Live review: No Sleep Til (for The Music Network)

Eric Melvin of NOFX

20 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

Entertainment Quarter, Sydney
Saturday, December 18 

For an embryonic national festival that’s already been dubbed ‘Soundwave’s seconds’ before its inception, No Sleep Til in Sydney on Saturday flipped the bird to any opposing critics.

It may have been held in a few dirty sheds at the Entertainment Quarter, but the battle between punk and metal created an intense backdrop where metal-heads and pink-haired punks were forced to associate.

Over at the Red Stage, past master’s Me First And The Gimme Gimmes drew a thick crowd as they reminisced about when punk wasn’t dead and when in-band rivalry only made you play better. Bassist Fat Mike of NOFX and singer Spike Slawson badgered each other through their set which included tracks Xanadu, Country Roadand even a raspy version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

Most of the Gimme Gimme crowd stayed for Frenzal Rhomb who took the torch next. The Sydney punk veterans know what’s expected of them nowadays, and obliged with only the favourites; White World andBucket Bong were the most noted singalongs, along with final trackPunch In The Face. To be fair, they did throw in one new track, Bird Attack comically details the toils of having to wear a helmet to fend off magpie assaults.

U.S metalcore band, Autumn Burns Red impressively took out the award for biggest death circle at the Black Stage. Notably one of the most wrathful mosh pits I’ve ever seen, these kids showed no mercy for the fallen, some even relished in the fact.

Afterward, at the Green Stage, seasoned three-piece, Alkaline Triolooked more pop than punk. Singer Matt Skiba sang under a multicoloured trucker hat and behind fluorescent yellow sunglasses, proving you don’t have to look the part to deliver good ol’ shoe throwing, barrier bombarding, punk rock. Intelligently playing mostly tracks from Crimson and Good Mourning the Trio did throw a few new tracks from This Addiction. Skiba, always one for between-song banter, revealed he got in a fight with Fat Mike the night before while they were watching Descendents. NOFX’s Eric Melvin later laughed that Skiba was trying to jump onstage with them, who can blame him really? Rounding off with Radio, if they’re matching grins were anything to go by, Alkaline Trio had as much fun as us.

The sun set on the Green Stage (the only stage that saw it), with metal space cadets Gwar. Supposedly banished from space to “rape the shit out of some hobbits” in Australia, Gwar did just that. In full satirical costume they battled a monster, which decapitated one of their men. The theatrical blood projection from a fake head deserves definite props for the best piss-take of No Sleep Til.

Meanwhile, over at the Red Stage NOFX used their slot to remind us who were the Kings of live.

“This is a song about weed,” said Eric Melvin.

“Pretty much all of our songs are about coke, but this is the only one about weed,” replied Fat Mike before tearing into New Herb. The cut and thrust continued with jabs at Megadeth’s spelling capabilities, homophobes and religion in between favourites like Leave It Alone, Triple Rock and Blasphemy. During final tracks Perfect Guvernmentand Jesusland we showed our appreciation with a good old-fashioned shoe throwing, “are you fucking retarded?” said Fat Mike after getting hit in the chest with a thong or as he called it, a “flip-flop.”

Personally the highlight wasn’t Fat Mike’s bitter sarcasm, nor was it when their keyboardist escorted an over-zealous fan off stage all while lassoing the air with one arm held high; it was Eric Melvin and his quirky high kicks that he projected in all directions behind Fat Mike, genius.

Although most stood by for Descendents, those of us who like a bit of pop in our punk made a beeline for A Day To Remember at the Green Stage. Complete showmen, the Florida five-piece choreographed unified jumps and spins that accented all the best bits of tracks like A Shot In The Dark, My Life For Hire and The Plot To Bomb The Panhandle. Lead vocalist Jeremy McKinnon asked fans to get a buddy to crowd surf and stand, surfing on top of them, few were successful. “One more song!” we screamed before You Should Have Killed Me When You Had The Chance. Bodies spilled over the barricade in droves, this A Day To Remember gig could give the Quicksilver Pro a run for its money any day.

To those who decided to sleep through it and hold out for Soundwave instead, I recommend you treat yourselves to both fest's next year; even if it's just so you can chuck a shoe at your favourite band's metal/punk rival.

