CHIMERS

Chimers woke up to the new year with the surprise news they had been added to rotation on national radio broadcaster Double J for their track 3AM.

Taken from the sophomore album Through Today (Poison City / Australia, 12XU / USA) it’s the latest in a string of recent achievements for the highly-touted 2-piece. Other ticks including

-Voted no. 5 on Sydney radio station 2SER’s listener best of 2024

-Top seller in Brisbane’s Sonic Sherpa and Wollongong’s Music Farmers record stores

-Selling out album launches in Sydney and Wollongong

-4ZZZ Brisbane album of the week

By mid-morning the good news had continued with the band being given the nod to open all shows for The Saints ’73-’78 on their November UK run. Chimers caught the ear of ALL members of the seminal proto-punks on their recent Australian tour who were only too happy to help introduce them to the English market.

“.. with a harnessed chemistry between the two, guitarist Skehan played and moved with a confidence fuelled by post-punk propulsion, the ‘“too fast” and “too slow” lyrics of Timber echoing the tension at play between the duo’s insistent forward momentum and grounded surrender. It’s always a treat to see punk in its humbling and authentic form, and it was a good lead-in to what (The Saints) Kuepper was to bring to the stage shortly after.” –  XPress magazine / The Saints ’73-’78 support review Nov ‘24

Come lunch and the band’s deal with Gerard Cosloy’s 12XU label has landed them distribution via the UK’s Forte Distribution, home to In The Red Recordings, Castleface, Superior Viaduct, Erased Tapes and more.

“The good news is they’re one of the best bands I’ve ever seen.”  – Gerard Cosloy

Mid-afternoon and our heroes have again been asked to open for The Beasts, this time on their Ultimo tour playing the Manning Bar on Feb 22. It’s a winning combo. The first time being in August ’23 in Sydney after Beasts guitarist Kim Salmon put them forward having been impressed by them earlier in the years as a support on a Scientists tour. Beasts + Chimers = win!

“It’s yet another feather in the cap of the two-piece, who have been supporting luminaries like Mudhoney, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes and Salmon’s other band The Scientists. More to the point, Chimers’ performances like the one they put on tonight truly put the ‘special’ in ‘with special Guests’.” – scenestr / Beasts support review Sydney 2023

Come evening time and inspired by all the live activity and positive press and guitarist / vocals Padraic announces he has written 6 new songs and prepping for a new album has begun. Partner and drummer Binx joins in the reverie and prepares the kit. It’s gonna be a long night.

2025. The year of Chimers.

THE SAINTS ’73-’78

THE SAINTS ’73-’78 TAKE ON THE WORLD!

The Saints ’73-’78 celebrate 50 years since their first-ever shows this November with a month-long tour taking in New Zealand, USA, Canada, the UK, Sweden and Germany.

Outside Australian The original Saints only ever played the UK, two shows in The Netherlands and a single French show, while Australia itself was reduced to just Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne. Australia has since been humbled by the explosion that is The Saints ’73-’78 while New Zealand, the USA, Canada, Sweden and Berlin bear witness to the joy for the very first time

“So… this was no tribute band… no hackneyed cabaret act. This was a band on fire. From the first few bars of opening song, This Perfect Day, through to the last drops of the chaotic frenzy that is Nights In Venice, The Saints pummelled our senses with 20 songs of jaw-dropping intensity” – Backseat Mafia

Having begun in 1973 as a three piece under the moniker Kid Galahad & The Eternals, it would take until late 1975 and the arrival of bassist Kym Bradshaw before the band would take on their more recognisable name and recognisable line-up: Ed Kuepper guitar, Chris Bailey vocals, Ivor Hay drums and Kym Bradshaw bass a/k/a The Saints. It was this line-up that would record the incendiary (I’m) Stranded 7” and album of the same name just a few months later and depart Australian shores for good in May ’77.

During their 12 month stay in the UK this same line-up of The Saints would produce their only charting single This Perfect Day plus the 1-2-3-4 ep before Bradshaw would leave replaced by teenager Algy Ward, the younger brother of Saints roadie Ian. Two more stunning LP’s Eternally Yours and Prehistoric Sounds would follow before the band would dissolve, breaking into factions and returning home minus the prize.

50 years later though, and with the sound of those three incredible albums continuing to resonate and find new fans, and on the back of the recently released (I’m) Stranded 4LP box set, surviving members Kuepper and Hay decide to reunite, recruiting like-minded musicians in Mick Harvey, Peter Oxley and Mark Arm – collectively of The Birthday Party / Bad Seeds, Sunnyboys and Mudhoney – with a sold out national tour playing the classics from those three albums and drawing in 12,000 people over 12 shows. The biggest shows the band have ever played.

