LULU'S MARCH 2021 NEWSLETTER
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Featured in this newsletter:
BLUE DIVERS - “PRIVATE EYES #1” LP
BABY GRANDE - ‘1975 -1977: THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS’
BODY MAINTENANCE - “BODY MAINTENANCE” LP
CHEAP NASTIES - “CHEAP NASTIES” LP
AN UPDATE ON MONT...
SHARKEY’S GUIDE TO THE WORK OF DAVID LEE ROTH.
MARCH 2021
Okay okay, we’re back. Sorry about the lack of newsy and calendar for Feb. This always happens - I’m not sure why we so consistently fail to deliver a newsletter in February but there’s always something. Good news is we have HEAPS to talk about. New stock has been flowing in thick and fast over the last couple months, and there’s no shortage of incredible new releases on the horizon.
Also notable for this month is a calendar with EVENTS - something we haven’t seen around these parts since this time last year. The March calendar is stacked with good stuff, and we’re all looking forward to finally getting back out there. Also included in this month’s newsletter is a Community Crate update, some info on the latest goings on with Mont and the Mont Icons podcast, and an eye-opening guide to the 78-88 work of David Lee Roth from Sharkey.
Love you, please stay safe and keep looking after each other.
Until next month (actually this time),
Lulu xoxo
With your help, Lulu's will raise funds and awareness for different organisations who need support. You will find unique merch, rare second hand gems, long sold out local hits and fundraiser specific releases in the in-store Community Crate or on the Community Crate section of our website.
We will donate all proceeds from the Community Crate sales in early 2021 to Sisters Inside, an independent community organisation based in Queensland. Sister’s Inside advocates for the collective human rights of women and girls in prison, and provides services to address their individual needs and those of their families.
A recent addition to the in-store Community Crate is a revolving section of vintage band shirts, 100% of the proceeds of which will be going directly to Sisters Inside.
As always, if you have anything you’d like to donate to the crate (test pressings, rare second hand LPs, old cool merch), please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
GISM - “DETESTATION” LP
Beast Arts / Relapse
There are a ton of stories and legends surrounding GISM and the facts may never publicly be known, but here is one for you - this album is without a doubt one of the greatest documents of punk music to exist. This slab is mean as all hell and its bad attitude is matched only by its creativity. Rightly considered as excellent and true as any record from punk or metal bands from the era and changing the fate of the genre, it’s adventurous and primitive in the same way that the greats across all genres for all times are. It’s memorable, unhinged, original, and absolutely powerful. Randy Uchida’s guitar work is still a marvel of the modern era (Rest In Peace you Hell Bombing Hog Angel) If you haven’t heard it, don’t waste any time. If you’ve never owned it, don’t waste any time. You know what they say about pussyfooters...
BLUE DIVERS - “PRIVATE EYES #1” LP
Bedroom Suck
Thirrol based Blue Divers is a revolving membered ambient project with Alec Marshal as it's axis and sole constant. Using a combination of guitars, keyboards, chimes, and various knick knacks the group create delicate, minimal soundscapes that bring to mind the work of elusive Australian underground trio Love Chants or Eno's opus Thursday Afternoon. Recorded during the 2020 COVID lockdowns, the compositions are suitably lackadaisy; evoking the atmosphere of elongated winter morning cups of tea and eerily empty streets. A gorgeous debut that comes as a welcome balm for the oppressive Melbourne summer sun.
BABY GRANDE - ‘1975 -1977: THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS’
Hozac
Since it’s release in 2018 Steve Kilbey’s lost glam outfit BABY GRANDE has been a firm favourite at LULU’s HQ.
Originally recorded under contract with EMI the bands waning popularity saw it pulled from their roster and the band calling it quits with no foreseeable opportunities on the horizon before finally unearthed four decades later by Oz-rock obsessives Hozac.
In context it’s not surprising - as a genre glam’s glories were short lived with many of those die-hard believers getting caught on the wrong side of its sudden demise and spawning a sub-genre of their own.
Kilby & co’s lost long player falls firmly into this category of junkshop glam and this record is one stone cold killer - masterful Bowie-Bolan worship complete with some hard edged Young-Lobby style boogie to boot and some proto-punk kicks thrown in for good measure.
Another lost artefact of the suburban glitter generation when rock and/or roll was all about a form of theatre to transcend your own mundane existence.
Throw a Lulu’s recommends on this one.
