back to oz 2: off the hip

as previously stated, off the hip is a melbourne (not sydney; duh), orstralia, rekkid store with an in-house label that specializes in punk/garage/psych an' like that. they've got a bunch of releases and their christmas 2008-2009 sampler that the i-94 barman hooked me up with is mighty and there's a remote possibility you can still score one by emailing offthehip@hotmail.com if you're so motivated. track-by-track, it breaks down thusly:

johnny casino & the secrets: i-94 bar firm favorites, the asteroid b-612 frontman gets more 'n' more accomplished at crafting exile on main st.-esque, berry-derived rawk like i didn't think they made anymore.

goodnight loving: starts out as chocolate watchband-esque neuroto-psych, then perversely tuneful merseybeat melody kicks in.

screwtop detonators: crunchy melodic power pop, reminiscent of stems/dm3 maestro dom mariani's best work.

the dolly rocker movement: a filigree rococo harpsichord-driven waltz with strings, like something arthur lee might have dreamt up.

bloodgroup: a vehicle for ex-lime spiders frontman mick blood (see the clip below for their '80s classic "slave girl"); like the spiders, it's influenced by '60s garage-psych, but with a more aggressive gtr attack.



the cheats: classic '77 punk, complete with "hey" chorus.

midnight woolf: bare-bones '60s garage punk; even more primal than the pretty things, but that's the proximate model.

the ransome brothers: farfisa 'n' fuzz-driven blast of garage snot.

green circles: they take their name from a small faces song, which should give you a clue, and they pound it out like it was '66 (or '96) all over again.

the sick rose: almost like a more riddimically assured aussie versh of dylan 'n' the hawks or something, with the singalong chorus a bonusburger.

the finkers: rawkin' power pop, the jangly 12-string bumping up against white-hot fuzztone.

the reckless hearts: more stones-like rifferama with tough drumming, the macho lyrics undercut somewhat by wimpy vocalismo.

the pink fits: more berry-inspahrd crunch with buried vox.

asteroid b-612: almost unbearably intense, this classic '90s band combined punk, berry/stones, and heavier strains.

molten universe: not as mind-melting as the name would imply, this is what the rest of the lime spiders have been up to while mick blood was off with bloodgroup.

the breadmakers: sounds like the yardbirds playing "i wish you would," with added farfisa; whole lotta jerome green-via-phil may maraca-shakin' goin' on.

los hories: even more pretty things primal.

the booby traps: female vox differentiate this poppy fuzz 'n' farfisa outing.