SEPTEMBER 22-25 , 2011 | Tickets are now on sale for Goner Records’ eighth annual international music festival, which will take place September 22-25th, 2011 in Memphis, TN. Goner Fest 8 will include 3 evening shows at the Hi-Tone Cafe, 2 afternoon shows, and opening and closing shows at the Goner Records Shop.
An octopus’ tentacles couldn’t control all this music- over 35 bands in 4 days! It will probably look a lot like this:
Purchase Your Golden Pass Here!
Memphis, Tenn.’s Goner Records has helped hold together a worldwide scene’s worth of ragged, sleazy guitar rock with little more than willpower since 1993. And they put on their yearly Goner Fest, which tends to fill three days with so much overdriven, yelp-tastic rock ‘n’ roll that, for the slightest moment, the city of Memphis becomes one big parents’ garage. – PASTE MAGAZINE
A terrific local record store, Goner merits special distinction for the plucky punk label that it also runs out of the shop… They showcase talent galore at their yearly, four-day Gonerfest. And as far as reps go, these guys have earned one about ten times the size of their tiny shop. – SPIN MAGAZINE
TOP 10 Record Stores in the USA—ROLLING STONE, SPIN MAGAZINE
BAND LIST! FULL SCHEDULE HERE!
Gories (Detroit, MI)
Reverend John Wilkins (Memphis, TN)
Ty Segall (SF, CA)
OBN IIIs (Austin, TX)
Alarm Clocks (Cleveland, OH)
Royal Headache (Australia)
Hans Condor (Nashville, TN)
Shannon & The Clams (Oakland, CA)
Sex Cult (Memphis, TN)
Straight Arrows (Australia)
Ryan Rousseau (Desert, Arizona)
Coasting (Brooklyn, NY)
Sharp Balloons (Memphis, TN)
Icky Boyfriends (SF, CA)
Mean Jeans (Portland, OR)
James Arthur’s Manhunt (Desert, Texas)
Midnight Snaxxx (Oakland, CA)
Harlan T Bobo’s Fuzz (Memphis, TN)
Real Numbers (Minneapolis, MN)
True Sons Of Thunder (Memphis,TN)
Missing Monuments (New Orleans, LA)
Outdoorsmen (SF, CA)
Kitchen’s Floor (Australia)
Pity Fucks (Portland, OR)
Football (Chicago, IL)
Cyclops (???)
Shirks (Washington DC)
Human Eye (Detroit, MI)
Deaf Wish (Australia)
Brides (Chicago, IL)
Black Sunday (Memphis, TN)
Jam Messengers (Hawaii / Brazil)
Icky Boyfriends (San Francisco, CA)
“Can rock still be ridiculous, and ridiculously fun, funny, personal, and mean at the same time? Icky Boyfriends proves it can!” – Eric / Goner
“The late 80’s/early 90’s San Francisco ambassadors of primitive party music. The mere line ‘You keep on talking to me / just like the McLaughlin Group / you’re about as interesting as Campbell’s Soup’ still speaks volumes to me.” – WFMU
“There’s a fine, very permeable line between unlistenable and brilliant. Icky Boyfriends, a primitive, late-1980s/early 1990s noise rock trio out of San Francisco, were both. They pulled it off in much the same way that the Shaggs and Half Japanese did — not alternately, not hitting highs and lows, but by achieving both states simultaneously. It’s hard to tell whether bands like this are geniuses or idiots, but there is no possibility that they are mediocre.” – Splendid Magazine
Alarm Clocks (Parma, OH)
“The Alarm Clocks “No Reason To Complain” is one of Goner’s top 3 holy 60s garage tracks (along with the Modds “Leave My House” and The Keggs “To Find Out”) and just to be able to see the band that made this perfect slice of raw American rock n roll in 2011 is basically unimaginable. The fact that the Alarm Clocks circa now crank out insane, uncompromising, and tough Midwest garage punk is flat out impossible.” – Eric / Goner
“Formed in 1965 by Parma, OH, teenagers Mike Pierce (bass and vocals), Bruce Boehm (guitar), and Bill Schwark (drums), the Alarm Clocks got a lot of mileage out of one 45 single, although it would be 40 some years before they would really take advantage of it. The trio recorded two raw slices of garage punk, “Yeah!” and “No Reason to Complain,” live in a studio in 1966 and released it on their own Wake Up label, and a month or so later recorded a live demo tape of their live set at Sound Ideas Recording Studios. Nothing much came of either venture, and the group disbanded in 1967. The single, though, took on a life of its own, gradually filtering through the informal garage band collectors network and becoming a highly sought-after item. Both sides of the 45 turned up on 1996’s Back from the Grave compilation from Crypt Records, and eventually the band members were tracked down. The A and B side of the single plus the complete demo tape and three tracks from Boehm’s earlier band the Perceptions made up the album Yeah!, which was released by Norton Records in 2000. Perhaps sensing unfinished business, the Alarm Clocks re-formed in 2006 with all the original members on board plus a new fourth member, guitarist Tom Fallon. This second coming of the group recorded a new album in two days at Freddy Fortune’s basement studio in Michigan in 2006. The album appeared as The Time Has Come later in the year from Norton Records.” – Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
Ty Segall (San Francisco, CA)
“…because from the first guitar chord, the place turned into a fucking madhouse, with wall-to-wall moshing that seldom let up during the set’s half-hour duration. ” – Live review from Primavera Sound via Pitchfork
“This San Fran shouter puts garage rock into overdrive… As fun as Ty’s recent albums have been, live is where you get to really experience him in all of his manic, bouncing, string-bending glory, not to mention enjoy his infectious humor.” – Village Voice
#1 Goner surf ‘n psycher is blowing up and for once it isn’t all hype — our guy brings it every night. – Zac/Goner
