terminal-boredom.com
Terminal Boardumb => Music Shit => Topic started by: PetroBPettson on February 05, 2006, 02:22:44 PM
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Saw this over on the punknews.org.....I'm always iffy when old bands get back together...double if the band decides to make more records. We'll see, I guess....
"Influential early Australian punk act Radio Birdman are currently in the process of recording a new album. The band expects the record to be out by July 2006.
While the band's original run lasted from 1974 to 1978, the full line up of Radio Birdman reunited for the Big Day Out festivals in `96 and `97. This reunion resulted in the live record Ritualism. In 2001 their profile in the US rose with the Sub Pop released compilation The Essential Radio Birdman: 1974-1978. The band's line up has shifted since the reunion, so the new record will be the current incarnation's first major recording.
This month Radio Birdman is touring throughout Australia, with European and US tours planned for September and October of this year. Click below for the dates. "
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This is one of those non-events, a total who the fuck cares. As if the array of boots from their many reunions and that New Race garbage isnt enough proof that Dennis Tek blew his wad a long time ago. Doesnt matter who the Birdmen he gets to play with them, yawn yawm yawn. Count me as one who think that these guys are one of the biggest overrated bands ever, certainly second string as far as Aussie bands go and maybe even third string in the whole 77 crowd. There is a high boredom factor with the Birdman and part of it is do to the tightass orthodoxy they bring to rock and roll. Sure they wrote good songs but they are one of the most soulless bands in the history of punk. Had they been around 20 years later they would have fit nice on the Gearhead or Epitath roster. Radio Birdman bores the hell out of me.
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Yep. If they were from the North Pole or Jerusalem, I might've been a bit more impressed with the band. But I discovered them right around the same time as the Saints, the Fun Things, the Scientists and the Victims -- all bands who shame RB with no effort whatsoever. Not even close to being top-tier for the region or era.
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Count me as one who think that these guys are one of the biggest overrated bands ever, certainly second string as far as Aussie bands go and maybe even third string in the whole 77 crowd. There is a high boredom factor with the Birdman and part of it is do to the tightass orthodoxy they bring to rock and roll. Sure they wrote good songs but they are one of the most soulless bands in the history of punk. Had they been around 20 years later they would have fit nice on the Gearhead or Epitath roster. Radio Birdman bores the hell out of me.
My thoughts, exactly, a handful of really good songs and a whole lotta boring boredom.
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Might I add that I was very excited when I first found Rdioa Appear. I'd been looking for it since the early 80s and finally found a copy around 1988 and boy was I pleased...until I heard it and then I started to question all the assholes who pimped the damn thing....Also check out the folks championing them now. It is the flaming dice crowd, people who have their closets organized by day: Monday - Friday = dockers, loafers & button ups. Fri night & Sat = brill cream, leather jacket, & neatly pressed punk rock t-shirt. If these folks had any cred they would be championing the new Fun Things reissue or pounding on Icki's door to repress Aspirations.
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Geez, pretty soon you'll be saying my Nashville Pussy belt buckle isn't cool.
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I'll trade you for my Helicopters wallet (w/ chain)
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Throw in a Glucifer record, and you got a deal.
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Only if you have a Speedealer button you'll part with.
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A speedealer button?! I have ALL the Speedealer buttons...even when they were still REO Speedealer. I'll even throw in a Zeke patch, and a Supersuckers beer cozy.
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Dude.
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Dude, it's Hellacopters!
And I'll trade ya my Electric Frankenstein hoodie for that sick Electric Eel Shock gas-station shirt.
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Hey! If I had more (any) money, I'd repress Aspirations. It almost happened last summer, but I decided to pay down some of my debt instead. Whatta dumb decision that was...
And for the record, I love Radio Birdman. I'd probably even go see them, but I doubt it'll happen. They are supposed to have been playing the States a number of times and it always falls through.
Also for the record, I'll pass on the new album.
