Indie post grunge in the vein of L7 and maybe Babes In Toyland. I'd sworn I'd come across this band online in my travels, but a cursory glance through Google suggests that there's not much information on this band. There's someone trying to flog this on Amazon for over $100, so maybe it's worth something. Or not.
One thing the search turned up was a gig guide entry in The Age, December 22nd 1995, so that gives you an idea of the vintage. Additionally, the spine suggests a self-release or a tiny label ('Grouse One 1001') and the EP itself was distributed by Shock. Unfortunately, there's no date listed so I haven't included one in the file name. Any information on this band is most appreciated.
1. Happy Trigger 3:10
2. Flashback 3:00
3. Shakin' The Ramble 3:42
4. Surferella 3:59
5. Mass Contradiction 4:02
One of the CDs that my friend Dodgy gave me (he runs a second hand store). Reminds me a bit of The Fauves. Fitting with the recent trend on these pages, there's not a lot of online info regarding this band. It was released on Current records with the catalogue number Raison 011, but distribution once again done by Shock.
There are some math-rock overtones on this release. Interestingly, this recording was produced by Greg Wales, later producer (and drummer) for my second favourite Aussie band of all time, Sandpit.
All together it's a bit too angular for me, with not enough atmosphere, but some of the guitar tones are quite nice and track 4 has a rather nice melody that runs through it. Sometimes the guys sounds a little like Robyn Hitchcock.
1. Dog's Breakfast 3:02
2. Play Dead 3:04
3. Turn 3:37
4. There With a Plan 4:28
5. Same Shovel, Different Spades 3:25
6. Butt 3:38
7. Two Door Television 7:03 Super (1994) - Atticus
Excellent debut EP from the Melbourne trio Peachfuzz. The first few tracks sound a bit like closing music in their tone, and things really hit their stride in the middle. I listened to it whilst driving around Park Orchards looking for drains.
Surprisingly, there's not a lot of info on Peachfuzz. Almost all of my info on them came from this website, which contains a lot of info on the now-gone Deakin Uni Rusden Campus student life of the time (i.e. mid-90s onwards). There are also a handful of tracks from Peachfuzz's other releases to sample, which are included in the zip below.
Drummer Cameron Potts went on to play in Sandro and Ninetynine, whilst Stefan Schutt later played in Schmozzle. However, Potts only plays on the last four tracks (all impressively recorded live), with the remainder recorded with drummer John Edwards.
My pick of the tracks is the awesome power-pop-bordering-on-pop-punk 'Body', base around a catchy distorted bass hook. The Lemonheads-esque closer 'Dallas', an ode to a cat and not a girl as I first thought, is another highlight.
My copy of V8 has a photocopied 'songbook' in the inlay with the lyrics printed on it - how many of these were released?
UPDATE 2019 - It appears that in early 2019, Cameron and Stefan built this beautifully 1990s website with a bunch of Peachfuzz live recordings. However, it appears the site is incomplete, with most of the YouTube links going to the same previously uploaded recordings regardless of title. Go there to get the good stuff!
Enjoy!
1. Hurt You 3:44 V8 2. Dancing On My Grave 2:49 V8 3. Oh Friend 3:44 V8 4. Body 3:07 V8 5. Ram 3:03 V8 6. Shirt 3:04 V8 7. Octopus 2:04 V8 8. Dallas (Wondercat) 2:45 V8 9. Diana 3:01 Watermelon Man 10. Intense and Depressed 3:11 Watermelon Man
11. Having A Fight With Somebody 3:04 E. Coli 12. 10, 24, 10 3:59 E. Coli
Another tape from the Rowville Hard Rubbish collection, this cassette had two demos from Dweebs, as well as tracks from Proton Energy Pills and Tumbleweed on it. Up first are the Dweebs tracks..
Wicked! Wicked! Wicked! was apparently their first demo tape, and was released sometime around 1991. I've put 1991 as the date of release for both of these, but it's probably a year or two out (can someone please correct in the comments?). Devron Schwind has put these up on SoundCloud for your enjoyment. The image above was taken from his posting to the aforementioned Dweebs Facebook page. However, the dub I've uploaded is missing the last two tracks ('Keep On Keeping On' and 'Brass God') so better hop over there and have a listen.
Later came their second (?) offering, Squasm. I couldn't find any reference to this release elsewhere on the net, though there are pictures of the tape itself on the Facebook page. Artwork above taken from an image submitted by Evan Rock Richards.
For more history on Dweebs, have a browse at the aforementioned page!
Kind of grungy, kind of punky. Sometimes the singer sounds a little Ian MacKaye, a little Rollins. The overall sound ranges from Dinosaur to Danzig. This came out of a big pile of tapes that I pulled off the side of the road in ROWVILLE of all places. There was a lot of local material dubbed onto various cassettes that I'll be putting up, as well as episodes of Rage taped onto VHS, all kinds of stuff.
Ostensibly a demo tape, it's roughly recorded.
As the liner notes (included in the .zip) state:
"BLIND MESIAH evolved in late 1991 from ex-members of The Aphids, Legend Killers and Ursula's Dream. We have since strived to create an intense, dynamic and original guitar rock sound. This is the first installment in our quest for sonic fulfillment.
Recorded: May 1992 Australian Audio College, Preston
Engineer: Matthew Barker
Alex: Vocals Dave: Guitar
Elliot: Bass George: Drums
Marcus: Guitar/Backing Vocals
Management: Simon Howard (03) 561 1275
All songs by Blind Mesiah"
I couldn't any ready reference to Blind Mesiah on the net, nor The Aphids or Ursula's Dream, so there you go, the obscure of the obscure. Can one of you readers please enlighten us in the comments?
I did pick up a handful of references to Legend Killers - their guitarist was Paul Waste, a 3PBS announcer, which may explain this reference in Phil MacDougall's bio. There's even a song of theirs on YouTube:
This was ripped using the same setup I used for the Popsicle 2 tape. I have applied a bit of EQ as the left channel has overloading the interface below about 150 Hz. Otherwise, the recording has not been processed.
Beware, there is a bit of Zeppelin worship.
Side A
1. Amelia 4:40
2. Little Man 4:21
Side B
3. Any Life 3:02
4. Cry From Crawl'n 3:27
5. The Deep Low 4:03
Major label debut from Perth band Ammonia. Excellent post-grunge with some proto-emo moments. Sometimes comes across as a much more bearable Oasis.
I had a bit of a dive through the Internet archives but not a lot comes up in the zine circles. Hopefully I'll add a little more research as I come across it.
1. Ken Carter 3:55
2. Drugs 3:27 3. Sleepwalking 3:10 4. Face Down 5:09 5. In A Box 2:35 6. Suzi Q 2:37 7. Little Death 5:24 8. Mint 400 2:17 9. Small Town 2:25 10. Burning Plant Smell 3:07 11. Z-Man 2:37 12. Million Dollar Man 3:57
Much of the history surrounding this group might be garnered from the aforementioned RnRHS page. Litany was a band featuring RnRHS founder Stephanie Bourke on drums and vocals. They bridged a range of styles, sometimes playing straight garage indie followed by something bordering on power metal. This breadth is quite refreshing and the album is very listenable.