BODY MAINTENANCE - “BODY MAINTENANCE” LP
Unwound
This record is like a ghost ship, wandering around glumly from shore to shore with some mysterious and long forgotten purpose. That is, forgotten by all except for those aboard. It surprises me how much this genuinely carries a downer vibe throughout, even with its moments of triumph and spirited flexes. Chorus pedals doing what they were made to do over the guitar tones certainly brighten up the place a little bit but the thrum of the rhythm section moans forward unassuaged on its journey. Helmsman Riley is left to tell the stories above the din, and without a lyrics sheet accompanying the record I’m making a stab in the dark here, but these aren’t the most joyous stories that he has to tell - sometimes delivering his syllables in a melodic 80’s British Oi! love letter and sometimes in an 80’s Californian Death Rock suicide note. The end result is a rather haunted affair, but something tells me these songs will pack a lively wallop in front of an audience and take you along for their ride.
AEONS ABYSS - “IMPENITENT” LP
Brilliant Emperor
Death... the bombastic way. There’s a lot of ultra melody woven between the weighty riffs, unpredictable rhythm, and (melo)dramatic atmospheres. That’s your crash course in what is meant here by Bombastic Death; done well by bands that usually don’t hail from the major cities and the epicentres of metaldom, with excellent examples coming from the 90’s in more wooded and rural areas of the United States like Missouri and Virginia, as well as more recently from Australia in the Blue Mountains and strange parts of South Australia. Don’t forget the creeping (and creepy) influence from Mediterranean black metals (especially on the B side of this record). “Impenitent” tends to move along at varying but steady paces, and it never crawls too slowly or blasts too quickly, lest you become distracted by anything other than exactly what Aeons Abyss intend. The vocals performance is in perfect league with the stylish riffs and overall dry production so that they get to really shine over everything. Of course, when I say shine, I mean shine in the way that a glimpse of moonlight seeps through a crack into a musty mausoleum at certain hours of certain evenings. Highly recommended for fans of Chuck Keller (Order From Chaos, Ares Kingdom, Vulpecula), Mortuary Drape, Sacriphyx, Innsmouth or if you just want to get an idea of what the hell everything I just mentioned means, and perhaps start you down a foul path bejewelled with gems.
MAHNE FRAME - “MAD WORLD” LP
Self-Released
Mahne Frame's second EP is well timed. These unhinged and unstable songs transmute the 1-2 punch of the 2020 Summer that went from bushfire maelstrom into virus panic, and the year that followed as Frame lived in Japan and collaborated with local musicians and artists to create the sick symphonies of Mad World. Chris and Cosey famously claimed in a revealing interview that this is the kind of record they would have made during lockdown if they'd spent it drinking Rikodeine listening to Chief Keef. Mahne beat them to the punch, and the world is mad. Industrial toxicity. Napalm doof. Zoom therapy. MAD WORLD.
CHEAP NASTIES - “CHEAP NASTIES” LP
Hozac
Scorching murder punk straight out of Perth featuring members who would go on to form Scientists and Manikins this recently unearthed demo’s one tight affair absolutely dripping with teenage venom and swagger that proves the west coast was right there on the ground floor in ’77.
For fans of Leftovers, Babeez, News, Psycho-Surgeons, Johnny-Dole & The Scabs and all you audiophiles out there who’s preferred level of fidelity is an old reel to reel that sounds like it could burst into flames at any given moment.
Lulu's has copies of the Heartworm Reader, the new poetry anthology from Heartworm Press featuring work from Kaveh Akbar - Sarah Jean Alexander - Jared Artaud - Genesis Breyer P- Orridge - Alfred Brown - Lee Bullitt - George Clarke - Pablo Conejero López - Lucien Edwards - Wesley Eisold - Ross Farrar - Bibbe Hansen - Peter Hayes - Kevin Howley - Mark Lanegan - Amy Lee - Violetta Leigh - Zachary Lipez - Alexis Marshall - Kyle Opheim - Eric Paul - Sam Pink - Charles Rowell - Mathias Svalina - Alan Vega
We also landed the Heartworm Press edition of the eighth poetry book publication from Richard Brautigan, Rommel Drives On Deep Into Egypt, and the ten year anniversary 2xLP pressing of the debut COLD CAVE release Love Comes Close.
AN UPDATE ON MONT...
MONT ICONS. Mahmood Fazal and DX speak to artists, film-makers, musicians, writers, activists and outsiders about the meaning and purpose of counter-culture. Listen to Mont Icons wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes featuring..
Comedian John Safran on extremism and identity politics. Ex-con David Obeda on the G-Fam prison gang and life as a 501 deportee. Gary Foley & Jacqui Katona on black power and Aboriginal resistance. Iceage's Elias Rønnenfelt on the Copenhagen youth riots and the dangers of nostalgia. Mick Harvey on life in The Birthday Party, Serge Gainsbourg and Ghosts of the Civil Dead. DX and Mahmood talk about drill music, Adam Curtis, the experience of live music after the COVID lockdown and the corruptive influence of Jim Harrison on our lives. Writer Erik Jensen on narrative journalism, Adam Cullen and the power of Truth. Ex-biker Brent Simpson on gang life, reverting to Islam and redemption.