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Everytime I put on "Aspirations," I feel like it's the first time I listen to it. What a powerful album.
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Cosigned on Aspirations' power. Everytime I hear "Revolution" & "Batman" it just rattles my brain that something could rock that much. The A-Frames cover "Batman" right? I'd like to hear that.
A story I might have told before: I bought that single that icki put out back when it was new, and didn't think a whole lot of it at the time. A couple years ago I had finally cleaned most of the jizz out of my ears and gave it another whirl: totaly blew my mind. I frantically tried to get a vinyl copy of Aspirations for some time, but to no avail. Finally this past winter Mayberry was kind enough to sell me a copy rather than ebay it (whatta guy) and I just this past week gave him an "X is better than sex" button as a token of my appreciation.
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Everytime I put on "Aspirations," I feel like it's the first time I listen to it. What a powerful album.
I love that album. I think they had another album too. I know they at least had another EP Home Is Where The Floor Is, but I'm pretty sure they have another full length as well. My memory could be failing me though.
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At Home With You is another full length. there might be more, but i havent heard anything but these two.
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its pretty cool, too. though its well after Aspirations first came out.
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I like the Monoshock version of "Burn My Eye," but's about it
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At home came out a few years after Aspirations and, though it is good, it sounds like a different band. they even took a tip from the Saints and brought in the horns (and like the Saints, sound good w/ horns). But At Home... is only about 60% at best and some of the songs sound like weak rewrites of Aspirations stuff. Worth picking up for under $15 (i'd say less but lets just put a $5 premium on the fact that it is a X album). Good news is it is not hard to find, and might still be in print.
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The A-Frames cover "Batman" right? I'd like to hear that.
Yeah, it's a great version, especially live. I think I've also seen them do "Simulated Lovers", although I could be wrong.
And, yes, "Aspirations" rules.
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"At Home with You" is OK, but I don't want "OK" from the same band who did "Aspirations." The live LP on Dropkick is far superior. "Fuckin' Rockin'" is rad. And "Hate City" will always be one of my top ten favorite songs ever.
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When I first met Jordan I was working third shift at a bakery and he was working during the mornings on the weekends. He complimented me on my Velvet Underground shirt and we talked for a little bit and he mentioned he was in a band called the Mystery Girls whose name I had seen on flyers and figured "oh great, another shitty local band." The next time we worked togeather we swapped a couple of CDs. I lent him Red Krayola's Parable of Arable Land and Can's Tago Mago and he lent me something by the Chocolate Watchband and Radios Appear by Radio Birdman. I thought Chocolate Watchband were ok-ish, enough so that I made a tape of it that I never listened to once, but Radios Appear I thought was complete and total garbage. When we lived togeather people liked to talk about that band alot and I heard the album more times than I was personally comfortable with, but that's ok cause I used to blast Swans, make people watch Richard Kern videos and have people complain about having to hear me fuck my girlfriend all the time. She would complain about them jamming on Wild Thing for an hour straight while we were fucking.
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I anticipated finding that Birdman stuff in the late '80s too since it was always mentioned together with the MC5, Dolls and Dictators. Personally I think it stacks up fine and I don't mind a some orthodox with my, er, rawk. Although I may actually rate The New Christs recorded output higher than Birdman. But I'm fairly biased about Australian stuff in general and don't, like Aussie fans I suppose, differentiate so much between say X and Bored (the latter did a great cover of the former's "Degenerate Boy"). As far as reunions- whatever. X put out a kind of reunion live disc a few years ago with horns, violins, etc.
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Many record stores in California have overpriced Radio Birdman singles sitting behind the counter for years, along with those Beatles records.
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Aspirations is brilliant, gotta love those pounding rhythms. My personal fave is "Coat of Green", teenage primitivism at its best.
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I still think "At Home With You" is a better record than a lot of people give it credit for. I really like it, especially the horn songs! Lucas' vocals still fucking destroy too. Morphius reissued it on LP/CD a couple years back, so it'd probably cost you $10 or less.
