Issue #09 (September, 1990)

Interviews with

• Hot Records
• Toys Went Berserk
• The Melvins
• Crow

Gig Reviews

• Distant Locust/Crow at The Hopetoun Hotel
• Ministry of Filth/Pelican Daughters/Hot God's Vomit at The Evil Star
• Thespian Plot/Vrag/The Waxworks at The Evil Star

Photos

• The Nerve at The Hopetoun Hotel

The summer of 1990 was a well spent mess trudging what was then the golden triangle of Newtown. What I mean is the contours of The Sandringham Hotel (aka The Sando), post show drinks at Sleepers (now known as The Bank Hotel below Waywards) and The Union Hotel in Erskineville.

The Lansdowne on City Road (Broadway) was also churning out some great gigs and as I was living in either Ultimo or Newtown, I didn't have to go too far for fun. Surry Hills on the other hand was slowly giving the keys to the inner west as far as venues went. The Hopetoun was doing it's thing up there on Bourke and Fitzroy, but in general the rents were increasing and many a venue was slowly being phased out. The Trade wasn't far from being sold and the Evening Star was losing its shit to drunk journalists. It was also apparent that the local council were not overly keen on bands anymore.

Some bands who were in amongst it were those who featured in this issue Vrag, Crow and my old flatmate Andy Jarvis' band Toys Went Beserk.

Toys Went Berserk

I used to live with the Toys guitarist Andy Jarvis on Crown Street in Surry Hills in 1985. At that time Andy was playing in a band called Dusk Furrow which essentially rose out of Distorted Silence. Both bands were renowned for their fuzz punk sounds and were heavy fans of bands like Box Of Fish and These Cars Collide. Andy not long later met Coo Bennet (Lavender Disaster) before teaming up with bassist Bill Quarry (Box of Fish) and drummer Mark Nicholson (Happy Hate Me Nots). When Steve was roped in on on guitar, you just knew that this was going to be a great band. Siouxie and The Banshees comparisons did prevail, but they didn't necessarily stop the band from churning out some great releases on Aberrant Records.

Carolyn Polley from replaced Steve  and for a while their they were one of the punchiest popular live alternatives to Detroit guitar ridden Sydney. Carolyn later left to join Big Heavy Stuff while the band forged on touring nationally and internationally before disbanding in 1992.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9OwJqWZNTM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toys_Went_Berserk

Post breakup - members Andy and Coo first relocated to the UK to form Feast and Houdini before returning home and relocating  to Perth (WA). The two now play in Rocket to Memphis, as well as Catzilla (toured the UK and Japan).  Bill moved to Melbourne at some point whilst Mark these days plays drums for Majestic XI   The band did reform firstly in 1995 and then 2005 when they promoted their compilation 'The Bitter and The Sweet: The Best and Rarest'. They did another show in 2016, teaming up with their contemporaries Ratcat for a show at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville.

Vrag

They spawned out of venues like The Lansdowne and The Hopetoun and were always a fun treat to to watch. More performative in many ways than a straight up and down rock band, Vrag put on quite a show with their charismatic frontperson Glen Dormand leading the ride and a full fun backing cast,  including the best funk bassist in Rana + Ross Johnston and others. For a better understanding go to this youtube link which was one of the last shows at the beloved Hopetoun Hotel.

Glen and Ross went onto play in Machine Gun Fellatio who became very popular. Ross these days plays in the fun loving White Knuckle Fever and OuttaSpace Cowboys.

Crow

Well, what can one say? I was one of the lucky fortunate ones to witness some of the best gigs, on both sides of Central Station. The band continues to this day, still churning out some great songs. They rode the fine line of being completely irreverent to then being picked up by labels that could get them somewhere. Either way, a lot of this doesn't matter - their music essentially won many hearts and still when they play, they have this 'je ne sais quoi' that isn't so easily found. For reference points see this from their label, Half A Cow, this YouTube video and more vintage footage.

The Melvins

As for TheMelvins... if you're familiar with SubPop, well, you'll know a lot about them. We were very fortunate to get an interview with  them (by the late Louise Lemon RIP)  before that whole shebang went ablaze and global. Here they are, rocking in 1989.

And here  is a link to an interview done by the Whole Noon Saloon five years ago plus the band's website.