Alexisonfire: Normal just like you (for The Music Network)

20 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

With a name taken from a lactating contortionist stripper (now prostitute), Canada’s Alexisonfire have made more than an impression on the Australian hardcore scene; and not just because of those sex-worker images you may have in your head right now.

The five-piece were recently in Australia for the second time this year, but this time we’re the first stop on their first headlining tour of album number four, Old Crows/Young Cardinals. TMN sat down with the band’s singer/guitarist Dallas Green at a bar in King’s Cross to discuss his quest to stay normal and keep his fans that way too.

“I’ve had certain instances with people when they get a little too intrusive and I have to be like ‘stop it’,” says Green. “I talk to kids if they get a little too crazy about the fact that they’re meeting me. I’m like ‘listen; it’s not a big deal I’m a normal person just like you. You’re probably better at a tonne of stuff that I can’t do’.”

Green’s definition of normal is a life on tour with his best friends Wade McNeil (rhythm guitar), George Petit (vocals), Chris Steele (bass) and Jordan Hastings (drums). The post-hardcore worshippers have been touring for almost two years, but Green enthuses that “coming to Australia is like being on holiday” for them.

Amidst the normality of their constant touring schedule, the band has even found time to record new material. A four song EP titled Dog’s Blood was released in November. The inspiration for the EP stemmed partly from a desire to make music without rules, their commitment to “never write a concept record” and the fact Green mentioned it to the press before its inception.

“We came up with an idea to make a mish-mash EP, 'cos with EP’s you don’t have to worry about rules. With a record, once you get knee-deep in it, it starts to form itself on the record and certain songs get left off because they don’t fit the mood or the vibe whereas with the EP you can do whatever you want.

“It started as a bit of a joke when we first decided that we were gonna make an EP called Dog’s Blood. I said it in an interview and it got printed and we were like ‘oh geeze, I guess we have to do it.’ So then George wrote the song called Dog’s Blood and here we are,” laughs Green.

Although Dog’s Blood could be seen to have come about in a somewhat haphazard manner, Green is clear on the direction he wants his music to take. The quintet plan to take some time off after this current tour and then Green, having already written fifteen new songs for his solo effort, City and Colour, plans to put the finishing touches on a new release.

“One of my goals in life is to come here and play a City and Colourtour so hopefully I’ll be able to make it down here. It’ll be my first time and I’ll have all three records and I won’t know what to play,” says Green excitedly.

City and Colour (five points if you get the namesake reference) has gained as much acclaim as AOF and with his fan-base continuing to grow, Green wants to make sure they don’t go gaga on him, in fact he’ll hate it of you do.

“I’ll never look at myself as a celebrity or high-profile, I just play guitar and I love it and I sing and I love it, that’s it. There’s nothing that makes me any different or better than anybody and I hate when people either assume that about you or put that on you.”

Green dreams do come true as City and Colour prepare to tour Australia for the first time in April next year, unsurprisingly, tickets to all venues sold out in three days.

See tour dates below.

Tuesday April 5 - Enmore Theatre, Sydney

Thursday April 7 - Palace Theatre, Melbourne

Friday April 8 - Tivoli, Brisbane

Sunday April 10 - HQ, Adelaide

Monday April 11 - Astor Theatre, Perth

Live review: Jack Johnson (for The Music Network)

13 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

The Domain, Sydney
Saturday, December 11 

Turns out Jack Johnson has the potential to throw one hell of an outdoor concert, but maybe next time he should book a different security company. Gates opened at The Domain at 4pm (practically at sparrows fart as far as gigs go), amazingly, punters were asked to toss their water and food into plastic bins or throw it out.

Yes, Jack Johnson provides free water stations and yes as far as outdoor concerts go, the food was reasonably priced and his performance way surpassed any negativity, not to mention he’s forever in our good books for donating 100% of tour profits to charity…but whose idea was it to start proceedings so early and have only one pizza stand?!

