Punk rock in Australia
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Australian musicians played and recorded some of the earliest punk rock. Perhaps the most notable example were The Saints, who released their first single in 1976. Bands playing sub-genres or offshoots of punk music, such as local hardcore acts, still have a strong cult following throughout Australia.
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[edit] Proto-punk, 1974-76
The earliest incarnation of The Saints was formed by Ed Kuepper (guitar) and Chris Bailey (vocals) in Brisbane, Queensland in 1973. They shared a background in immigrant families (Kuepper's German and Bailey's Irish), and an admiration for high energy 1950s and '60s music, such as the Detroit rock of The Stooges and The MC5. Queensland at the time was controlled by the conservative, authoritarian Country Party democratic government of Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen — an environment with plenty of inspiration for creative and alienated young people. The result was a frenetic, pulsating sound, topped with Bailey's sardonic lyrics. Unable to get regular gigs, they played at a house in inner city Petrie Terrace, where they soon attracted unwanted attention. Police arrested fans for trivial offences, often in a brutal fashion, but their approach only created more interest in the punk scene. The Saints gigs' got bigger and their fans started to form bands, both punk and dissimilar in sound, beginning a distinct Brisbane punk scene, one of the first in the world.
During 1974, Radio Birdman began to form in Sydney, led by another immigrant, a Detroit-born and bred medical student named Deniz Tek. They too shared an interest in The Stooges and MC5, albeit with a result arguably more akin to hard rock than punk. Their dynamic live shows soon gained a fanatical following at inner city venues.
Many art rock bands, like Melbourne's Boys Next Door, formed by Nick Cave and Mick Harvey at their school in 1974, later attended gigs by The Saints and Radio Birdman, and would adopt elements of their sounds. However, the Boys Next Door (later renamed The Birthday Party) are usually regarded as post-punk, rather than punk.
In Perth — a geographically-isolated city with social and political similarities to Brisbane — young musicians like Kim Salmon, Dave Faulkner and James Baker were also influenced by the Detroit bands, as well as New York protopunk figures like Lou Reed and the New York Dolls. Salmon led the Cheap Nasties, and then The Scientists, before embarking on a solo career (and is regarded as a pioneer of grunge). Baker was in a short-lived act called The Geeks, before forming The Victims with Faulkner in 1977. They recorded an acclaimed single, "Television Addict", before breaking up. Baker later joined The Scientists. Faulkner gravitated towards poppier sounds. (In 1981, he and Baker founded a highly successful retro rock act, the Hoodoo Gurus.)
In mid-1976, The Saints recorded and distributed copies of their single "(I'm) Stranded", which met nearly no critical or public response in Australia. In the UK, however,Sounds magazine received a copy, and declared it: "single of this and every week". As a result, the band was signed to a three-album contract with EMI. Later the same year they recorded their first LP, which was also called (I'm) Stranded. Hampered by poor production and the indifference of radio stations, the LP failed commercially. In December The Saints moved to Sydney. Radio Birdman released an EP ("Burn My Eye") and an album (Radios Appear) with better production values, but with similar commercial results to The Saints' endeavours.
[edit] Punk takes off, 1977-80
By 1977, other bands were starting to form in Sydney, under the influence of local and overseas punk acts. Among the first was The Last Words, from Liverpool in Sydney. (They recorded their first single "Animal World/Wondering Why" in 1977.) Other Sydney bands in 1977 included the Hellcats (featuring Ron Peno), the Psychosurgeons (later known as the Lipstick Killers), Johnny Dole & The Scabs, Rocks 1977-1978, Tommy & The Dipsticks, Shock Treatment, World War IV, Blackrunner (featuring Danny Rumour from Sekret Sekret and then The Cruel Sea) and the Thought Criminals.
These bands and other Australian and overseas punk acts were strongly supported by public radio stations, especially 2JJ.
Fully-fledged punk bands like The Reals (featuring Ollie Olsen) and The Babeez (later known as The News) were also being formed in Melbourne.
