SPK were an Australian industrial music and noise music group formed in 1978. They were fronted by mainstay member, Graeme Revell on keyboards and percussion. In 1980 the group travelled to the United Kingdom where they issued their debut album, Information Overload Unit. In 1983 Sinan Leong joined on lead vocals. The group disbanded in 1988. Two years later Revell and Leong relocated to the United States, where Revell works as a Hollywood film score composer. According to Australian rock music historian Ian McFarlane, SPK were "at the forefront of the local post-punk, electronic/experimental movement of the late 1970s ... [their] music progressed from discordant, industrial-strength metal noise to sophisticated and restrained dance-rock with strange attributes".
Bam Balams were an Australian rock band which formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1992. They were led by singer-songwriter and guitarist, Brendan "Wig" Kibble. The group issued one album, Genuine Rock & Roll Medicine Show, an EP and six singles. Their records did well in the Australian independent charts but they did not appear on the ARIA Charts. They toured nationally but did not perform overseas.
Powder Monkeys were an Australian punk, indie rock band, formed in 1991. The founding mainstays, Tim Hemensley, on bass guitar and lead vocals and John Nolan on lead guitar were both ex-members of Bored!. Powder Monkeys released three studio albums, Smashed on a Knee, Time Wounds all Heels and Lost City Blues (2000), before they broke up in 2002. Tim Hemensley died on 21 July 2003, aged 31, of a heroin overdose.
The Moodists were an Australian post-punk band. They were formed in late 1980 by Dave Graney on lead vocals, Clare Moore on drums and Steve Miller on guitar, all from punk group the Sputniks. They added bass guitarist Chris Walsh in early 1981, and in April 1983 added guitarist Mick Turner. They issued their sole studio album, Thirsty's Calling, in April 1984. Turner left in January 1985 and the group disbanded in 1987.
Orchestra of Skin and Bone were an Australian post-punk band active from 1984 to 1986. The band's core members were Ollie Olsen, Marie Hoy and John Murphy.
Beasts of Bourbon were an Australian blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums, Spencer P. Jones on guitar, Tex Perkins on vocals, Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on bass guitar. Except for mainstays Jones and Perkins, the line-up changed over time as the group splintered and reformed several times. Their debut album, The Axeman's Jazz was released in July 1984. Their debut single, "Psycho", was a cover version of the Leon Payne original. The group disbanded by mid-1985 and each member pursued other musical projects.
The Missing Links were an Australian garage rock, R&B, and protopunk group from Sydney who were active from 1964 to 1966. The group was known for wearing their hair long and smashing their equipment on-stage. Throughout the course of 1965, the band would go through a complete and total lineup change resulting in two completely different versions of the band: the first consisted of Peter Anson on guitar, Dave Boyne on guitar, Bob Brady on vocals, Danny Cox on drums and Ronnie Peel on bass and released their debut single, "We 2 Should Live" in March 1965.
Cosmic Psychos are an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1982 as Spring Plains. Founding members included Ross Knight on bass guitar and vocals; Robbie Addington on guitar and vocals; and Steve Morrow on vocals. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described their music as "arty kind of punk noise, somewhere between The Birthday Party and a more narcotic sounding Ramones". Late in 1984 the group was renamed as Cosmic Psychos. They issued their debut album, Down on the Farm, in December 1985. Several albums have followed and were backed by national tours and international tours to Europe and North America including festivals with Mudhoney, Nirvana, L7, Helmet and Motörhead. In 1990 Jones was replaced by Robbie Watts on guitar and vocals. By 2005 Walsh was replaced by Dean Muller on drums. On 1 July 2006 Watts died of a heart attack, aged 47, and the band continued with John McKeering joining.
The Celibate Rifles were an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1979 with a line-up that included mainstays Dave Morris on rhythm guitar and Kent Steedman on lead guitar; within a year they were joined by Damien Lovelock on lead vocals. They released their first album, Sideroxylon, in April 1983 on the Hot Records label. The band has toured both America and Europe extensively, and released their ninth studio album, Beyond Respect on 19 July 2004. In 1985 the group's style was described as post-Radio Birdman sound which is "a combination of fast, guitar-driven, hard rock and power pop". In November 1987 Sounds magazine's Roger Holland described their album, Roman Beach Party as showing the group's "sawn off rock potential all the way down to the bleached white of the bone, the lyrics reveal all the anger, insight and humour that makes [them] one of the most powerful rock bands in the world today". In April 1994 The Celibate Rifles issued Spaceman in a Satin Suit which according to Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane "was [their] best studio album since Blind Ear". Lovelock undertook a solo career and issued two albums as well as becoming a TV sports presenter prior to his death in 2019.
Russell Keith "Rusty" Hopkinson is an Australian rock musician and record label owner. He joined alternative rockers, You Am I, in 1993 on drums, percussion and backing vocals. He had previously been a member of the Bamboos (1986–87) and Kryptonics (1987–88). He established a record label, Reverberation, in 2003 with his former Kryptonics bandmate, Ian Underwood.
