Not Stranded: Rediscovering Your Roots via Brisbane Punk
An Introduction to early Brisbane punk songs that arenāt (Iām) Stranded.
Iām sitting inside a room that is nearly empty, with the exception of the few unsold items from a garage sale; a bike, a desk, a set of drawers and a budget turntable. Icy snow crackles as itās blown against the windows, like whatever that crackle-in-your-mouth candy is called. Poprocks? I donāt know and I suppose itās not important, other than it reminds me of being a kid in Brisbane.
Earlier this week I made a mix of early Brisbane punk that Iād promised to a friend and my girlfriend a long time ago. My time here in Western New York is coming to a close and Iām trying to tie up loose ends before I go. Ā In some ways I think I put off making the mix as a way of avoiding looking back at my hometown, which I left a long time ago but am due to return to in a weekās time.
I left Brisbane embodying the clichĆ© of the naĆÆve music-loving kid lured away to Melbourne, attracted by the promise of meeting more like-minded obsessives and delving deeper into the underground. Needless to say, I learnt that what I was looking for was under my nose the whole time in Brisbane, but by then I was too far gone, and Melbourne had made its mark. In Melbourne I got more into punk that wasnāt just The Saints or The Ramones, and as I moved on to Sydney and the United States, I kept finding that being around punk and DIY-minded spaces and people was where I was at my best, and so I kept on diggingā¦
Making this mix though, was a way of looking back at Brisbaneās past (a somewhat glorified one), probably for the first time since I left about 10 years ago. Like I said, I liked all your standard punk touchstones as a kid in Brisbane, but growing up listening to 4ZZZ Iāll admit that most local music presented as āpunkā Ā at the time struck me as corny and melodic (it was the late 90s), posturing pick-scraping, or straight out novelty. As uninformed as this opinion admittedly was, I was generally of the opinion that Brisbane punk lacked depth and as such lost interest. While Iāve since made amends for this indiscretion, I never really revisited Brisbane punkās roots until I made this mix.
I should admit that I still remain fairly critical of my hometown, and by extension, its music. On top of that, having ignored my Ā history for far too long, a bunch of this stuff is still new to me so Iām arriving at the songs on this list with almost as fresh ears as my intended listeners are. There are some obvious omissions from this short list, and itās probably because songs about love and/or girls copped the boot, as did a bunch that leaned too heavily on traditional rock tropes, including extended guitar solos and the always cringe-inducing stonesy vocal drawl. Sorry, Fun Things
I also omitted The Kicks, because fuck, I couldnāt pick just one. I picked a more representative Young identities track (New Trends) in favour of my personal favourite (Threats)
All the bands I chose have been covered to death by rock historian and journalist types, so Iāll spare you the hyperbole about the repressive Bjelke-Petersen era, and leave you to read Pig City and listen to comps like Shakedown, Bloodstains Across Australia, Behind The Banana Curtain, and the many many other Aus Punk compilations out there.
What I will do, is leave you with a tracklist compiled by a prodigal Brisbanite who left town thinking The Saints were the be-all and end-all. A kid who gained his musical education interstate and overseas, but always felt an affinity for the attitude and irreverence of the weirdo DIY fringes of his hometown. A now much older kid whoās likely to argue that Young Identities and La Fetts are the places to look for a still-relevant representation of early punk Brisbane.
I always felt guilty for leaving Brisbane. I felt like I left because I was bored, but that if people like me just kept leaving and not doing anything about it, it would continue to be boring. Needless to say, Brisbane is (and always was) doing just fine without me, and there will always be motivated people making things happen. I feel like Iām coming back for my second go at Brisbane with the benefit of a decadeās experience in life and in music, and most importantly bringing with me the snot, snarl and obstinacy of this bunch of early Brisbane punks.
Early BNE Punk: A Mix for Biff and Jamie
1. Young Identities ā New Trends
2. Razar ā Task Force
3. The Leftovers ā I Only Panic When Thereās Nothing To Do
4. The Saints ā One Way Street
5. La Fetts ā SEQEB Scabs
6. Just Urbain ā Guns and Guitars
7. Mystery of Sixes ā Mystery of Sixes
8. The Parameters ā Pig City
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