In Brisbane, The Survivors (who showed a 1960s influence), The Leftovers (diverse influences), Razar (contemporary British punk) and The Fun Things (Detroit rock) all followed in the wake of the Saints.
After the British punk scene took off in 1977, both The Saints and Radio Birdman moved to the UK. This proved to be disastrous for both bands. Neither of them fit in with, or were inclined to adjust to aspects of the London scene at the time, such the now-established punk fashion in clothes. Radio Birdman were dumped when their record company got into financial difficulty, and soon broke up. Later recordings saw The Saints adopt soul, blues and jazz influences, although their most successful single, "This Perfect Day" — which reached number 34 in the UK pop charts — was typical of the band's musical style. After another acclaimed single, "Know Your Product", and second and third albums failed to make an impression, EMI dropped The Saints. (Kuepper left in 1979 and Bailey began to pursue a more mainstream musical direction.) Last Words later followed their predecessors to the U.K. and also failed to make a strong impression.
By the end of 1977, the "supergroup" Young Charlatans had formed in Melbourne out of the ashes of earlier bands. Ollie Olsen, Rowland S. Howard (guitar, later in The Birthday Party), Jeff Wegener (drums, former member of The Saints, later in the Laughing Clowns) and Janine Hall (later in The Saints). The band recorded the first version of the Howard song "Shivers" (made famous by the Boys Next Door and hard rockers Screaming Jets). In Sydney, a Birdman offshoot, The Hitmen, had started to gig and Ian Rilen formed the longevitous X.
Entrepreneurs began to realise the potential of the growing scene and Michael Gudinski launched the Melbourne-based Suicide Records, which in May 1978 released a compilation, Lethal Weapons. The album included tracks by the Boys Next Door, Teenage Radio Stars (featuring future Models members Sean Kelly and James Freud), JAB (ex-experimental rockers from Adelaide, featuring Bohdan X and sythesizer player Ash Wednesday), The Survivors and X-Ray-Z (former pub rockers from Adelaide). However the royalty rate offered by Suicide was low and both The News and Young Charlatans decided not to get involved.
Australian chart success eluded all of these bands in the late 1970s. Radio programmers were conservative and unenthusiastic about punk. The above artists who eventually found success either did so overseas, or after a remove of several years in Australia, and/or in different bands.
[edit] Hardcore since 1981
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Bands such as the 2008 band The Insurgents are starting to thrive after recent tour around southern Australia.
[edit] Punk revival since 1991
By the early 1990s, the success of stayers like Bad Religion and NOFX and , punk revival bands like Rancid, as well as local bands like Frenzal Rhomb, led to the formation of punk-influenced bands such as The Living End, Jebediah, Bodyjar and 28 Days. Punk revival scenes began in various cities around Australia.
Most of these bands are pale imitations of the Australian punk movement in the 1980s, spearheaded by bands like Sydney's legendary punks from Punchbowl The Hard-Ons and their hometown hardcore friends Massappeal and incindiary Melbourne band The Meanies.
"All Your Little Scenes In Your Underground, Wanna get it on we Dont Fuck Around"......The Homicides Perth 2000-Present
Of course these are but few bands from a rich underground punk rock history that spans the entire country side.....
[edit] All Age Punk Movement, early 1990s
Augmented by the night pub gigs, which were required or inspired by pub rock and independent Australian bands, punk bands of
the early 1990s emulated American straight edge and vegan punk such as Dag Nasty (with the song "All Age Show" and Fugazi by providing day or night time all age gigs for kids under 18 gigs were held in halls and venues that had to get licensed to be an unlicensed licensed venue.
Although Fugazi, All and Dag Nasty promote straight edge ethics, more local influences were at play with the little known, pro drinking,outer suburban Croydon band the Aqua Nuggets a prime encouragement. For the underage punter, entry was guaranteed to the show, but drinking occurred in parks across the road!