SHARKEY’S GUIDE TO THE WORK OF DAVID LEE ROTH.
Sharkey wrote up a record guide for the work of DLR and offered it up to this fine publication. Who are we to say no? It rules. Send us more shit like this plzz.
Van Halen (1978)
This record changed everything in terms of hard guitar rock and showmanship. From the backyards of Reseda and Long Beach to every stadium and bedroom in the world. Roth immediately kicks the fucking doors down, letting the world know what’s to
come for the coming decade. Practically zero duds on this one, even the Kinks cover is on point.Track down the isolated vocals for Running With The Devil if you have the time and just marvel at the sheer beauty. 10/10
Van Halen II (1979)
Basically a continuation of the ass-beating that was debut LP, II kicks off with more vocal aerobics from DLR on You’re No Good. High pitch alarms of sexual energy. You can tell he is having a lot of fun in the studio with audible, unintentional laughter left on certain takes. Lyrics like “You better call up the ambulance, I’m deep in shock / Overloaded, baby, I can hardly walk” became pretty commonplace in rock but Dave was pioneering the imbibing lunatic front man fuelled on Jack Daniels, cocaine and high gain modified Marshall plexi heads. While bands before them had been hellraisers, DLR was the first be clearly out of his fucken mind while on stage and proud of it. Shit was not child’s play. 9/10
Woman and Children First (1980)
I find myself reaching for this record the least out of the first three but don’t let that be misleading. This contains maybe my favorite VH song from this era in Romeo’s Delight. I’m takin whiskey to the party tonight and I’m looking for somebody to squeeze might have been the first lyrics I ever sang to my wife when we first met and guess what; it worked. I also appreciate that all these records are under 35 minutes. No time for anything longer when the
night is calling 8/10
Fair Warning (1981)
This is the VH record that heads always point to as being their favourite, kind of a contrarian move akin to boasting about how Best Wishes is your prefered Cro-Mags record. Having plenty of deep tracks and only one real staple in Unchained, it's a dark street tough affair with nefarious lyrical content that fits the music perfectly. Although not much of a wild departure, theres a different feel to this one that makes it stand out among the pre-1984 LPs. 8/10
Diver Down (1982)
Lots of covers which is usually a no-no for me but it works, especailly Where Have all The Good Times Gone. During the 1983 US Festival appearance around this time DLR got absolutely shitfaced gave us some very memorable stage banter: “Hey don’t squirt water at me, I’m gonna FUCK your girlfriend tonight” He then had a little person in a tuxedo come out and bring him a bottle of Jack. Bassist Michael Anthony forced the roadie to have a big chug before ceeding the fifth to Roth who then wildly proclaimed after a massive slug “The only people who put ice tea in jack daniels bottles IS THE CLASH BABY!!!” and then the boys kicked into Jamie’s Crying. Perfection. 7/10
1984 (1984)
This record is the first musical memory I have rattling around my head. Three-years-old, playing street hockey behind our apartment with my dad and jamming this tape out of his beige toyota van. It’s my personal favourite VH record and I think this is common occurance for similar reasons. It was ubiquitous and rightfully so. Hot For Teacher is maybe the hottest guitar solo ever played in the history of recorded music. They even made synthesizers cool again with boofheads and tradespeople, a feat that hadn’t been done since Wish You Were Here was released a decade prior. The ultimate Rock and Roll bible of excess and precision. Of course it had to be DLR’s last with the band. Put aside all the in-fighting between Eddie and Roth, there was no topping this record. 11/10
Eat Em and Smile (1986)
I’m skipping the Crazy From The Heat EP because it’s an unnecessary record IMHO. This is Dave’s first bonafide solo lp and he’s enlisted some serious sluggers to make up his band. A veritable murderers row of players. Steve Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan from everyone’s favourite, Mr Big and Gregg Bisonette on drums. I may actually listen to this record more than I probably should but Yankee Rose into Shyboy a helacious one-two punch. Theres almost too many nuts being flex in the guitars for Shyboy . Another stand-out is the cool burn of Ladies Night In Buffalo. We’ve all been there. Actually the last time I was in Buffalo we got stuck in nightclub traffic until someone shot a gun in the air right next to our van and it was like the Red Sea being parted for us. I immediately put this song on and drove on into the night. There are some bad songs here though so beware. 7/10
Skyscraper (1988)
This is where my dude DLR starts to lose me and I think I’m not alone. While this record has some stellar guitar work its ultimately lacking the tracks and charm of it’s older sibling. It did garner a pretty unavoidable hit in Just Like Paradise buts really the only memorable moment. It’s at this point that I leave Diamond Dave and pick up OU812. Perhaps my next assingment is a Van Hagar record guide, I don’t know.
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