Feedtime

Feedtime

Gas

In The Red

Sydney, 1978-79: against the backdrop of the burgeoning inner-city music scene, feedtime was formed. Taking notes from the incendiary live shows of X and Rose Tattoo, they created their own interpretation of the events unfolding before them, a blues-noise that was equal parts abstract minimalism and working class roots-rock. Post-punk, yet right in the thick of it; miles ahead of the pack and not many seemed to notice. The classic line-up (reunited here on Gas) released four albums in the 1980s before their initial dissolution in 1989. All four albums generated an international cult following, often cited as influential in the US regional band explosion of the early ’90s. Fitting then, that in 2012 the band’s classic albums were reissued as a box set by SUB POP Records. Gas presents all the elements that make feedtime one of the great Australian pub rock bands. The staggering, woozy slide guitar, the thundering drums, and the relentless thrum of the bass create the atmosphere of urban panic, finding ways to smile amongst the bitter, harsh reality of life. Some make it through, some don’t.

Feedtime

Today Is Friday

S-s Records

***Formed in 1984, FEEDTIME, the legendary Australian band, created a rumble that has carried over the decades like a subterranean fault rupture; a persistent, threatening tectonic shift that has swallowed anyone lucky enough to encounter one of their records. Feedtime started out as a WTF project that suddenly coalesced into something quite unlike anything else going: a pounding rhythm section with a hoarse vocalist that swam against the fast-faster-fastest hardcore tides of the time to create a timeless rock ‘n roll sound that is equal parts psych pound, punk holler, gutter blues, and post-punk noisescape, without ever sacrificing the song to the concept. Neat trick that. Their initial period of intense activity was the mid-80s to the mid-90s. They released a series of records on the Aberrant (OZ), Rough Trade (UK/US), and Amphetamine Reptile (USA) labels. So, in 2011, when S.S. Records was working on bringing Feedtime to the US in order to play our tenth anniversary showcase, SS10 (where they ruled), I asked Bruce Aberrant if there was any archival stuff laying around. Bruce snorted a “Yes” and said that there were reels of it, but none of it had been accessed for years. Over the next six months Bruce went through hours of feedtime sessions, demos, and live tapes, transferring the keepers for S.S. to hear. We culled through dozens of songs—outtakes from feedtime’s great debut album and their even greater follow-up, Shovel. We also put our ears on demos from the Billy era, as well as live...