We asked the bands on the Homeless roster to submit their favourite releases of 2015 whilst we busily compiled our own. The Shovels guys even provided an invaluable resource for would-be touring acts.
One cannot rush such a mammoth task as these, hence why it’s mid-March before we present the results. Hey, we’re busy okay?
The following random list of our personal selections does not include the FIVE outstanding releases on Homeless during 2015 – beginning with an album by long-time favourites, SPRAY PAINT. Releasing their 4th album of art-punk and droning vox with Punters On A Barge (June, HOMELESS23) we also felt the time was right to bring the trio to Australia and those who witnessed any of their shows will attest to how powerful a live outfit they are. The tour coincided with our first foray into the shorter format, with a SPRAY PAINT/EXEK split 7″ (June, HOMELESS25) – and what a slice o’wax it turned out to be! Exek continue to play sporadic shows around Melbourne as they put the finishing touches on what no doubt will be a captivating and compelling debut album and we’re thrilled to have been able to include them on the Australian Tour single.
A month later saw the culmination of some 15 months work on our first archival release: the art-spazz-punk of h M A S and their unreleased album, Fear God Honour The King (July, HOMELESS17). From Hobart,
h M A S were considered an oddity, even in the close-knit isolated musical landscape that was Hobart circa 1997. It’s with fondness that I recall the most frequent response by older Tasmanians who were part of the community back then, when told of the impending release was “Really? You’re releasing a h M A S album? Why?” The reviews were entirely positive (with one cryptic Max R’n’R missive) and the pressing has almost sold out, with just 20-25 copies remaining.
Next up was SEWERS second album of some of the noisest, nastiest, vitriolic bile foisted upon human ears since… don’t make us say it. Weight (July, HOMELESS18) arrived just in time for these miscreants tour of the U.S. of A which saw them (ironically) make friends and clear rooms in a hostile environment, even pre-Trump.
The year closed out with the third installment from CUNTZ with Force The Zone (October, HOMELESS24) – coinciding with another tour of the U.S (who says independent labels don’t pay their artists? Appears most of our roster gets O/S…) which included a controversial cancellation of a show in Seattle. The band returned to the surprise news of being nominated for Best Heavy Album in The Age Music Victoria Genre Awards for 2015.
We can’t thank you enough, those good people who continue to support Homeless – whether it be purchasing albums from stores across the world or via our website, the radio DJ’s who play our releases and the punters at shows. The 2016 release roster is shaping as an exciting and memorable one – look for the entire schedule to be announced soon!
So here goes, the non-Homeless releases we enjoyed most for 2015, starting with one that came out December ’14 but didn’t reach Australia before January. In no particular order:
GG King – Unending Darkness (Scavenger of Death)
OST – It Follows (Milan)
Life Stinks – You’ll Never Make It (S-S)
Stick Men With Ray Guns – Grave City (End of an Ear)
No Negative – The Good Never Comes (Psychic Handshake)
Ballroom – Ballroom (Ever/Never)
Manatees – Croc n My Pocket (12xu)
Spray Paint – Dopers (Monofonus)
Crypt Vapor – Erotik Maniac (Death Shadow)
My Disco – Severe (Temporary Residence)
Coneheads – LP1 / 14 Year Old High School PC-Fascist Hype Lords (Erste Theke Tontrager)
Sleaford Mods – Key Markets (Harbinger Sound)
Hue Blanc’s Joyless Ones – Stoning Josephine (Certified PR)
Housewives – Work (Blank Editions / Hands In The Dark)
Andy Human & the Reptoids – Andy Human & the Reptoids (S-S)
Salad Boys – Metalmania (Trouble In Mind)
Wireheads – Big issues (Tenth Court)
Obnox – Know America (Ever / Never)
Diat – Positive Energy (Iron Lung)
Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing – Scrying In Infirmary Architecture (Muzai)
Minneapolis Uranium Club – Human Exploration (Fashionable Idiots)
Kelley Stoltz – In Triangle Time (Castle Face)
Home Blitz – Foremost and Fair (Richie)
v/a – We Jam By Condos (Monofonus Press)
Eyes Ninety – Eyes Ninety (Swashbuckling Hobo)
Don Howland – Life Is A Nightmare (12xu)
Bichkraft – Mascot (Wharf Cat)
Institute – Catharsis (Sacred Bones)
Video – The Entertainers (Third Man)
Ultimate Painting – Green Lanes (Trouble In Mind)
Protomartyr – Agent Intellect (Hardly Art)
Uniform – Perfect World (12xu)
Kitchen’s Floor – Battle of Brisbane (Bruit Direct Disques)
v/a – Destroy All Art (Rock n Roll Parasite)
Ghastly Spats – Spinozism Exorcism (R.I.P Society)
Hierophants – Parallax Error (Goner)
Meanies – It’s Not Me, It’s You (Poison City)
Cherubs – 2 YNFYNYTY (Brutal Panda)
Pronto – Pronto (Slovenly)
Wet Blankets – Rise of the Wet Blankets (Anti Fade)
Evil Army – Violence & War (Hells Headbangers)
Pierre & Bastien – Que du Bonheur (Polly Maggoo)
Crap Detectors – My Generation Compromised At Birth (Brain Transplant)
Digital Leather – All Faded (FDH)
Holy Soul – Fortean Times (Damn You)
v/a – Cease & Desist: DIY! Cult Classics from the Post-Punk Era 1978-82 (Optimo)
Dan Melchior’s Broke Revue – Lords of the Manor (In The Red)
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL
39 Clocks – Subnarcotic (Luxury Products USA)
Action Swingers – Quit While You’re Ahead (In The Red)
Broken Talent – Rules No One (Florida’s Dead)
Chrome Cranks – Chrome Cranks (Hozac)
Girls, The – Punk Dada Pulchritude (Feeding Tube)
Maercks, Owen – Teenage Sex Therapist (Feeding Tube)
Milk From Cheltenham – Triptych of Poisoners (Superior Viaduct)
Pack – Pack (Ugly Pop)
Steel Pole Bath Tub – Tulip (Sinister Torch)
Scientists – Scientists (Numero Group)
Scientists – Blood Red River (Numero Group)
Suburban Lawns – Suburban Lawns (Futurismo)
Sunday Painters – In My Dreams (What’s Your Rupture?)
