Time was, say the 80’s or early 90’s, when it seemed that there was a new band from Australia achieving some level of international success by the hour. The ubiquitous Men at Work, INXS, Midnight Oil, Crowded House to the less than mainstream The Birthday Party, The Saints, Radio Birdman, Mental As Anything, Hunter & Collectors, The Church, Divinyls, Hoodoo Gurus, The Go-Betweens, The Triffids…and the list can easily go on.
So, what happened? Certainly there’s still fine music being made down under, but why hasn’t it reached our collective ear-shot?
I don’t have an answer to that rhetorical, but I do have a number of bands this week—all from Austrailia—who merit an introduction to a far larger audience.
So, you can tell your friends TVD’s spending the entire week down under for you. Cuz we’re givers. (With a penchant for double entendres.)
“Phil from Grand Atlantic here. Greetings from the Australia! We’re busy at the moment getting ready to release our second album, entitled “How We Survive.” It’s a collection of songs that we’re very proud of. Most of the tracks are about making sense of life in the 21st century with all the emotions, fears, dramas and good times that we all experience on a day-to-day basis. We’re also very proud to be working with Laughing Outlaw Records in Australia – an independent label that really cares about its bands and putting out good records. It’s been great for us to have that filter down and be able to see our album come out in some fantastic independent record stores.
We’ve got a fabulous record store in Brisbane, where we are based; it’s called Rocking Horse and it’s basically a Brisbane institution for the music fan. The shop has been in existence for over 30 years and has moved locations several times. Every time I go in there, I walk out with an armful of vinyl records – second hand and new. It’s the kind of place you could spend hours and loads of cash…but it’s totally worth it. Anyway, if you get the chance, check out our tunes… Hope to catch you round sometime soon…”
Grand Atlantic – She’s A Dreamer (Mp3)
“G’day, were Barrel House – a band from the mid-north coast of Australia, we have been together for nearly 2 years now and have toured constantly, our shows have ranged from multi award winning festivals to the dark corner of a bowling club on bingo night. In a perfect world you show up to your gig, set up, sound check, have a few moments to get yourself together, play the show, pack up, wind down and go to bed. The first thing you’ll learn about Barrel House is these chain of events very rarely run smoothly and whether it be a festival or a bowling club there is always a story! We have just finished our new EP “Open Road” which is a very fitting title and is a good representation of where the band currently at, thanks to the support of independent record stores we are able to get our music in stores around the country, making all of our touring much more worth while. So stay tuned for more band info and plenty more crazy touring stories…”