“This wasn’t a tribute to the Saints … it was something else. It was eight guys on stage reaching for magic, devoted to the moment and delivering one of the greatest final furlongs I’ve seen in four decades of watching live music.” – Sean Sennett (Time Off)

“The towering impressions left by the nights proceedings? That Kuepper is a motherfucker of a guitar-player, his sound just as molten and unrelenting as back in the day”. – UNCUT

And joining The Saints ’73-’78 on all dates across the USA and UK are fast-rising Australia duo, Chimers. Recipients of numerous end-of-year ‘best of 2024’ album nods for their sophomore effort, Through Today. 10 tracks of laser-focused intensity that has seen them receive friends and favour from Henry Rollins to Built to Spill, Mudhoney to Mick Harvey! Indeed; Gerard Cosloy of Matador Records notoriety signed them to his 12XU label having witnessed them just the once.

“Illawarra-based two-piece Chimers tore up the second stage, bringing the sound and ferocity of a five-piece distilled into a guitar and drums duo. Tracks like their debut single off their 2021 album Surrounds showcase an ability to fabricate a wall of sound with just two bandmates.” – The Music

“The good news is they’re one of the best bands I’ve ever seen.”  – Gerard Cosloy

Rounding out The Saints ’73-’78 on their November tour is a three-piece brass section featuring tenor and baritone sax plus trumpet and includes masters of their craft; Eamon Dilworth and Julien Wilson.

Tickets for the UK are on-sale now
General on-sale tickets for the US and Canada are on-sale 9AM PST/12 noon EST Thursday 21st February
Tickets for Sweden / Germany on-sale 11am CET Thursday 21st February
Pre-sale tickets for New Zealand are on- sale 9am Tue 25th Feb. General on-sale 9am Wednesday 26th February

All tickets via feelpresents.com

Praise for The Saints:

“Rock music in the 70s was changed by three bands – the Sex Pistols, the Ramones and the Saints.” – Sir Bob Geldof

“Of all the places for one of the best bands to come from, it’s Brisbane, Australia. And they were doing it way before anybody else. They were playing live in like, ‘73. They were just an amazing band. Sort of like the Australian version of the Ramones but they didn’t look the part. I remember at the time thinking, those guys need to go to the barber. But that’s how shallow a lot of people were about bands at the time and they didn’t get the recognition they deserved. And I feel it was because of the way they looked. Never was a more punky record made but for some reason, well, for the reasons I’ve just said, they were criminally overlooked. I’d love to have seen them live, but never did.” – Jim Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain)

(I’m) Stranded is one of the hottest walking, incendiary, original rock albums ever recorded. This record is still as relevant to me now as it was back then.” – Henry Rollins

“A strong case could be made that thanks to this record — and its follow up Eternally Yours – that nobody did it as well as the Saints. I’m Stranded isn’t only essential punk history, it’s one of the best rock & roll albums period.” AllMusic

“If there is any punk rock better/hotter, it’s a short list.” The Big Takeover

“(I’m) Stranded remains the place to start when approaching the work of this important band. And this new box set represents the best way to embark upon that endeavor.” Goldmine

“It’s a refreshing blast of freon in today’s image-conscious, careerist era. The Saints recorded one of the best punk albums of all time a mere six months after the genre’s supposed origin. It’s about time the world knows it.” Spectrum Culture

“Magnificent.” SPIN

THE DOUBLE

This might make you uncomfortable but I like it! – Iggy Pop

DOUBLE DNA

Jim White and Emmett Kelly are The Double.

Feeling lilac?

Dance Never Ask.

ED KUEPPER (SOLO)

“We haven’t done this in years… time flies, surprisingly it’s been some years since I’ve done any solo shows,  so lo and behold… that is what I’m going to do in April/May. I’ll be trying out some new songs, and deconstructing some audience favs and some older beloved tunes in a relatively loving and spontaneous way. Do join me dear friends” – Ed Kuepper

With his bands The Saints and Asteroid Ekosystem taking precedence in recent times, plus a collaboration with Dirty Three drummer Jim White, it’s no wonder 2019 was the last time legendary Australian singer / songwriter Ed Kuepper toured nationally as a solo artist. But here we are, at last.

The tour comes off the back of a new album After the Flood, recorded with the afore mentioned Jim White in May 2023 and released this March 21 via Remote Control.

After The Flood features eight Kuepper originals digging on the material from his past; The Saints, Laughing Clowns and his own lengthy solo career.