Sunday Painters – 4th Annual Report (What’s Your Rupture?)
Swans – White Light from the Mouth of Infinity (Young God)
Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments – Straight To Video (STV)
v/a – Punk 45: Burn Rubber City, Burn! Akron, Ohio: Punk and the Decline of the Mid West 1975-80 (Soul Jazz)
v/a – Punk 45: Extermination Nights In the Sixth City – Cleveland, Ohio: Punk and the Decline of the Mid West 1975-82 (Soul Jazz)
v/a – Back From The Grave Vol. 9 (Crypt)
v/a – Back From The Grave Vol. 10 (Crypt)
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BEN CROTHERS (h M A S)
10 favourite Australian Releases of 2015 – no particular order:
Sam Bakers – At Home
Drunk Elk – Constellations
Squirrel Pancake – Squirrel Pancake
Filthy Little Star – Evening
Superimposed Flowers on Palestine – Musrum
K Mason – K Mason 3
Sarah Mary Chadwick – 9 Classic Tracks
Howling Gruel – Jolly Jape
Shebeen Queen – Your Madness Will Not Go To Waste
Julian Williams – Big City Love
———-
DUNCAN ROBINSON (h M A S)
Tasmania: All The Weathers – 6 for Gold
Homeless: Sewers – Weight
Australian: C.W. Stoneking – Gon’ Boogaloo
&: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
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PHILIPPE (Subtle Turnhips)
Tropical Trash – UFO Rot
Dawn Of Humans – Slurping At The Cosmos Spine
The Coneheads – L .P.1. Aka 14 Year Old High School PC-Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo For The Sake Of Extorting $$$ From Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks L.P.
Cuntz – Force The Zone
Portron Portron Lopez – Moi Aussi J’ai Des Amis Qui Font Du Bruit
not 2015 but bought in 2015
Jorge Ben – A Banda Do Zé Pretinho (fleamarket find)
Al Castellanos / La Playa Sextet / Sonny Rossi – 100% Typique (fleamarket find)
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ZAC WALTON (Gentlemen)
Dan Melchior – Lords of The Manor
Uniform – Perfect World
The Best Show on WFMU boxset
Axis:Sova – Early Surf
No Negative – The Good Never Comes
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CORY PLUMP (Spray Paint)
Exhaustion – Biker
Palmbomen – II
Taming Power – 21 Pieces
Six Feet Under – Comp
Scientist – Wins The World Cup
———-
GEORGE DISHNER (Spray Paint)
Container – LP
US Girls – Half Free
Stick Men With Ray Guns – Grave City
Glenn Branca – The Ascension
Cuntz – Force The Zone
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Shovels
Top 5 Tour Vans:
5. Green 2008 Toyota Sienna
The first model tour van we ever had, and probably the greatest. Sleek, roomy, stylish, it had it all. Its mp3 CD capability cut down the number of CDs need to tour. The 8 seater design was unparalleled in other minivans at the time. Cruise control, AC, and a fold down flat backseat for gear. Middle windows that rolled all the way down kept the wet towel smell to a minimum. Find one if you can. They can’t be beat.
4. Metallic Blue 2013 Chrysler Grand Caravan
The ultimate in luxury minivans. All leather interior, and a bunch of other unnecessary fancy shit means that no rental company in the world will let you out of your home state with this one. Fortunately, this was just for a West Coast jaunt. Noel Von Harmonson and Utrillo Kushner, two of the West Coast’s headiest and most experienced road dogs, also worded us up on Stow-and-Go, the secret gear compartments under the seats. Do criminals know they are there?? A good conversation for the road….
3. Silver Mercedes Sprinter (year unknown)
Don’t be fooled by the glossy photo, this was a beast (and not so new). A Euro touring machine, this one had been driven hard. Real hard. The brakes made such a bad sound, it was hard to hit them, which made hills terrifying. For some reason, the back seats were about 2 feet below the front seats, which meant that whichever band member was in the back was cast off in their own world. With plenty of room for the shitty solid state backline that came with it, it truly owned the wide streets of Germany. But beware the skinny back alleys of Madrid–you may find yourself at one of those pay-the-computer-at-the-gate French hotel parking lots frantically trying to paint over the damage with silver nail polish.
2. Silver 2015 Kia Sedona
After several requests for a 2008 Sienna, the kind lady at the rental counter insisted that we take the Sedona. ‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘I just took it to Stockton last weekend and it was wonderful.’ If you can make it in Stockton, you can make it anywhere. Stockton’s car theft rates rival that of East Oakland and Detroit, and it’s flat, faceless, chain restaurant highways are a spitting image of those in Iowa and Indiana, so we knew this would be the perfect USA tourer. And it was. Behold the new champion in the minivan arena. Absolutely unparalleled.
1. Ford Econoline (all years)
The alpha and omega of touring vans. The greatest of all time. The uncontested tour van of choice, 40 years running. Haven’t gotten to tour in one yet, but maybe one day. Discontinued in 2015. R.I.P.