Useless Children – Sky Is Falling (2009)

Useless children are a noise rock band hailing from Melbourne. They released this gem in 2009 on Exo Records (they’ve since released another LP featuring a track with Rick Feedtime and they have a video clip for the song “Walk Away” featuring David Yeow as a creepy janitor). It was a bit of a relief finding something local and a bit lighter on the sludge side. Don’t get me wrong band’s like Dead, Inappropriate Tough Guy Behavior and Firewitch are great but… I have this theory (yet to be proven or perhaps not) that if all I listen to is sludge then I’ll turn into slime. Useless Children’s album Sky Is Falling is bit more punk or rock mabey, I’ve seen them called hardcore before but I’m not quite sure if the bill fits. Sky falling is a hard and fast experience, nice and riffy full distortion and broken wild screams from gifted Cinta Masters (drums / vocals also of The Emergency, Gold Tango and Aktion Unit) the kind of music that will leave you average noise rock enthusiast gleeful.

Useless Children – Sky Is Falling

DL: Here

Kitchens Floor – Look Forward to Nothing (2011)

If apathy had a voice… Kitchens floor are a Brisbane band that remind me of someone going limp and being dragged on their face. There is this kind of dead beat, looser rock feel to the music that seems you can only earn though being beaten by life. Kitchens floor have been kicking it up and down the east coast for 3 or 4 years now leaving people feeling bleak and empty. Laying out tracks like raw acoustic tracks like “kidney infection” and downer pop like “116”, Look Forward to Nothing’s got a really slapped together kind of feel to it more so than your average lo-fi kindo’ band. There blasting deadpan often off key vocals are unwillingly complemented by swirls of semi attempted guitar solos embroiled into 20 minutes of short bittersweet tunes.

Kitchens Floor - 116

DL: Here

God Bullies – Kill The King (1994)

First time I heard this album I couldn’t stop listening to is for weeks. It’s a well written journey that starts off with the anthemic almost uplifting “Neighborhood Kids” and ends up deep in the freak fest of “Artificial Insemination By Aliens” and the purely satanic “Hate”. The album sounds a lot less musically spasmodic than earlier God Bullies; there has certainly been a cutback on the sampling but no compromise on sound. A punchey raw rocking combo all tied together with the manic preaching of front man Mike Hard (if you like the bullies check out “Thrall” too). There’s a reason why these guys have a following willing to kill and it’s not just the cult brain washing effort.

It’s also worth checking out “Teenage Larvae” comprised of David B. Livingstone (God bullies guitarist) and Kevin Rutmanis (Cow’s e.t.c.)

God Bullies – King Of Sling

DL: Here

(Sorry link updated - 19/7/12)

Sweet Teens - .​.​.​"this aint england" & the ominous horror (2012)

I made the mistake of googling Sweet Teens without a safe-filter, I don't think the band chose their name based on a love of dubious porn, but I recommend adding the words "band" or "music, melbourne" if you are gonna try to look them up online.
.​.​.​"this aint england" & the ominous horror is a tasty bit of good, solid, melbourne sound. Taking cues from The Clash and others of that ilk, their tunes sway from loose to tight, but never too much of either. Thoroughly, enjoyably toe-tapping. Standard guitar, bass, drums with all voices getting involved. Prolifically gigging 'round melbs at the moment, get involved.

(no video available due to being bombarded with porn when I search)


DL: Here

Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979)

Throbbing Gristle were pioneers of early industrial music, who evolved out of the performance art consortium COUM Transmissions. Comprised of performance artist and ex pornography actress Cosey Fanni Tutti~ vox, guitar, synth, keys, cornet, Counterculture propagator and founder of Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth, Genesis P-Orridge~vox, guitar, synth, bass, clarinet, keys, violin, and "vibes", Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson~ vox, cornet, special effects, tapes (who went on to be part of Psychic TV, Coil), and Chris Carter~ vox, keys, synth, drum and rhythm programming, sequencing. 20 Jazz Funk Greats contains little to no jazz or funk, the cover is a ruse in the style of TISM's Machiavelli and the four seasons the unassuming backdrop is Beachy Head a popular suicide spot. The album has all kinds of flavour, at times swoony (in the breathy Hot on the heels of love), zone-out-dreamy (Exotica, Beachy Head, Tanith), oppressively nightmarish (Six six sixties, What a day), toe tappingly throb-driven (like in Still Walking and the Kraftwork-esque Walkabout) or just all-out creepy (Persuasion).