Moving forward, I was unfashionably late and devastated; I missed Australia’s radio announcer turned blues muso, Ash Grunwald and the Canadian indie femme-philandering twins, Tegan and Sara. Despite the crowd of 17,000 the sheer cleanliness of The Domain was an initial shock, whether that was due to roaming undercover rubbish collectors or for fear Johnson’s environmental wrath would rein upon them if they didn’t, was unclear.

Opening with favourites Taylor and Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, it was intelligibly a night for the people and not for promotion of his latest album To The Sea. Of his 26-song set, Johnson played only 5 new tracks and even threw in a few covers like Steve Miller Band’s The Joker and G.Love and Special Sauce’s Rodeo Clowns where Ash Grunwald joined him onstage.

Always one for equality, Johnson invited Tegan and Sara onstage to sing the fitting Cyndi Lauper track, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Pianist/percussionist Zach Gill bathed in a slither of limelight forBreakdown when he sang the first verse, before a sudden wall of fireworks erupted behind us, “I set that up for you guys. Na just kidding but it sure is pretty and it’s gonna make me forget my lyrics.”

He may have forgotten his lyrics but more than redeemed himself with a five-song encore which included Do You Remember, the so-sweet-you-could spew story of how he met his wife and Angel, “This is like ten years later when you wake up on Christmas morning and you realise you haven’t got her a present yet, so you write her a little song,” he explained.

His altered version (with added third verse) of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer put cuddling couples and doting families on their feet and his final track Better Together proved its point with the support acts joining him for a festive ending and some seriously questionable hippy-dancing. As we all filed through the gates, what could have ended up looking like any of this summers mega-festivals, was completely contrasted by the many punters collecting their empty beer cans and chip packets and placing then in the bins on their way out.

Live Review: Looking Through A Glass Onion (for The Music Network)

09 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

Actor/singer John Waters has returned with his critically acclaimed Looking Through A Glass Onion. His performance at The Opera House on Wednesday night instilled new life into the memory of John Lennon.

Having toured the production since the '90s to celebrated reviews, Waters delivered a fresh, uncanny impersonation of both John Lennon’s singing voice and Liverpool accent. He weaved us through the bright and dark of Lennon’s life. Accompanied by the masterly Stewart D’Arrietta, (Waters’ collaborator, Music Director, singer, pianist and multifarious impersonator) as well as bassist Tony Mitchell of theSherbet fame, guitarist Paul Berton and drummer Greg Henson, the audience were delivered a multi-coloured view of John Lennon without ever fringing on imitation.

Waters gave new meaning and insight to each Lennon track with quirky and sometimes even heart-rending anecdotes that intertwined between favourites like Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, How Do You Sleep and Come Together.

It takes a very talented man to stand still in one spot for two acts and 28 tracks; captivating an audience that included the likes of Steve Balbi and Erika Heynatz. For Strawberry Fields Waters stood drenched in red light, an ominous shadow projected tall on the wall next to him. During his arresting rendition of Isolation, the stage lights cast horizontally over just his face, his head looked as though it was floating in the darkness.

After a well-deserved standing ovation John Waters and friends performed a two-song encore including the sing-along of the night,Instant Karma. Judging by the many audience members wiping their glassy-eyed faces, Waters’ part biographical, part theatrical mix payed an all-encapsulating homage to the legend that was John Lennon.

Bonde do Rolê discuss new tunes and transvestites (for The Music Network)

30 December 2010

by Poppy Reid

According to DJ Gorky from Brazilian group Bonde do Rolê, their yet to be released sophomore record is all about transvestites.

The party kids – founding members Rodrigo Gorky and Pedro D’Eyrot along with new additions Laura Taylor and Ana Bernardino - have emerged from a three-year hiatus with enough material for two records. The four-piece were in Sydney for the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange party where they premiered Olodum and some tracks from their traditional samba record. interestingly, both are largely themed around gender-bending drag queens.

“Of all the songs we’ve ever done, most of them were about trannies,” says Gorky earnestly “The samba one is a completely one themed record, about trannies,” he even announces his dream is to have renowned transvestite and TV host, RuPaul cameo on the upcoming album.

“Even if she just goes ‘you better work,’ or if she just says ‘fierce’, anything! If we could have RuPaul on the record that would be way better than the first one where we didn’t have any trannies.”