“We took what Jim and I had been doing live and brought it into the studio. It was important that we captured the immediacy of what we’d been doing, that it wasn’t laboured over. Everything was laid down live”.

The first single for Ed and Jim is The Crying Dance. A Laughing Clowns track originally, released in 1982 on the 7” ep Sometimes, The Fire Dance. Hear it here. Pre-order the album here.

For the April tour Ed will consider these tracks and more from his recent reissue campaign including Electrical Storm, Honey Steels Gold and Black Ticket Day plus new material and old favourites from the before time.

Tickets for all shows on-sale now!

CARIBOU DJ POP UPS!

Having just completed a huge run of shows around Australia with the Caribou live band, Caribou’s Dan Snaith is not ready to leave us just yet. Today announcing a run of pop-up DJ sets, with free four-hour shows in Melbourne, Torquay, Sydney and Bryon Bay this weekend.

“you don’t need to sign up. just show up.” says Dan “i’m playing long sets because i’ve got so much music i want to play for you. ”

In the country for the first time since 2022, Caribou’s live tour kicked off with a set at Lost Paradise, followed by headline shows in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide. The tour concludes tonight (Jan 7) with Caribou’s first WA performance since 2015, taking place at Fremantle Arts Centre.

The tour is in support of Caribou’s latest album Honey, released on October 4th. The follow-up to his Grammy-nominated Our Love (2014) and Suddenly (2020), Honey brings Snaith’s two musical identities—Caribou and Daphni— closer together than ever before. On Honey, Snaith fuses their strengths into a record that grabs you and moves you like Daphni before it uplifts you like Caribou. Huge dancefloor tracks surprise in a way only Snaith’s productions can, with a freshness that defines an artist who is too excited by music-making to ever truly settle into any one sound.

Caribou’s live performances are renowned worldwide, having played festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury, and Primavera Sound, as well as iconic clubs such as Fabric, Panorama, and Warehouse Project. Described as a “stellar addition to the discography” by CLASH, Honey was featured as an album of the week on Double J and received praise from Pitchfork, The Line Of Best Fit, The Guardian, Stereogum, and many more.

Don’t miss your chance to catch Dan behind the decks this weekend!

Thursday 9 Jan – Torquay Hotel, Torquay, VIC w Eddie Example (8 pm – 1 am)
Friday 10 Jan – Fed Square, Melbourne, VIC (7 pm – 11 pm)
Saturday 11 Jan – Manning Open-Air, Sydney Uni, NSW w Harry Hayes (6 pm – midnight)
Sunday 12 Jan – Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, NSW w Bradley Zero, DJ Moxies
& Jono Ma (5 pm – midnight)

OSEES

“I’ve been saying it for at least seven years now Osees are the best band on the planet” – Marc Riley BBC 6

“Easily one of the most ferocious live bands on the planet” – Louder Than War

Psych-punk psychic warrior, ear worm-farmer, and possessor of many stamped passport pages, John Dwyer and his band Osees (aka Oh Sees, Thee Oh Sees, OCS, The Oh Sees, etc) return to Australia next March following a blistering sold-out national tour in 2023. Already announced as a feature act at the 2025 Golden Plains Festival Osees will also headline Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Fremantle and Melbourne.

The 2025 visit comes off the back of the release this month of their 28th album (yikes!) Sorcs 80. Another stab at mutant-punk it may be but Sorcs 80 is unique to the Osees catalogue in that there aren’t any guitars on the album. Two synth samples being the only sounds other than bass, drums and front-man John Dwyer’s vocals. And yet still they deliver the goods with tracks like Also the Gorilla and Termination Office being amongst their very best.

“Sorcs 80 sees the group dump guitars altogether, in favour of synths. However, this is not an album of electronica. The approach is pure rough-edged punk”. – The Arts Desk

“It all makes sense when Dwyer himself describes the album as “Dexy’s Midnight Runners meets Von LMO meets The Flesh Eaters meets the Screamers kinda punk junk.” – Louder Than War

But live the guitar is very much at the fore as are the duelling drums of Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon. While bassist Timothy Hellman (real name) and keyboard player Tomas Dolas are the lynchpins holding the sprawling unrestrained chaos at bay..

“Tonight, we were served more than two hours of the most well-thought out and powerful and intense music that I had seen in 40 years of gig going.” – i94bar

“With no need to introduce the songs to their cult following, the band crash through 23 tracks with sweat flying off the cymbals with each synced crash. Claiming to be a ‘rip off’ of a multitude of bands, Dwyer’s humble nature doesn’t change the fact that Osees are easily one of the best live bands you could see in this day and age”. – The Clash

Don’t miss the best live band on the planet: Osees live 2025.