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Vegas Kings last 2 shows - Melbourne + Brisbane

Discussion I Made about 1 year ago

VEGAS KINGS ARE DEAD!

After 10 years we are calling it a day.

Details:

Final Melbourne Show Venue: Yah Yahs Date: Friday 12th November Supports: Digger & The Pussycats + Hits + Kids Of Zoo

*Final Brisbane Show * Venue: The Troubadour Date: Saturday 13th November Supports: “Negative Creep” + The Narwhals + Geese

www.myspace.com/vegaskings www.merenoise.net

Butcher Birds

Comment I Made about 4 years ago

Beat Mag Review

Butcher Birds Eat Their Young (Mere Noise)

Ornithology – the study of birds – has never been my strongest academic or conversational suit. Sure, I’m pretty certain those multi-coloured birds that rip off the fruit next door are parrots, or maybe lorikeets, and miner birds are those bloody awful things that pissed my parents off so much in the 1970s that my old man crafted a homemade sling-shot to preserve our suburban garden. But butcher birds are a completely foreign species – and given that the Butcher Birds (the band, not the taxonomy of bird) title their EP Eat Their Young I’m guessing the humble butcher bird isn’t one of God’s more endearing creatures.

So it’s lucky that the Butcher Birds are an endearing band to the ear. The Butcher Birds hail from Queensland, but their musical shtick owes much more to the grungey sonic landscapes of Washington State, and the intensity of the Deal sisters’ Bostonian legacy. Eat Their Young is two parts rollicking punk rock, and three parts grinding atmospheric punk rock. Mower is the stand-out track, packed full of some sparkling Sleater Kinney riffs washed over with the rich and dirty backdrop of Veruca Salt-ish noise.

The remainder of the album is played out at a lesser tempo, but with enough attitude to compel attention. The feminine harmonies of Tiger Paw complement perfectly the noise fest loitering in the background, while Great Escape presses into your temples like the fateful consequences of a night on cheap Tequila. The Deal could be a tribute to Kelly and Kim, but that’s probably a serendipitous musical reference (though the references to ‘habits’ in the lyrics might be more than accidental); the bruising tone might easily reflect the permanent damage of an ill-considered substance dependent lifestyle. And finally there’s the sweet and pretty Sweet Sweet Cones – hopefully a song about the pleasures of eating good ice-cream, but maybe not. EPs can be a valuable entree to a band’s potential, or a gastronomic turn-off – in the case of the Butcher Birds, the weight of evidence is overwhelming on the former assessment. Good stuff.

PATRICK EMERY