Sherry Rich or Sherry Rich-Plant is an Australian alternative country singer-songwriter, guitarist and music teacher. As Sherry Valier, she formed an all-girl garage rock band, Girl Monstar (1988–93), on lead vocals, harmonica and rhythm guitar. She has worked as a solo artist fronting Sherry Rich and the Grievous Angels (1994–96), The Rich Family with her mother Noelene Rich, brother Rusty and husband Rick Plant, and a member of various ensembles including the Grapes, a duo with Ashley Naylor; the Mudcakes (2004–present), a children's music group with her husband.
Seminal Rats were an Australian punk, indie rock band which existed from 1984 until the death of their lead guitarist, Michael Weber, in January 1999. The band's members were vocalist Michael Harley, guitarist Ruebin Pinkster, bassist Dave Balsamo (1984–93), then bassist Ian Wettenhall (1993–98), and drummer Todd McNeair.
Michael Peter Weber was the lead guitarist of Australian punk rockers Seminal Rats, from 1984 to 1988. Weber also worked as a technician at the Maton guitar facility. He was a member of punky power poppers Slush Puppies (1988), before joining hard rock band Hoss, between 1990 and 1992. He returned to Seminal Rats from 1992 until his death from an accidental heroin overdose, aged 32.
James Lawrence Baker is an Australian musician, best known as the drummer of various rock and punk rock groups, including the Victims, the Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus, Beasts of Bourbon, and the Dubrovniks. In 2006 Baker was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Hall of Fame. The following year, Hoodoo Gurus were inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Dom Mariani is an Australian guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Mariani has been a member of several bands since the early 1980s, including The Stems, The Someloves, DM3, Datura4 and instrumental side project The Majestic Kelp. The Stems is the best-known and most successful of Mariani's projects. Australian musicologist Ian McFarlane described the power pop group as "one of the best live bands on the Australian scene".
Riveresque is the ninth studio album by Australian folk rockers, Weddings Parties Anything. It was released in September 1996 with band members co-producing alongside Cameron Craig and Dylan Hughes. It peaked at No. 34 on the ARIA Albums Chart. According to the inlay card: "Riverésque after the style of a river winding, flowing towards the sea, meandering."
The Leftovers is an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1976 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Original band members were Warren Lamond on vocals, Ed Wreckage on guitar, Jim Shoebridge on guitar, Glenn Smith on bass guitar and Graeme 'Hutch' Hutchinson on drums. Constant members of the original band (1976–1979) were Lamond and Smith, whilst other members were replaced at various times by a host of others including Michael Hiron, Johnny 'Burnaway' Gorman, Mal ' Malcontent' Skewis, David 'Dodo'Donald and Ed Wreckage's son, Ché Wreckage, who joined the group in 2012 along with Michael Gilmore. The group existed from 1976 to 1979 with reformations in 1983 and 2012.
The Vampire Lovers, also styled as Vampyre Lovers or Vampire Lovers, were an Australian punk rock band formed in 1982 in Brisbane, Queensland. Original band members were Axle "Axe Babe" Conrad on vocals, Brendan Kibble on guitar, Shane Cooke on bass guitar, Matt "Nasty" Le Noury on guitar and Dave Chamberlain on drums. Other members included guitarist Jason Shepherd; and drummer, Ziggy Staten. Initially the group existed from 1982 to 1984 and then reformed in 1988 to disband finally in 1990. In 1983 their first single, "Buzzsaw Popstar", brought greater recognition from the Australia alternative rock fans. In 1991 they released a mini-LP, Acid Commandos from Planet Fuzz, a year after they had disbanded.
The Lizard Train were an Australian rock band from Adelaide which formed in early 1985. They released five albums, Slippery, The Ride (1990), Get Yer Wah Wahs Out (1992), Couch (1993) and Everything Moves (1995). Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, contrasted their early work as "a melange of screaming guitars did battle over a rumbling rhythm section. Yet, beneath the distorted riffs and lyrical angst, the band boasted a melodic and harmonic sensibility usually disregarded in such aggressive music" with later work "brimming with powerful, dark songs and inspired musicianship".
The Philisteins were a garage punk band formed in Hobart in 1985 as The Cheesemongers with a line-up including; Aydn Hibberd on guitar, vocals and harmonica; and Guy Lucas on guitar, vocals and organ. In 1986 Konrad Park joined on drums and they adopted a new name, The Philisteins. In late 1986 they issued their debut album, Reverberations, and soon after relocated to Adelaide and signed with local label, Greasy Pop Records. In December 1988 they released an eight-track extended play, Bloody Convicts, Ian Wettenhall on bass guitar and Nick Bruer on drums. They followed with a six-track EP, Some Kind of Philisteins, in November 1989, with Bruer replaced by Stewart Tabert. Their full-length album, Lifestyles of the Wretched and Forgettable, appeared in November of the next year on Dog Meat Records and they had moved to Melbourne. In September 1992 they disbanded and Lucas, Tabert and Wettenhall joined ex-GOD member, Sean Greenaway in a new group, The Freeloaders. Hibberd was a founding member of indie rock band, Powder Monkeys. In March 1998 Guy Lucas died of a drug overdose. A compilation album, A Savage Affection: 1986–1992, appeared in December 2007.
