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 Riley Fitzgerald

The Melvins + Red Kross @ Crowbar, Brisbane, 10.11.2017

The Melvins + Red Kross @ Crowbar, Brisbane, 10.11.2017

Here’s a true story. The Melvins play Crowbar Friday night. Supporting them are Red Kross. Equally notorious, these Californians pave their contemporaries’ way with languid metal and throttling punk. A thundering performance comes littered with time-honoured rock gestures, power pop hooks and plenty of lose-your-shit moments. As the Melvins take the stage I’m reminded of […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

Beaches @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 28.10.2017

Beaches @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 28.10.2017

Within a digital world celebrating the polarising extremities of the bright and obvious, something a little denser or opaque can cut across as a refreshing concept. An occasional shot of capital-A-for-Art artifice can be a welcome diversion. Author’s Note: I’m not sure why I’m analogising Beaches to progressive rock but here we are. Tracks like […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

The Collapse Board Interview: The Stems’ Dom Mariani

The Collapse Board Interview: The Stems’ Dom Mariani

The ’80s were a decade defined by its sense of materialism and elitism. Capturing the zeitgeist music responded in kind with glitzy new wave, arena rock and synthetic pop dominating the airwaves. But as the raw sounds of the punk movement were petering out, evolving or sliding back into obscurity, a new generation of artists […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

The Aints Play The Saints ’73-’78 @ The Tivoli, Brisbane Festival, 27.09.2017

The Aints Play The Saints ’73-’78 @ The Tivoli, Brisbane Festival, 27.09.2017

Ed Kuepper is no yesterday man. He was quick to distance himself from pre-emptive punk outfit The Saints following the group’s dissipation in 1978. Yet as the years have been marched by, this oft-bleak voice of Australian music has never hidden his affection for the iconic group’s formative iteration. With 40–years passing since The Saints […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin play Suspiria @ The Tivoli, 22.09.2017

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin play Suspiria @ The Tivoli, 22.09.2017

Eyerolling and inevitable they may be, but comparisons to horror movie soundtracks come as a staple when we’re talking about music. The overwhelming amount of the time the analogy arrives as a compliment. A positive association with the tense, exhilarating and irresistibly dark. Of all the Italian prog outfits to ever noddle, none have left […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

A Passion Unstated but Deeply Felt: Beaches’ ‘Second of Spring’

A Passion Unstated but Deeply Felt: Beaches’ ‘Second of Spring’

There are few Australian groups which can truly grasp the mind-manifesting ideas of the psychedelic sound and its underpinning ethos but Beaches are an act that consistently strikes the anvil on its head. A collection of members from well-known Melbournian acts with a few more extra hands thrown in, the five-piece have retained a lengthy […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

NO ZU @ QAGOMA, 01.09.2017

NO ZU @ QAGOMA, 01.09.2017

NO ZU are a group which is difficult to pin down. Reaching into a rich history of dance music obscurity with magpie mentality they combine the deep cuts of disco-funk, no-wave, and worldbeat with their own inventive ideas. The result is something you can’t quite put your finger on but is instantly danceable. Live they […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

Models @ QAGOMA, 25.08.2017

Models @ QAGOMA, 25.08.2017

Suddenly the Models return. Back together for the sheer hell of it, they bring a party atmosphere to their QGOMA surrounds. Before the stage sizeable gathering nudge, jostle and clamour to find a position as four figures take the stage. For those unfamiliar, this is a group which lived on the edge in a decade […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

Habits @ QAGOMA, 07.08.2017

Habits @ QAGOMA, 07.08.2017

Habits traverse an area few of their more visible Australian contemporaries dare venture. The pair’s 2016 debut Ugly Cry makes nods to the sounds of Melbourne’s electronic underground, acid house, industrial, synth pop, club music and future R&B. Wherever the two find their inspiration, they make it exciting, without losing a grip on creating music […]

 Riley Fitzgerald

Kirin J Callinan @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 09.06.2017

Kirin J Callinan @ The Foundry, Brisbane, 09.06.2017

The story of Kirin J Callinan post-Mercy Arms has been remarkable without question. In the wake of 2013’s Embracism, his following and reputation have undeniably grown. Yet for anyone with a greater interest in sweeping statements of musical identity than drip feeds of social media content, there’s creeping question that, as well loved and enmeshed […]