And I fucking dig Radio Birdman a bunch too.
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i fully endorse the above post. whats with the radiobirdman hate? what the hells the matter with you people?
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I have nothing against Radio Birdman at all...I just never listen to them. They've got some good songs, but I'm not often compelled to listen to them for some reason. When I do, I like 'em alright.
I wouldn't go see a reuninion though.
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what the hells the matter with you people?
Generally bored with mediocrity, and flat out annoyed when it get's over-hyped.
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Hey Dave Anchovies,
I have a question for you, since I answered your Birdman question? Who the hell is the dude on your avatar?!?!??!? It looks like a hockey player from the 70's or something...
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thats player/coach Reggie Dunlop aka Paul Newman from Slapshot
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I thought he looked familiar.
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I dont hate Birdman, it's just that most of their stuff is pretty boring and stiff. They have a handful of good/great songs(Murder City Nights, Burn My Eye, New Race), but overall very boring and overrated.
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Refreshing to see Radio Birdman aren't getting worshipped on here. It's good, fast, straight rock'n'roll and has some historical significance, largely because of its immediate cultural context of a backwards, repressive Australia, but that was 30 years ago - and the world is high-energy-rock-n-rolled-out now.
As a direct comparison of a band around at the same time, travelling in similar circles - the Saints leave these guys for dead, and have done the world a favour by moving on and doing a million other things than "Stranded"..
"The local chapter of the Hitler Youth"....damn right.
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Radio Birdman is definitely O.K. with me. Radio Appears Sire version versus the Trafalgar version is a mentionable difference when talking about this band. Anywho, I think the Aussie version of that LP isn't half bad all things considering. "Do The Pop" and "New Race" are utter classics. I always figure this band prefigured the whole Aussie scene in a tough way - they were just a step or two behind the Saints time and sound wise. That doesn't help their legend. They should fucking pay for every "Man With The Golden Helmet" they got...and their covers of the Stooges and the 13th Floor Elevators are ugh...BUT maybe that broke the ground for versions of "River Deep, Mountain High" and "Lipstick On Your Collar" and "Kissin' Cousins" and "Security"? I dunno. Still, they were pretty rockin'. Better than some of the horse piss I got from Underground Medicine the other day.
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It's the kinda thing that grows on you. Like "Man With the Golden Helmet" is a really good song, piano and all. Sure, Saints, X, Victims, etc. are all better, but that doesn't mean Radio Birdman suck. But I, too, admit to being disappointed with 'Radios Appear' when I got it.
ANd the 2nd X LP is nothing to sneeze at. And I also love "Coat of Green." Really want to cover that.
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I even like the 3rd X LP, "And More".
I LIKE EVERYTHING
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Never heard it. Easily gettable?
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This ice cream sucks because it doesn't taste like pizza and since they're both located in the frozen food aisle I feel compelled to make some sort of comparison.
Radios Appear is an All-Time Great Rock Album--probably in my personal top ten, even. A unique sound, instantly memorable songs and enough variety to keep things interesting--"Man With Golden Helmet" is ESSENTIAL to the flow of that album and is a perfect halfway-point intermission piece. I can and have listened to it repeatedly without getting sick of it and that's the true test of greatness--discovering new things with repeated plays. Dunno what else to say--it's a classic.
-Ryan
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Thank you, Satan. For everything, really.
-Ryan
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Radios Appear was great for about the first six months or so after I got it. It wore off. They don't hold a candle to the Saints, but we all know that since there's more or less a consensus that the Saints are an all-time top 5 punk band. X rules, I wish there were more of the Victims to listen to, we've been over how great the Fun Things are, and blah blah blah. I can't believe no one (or me, for that matter) gets sick of talking about this stuff all day.
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I get sick of it, but I'm really argumentative by nature and work a really boring job so....