Royal Headache (Sydney, AUS)
“If you haven’t heard Royal Headache yet then we feel real sorry for you. They might be the best pop band to come out of Sydney since The Easybeats, or at least since The Radiators!” – Unbelievably Bad
“‘I think punk has started to make sense again, there’s something about the immediacy of punk. In the context of music I guess we’re going through a stage where music has become quite introverted and a bit spineless so punk has become necessary again.’ The Queen might have become irrelevant but punk is back.” – Interview with member Shogun via The Blackmail
Black Sunday (Memphis, TN)
An impromptu reunion show over the holidays was a jaw-dropper – we had to talk Alicja and the guys into an encore for the festival. – Zac/Goner
“The most difficult thing in dealing with Alicja Trout is trying to keep up with all of her musical projects, but it’s immensely fruitful. Black Sunday heavily takes elements from two other bands she is/was involved in: the Lost Sounds and Mouserocket. There’s choreographed electronic symphonies, songs that sound like ‘50s standards set to new wave, sweet indie rock moments that launch into Servotron-y lo-fi blasts, and far beyond. Due to the fact that I’ve been able to track down a decent amount of what Alicja’s done (Fitts, River City Tanlines, Clears)—and pretty much like it all—she’s fallen into the rare category of a musical artist I’m willing to follow down paths I wouldn’t necessarily consider… Alicja Trout seems unstoppable and I hope she keeps on going in so many directions at once. She’s prolific, multi-talented, and indefatigable. Great stuff.” –Todd Taylor, Razorcake
Kitchen’s Floor (Brisbane, AUS)
“…they’re straddling that rarest of middle grounds: the exact space where Some Velvet Sidewalk, Pounding Serfs, someone way more stripped-back and cowbell-loving than even Italians Do it Better will allow, and The Clean meet. Except not really…. Kitchen’s Floor get Nirvana the way no band have got Nirvana since Unwound. Um. That’s way, way off. The comparison no way stands, the way Nirvana were so bastardised by everything that is still going on after. You’ll be thinking they play Motley Crue power rock now, instead of being all Olympia and Dunedin and… no really, you’ll have to ask Steve Fisk the secret. That man knows.” – Everett True
Deaf Wish (Melbourne, AUS)
“Deaf Wish began in a soggy West Melbourne rehearsal room in May 2007, standing around screaming and bashing through songs with one solid philosophy: ‘go to feedback’ when things fall apart. After a handful of rehearsals, they recorded 10 songs and played 2 shows. Then guitar player Sarah Hardiman flew to the UK and never came back. Deaf Wish stopped for a year whilst the album was passed around and grew a cult following stemming from punks and spreading around the pubs and yards of Melbourne. Deaf Wish reformed with a new member in June 2008, performing as a ramshackle unit of four suburban no-hopers, bleeding through feedback, noise and emotional abandon.
While they are often compared to US bands like the Wipers, Husker Du and Red Kross; Australian bands such as X and Venom P Stinger; it is an unarguably and distinctly Melbourne suburban sound that Deaf Wish have made their own.” – The Siren Sound
Brides (Chicago, IL)
“The first punk band in the 90s I heard who sounded as good as the Pagans. Great to have ’em playing live again!”- Eric / Goner
“Chicago’s last devastating blast of the 20th century, the most revered live band (and on record), The Brides, were at one point in the mid 90s, so intimidating, so snide and punk-soaked perfect, that we could barely muster up the courage to even ask them for an interview for the second issue of Horizontal Action. This band was a savior and a demon at the same time, and once you experienced their utterly savage squall reeking of the Viletones, Pagans, and Crime, right when those bands were being resuscitated for the next generation to fully grasp, it would never really let you go. Their singles on Rip Off and Sack’O Shit were three reasons alone to move here, and as we started the magazine, the irreplaceable sound of The Brides was most-definitely our soundtrack. Not all bands from the 90s have aged this well, but these songs just seemed like they were never really set in one time or place, making them such universal favorites, and Midwest legends.” – Hozac / Horizontal Action
Straight Arrows (Sydney, AUS)
“Straight Arrows (the raucous rock ‘n roll Sydney band, not the HIV and Sexual Health support service)…formed some Sydney wastelands back in 2006. Since then the band have landed some huge support slots including Thee Oh Sees, The Black Lips, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, King Brothers and Deerhunter. They’ve also released some 7″s including “Can’t Count” / “Somethin’ Happens” single and the split 7” with French band The Creteens, whilst also kicking around in other Sydney bands including Red Riders, The Holy Soul and Circle Pit.” – Tone Deaf
“They’re an alternative to alternative, and fit in somewhere between two of our favourites: The Cramps and the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Unlike most of those who like to test the longevity of their instruments and vocal chords, your ears won’t bleed when you hear them; your insides might, but you know what? They’d be proud. Think nuts crossed with super nuts, throwing rocks at rockabilly after a hit of something psychedelic; although, hard as we try, words can’t describe their live shows.’ – Time Out Sydney
