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Little Animals | Beasts Of Bourbon
Albert | 23rd April

Review by Jen Jewel Brown

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Albert Productions
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Sounds like … what every housewife’s locking herself in the bathroom over.

The Beasts burst out from Sydney’s underbelly with 1984’s The Axeman’s Jazz (Red Eye Records) and have just signed to the hardest-to-get label in Australia, Alberts. Founding Beasts Tex Perkins (vocals and front-man duties) and Spencer P. Jones (guitar) survive, and are joined by lead guitarist Charlie Owen, and Tony Pola (drums) and Brian Hooper (bass) of The Surrealists.

As far as albums go, ‘Little Animals’ is one live son-of-a-bitch. The lightning-fast 10 track set was recorded in three days at New Market Studios in North Melbourne, and was co-produced by the band’s live soundman Scritch. Spurning overdubs, it’s magnificent wrecked electric blues, raw and swaggering, shot-through with chaos theory solos and splattered with lyrics to stick in a censor’s craw. Drug mentions? Little Animals is more like a customs officer’s check list. Hell, these guys are even packing epidurals!

The Beasts’ are both catchy and classic, the Kinks and The Faces, only 50 times more malevolent. Opener ‘I Don’t Care about Nothing Anymore’ could have been written by the late Ian Rilen (Rose Tattoo, X) to whom this album is dedicated. The title track ‘Little Animals’ is a Kurt Weill-style lament for species deceased, showcasing the depth and sophistication of the band. Like something from a Tony Award-winning Broadway play, it is moving, ironic and extraordinary, the perfect vehicle for Perkins’ rich, growling croon.

The caged animals on this bleeding-rare and ready studio record remain a fearsome proposition live – Henry Rollins was raw with admiration when he introduced them at Big Day Out 2006. If they don’t drink or rouse each other to death on tour in Europe, I can’t wait to hear what they come up with on the Alberts label next.

8 out of 10

Stepfords Live | The Stepfords
No Label | 1998

Review by Jen Jewel Brown



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Sounds like … the best little barroom in hell.

The sexy outlaw music of The Stepfords, a tamale-hot unsigned New York/Sydney band who scored the recent national Tony Joe White tour supports, is currently only available through MySpace. That’s something to raise a glass to, while it lasts.

Online phenomenon MySpace is a shark cage against the jaws of the few remaining multinational record companies, those amorphous mega-monsters prowling the economic rationalist deep as they consume each other mindlessly, year after year.

At least at http://www.myspace.com/thestepfords there are friends, free samples of three indie releases and the ability to contact the band direct to mail order this LP Stepfords Live, first album Gas, Food & You or the new four-track EP View From the Floor (2007) via the band’s own label Sway Records.

The Stepfords are the wicked, wicked ways of New York singer Monica McMahon, backed by Sydney-siders Jim Bowman (ex-Ed Kuepper) and Jon Schofield (ex Paul Kelly & the Messengers) on guitars, Clyde Bramley (Hoodoo Gurus) on bass and Iain Shedden (ex Saints) on drums. With this line-up you get a nice touch of garage dirtying up a set of very classy band-written originals.

With the moody “I Can See Hell from Here”, the kick-arse “Cocktail Dress” plus “Black Tears”, “Devil’s Lullaby” and seven other melodic yet gritty tracks, Stepfords Live was recorded at Sydney’s legendary Hopetoun Hotel in 1997, swiftly becoming a collector’s item. The band took a long break while other projects called and the iconic McMahon headed back to New York. The Stepfords’ first appearance on MySpace in June 2006, combined with some rare but dynamic gigs, brought a resurgence of attention. Schofield heads to the Lower East Side shortly to do some songwriting with McMahon. Watch out for a new album down the track.

8 out of 10