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Frozen pees and bomb pops aside (ah, ah, ah)...I'll have to listen to Man With A Golden Helmet again with an open heart/mind. Maybe you're right? Radio Appears is a great LP to sit on the rug with and play right though...with friends, beers and a boardgame...while it's snowing outside. Can say that for sure. The other weekend I was grabbing for a pleaser, something you can hear each other giggle and gab over, and that's the first that came to mind. So fuck the haters. Do the Boggle.
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I get sick of it, but I'm really argumentative by nature and work a really boring job so....
That's more or less my story. I'd rather hear Soriano make leering remarks at Mitch than talk music most of the time.[
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If you must compare albums from bands based on location and era, I honestly don't see why someone who loves "Eternally Yours" wouldn't love "Radios Appear" as well. Both are well-crafted, well-recorded and possess a variety of unique styles that each band pulled off successfully. I actually don't much care for the comparative three-chord meatgrinder of the "Stranded" album just because EY is so much more fulfilling.
-Ryan
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Radio Birdman has a big old stick in the ass, the Saints don't.
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Totally. The Saints are just flat out great, loose rock n roll. Radio Birdman sound like the inside of a dentist's office.
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The main point I'm trying to make here is that I'm always right. The whole music thing is just my conduit, if you will.
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But seriously, I just have always thought they were overrated.
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The second X album is great, as long as you don't go into it expecting the same sound as the first album. I mean, "TV Glue" sends chills down my spine just hearing the first two notes..."All Over Now," "1/2 Way Around the World" ahh, there are lots of good songs on it. And for those who are curious, Morphius reissued At Home With You a few years ago. It shouldn't be hard to find.
The third X LP is good, but it was recorded in the late '80s...expect a further mellowing (though not intensity) of the sound. It's not that hard of a record to find, and not very expensive either.
As for Radio Birdman, I think part of the problem is that they got/get lumped too often with "punk," when they never claimed to be a punk band, never associated a whole lot with that scene. They were as influenced by the Stooges as they were Blue Oyster Cult (which is a good thing, in my book). When I first heard Radios Appear, I was seriously let down. It sounded more like the Doors than anything related to punk. But a few years later it grew on me and now I can put it on anytime and really love listening to it.
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I think context is valid in the criticism of music. I've never heard much Saints and haven't cared for much of what I've heard but I'm still waiting for someone to throw them on at the right time and am interrested in hearing the album with horns.
Radios Appear still blows.
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You know, as much as I respect Sammy Hagar as an artist, he had a song called "There's Only One Way To Rock" and I have always respectfully disagreed with this sentiment although it would appear that many of you don't.
-Ryan
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hey my opinion is the most valid one to me. some other people have valid opinions, they're still usually wrong about important things though.
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Hagar was right. Anyone called the Red Rocker is totally infallible. I think that's a truism.
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Hagar was/is obviously a Stalinist commie but that's okay because at least he saved Van Halen.
I actually owned "Living Eyes" for about ten years before I had a chance to even hear "Radios Appear" so you can see why it had a profound effect on me in comparison to the weaker second album--I felt the hype WAS justified once I finally heard "RA".
-Ryan
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That makes sense, but my first exposure was with Radios Appear. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think it was great, but it just started sounding a little weak after a while.
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You know, as much as I respect Sammy Hagar as an artist, he had a song called "There's Only One Way To Rock" and I have always respectfully disagreed with this sentiment although it would appear that many of you don't.
-Ryan
brilliant.
maybe the turnoff is they are "musicians" and its well recorded and whatnot; they definitely were more a rock band than a punk band. you may also think they are overrated or whatever, but to say RA is 'horrible' is just an obvious play for attention. its not horrible. if some of the shit we're drooling on these days holds up for 5 years, let alone 30, consider it an achievement.
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I think Radio Birdman's greatest achievement is writing a song that has a chorus that goes "Steve I want to thank you for all you've done for me." I think I might like Radios Appear more if I had it on vinyl instead of CD.
