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Death To Your Speakers - news,reviews & interviews

I've always wondered why Bruce Springsteen was referred to as "The Boss". Tonight I found out why. He dominated the stage and the 40 000 odd people at Allphones Arena for over 3 hours. For that entire time we were putty in his hand. I'm pretty sure he could've told us to jump off a cliff and I think most of us, if not all of us would have. I've been privileged enough to see hundreds, if not thousands of bands play live and they all pale in comparison to a show by Springsteen.

Backed by the legendary E Street band who have grown to a 14 piece ensemble and included a special guest ring in, Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello, the entire performance was just one classic track after another, played with youthful energy and genuine passion that flowed out into the crowd. Bruce, was the captain of this ship, steering the performance from the opening chord of 'Devils And Dust' to the final bow at the end of the night. 


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The Blackwater Fever - The Depths


It could be easy to write this band off as another Black Keys rip off, but that sort of ignorance will make you miss the beauty of this record. Yes, it has plenty of swampy bluegrass riffs we've all come to love from The Black Key, but the execution of these songs will leave them lingering in your mind. On their third album, The Blackwater Fever have crafted tracks that requires you to listen to them over again and with each listen, you will pick up something different. Intentional or not, its a great tool that great songwriters have.

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Today was the kick off for the brand new touring punk rock festival Hits N Pits. The set up was pretty simple. 2 stages, one acoustic and one punk bands with a mix of local and overseas talent. As doors opened at 4pm we were greeted with a loud racket from Newcastle's One Vital Word. Their post hardcore punk style was a bit too intense for a room of sober people unsure of what they were expecting from the day but credit to them for the power of their set.

Out on the acoustic stage in the beer garden Nothing Rhymes With David started us off but was a little drowned out by the One Vital Word inside so it was hard to really hear him. The sound was better for David M Johnston who followed. He has a real Ben Nichols from Lucero sound with a nicotine stained/whiskey soaked voice and some really cool tunes.

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Birds Of Tokyo - March Fires

May 8th 2013 09:42
Birds Of Tokyo - March Fires


That media tag line "Most anticipated album of the year" has the potential to set a band up to immediately fail. It raises the bar of expectation that it only takes a rare talent to be able to surpass. Thankfully, Birds Of Tokyo have that talent. More importantly, their new album 'March Fires' may just rise above that expectation.
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Wednesday 13 - The Dixie Dead

May 1st 2013 10:02
Wednesday 13 - The Dixie Dead


I've always admired the style of Wednesday 13's music. Take the swagger of hard rock, the crunching riffs of 90s industrial metal and the theme of horror and put it all together. You can say he is part Motley Crue, part Ministry, part Misfits. Either way, the prolific songwriter always managers to make an entertaining album. The Dixie Dead is the exception. 
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The two hour trip down to Towradgi was a new experience for me. The Beach Hotel that houses Waves reminds me a bit like Coogee Bay Hotel, but stuck in the middle of the bush. The other surprise was how big the club was and how many people made it out on a Wednesday night to see Birds Of Tokyo. Says a lot about the power of the band if they can attract 600 on a school night.

Regular John shuffled their way through a forty minute set of shoe gazing indie rock. You can really tell the difference in songwriting from their older material to the newer songs. The newer songs sound more cohesive and are more engaging than their older material. A warm reaction from the crowd as everyone started to get their drink on and take up prime real estate down the front for when Birds came on.

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Off With Their Heads - Home

May 1st 2013 09:46
Off With Their Heads - Home


Off With Their Heads are quite a prolific band. In the bands eleven year history they have released seven EPs, over twelve split albums with other acts plus two studio albums. Home marks album number three and their second on Epitaph records. Through all those eleven years not one thing has changed. Front man Ryan Young still hates his life and is seeking salvation from anyone that cares. The problem is its a theme that is getting tired and old now and after twelve tracks of basically the same song, it drains you.
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MxPx @ The Manning Bar 7/3/2013

May 1st 2013 09:38
With Soundwave over of another year and withdrawals setting in, there was only one thing to do. Go and see more punk rock shows. And as fortune had it, Mike Herrera's MxPx were in town for a quick tour to help overcome the withdrawals. Opening band Seek The Silence were a good starting point for the evening with a hi octane set. The five piece utilise the two vocalists well and had some pretty catchy tunes. At time stepping into pop punk boundaries through to melodic punk rock, they definitely got the blood pumping and the heads bobbing along with the riffs.

Three piece Nerdlinger were up next and kicked into second gear. Good stage presence and on stage banter mixed with some cracking punk rock songs in the vein of No Use For A Name and Bodyjar. They even threw in a tribute to the late Tony Sly with a cover of 'Justified Black Eye'. A friend of mine in the crowd told me to write that they were shit (jokingly of course) but they were far from shit, they were really good. Equally as good and entertaining were Batfoot. The four piece's no nonsense short fast punk rock jabs were broken up with banter with the crowd and the customary Curly Wurly's being thrown out to the crowd. (They also have a love song dedicated to the candy bar 'Give Me Back My Curly Wurly'). They have the same brattish humour and delivery a la Guttermouth or Diesel Boy. They managed to kick out some twenty odd songs in forty minutes and rev the crowd up for the headliners, MxPx.

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FIDLAR - FIDLAR

April 21st 2013 01:48
FIDLAR - FIDLAR


FIDLAR (meaning Fuck It Dog, Life's A Risk) are just what a young garage punk band should be. Few friends making some tunes but mostly looking to get drunk and party. They have a great ethos behind the band that basically is just a big middle finger to everyday society and they are just going to do what they want. It's refreshing to see such abandonment of convention and reestablishing a punk ethic that to be honest, is long gone in most of the new bands on the scene today


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With the Sydney leg of Soundwave all done and dusted for another year, the following few days is all about the sideshows. Sydney was blessed with many of the 90 acts sticking around for shows which also meant, a lot of clashes. (Yesterday all over again!) but for the true metal faithful, there was only one place to be tonight and that was seeing the almighty Slayer.

Having bailed on their Soundwave 2011 slot in Sydney due to Tom Araya being struck down with illness, they made it up to Sydney fans with a devastating headline show. The line of big hairy men dressed in black t-shirts and cammo shorts wove out of the park and around the corner past the aquatic centre. Some had only just made it in when Kingdom Of Sorrow took to the stage. The five piece proceeded to deliver a half hour of gut kicking, aggressive aural onslaught of metal! The band mix hardcore elements with meaty hooks and brutal guitar riffs. The singer, displaying all the mannerisms of Suicidal Tendencies front man Mike Muir (even down to the blue bandana tied just above his upper eyelid) demanded the crowd to throw the horn sign up and get involved in the circle pit and most of the crowd weren't going to argue with him. 

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