A group called Manic Ideas was set up to organise the all age gig movement and is largely responsible for the success of the movement
Later on, due to financial pressure it amalgamated into a state government youth organisation known as The Push, which then created annual Pushover concerts, and had an anti drug message. The usual array of popular and up and coming punk bands played, plus others such as avant-garde pop sensations TISM but the government join up upset many of the grassroots in the scene and
the anti state and do it yourself ethics of punk. In later years a range of genres were represented
Melbourne had the largest all age scene, but Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide also had notable acts. Some, with the help of JJJ went on to be very successful alternative artists. These include Tumbleweed (Woolongong) You am I (Sydney) Spiderbait (Finley nsw, melb) Magic Dirt(Geelong) Bodyjar (Melb) (formerly Helium) and later on Regurgitator and the Living End
The all age scene was supported by many notable international punk and alternative bands on their australian tours, some of these bands would travel into the daggy outer suburbs of melbourne, to Croydons 'EVs' (local community hall) including the Bad Brains Fugazi NOFX the Supersuckers All No Means No and DOA
Inspired by earlier Australian punk/pub rock bands like Massappeal, The Hard Ons, Cosmic Psychos and Bored! (the latter 3 still a big part of the all age and pub punk rock scene in the early 1990s) other notable acts from Melbourne included The Meanies Nursery Crimes Rootbeer The Poppin Mammas The Aqua Nuggets Guttersnipes and a relocated Spiderbait
The calibre of the Melbourne alternative/punk scene of the early 90s would have seen more of the bands taking off had Melbourne been in Seattle
Down the road in Geelong, the old guard like Bored! and Warped plus Fridge the Seaweed Goorillas and Magic Dirt, who went onto JJJ inspired success, only added to the amazing music around.
While Sydneys 2jj also sold out in the alternative music scenes reading of it, and became JJJ (linked with ABC (govt owned) melbourne had 3RRR at its peak and also 3PBS,the thriving street magazine culture in Beat Magazine and Inpress and great record stores in Missing Link and Au-Go-Go Records.
In other cities Frenzal Rhomb Screamfeeder and Budd(Brisbane) Massappeal Daisygrinders Killing Time (later called Mantissa) (Sydney) were notables acts of the time.
Some crossover bands also made an impact and fitted in well with the more straight down the line or pop punk sounds of the scene. These include Adelaide's industrial hardcore sounds of the Mark of Cain and Melbourne's rockabily punk The Fireballs grindcore legends Christbait and later metal/alternative bands Suiciety and Horsehead and Sydney's political industrial rock act Insurge. New Zealand also had Shihad Head like a Hole and Headless Chickens making impacts in NZ, Aust and overseas.
This scene flourished when the punk and alternative scenes broke commercially, but managed to stay independent as Kurt Cobain became the idol of the music world and took a whole lot of bands with him.
Sonic Youth, Mudhoney and a host of old school and alternative sounds,from the Lemonheads and Dinosaur Jr. to Fudge Tunnel and Tad kept the Seattle and American influence on local punk fans and musicians while remaining distinctly underground still.
Successful riot grrrl punk acts such as L7 and Babes in Toyland were inspiration to Richmond's Rock and Roll High School provided gender equality for young female musicians.
However, the independence of the scene, an integral part of its make up was eventually drowned in the wave of commercialised
alternative music, though some bands of the era were able to ride the wave to greater success, often with a poppier sound than before
(Spiderbait, Magic Dirt, The Living End) while bands inspired by
the bands above presented poppier sounds and presentations, and went onto to what could be called JJJ radio bands.
[edit] References
- Clinton Walker (ed.), 1982, Inner City Sound Wild & Woolley; Glebe, NSW, Australia.
[edit] External links
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (2003). "Misfits and Malcontents". (Retrieved on December 15, 2006.)
- Henry Weld, "Australian Punk Rock 1976-1983 Version 7 — May 2004" (Retrieved on December 15, 2006.)
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