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to say RA is 'horrible' is just an obvious play for attention. its not horrible. if some of the shit we're drooling on these days holds up for 5 years, let alone 30, consider it an achievement.
And do you see me drooling over it? Who the fuck wants to listen to fuckin' Australian bar-rock from the 70's? And fuck that, it sounds nothing even remotely close to the Doors. Some of youse sure are dumb. Just because you like something doesn't mean that it's good. I like things that I would never defend because I just get off on it for some wierd subjective reason, like I was molested while it was played and it's the only way I can trigger memories from that point in my life or some equally homo reason.
Lots of shit is made by "musicians" and just because they know how to play their instruments it doesn't mean that you can't say it's not "good" because "good" usually means total dogshit anyway.
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I have it on vinyl. CD's are a drag, but in this case it doesn't really matter all that much.
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As is always the case, the two people you can turn to for THE TRUTH are the lord of fucking darkness and Mark Murrmann. Two peas in a pod.
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maybe the turnoff is they are "musicians" and its well recorded and whatnot; they definitely were more a rock band than a punk band. you may also think they are overrated or whatever, but to say RA is 'horrible' is just an obvious play for attention. its not horrible. if some of the shit we're drooling on these days holds up for 5 years, let alone 30, consider it an achievement.
What Mr. Anchovies said.
And I'd love to listen to Australian bar-rock from the '70s, especially if it comes in the form of Radio Birdman (or Lobby Lloyd).
As for this:
Just because you like something doesn't mean that it's good.
That is one of the dumbest things I've seen on the Internet all day.
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Hey man, I'm not gonna defend Brittney Spears music but I still like some of it. Brittney Spears' Toxic is far better than all of RB's material put togeather.
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Hey man, I'm not gonna defend Brittney Spears music but I still like some of it. Brittney Spears' Toxic is far better than all of RB's material put togeather.
Now you're just being reatarded. I'm outta here...
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I dunno, man...I'd put Touch of My Hand ahead of Toxic...
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yeah that is stupid. I like some Britney Spears songs and I would call all the ones I like good or at least pretty good. I like Radio Birdman too, they have more good songs.
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See, I see it as nothing more than ear candy. I once spent a week locked alone in my room putting an ounce of coke into my arms and it felt fuckin' awesome, I wouldn't call coke "good." So you guys can appreciate generic bar rock. Nothing to be embarrased about, but no reason to pretend it's anything other than what it is. That's such a hip attitude. Everything you like is beyond reproach.
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This ice cream sucks because it doesn't taste like pizza and since they're both located in the frozen food aisle I feel compelled to make some sort of comparison.
Radios Appear is an All-Time Great Rock Album--probably in my personal top ten, even. A unique sound, instantly memorable songs and enough variety to keep things interesting--"Man With Golden Helmet" is ESSENTIAL to the flow of that album and is a perfect halfway-point intermission piece. I can and have listened to it repeatedly without getting sick of it and that's the true test of greatness--discovering new things with repeated plays. Dunno what else to say--it's a classic.
-Ryan
I was about to post something to this effect, but now see that Ryan has said exactly what I would, albeit far more eloquently than I'd manage. Anyways-- yes, yes and YES.
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i still like the radio's appear LP. i remember being really excited when i found a sire promo of it for 3 dollars. i listened to it quite a bit for awhile. natuarally, as these things work, i moved on (the turnover is quick for record geeks right?), but i don't dismiss it as crap now. there are things i am downright embarrassed to listen to that i once found good, but RA isn't one of 'em.
fun things are fucking GREAT, but aren't they one of the more birdman influenced bands of the one's you guys are yapping about? you can hardly talk about fun things without mentioning radio birdman in the same sentence. "when the birdmen fly" for christsakes...
whats the "new" fun things reissue SSR? different from the penniman one?
britney spears? coke? sheesh
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And in case you missed it Vint:
And I'd love to listen to Australian bar-rock from the '70s, especially if it comes in the form of Radio Birdman (or Lobby Lloyd).
