Dune Rats

Australia’s sunshine state is a veritable breeding ground for this surfy garage pop sound, and the lads from DUNE RATS are  killing it. Hooking up a slew of international supports as well as throwing down at a handful of east coast parties, they just scored a slot at The Big Day Out, Australia’s premier home grown festival  (and somewhat of a right of passage for Aussie bands). They have an EP on Bandcamp (its only $6 chump) featuring POGO, a song that has given them some much deserved attention. Here’s the video, filmed at the Mt Gravatt quarry in Queensland, fuck it rips!

Dune Rats

Dunerats.bandcamp.com

Based: Australia

For fans of: Best Coast, Dinosaur Jr, Smoking weed, Yuck

Fugazi Releases Live Vault- 850 Full Shows!

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/01/142998596/steady-diet-of-everything-the-fugazi-live-vault

From 1987-2002 Fugazi toured the world and documented nearly all of it. This is really exciting for me since I’m a big fan as I can imagine this is big news for millions of other fans. Just to reiterate how special this is, here is a quote from the above linked NPR article/interview: “Not 850 tracks, or even 850 hours — 850 shows.”

This is pretty amazing and just goes to show how important documentation can be for the arts.  Even in hiatus, the band still manages to create unique experiences for their fans, unlike any other artist past or present. 

Some Saturday Recommendations – December 3 Style

Con TexEverything In Con Tex – This the debut album from Con Tex, a Whitehaus Family fixture. Recorded in the summer of 2010, but brought for your listening pleasure right now. I like how it’s tagged “lo-fi by necessity.” The music itself is an adventure in several rock and roll styling from acoustic guitar only jamming to electric axe wielding Kurt Vile if he was more experimental and had a drum machine instead of a back up band sorta stuff. I really enjoy the homey feel to this record. Early favorites: “Hey Go Down,” “Whitewash,” and “Can’t Ask Why.” [LINK]

Joey Ghostly In My Room – This is a bedroom EP released by The Enthusiasts own Joey. “Loosely inspired by Brian Wilson,” this set of songs shows this young fellow’s excellent songwriting. What’s demonstrated here is proficiency in being able to craft any kind of song with relative ease. There’s a lot of early rock and roll and (of course) Wilson influence here, but Ghostly puts his own spin. The acoustic guitar sounds sweet as does the simple plucking structures. It’s the little things that make this really stand out: the subtle-ish piano, background vocals, the occasional non-acoustic lead guitar sequence. The greatest achievement from my perspective is “Everybody’s Been In Love But Me.” Two other faves: “Stuck In The Mud,” and “For You.” [LINK]

Show: Arctic Monkeys/Black Keys @ TD Garden – 3/7/12

Making their way to the top of the venue chain are the Black Keys. They last played Boston in 2010 at a sold-out Bank of America Pavilion. The Arctic Monkeys themselves have climbed through the ranks and will play their first Boston arena show as the opening act. Is this a must see event for a pretty big Arctics fan? I’ve never seen a concert at the Garden and, in fact, have just one arena show to my credit — Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello at the Ryan Center in Rhode Island. It could very well be a first.

Bleeding Knees Club

Spending as much time in New York and the UK as back at home, Australian lads Bleeding Knees Club are killing it right now with their garage-punk raucousness. Riding the waves from their Virginity EP and relentless touring (supporting the likes of Wavves and Lightspeed Champion, no less, as well their own headline shows) they’ve quickly made a name for themselves as purveyors of loose surf-garage-punk. They’re recording their debut album which should drop early 2012, keep your eyes peeled. This is the first cut from the album, it fucking rips!

Bleeding Knees Club
Based: Australia
For fans of: Wavves, Best Coast, getting high.