Gorky is referring to Bonde do Rolê’s 2007 debut album, With Lasers, but don’t worry if you’ve never heard of it, or the group for that matter. They’re happy-go-lucky attitude is: “as long as you remember us, you can call us anything.”

American DJ Diplo signed Gorky and Pedro along with previous frontwoman Marina Ribatski to his label, Mad Decent, after discovering their MySpace account.

With Lasers was released through Mad Decent and had a few club anthems, most notably Marina Gasolina. The track featured on an Australian Bonds commercial and although the track is entirely in Portuguese, the lyrics - Meet me after school and I'll beat you like gorilla. Bite you like slut, come play with my pussy- had to be removed from the ad due to their offensive nature; but Gorky says the lyrics are only dirty to those who are dirty themselves.

“The song’s about animals; piranhas and gorillas and spiders. Of course it has a second meaning but you gotta have the evilness inside of you to understand it in a dirty way,” he says.

“Internal issues” caused Marina to leave the group at the end of 2007, leaving Gorky and Pedro with no live act to tour and on the hunt for a new record label.

“We were struggling for so long but we kept working… We were just having a short break, due to higher forces,” side steps Gorky. “[Marina] sent me an email when her father died and I replied but she never wrote back. I’m not going to try to be her friend coz we’re not friends anymore.”

The group is now signed to Domino records but has kept Diplo on as a “fifth member.” “We actually have that on contract,” says Gorky. Along with Diplo, Gorky and Pedro recruited Laura and Ana, however their initiation was more mercenary. Passing random trials and tribulations like rolling in mud and eating dodgy kebabs for an MTV Brazil contest in 2008, the girls stood out from the rest, but not for their talent per se.

“It was more about the vibe than actual talent,” says Gorky. “It was like Karate Kid, painting the fences and cleaning the floor; all the tasks had nothing to do with the band but at the same time, it had a lot.”

In the year that MTV helped discover Bonde do Rolê’s front-spunks they also nominated the group twice at the 2008 MTV Brazil Awards for Artist Of The Year and Video Of The Year for their track Solta O Frango. This recognition from their homeland only then sparked the release of With Lasers in Brazil.

“They say we’re just a bunch of spoilt rich kids who make baile funk tracks and the people who do like baile funk think we’re just rich kids having a take on baile funk,” Gorky has accepted that his country of origin will be the hardest of all to crack so perhaps this acceptance is the reason behind “three or four out of the twelve” Olodum tracks being recorded in English.

Bonde do Rolê have been labeled, pigeon-holed, celebrated and even berated for their music, but if their Smirnoff gig is anything to go by, one only has to attend a live show to see what all the fuss is about.

“Even though we might not have a huge following, even though people don’t understand what we’re singing about, we’re going to pass that fun to the people and when we get the fun back it becomes a big thing!”

The 2011 release date for Olodum has not been confirmed.

Punk’s not dead as long as NOFX lives (for The Edge Magazine)

25 November 2010

by Poppy Reid 

In the not-too distant past there was a time when NOFX would not have done this interview. Or any interview for that matter. For much of the last two decades the band has boycotted MTV and VH1, refusing permission to let them play their music videos and even ceased production on music videos altogether. Lead guitarist Eric Melvin blames the monotony of the interview process for the media snub.

“After years of touring so hard we were doing every interview for every fanzine that knew of us, and questions got to the point where they were all the same, all the time. My answers went from being all the same, all the time, to when I started making up nonsense just to keep it interesting,” laughs Melvin. “Then we realised we weren’t even telling the truth about anything anymore and so we said ‘well what’s the point?’”

More recently however, the band decided to let fans in again, starting with their Backstage Passport documentary that followed the quartet on their 2008 world tour and aired on Fuse TV. The doco ushered the band into a more relaxed approach to the media and to a more honest narrative through their music; whilst they still kept their controversial lyrics about drugs, alcohol and even vaginas, NOFX’s latest releases Coaster and the Cokie The Clown EP are the most intimate editions to their 11 album backlog.

