01    Pure Evil Trio
20. Music Is Done    1:39    Mannequin
21. A Heart Filled Reaction To Dissatisfaction    2:35    City Of Caterpillar
22. Summary Treatment    3:38    Forstella Ford
23. Home    3:26    Days Of Iris
24. Stranger    3:30    Mere Theory
25. Know Something    2:45    Mid Youth Crisis
26. 30 Equals    3:00    Sleepytime Trio
27. Well-Calibrated Moral Compass    3:49    Pine Bender
28. Pride, Honour, Loyalty And All I Hate About Hardcore    0:31    Far Left Limit
29. Forces Of Habit    1:10    A Days Refrain
30. Your Face Is A Rape Scene    3:48    pg.99

60 Songs (2003) - Various Artists

Shockin' (1998) - Various Artists

Nice compilation of stuff from the Shock roster circa 1998. I originally bought it for the fact it had TISM, Screamfeeder, Sandpit and Gerling all in the same place, but the stuff is delivered in spades, with tracks from Fur, The Melniks and Turnstyle also highlights. The Gerling track is taken from their 1996 EP (A Day Of Research) released by Fellaheen, a release I'm still trying to track down (seems rare).

Bodyjar! TISM! Screamfeeder! Sandpit! Gerling! What more could you possibly want?

Oh yeah, speaking of Gerling, before I forget, here's a link to a cool fansite I thought I'd lost the link to.

1. You Say    3:40    Bodyjar
2. Yob    3:21    TISM
3. Static    3:18    Screamfeeder
4. Big Mouth    2:33    Big Heavy Stuff
5. Something Of Me Inside    4:24    Glide
6. Along The Moors    3:26    Sandpit
7. Neon Pressure    2:32    Fur
8. Alsour Vempire    3:31    Gerling
9. J55    3:19    Webster
10. Make The Little Flowers Grow    3:01    Snog
11. Telephone Song    3:23    V-Dub
12. 1000 Miles    4:40    Dirty Three
13. I Listen To The Night    2:54    Matt Walker & Ashley Davies
14. Flase Waltz    4:04    Lisa Miller
15. Sandvalve    4:55    Carbine
16. Balancing On A Pin    1:54    Adam Said Galore
17. Sunday Ride    2:36    Team Jedi
18. I'm A Bus    2:59    Turnstyle
19. Backdrop    3:25    The Melniks
20. Pogo    4:17    The Brown Hornet
21. Kransid    4:08    Orac

Shockin' (1998) - Various Artists

Wall Of Taste (1995) - Hexfarm

And now for a return after a long absence not updating this blog, something out of the left field. The jazz field that is. This was another op-shop find where I was entranced by the hand-scrawled typeface and the anti-Kennett posters in the front cover collage. You can't see this at the moment, because my girlfriend's scanner is playing up and won't talk to Preview on macOS. Hopefully I can rectify this because I'm sure the cover art is half the reason people notice new posts on here...

Though I assumed this was a sludge metal sojourn based solely on the artwork, what Wall Of Taste involves is an hour of free-jazz and fusion noodlings from a Melbourne (?) three-piece recorded straight to 4-track cassette, focusing on Phil Bywater's sax. If I can dig up more on the political background to this release, I will.

There's sparse information available on this release, aside from a mention in the aforementioned Phil's thesis (available on the UniMelb repository) and this sole upload to SoundCloud.

1. Cross Purposes    5:06
2. Is It Enough?    4:41
3. Compassion    5:07
4. The Curse Of The Flesheaters    4:34
5. If I Was A Spider...    4:04
6. 4000 B.C. Blues    4:38
7. Johnny Opens Up    9:37
8. 4a$    3:43
9. Schnitzel King    4:43
10. Excerpt From Rampant Sarcophagus    3:53
11. Coherent Drama    3:37
12. Someone Said It's All Been Said.    3:53
13. Legacy    3:12

Wall Of Taste (1995) - Hexfarm