JOEL MCDONALD, guitarist of Sydney hard rockers TORCH LE MONDE, talks to fellow Alice Cooper fan EDGAR A. MOORE.

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Photo: Ben Rugers

Jo Nilson of local rockers Butcher Birds and community radio station 4ZzZ delivered a brief, passionate speech in which she criticised the government plan and outlined its dangers for the Brisbane live music community and businesses alike.

“For years, Brisbane had been fighting a reputation as a cultural backwater – we really aren’t,” she said. “What Brisbane artists produce is absolutely unique to the rest of the world – we have some of the most amazingly creative people living in this city and our government, not to mention our Premier, who was also Minister for the Arts, is crippling the opportunities to showcase what they do.”

In Melbourne the fact that 20,000 fans protested on the street saw the state government cave in and dilute their laws. But the relatively poor turnout by Brisbane music fans (over 15,000 signed the Facebook petition – where were they?) meant that it would have made little impact on the Law, Justice and Safety Committee’s report on alcohol-related violence. It is due to be handed over this week (Thursday Mar 18) and expected to suggest the timing of venue closure.

The Queensland Police Union, aided by the likes of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Ambulance service recommended to the parliamentary inquiry that closing pubs at midnight and nightclubs at 2am would effectively fight alcohol-linked violence. But speakers at the rally argued that the government was relying on poor research and that early closing would only make the problem worse, and that it would hit venues hard as they make most of their money after midnight.

Queensland Locked Out’s Zach Salar, fearing that such moves would only “destroy the culture of our great State”, pressed for solutions such as harsher penalties for “the 1% of offenders”, increased police numbers in entertainment precincts and working with the licensees on the introduction of ID scanners.

In related news, Byron Mayor Cr Jan Barham is pushing for licensed venues in Byron Bay to close earlier in a similar effort to curb alcohol-fuelled violence.

CHRISTIE ELIEZER & DENIS SEMCHENKO

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Joey Cape and Tony Sly (pictured) – frontmen for leading Californian pop punk bands Lagwagon and No Use For A Name respectively – will be joining forces to play The Zoo on Saturday May 29 as part of their national tour. The show is a pop-punk aficionado’s dream come true, with each act having accumulated over two decades worth of credibility and a burgeoning fan base around the globe. The tour also sees the duo take in The Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra on Fri May 28.

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If you ever wore out a copy of the classic Pixies (pictured) album Doolittle on cassette – remember cassettes? – now is your chance to hear it again. Frank Black, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago and David Lovering will be playing the entire album, from Debaser to Gouge Away, at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Thursday Mar 18. Hope you get your tickets in time to join in on the sing-along! If not, some tickets for their second Brisbane show on Tuesday Mar 30 are still available through Ticketek. 

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Rosie’s (Cubby Hole) - Thu Mar 11

Fractions launch the night with the most appropriate band name I’ve heard in quite a while, as their tunes are fairly unconvincing genre mashups of new wave, post-punk and synth-pop with a slight touch of emo/post-hardcore/whatever the kids are calling it these days. The young lads may need to give less attention to showing off their influences (via their songs, t-shirts and haircuts) and more time to blending it all together right.

Megastick Fanfare start out similarly stage-shy (I suspect their cramped stage set-up isn’t helping), but being able to hide behind walls of manipulated noises help the Sydney quintet to a level of comfort where they can show off some delicious afrobeat-via-New York tracks. They actually manage to make knob-twiddling and sampling visually engaging, while constantly switching instruments to illustrate the band’s litheness.

The Shiny Brights almost outnumber the crowd as they begin their set, but no one seems to mind (except probably the promoter). Infectious pop with more jangle than distortion darts around Rosie’s confines, and the few punters who have stayed are treated to a solid set from these five Adelaidians.

MITCH ALEXANDER

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(PIAS/Liberator)

Disco-punk party-starters slow the pace on album number two

New Young Pony Club’s debut was indisputably a party album, packed with catchy melodies, dance-able beats and coolly sophisticated pop songs about being young, pretty and adrift in the London nightlife. That album’s biggest strength, though, was the elastic, punk-funk bass that tied all the songs together, and this is the key element that carries over to the group’s second album. The Optimist is a darker, moodier affair than Fantastic Playroom; it is the sound of the clean up after the party, the fried nerves and the emotional fall-out. The synths are icier this time around, the arrangements fuzzier and the melodies more minor-key, but that insistent, throbbing bass is there to carry you through, reassuring you that, no matter what happens, going out dancing is always an option. Lost A Girl and We Want To are spiky and self-assured, while The Optimist and Before The Light are dreamier and dronier, songs to get lost in. The best track, though, is the last – slow, simple and kind of devastating, Architect Of Love chronicles a break-up, bringing out an unexpected vulnerability in Ty Bulmer’s vocals. The Optimist is an album that invites you to listen from beginning to end, and get lost in the haze – it’s less flashy than their first, for sure, but no less rewarding.

****

ALASDAIR DUNCAN

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