That is not to say that these punk rockers have let slide any of that attitude that has seen them pioneer the genre for the last two decades. If anything demonstrates that punk is in fact not dead, it’s Fat Mike’s infamous performance as his alter-ego, Cokie at this years SXSW festival. Mike indulged the audience with graphic, emotional tales of his younger years, before using pre-recorded video footage to make them believe they had drunk his urine from shot glasses he had passed out. Many fans berated Fat Mike, and SXSW festival organisers banned him from future events.

“He told me how he was going to set out the whole thing from the beginning. I just don’t want people to think that he’s an asshole! Before the second camera angle came out, people were talking shit about him and it wasn’t fair but I couldn’t tell them that I knew about the second camera angle so that was tough for me,” says Melvin.

Needless to say, Melvin doesn’t think Cokie will be making an appearance on the No Sleep Til tour, “he’s already got so many personalities, I don’t think his psyche could handle another one,” he jokes. However, we can still expect the straight-jacket antics we’ve come to bank on from Mike. Although, according to Melvin, those attending the later festival dates will be treated to a more unhinged live set.

“At the beginning of a tour he’s straight and a little mellow but by the end he’s gone of the rails a bit and going a little crazy,” he chuckles. “[Sydney] will get some of the good stuff I think, he’ll be a little bit cock-eyed and crazy, a little more bush-haired than at the beginning.”

For Melvin, playing festivals like No Sleep Til must come as a welcome change to their regular touring schedule, with (only!) 40 or 50 songs on the repertoire. The band normally keep a record of their set list from every gig, cross-referencing to make sure their live act is different every time they play, and choosing the tracks from a revolving list of around 100 songs.

“We should be ready to play those songs any time, but for this tour I might only have to know 40 or 50 songs,” he says nonchalantly.

Despite this incredible backlog the band have still found the creative energy to set to work on their twelfth studio album. “We’ve got 10 or 12 pretty short, fast songs and Mike decided he wants me to sing them so we’ll see how that turns out.”

Fortunately this career change from guitarist to lead singer (and the fact that Melvin’s just welcomed his first born child) don’t mark too much of a departure from the band’s infamous no-holds barred attitude. “It’s still fun to spread some obnoxious rumour about something we’re doing or somebody else’s band,” he only half-jokes, promising a “more hardcore punk” sound on the new record.

Coaster and the Cokie The Clown EP are out now through Fat Wreck Chords.

No Sleep Till Tour dates:

12/10/10 Auckland, Australia, ASB Showgrounds

2010
12/12/10 Perth, Australia, Arena Joondalup

2010
12/15/10 Adelaide, Australia, Adelaide Entertainment Centre  2010
12/17/10 Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne Showgrounds

2010
12/18/10 Sydney, Australia, The Entertainment Quarter Moore Park  2010
12/19/10 Brisbane, Australia, RNA Showgrounds

Jack Johnson: more than a stereotype (for The Music Network)

25 November 2010

by Poppy Reid

It may not come as a surprise that Jack Johnson’s latest album pays homage to the sea, or that like his last tour, 100% of the profits from his upcoming Australian circuit will go to charity; but after speaking with the nonchalant singer, I realise that the stereotype he so easily falls under, prevails for a reason.

To The Sea is Johnson’s fifth album and to be fair it’s not all about the sea, it’s infused with love songs for his wife Kim, a track inspired by his newest progeny (My Little Girl) and the teachings of his late father who died of cancer in August last year.

“It’s about a father leading his son to a place where he can dive deeper and try to understand himself,” says Johnson. “The ocean is deep so it has that representation of the subconscious in my life.”

For Johnson, life didn’t change all that much when he exploded onto the soul scene in 2002. His debut, Brushfire Fairytales was a stab at a third-choice career, right after professional surfer and surf film director (both of which he succeeded at). Since his induction to the music industry, the now 35-year-old still lives where he grew up on Oahu’s North Shore in Hawaii, he still surfs almost everyday and still make surf films, except now he uses the footage for his music videos.

Johnson says the biggest challenges he now faces is not whether his latest record will go platinum (it’s his fourth consecutive #1 album on the ARIA charts), it’s whether he’ll be able to pass on his dad’s wisdom to his kids, or whether he’ll be home on time to play Lego with them.