Convincing People - Throbbing Gristle


DL: Here

Cows – Cunning Stunts (1992)

The Cows are one of the first “Noise rock” bands I really got into along with Pussy Galore. Between Shannon Selburg’s (also of the heroine sheiks) wild screaming and bugle blasting and Thor’s twisted idea of what a guitar should sound like these guys really pushed some boundaries. It’s music with more attitude than anything I’d herd before, a real keys stone amp-rep band and one that certainly solidified my interest in the label. Kevin Rutmanis (bass) also later ended up playing for The Melvins and Tomahawk. There is also a cover of the midnight cowboy theme (“You only live twice” theme take 2).

Cows – Mine

DL: Here

Boss Hog - Drinkin' Lechin' Lyin' (1989)

If you liked the late 80's / early 90's and all the grungey trash that spewed forth during this magical era I would be surprised if you don't like this ep. This one hits the nail on the head with guitars that sound more like chainsaws cutting through wind chimes than anything else, prime production by Steve Albini as always, and kicks splashes and thuds that sound like they’ve been recorded in Beirut. Another Cristina Martinez / Jon Spencer dynamic duo performance along with Kurt Wolf (Pussy Galore, Loudspeaker and later on he did some stuff with Foetus), Charlie Ondras (Unsane), and Jerry Teel   (Chrome Cranks, Honeymoon Killers, Knoxville Girls, Jerry Teel And Big City Stompers)

This is some hard as fuck grunge rock, the kind of stuff that would leave Axel Rose singing cry me a river to himself as he slowly sobs off to sleep, Death to cock rock!

Boss Hog – Fix Me

DL: Here

Snapper - A.D.M (1996)

Snapper is another great band hailing from Dunedin, New Zealand. This one is Peter Gutteridge's project (of The Clean and The Chills), and features David Kilgour on this album making it 2/3's Clean, but there is an obviuos diffrence in the directions taken as Gutteridge is frimly in control. This album sounds like somthing between Feedtime and The Jesus And Mary Chains' - Psychocandy. Quite dark and heavily droney it slams down layer upon layer of heavy fuzzed out riffy guitars and bass and synths, driving drums, and grungey distorted vocals. Well worth a check out if your into the drone-ier side of life.


Also their song buddy is awesome but its on there first EP which I'll post later, for now though:
Snapper - Buddy 


Snapper - Hammerhead (from A.D.M.)


DL: Here

X - Aspirations (1979)

X is an Australian punk band from Sydney, produced by Lobby Lloyde ( Purple Hearts, Coloured Balls, Rose Tattoo - with Ian Rilen, X's guitarist). Raw and energetic just the way good punk should be these guys were right up there with The Saints and there other contemporaries. There first LP made it to Am Rep in 1992 (originally released on X Music there own label in 1979) and has been re-released recently by Aztec with some bonus material. I landed my hands on a CD copy published by Ultimate Record Company (1990) that has 16 tracks it seems they threw in "Halfway Round The World" and "Mother". So the only song my copy doesn't have is "The previously unreleased version of mother" in comparison to the Aztec version. Brilliant edgy punk, It's easy to see why this one made it into the "100 Best Australian Albums" book.
Enjoy


X - Suck Suck


DL: Here

Cop Shoot Cop - Consumer Revolt (1990)

Cop shoot cop are one of those bands that really break the mould. It's easy to see why when you take a look at the line up with: two bass players, keys / samples, and a drummer who was really into incorporating various objects he found into his kit. The result comes out as something like an industrial version of a tragic figures era Savage Republic. It's disturbingly catchy, crashy, edgy, industrial rock. Check it out..


Also for those interested  Phil Puleo (drummer) went on to play for Swans, Jack Natz (Bass) is in the current line up for Lubricated Goat, Jim Coleman has his own project Phylr and has collaborated with J.G.Thirlwell (Foetus, etc.) under the moniker of Baby Zizanie, David Ouimet (keys, samples) went on to Motherhead Bug, Sulfur, and Firewater with Tod A. (Singer / Songwriter, Bass) who was in Shithäus with John Spencer (Pussy Galore etc.) when they went to Brown University together.


Cop Shoot Cop -  Eggs For Rib


DL: Here