And:
As for Radio Birdman, I think part of the problem is that they got/get lumped too often with "punk," when they never claimed to be a punk band, never associated a whole lot with that scene. They were as influenced by the Stooges as they were Blue Oyster Cult (which is a good thing, in my book).
Nobody's saying it's not bar rock or that it's not anything more (or less) than it is. No hip attitude here.
Maybe you should go back to the coke and Brittany, you're starting to see things.
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missed the first quote but not the second, which was part of the inspiration for my statement.
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I'll just go back to what I said early on: Radio Birdman bores me. You can call them punk, rock and roll, bar band, disco, polka, or chocolate icecream, it sounds soulless. The comparisions to all the shitty bands we were throwing around has nothing to do with sound. The namedrops are because all those bands lack soul, not that I expect you to get that as only soulless, literalists would champion such a mediocre band like Radio Birdman. Radio Birdman is wallpaper, sure sometimes it looks nice but would you fuck to it?
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I see where SSR is coming from. Chuck Eddy has a great quote to this affect in the Stairway To Hell book, where he calls RB "a bland supper-club excercise in Stooge-worship". I still agree with other people tho who say that had some killer songs.
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I will admit they have good songs. Burn My Eye is a good song but it is a boring song in Radio Birdman's hands and a great song in Monoshock's. Lots of boring bands have good songs.
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CHuck Eddy is a fuckin dumb-ass. Don't take anything he writes to heart. Ditto for Christgau.
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I got bored reading this about 2 pages in, but I gotta say that while Birdman is not as good as their seeming legacy, they wrote a hell of a lot more than "a couple" good songs - they had reams of them. The problem was how constipated the playing was - total stickass. And the "Gearhead" statement by the usually accurate SS is total bullshit - the only reason that crowd is now into RB is because of the reissue on Sub Pop a few years ago. None of 'em had shit to do with Radio Birdman before that. It's like saying "The Misfits suck - look at all those doofus metalheads with smiley skull patches" when anyone who's been around knows that the crowd transformation happened after Metallica covered them and the songs are STILL great even now, just like "Murder City Nights" and "What Gives" (covered well by the early Catholic Boys line-up - bring it back!) and "Do the Pop" and so on down the line.
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I totally forgot about how last time I was in Milwaukee this total douchebag bike messenger who is obsessed with Turbonegro was trying to hype some garbage bar-rock band of forty-somethings and tried to act all hip like "well, have you ever heard Radio Birdman."
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Milwaukee has bike messengers? I guess it's an epidemic in every city.
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If anything, their "stickass" sound falls in line with the military/soldier assthetic they had.
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The new album "Zeno Beach" is really great. I did an All Music search and they gave it 4 stars. Sounds like the Radio Birdman we all know and love. Welcome back, boys.
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Just saw them last night and it was the best show I've seen all year. This is a GUITAR band and they absolutely smoked. 90 minutes and it did not drag (like the other 90 min reunion I saw this year)...for the most part, the new songs were really good and sounded like Radio Birdman songs. Excellent live show, not most flashy, but they brought the power...
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I saw them a couple of weeks ago and they were just kinda aimless. Of course down here anytime they play there's hundreds of idiots foaming at the mouth about 'em no matter whether they turn it on or not. I saw a bunch of the 90s reunions and one of them at least they were shit-hot. Nothing like the albums, but everything their legend is built on, i.e. balls-out live shows back at a time when nothing else was happening, and they were doing that for a least a year before X or anyone else in Sydney. I've seen footage and heard live boots from back at the time which leave the studio albums for dead. I don't reckon there's any doubt they've got two handfuls of great songs, not that I've played an album in 10 years or something. I will NEVER see them again though.