“The first half of your life you just take in the advice, thinking that you’re smarter, then all of a sudden you switch positions and are able to look at the relationship you had and figure out the things you want to change,” Johnson says he’s at a place in his life where he still feels like a son; which isn’t such a bad thing. “It’s a pretty fun time to be appreciative that you spend hours playing Lego every night.”

Still a kid at heart, even Johnson’s new record is reverting back to the days of old. Playing in a punk-rock cover band throughout high school, his hero’s were Jimi Hendrix and his electric guitar. In fact, the reason why his first album was so mellow and acoustic driven was because he did all his writing on an acoustic guitar.

“When it came time to do the second album I felt a bit like the sound was established, so I’ve slowly added a little more electric on every album until we get to this one here,” says Johnson.

One of the tracks that reflect this departure in sound is Johnson’s single At Me Or With Me, which he conjured on an aeroplane watching television. His lyrics, “but is there something telling you, you can't trust anyone in this town? Oh, baby, those are such great shoes," came from “how insecure humans can be.”

“I was watching this TV show, I don’t even know what it was called but it was one of those ones where they take a woman and they do a complete makeover and give her a new haircut.

“She felt so insecure and was wanting to know whether people were laughing at her or with her and all of a sudden they gave her this new pair of shoes and she just got so excited about the shoes!” laughs Johnson. “I guess for me it’s the waves, I can have my whole world get pretty heavy but then if I just go for a surf, maybe that’s like the shoes for her.”

Not that long ago, around the time of his fathers passing, there was a stage when Johnson’s world leant so heavy that he wanted to give up touring for good. It could be said the only reason he’ll be gracing our shores is because of the proceeds he’ll donate to charities like the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation or the Kokua Hawaii Foundation and also toward local projects in each town he plays at.

“I wasn’t even sure I wanted to tour anymore, but then the idea of making the tour a fundraising tool and going out and leaving every town we played in, in better shape than when we got there; it’s just a good feeling,” explains Johnson. “It makes it easier to explain to my kids what dad does for work.”

Johnson may be a philanthropic tree hugging flower child, but if even one of his teachings get passed down to his children, you can guarantee the world the will be a much brighter place.

“It’s a big part of it is just being a dad now, getting to show my kids they can do this.”

Jack Johnson will tour Australia from December 4 to 13, supported byAsh Grunwald and Tegan and Sara.

Australian tour dates and venues below.

Saturday December 4 – NIB STADIUM, PERTH,www.ticketmaster.com.au

Monday December 6 – ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE, ADELAIDE, www.ticketek.com.au

Wednesday December 8 - SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL, MELBOURNE, www.theartscentre.com.auor www.ticketmaster.com.au

Saturday December 11 - THE DOMAIN, SYDNEY, www.ticketmaster.com.au

Monday December 13 - RIVERSTAGE, BRISBANE, www.ticketmaster.com.au

Album Review: The John Steel Singers (For The Music Network)

23 November 2010

by Poppy Reid

With the rise and rise of Brisbane’s recent emissions like Yves Klein Blue and Hungry Kids Of Hungary, big things are expected from the city’s latest offering, The John Steel Singers.

The shoegazing sextet have big, erm, shoes, to fill, but they have a few advantages when it comes to their debut album Tangalooma; there’s more of them, they had Brisbane luminary Robert Forster (ofThe Go-Betweens) produce the album, they use wacky instruments like an autoharp and a vibrating shaver, and their debut was triple j’s Album Of The Week not that long ago.

Named after a tourist spot off of Queensland’s Moreton Island, you’re immediately confronted with images of family holidays, sandy hair or ocean swims; and that’s exactly what the band want you to think. On the surface Tangalooma is an innocent anodyne, with spiralling instrumentals that make you feel all fuzzy inside, but when listened to from start to finish with both ears ready, you’ll either feel tricked or pleasantly surprised.

