Evan KanarakisEvan Kanarakis

The Gascan Interview: Ashley Thomson of The Kelpies

It lasted for just under a year and a half but, from March 1981 to August 1982, the Kelpies emerged as one of the most frenetic--and notorious--bands to hit the punk scene in Sydney, Australia. Evan Kanarakis The band consisted of James Gelding on vocals, Mark Easton and Brian Conolly on guitars, Con Murphy on bass, and drummer Ashley Thomson. Given so many of the band’s membership had already earned their stripes in a multitude of earlier acts (including the Bedhogs, Suicide Squad, Swankers, Aftermath, Vic Vomit and the Varicose Veins and Black Runner), this put them in good stead…

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Evan KanarakisEvan Kanarakis

Tornados, Crazy Fans and More Tornados

Three Tales from The Kelpies The following are are taken from Evan Kanarakis’ 2003 book, ‘Sex, Drugs & Mum In The Front Row’ (Allen & Unwin). Evan Kanarakis THE RANDOMLY GENERATED FAN TORNADO Punk rockers, the Kelpies, quite literally rampaged through Sydney in the early 1980s, albeit for a brief but frenetic run. Their first show was a taste of the mayhem to come, however the random nature of the punk scene at the time and whatever else it was that seemed to be hanging in the air that particular night⎯perhaps a full moon⎯prompted developments well beyond the band’s control.…

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Troy KeiperTroy Keiper

Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It

It's been five years since Seattle's Mike Hadreas released his first record on Matador. A beautiful, low-fi affair, it was the work of a songwriter who clearly needed a few more records to exorcise his demons. Now that he's thirty--and two years after releasing his second record, Put Your Back N 2 It--Hadreas is getting ready for a third movement. After wrapping a tour with punk labelmates Fucked Up, those early days of Learning seem like a demo tape now. Put Your Back N 2 It feels like a full-on Wall of Sound production in comparison. We're expecting a lot from his third release, September 2014. If you're in the UK, catch…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats

I’ve always thought that those detractors quick to dismiss Regina Spektor’s career with words like ‘quirky’, ‘oddball’ or ‘sentimental’ were missing out on a unique talent with incredible piano and songwriting skills and a sad-sweet voice to match. Sure, there are moments when whimsy or sentimentality may arguably have led Spektor a step too far into eccentric or syrupy territory, but she finds success more often than not. What We Saw From The Cheap Seats isn’t necessarily a huge departure from earlier work –in fact it reminded me a great deal of her first effort, Soviet Kitsch- and yet this…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

The Cranberries - Wake Up and Smell The Coffee

Back from an even longer break are The Cranberries, as it has been over ten years since their last studio album, Wake Up And Smell The Coffee. Dolores O’Riordan’s extraordinary voice never quite managed to claim the successful solo career it deserved through the two albums she recorded during the band’s interim hiatus, but with her old partners back in tow they’ve reunited to create one of the strongest album releases of 2012 to date. O’Riordan’s voice always possessed a dreamy, tender quality that worked well when set alongside her talented bandmates, and tracks like the gorgeous opener ‘Conduct’ or…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Garbage - Not Your Kind Of People

Yet another band back from a long hiatus and also recording independently from a major label, Garbage return after six years with Not Your Kind Of People. The album is a genuinely successful combination of the ‘dark pop meets garage’ that clearly defined their earlier work but was perhaps not as pronounced on Beautiful Garbage and Bleed Like Me. The electronica has been toned down a touch here, but not so much that you can’t hear shades of Nine Inch Nails on a track like ‘Battle In Me’. Elsewhere, ‘Blood For Poppies’, ‘I Hate Love’ and ‘Automatic System Habit’ showcase…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

The Hives - Lex Hives

After five years The Hives are back with their fifth full-length album, this time released on their own Disques Hives imprint. If you’re familiar with the Swedes’ stomping, energetic sound spearheaded by Pelle Almqvist’s charged yelps and howls then you won’t be left disappointed. To be fair, few fans of The Hives would ask the band for a reinvention anyway, and charged tunes like the two-word-only track ‘Come On’, 60’s-themed ‘Midnight Shifter’ and single ‘Go Right Ahead’ are sure to become popular live staples (and yes, with regard to the latter, don’t worry, The Hives asked Jeff Lynne for permission…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Steel Panther - Balls Out

Back with their second album under the name of ‘Steel Panther’, the L.A quartet divide time between parody of 80’s glam rock and out-and-out tribute. What could tire quickly as a one-trick gag in the vein of Spinal Tap or those spectacular Australian parody-rockers Bigphallica actually works here because, thankfully, the band possess the musicianship to back it up. These are frenetic, high-energy rock songs with gratuitously over-the-top lyrics that aren’t out to compete with anyone for profundity (to point: “Get on your knees and help me please because it won’t suck itself”). It’s certainly not for everyone, but there’s…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Betty Wright and The Roots - Betty Wright: The Movie

This is Wright’s first album in a decade, and if you’re looking for music with the sass, funk and soul that she was best known for in the 70’s, then you’ll find it here, but there are also modern flourishes on offer as well. This isn’t just because Wright has the benefit of The Roots as her backing band, or because of drummer Questlove’s deft hand co-producing the album, though both certainly help. She shares the stage on ‘Real Woman’ with Snoop Dogg, and on ‘Grapes On A Vine’ with Lil' Wayne, but it is perhaps ‘Whisper In The Wind’…

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Paolo MizernaPaolo Mizerna

Noel Gallagher - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Regardless of your feelings about the former Oasis band-member – whether tired of the seemingly endless public spats with his brother, perturbed by the apparent hefty ‘borrowings’ from other’s music or put-off by yet another egotistical pronouncement- you’ve always had to concede, whether begrudgingly or not, that Noel Gallagher knows how to pen a bloody good rock and roll song. True enough, Gallagher’s first solo effort represents some of his finest work since ‘Definitely, Maybe’ and ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ There’s a lighter, looser feel to the music here than the last albums we heard from Oasis (consider the…

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