Loene Carmen & La Mancha Negra to play Wolf Call!

In loving memory of Route 66 Co-Founder Ross Waddington, who took the stairway to heaven last month, Route 66 Sydney (EST. 1983) present the very first WOLF CALL. Waddington was an obsessive vinyl enthusiast and DJ (his collection mounting over seven thousand), avid gig-goer, a cultural pioneer, a wealth of inspiration and, without a doubt, the epitome of cool.

So, the White Christmas edition of WOLF CALL takes place on December 16th at GoodGod Small Club Danceteria in Sydney. Featuring:
LA MANCHA NEGRA who say what they mean and say it mean. The roughest 'n' ready South American-style garage in the land. Shake, Rattle & Roll.
ATOM BOMBS. An explosive tsunami of surf instrumentals to thud and rumble through your very being and take you on a rocky ride straight to the shores of Hawaii.
JESSE REDWING. The Beastly Blues Extraordinaire. Performing numbers like Slim Harpo's King Bee. Lured from the basement of Commons where you may find him nightly. He got rhythm, he got soul and he plays a mean Harmonica.
LOENE CARMEN (pictured above). Lady Luck herself, The Underground Queen of Sugar & Spice, and All Things Nice. Nashville mastery, tear-soaked blues noir, anthemic lullabies, psychedelic hymns and spacious folk.
FLASH & CRASH DJs (Leroi Waddington & Holiday Sidewinder) to play All American Rareities & Classics, All 45s. Rhythm & Blues, Soul, Rock 'n' Roll, Garage, Surf. Till Sunrise.


You'll find this awesomeness at GoodGod Small Club Danceteria in Sydney. This Friday 16th December. Ten bones on the door. From 8.30pm.

Photo by Bobby Townsend

Loene Carmen - It Walks Like Love

LOENE CARMEN
IT WALKS LIKE LOVE

Australian singer/songwriter Loene Carmen's fourth album hits the stores this month. While it was recorded in Sydney under the watchful eye of producer Burke Reid (The Drones, Jack Ladder, Mess Hall), it sounds - as with her previous offering - like a slice of genuine Americana.

The first single to be plucked from it, garage-soul duet Oh Apollo!, is a playful paean to New York's Apollo Theatre and perhaps a nod to Carmen's admiration of the collaborations between Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, with her breathy vocal juxtaposed by the deep grumble of Mess Hall's Jed Kurzel.

Plenty of other familiar characters turn up, including members of Holy Soul and The Scare. Tex Perkins also lends his voice, while Carmen also employed the talent that lies within her own family, with father Peter Head on piano and Bridezilla's Holiday Sidewinder (Carmen's fittingly talented daughter) adding some delicious vocals.

The frighteningly catchy chorus of Mimic The Rain sees Carmen at her poppiest. "If you want your garden to grow/You've got to mimic the rain," she tells us. By the second time you hear it, you'll be singing along as if you'd known it your whole life. You'd think such a delightful slice of pop would be the highlight of the record, but even better is to come with the thoughtful Gauloises Blue. As the song approaches its climax, rather than hollering her lungs out as many artists may have done, Carmen's voice barely raises above a gasped whisper. Then ooh and aahs accompany frenzied guitars and delicate piano to bring the song to a dizzying finish.

Sultry vocals and intelligent lyrics continue to intertwine with raw guitars throughout the ten tracks, and the quality never dips, even for the slightest second. It Walks Like Love is a truly outstanding record and, with it, Loene Carmen has not only created her finest piece of work to date, but also one of the albums of the year.

Global Young Leaders fundraising show

I attended the Global Young Leaders fundraising show at Sydney’s Annandale Hotel last Sunday:Bridezilla frontwoman Holiday Sidewinder is heading to America for the Global Young Leaders conference in June, so to raise funds she put on a show with a little help from her friends and family. First up were brother and sister duo Hunter Dienna, whose minimalist sound required just one guitar and the occasional accordion, yet was still dizzyingly atmospheric and gothic. Thomas' low-down growl juxtaposed nicely with Xanthe’s softer vocal, landing them not a million miles from the collaboration between Mark Lanigan and Isabel Campbell.

The ever-captivating Loene Carmen (below) was next up, and she was backed by a supergroup comprised of some familiar faces as she rattled though songs from her latest long-player, Rock n Roll Tears. “So you fucked it up,” she snarled in that amazing vocal at the start of Don’t Let Her Slip Away, which was indicative of the equally vitriolic and seductive nature of her barnstorming set.Even by the high standards they have set for themselves, Bridezilla, frankly, were magnificent. Oozing confidence and sass, they were watched by the largest crowd of the day. Holiday’s presence as frontwoman grows increasingly strong with each gig, while her fellow band members also looked like they were born to be on stage. In front of drummer Josh – who looked especially suave in his suit - Pia and Millie were assured and cool, while Daisy, always the firebomb to Holiday’s left, prowled atop the bar.

The Scare polished things of with a riotous display which had the fans at the front going nuts, as vocalist Kiss Reid - animated, mesmerising and a bit terrifying – expelled a throat-busting vocal. Having been joined for one song by the evening’s hostess, they brought proceedings to a close with Bats! Bats! Bats! which saw Kiss roam around the room and stagedive. No-one could accuse him of not giving it his all.

Holiday dashed onto stage at the end to thank everyone for coming. The fact that she did so amid chants of her name and requests for more songs suggests that the day was a success. Ten bucks well spent.

Loene Carmen - Rock 'n' Roll Tears

Sydney singer/songwriter Loene Carmen's latest album is now in the shops. Here’s the low-down on it:LOENE CARMEN
Rock 'n' Roll Tears

Loene Carmen is cool. In fact, Loene Carmen is so undeniably fucking cool that she could have been lifted straight out of a Tarantino movie, and on her third long-player, Rock ‘n’ Roll Tears, her familiarly breathy, sultry vocal sits perfectly atop a combination of dirty blues, rock and country, which bursts from the stereo like a bar-room brawl between The Velvet Underground, Mazzy Star and The Jesus and Mary Chain. And that, I think you will agree, is pretty fucking cool.

After the typically raw title-track opens proceedings, the suitably-titled Nashville High nods in the direction of the reminiscence of The Raveonettes's latest album, with Carmen’s distinctive enunciation oozing sex-appeal, while standout track Everybody (Makes Me Wanna Lie Down) is a fuzzy rock romp.In Don’t Let Her Slip Away, Carmen spits: “Show her what a motherfuckin’ man you are,” with a delicious malevolence that suggests this is a woman not to be messed with. Conversely, she also offers several poignant moments, like the atmospheric and haunting Wild Wind. It is an intriguing juxtaposition; at times she comes across as a vivacious rock siren, yet elsewhere she has the downbeat disposition of a former small-town American beauty queen working as a waitress in some shitty road-side diner, sorrowfully pouring cups of hot mud for truckers.

Skillfully backed by Sam Worrad of Holy Soul, Jed Kurzel of the wonderful Mess Hall and Paul Dunn of Slow Hand, Loene Carmen has once again proved with the pleasingly lo-fi Rock ‘n’ Roll Tears that she is an intelligent, candid songwriter with a voice so seductive that you’d rip your own heart out and hand it to her if she asked you to. Irresistible stuff.