Opening with Your Favourite Perversion and the lyric “I propose we take our clothes off,” the band maintains their schoolboy perversions whilst still sounding suave and musically developed. This short track (at just 1:55) is the most lyrically dependent on an album where the instruments provide a creeping backdrop that moves an inch forward with each new song. ...Perversion and following single Overpasscreate a false pretence of thick storytelling, leaving bouncy instrumentals at the wayside. It’s not until the third track where they perform the ol’ switcheroo.

Cause Of Self lets the keyboards and percussion sing the catchy chorus and verses while the shared vocals act as unnecessary counterparts which wouldn’t necessarily take away from the track had they not been there. The same goes for past tracks Rainbow Krautand Evolution, which have been polished with a mix of melancholy and ‘60s nostalgia. Forster must be commended here for stripping back the originals, making room for each band member to stay indispensable.

The orchestral pop in Masochist bounds through the brass and horns sections, the vocalists seem blissfully unaware of the jaded lyrics they’re singing; “you’ll die alone if you won’t settle down, the masochist with marriage on his mind.”

The John Steel Singers know exactly what kind of ‘sunshine and lollipops’ reaction they’re music emotes, but behind the swirling strings and echoed percussion in tracks like You’ve Got Nothing To Be Proud Of and Dying Tree, lies a downbeat of layered understanding that will have you discover something new each time you come back.

Good Charlotte: Back in Black (for The Music Network)

22 November 2010

by Poppy Reid

A decade after the release of Good Charlotte’s debut album, the US pop-rockers almost scrapped their latest creation Cardiology and ditched music altogether.

In July of this year, Good Charlotte – vocalist Joel Madden, guitaristBenji Madden, guitarist Billy Martin, bassist Paul Thomas and new edition and drummer Dean Butterworth – dumped their label Sony Music and signed with Capitol Records, part of the EMI family. TMN caught up with tattooed twin Benji, whilst they were in Sydney performing for the Debit Mastercard Priceless series.

“We were on a label that didn’t really care, the staff had changed six times over, no one really got our band anymore…I thought maybe this is it, maybe we are not meant to still be here, maybe we just got really lucky and maybe the ride’s over,” reflects Benji.

This self-doubt is unsurprising when you consider the waning popularity of the band in recent years. After two long years spent supporting their flop of a fourth album, Good Morning Revival back in 2007; fans were hungry for the classic GC found on their first self-titled record. Benji says when the band decided to take a year off he stopped caring about media opinion and was able to write honest music again.

“I think that’s why this record sounds more like the first record because when we wrote the first one we were just fans and when we made this record we were truly fans again.

“We couldn’t write the songs that are on Cardiology on Good Morning Revival because our guard was up,” admits the 31-year-old. “Why would we write a personal song like 1979 (the year the Madden twins were born) or why would Joel write Harlow’s Song (about Joel’s daughter to partner Nicole Ritchie), just to put it out there and have people tear you to shreds?”

For a guy who once famously wrote the lyrics “I’m young, I’m hopeless, I’m lost and I know this,” he seems… well, hopeful, and on track. Good Charlotte’s fifth opus takes us back to basics; it’s that guilty pleasure mix of pop rock churned with simple guitar riffs and whoa oh’s that make you wanna don your Chuck Taylor’s and dye your hair blue. This is partly thanks to producer Don Gilmore who worked on the band’s first record. “He actually cares more about us as people than he even cares about the music,” says Benji.

Similar to the label switcheroo, Gilmore was GC’s second choice.Howard Benson (who worked on My Chemical Romance’s, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The All-American Rejects’, Move Along) was fired after not once appearing in the studio throughout the recording process. Benji blogged of his frustration on the band’s website and the over-600 responses from fans cemented his decision to start again.

“The response from the fans was so overwhelmingly positive that the next day I wrote the song Let The Music Play. It was really a turning point, that’s when we started over,” explains Benji.

Let The Music Play is the next single to be released from the album and is dedicated to new beginnings and, of course, their fans. After a complete turnaround from almost giving up, to releasing a mature throwback record that tips its fedora hat to the bands breakout release; Benji says there’s still more for him to achieve within the industry.

“There’s still a lot of things I’d love to be able to do within the music industry. I’d love to be able to take a Grammy home to my mother and be like ‘look mum!’” he jokes. “I think we’ll just stick around for another 10 years and see what happens.”