"Sometimes a band comes hurtling outta the primordial ooze with such teeth-gnashing force and insurgent  brilliance it knocks you in the chest like some kinda rock'n'roll one inch punch. Oof! Your new rock heroes."

Clem Bastow, Inpress – Melbourne, Australia

 

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Live Reviews and Interviews

The Zoo - Brisbane
at The Tremors CD Launch

Digger And The Pussycats follow shortly afterwards
and, oh boys, if it isn’t true love this time then
tell me what is. You’ve mesmerized me with just a
Fender Strat, a snare, a snarl and superfluous use of
the word “cunt”. All those people that poo-poo two
pieces should see this band – they’re so minimal, but
somehow manage to be heavy. Watching them, little
snippets of bands like the Wipers or the Gun Club can
be picked up – dirty-arse rock’n’roll with a little
blues hiding in there.
JEAN CAFFEINE

 

Savage Garage Trash Fest
Patronaat, Harlaam - 02/06/04

If the return of garage rock to the titan fore has shown us anything, it’s that society refuses to let something as holy as the rock and roll spirit die. Of course it never really died, but during those days when the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys ruled the airwaves it seemed like it was on its last dying breath. However, elsewhere in the world lay dormant an underground movement which, unbeknownst to them, would blind sight the rock and roll society.

Now, being well in-trenched in the gospel of garage-heavy charts, we find ourselves gawking at what a mess an over-polished stage act and production can do to a music that was once so pure and raw. Thankfully, this new resurgence has lead to a wide range of venues opening up their doors to the garage-rock disciples in a way that only dive-bars would have done only five years earlier.

If there were any doubts that true-staples of garage rock existed outside the heart of Detroit they could have been put to rest Friday as The Patronaat hosted the garage rock frenzy of the Savage Garage Trash Fest.

Playing host to the world’s garage rock underdogs as well as displaying some fine artwork which ran the gammit from tastefull nudes to social commentary via Elvis portraits, it comprised a night which proved both raw and disheveled while still allowing itself to exhibit the talents of those who mesh the punk mentality with a rock-a-billy twang.

The night, in terms of quality, was firmly split in half. The less impressive half being made up of Dutch localsThe Drugs and American headliners Reigning Sound. Reigning Sound, in particular, despite their obvious talent in transposing the fifties crooner stylings into garagey freakouts, left a bad taste as they hardly moved as they sped along.

No such problems for Austrailia’s Digger & The Pussycats (whose name betrays them as there are only two members) who were probably the best band of the night. Setting up on stage with just a guitar and a stand up drum kit, they managed to produce a sound of sexual raunch while still being able to let their obviously sharp Australian wit shine through. Their last show on our Dutch shores proved the band to be not only patently marketable but surprisingly entertaining. Providing a show littered not only with their well composed garage anthems, but also a humorous personality rarely scene when not ironically placed.

Last up were Spain’s Wau y los Arrrghs!!! whose singer (imagine pat smear as a rock-a-billy Jim Morrison) had already spent most of the night parked in front of the stage drunkenly staggering and ‘helping’ the other bands with their songs. It was these five Spanish outcasts which embodied the classic line-up and ideals of the garage-rock mythology. Keeping their songs short and unintelligible, they produced a sound not unsimilar to that of their sixties heroes. Letting their guitar-heavy romps be augmented by a vox continental keyboard which worked to magnificent effect on their more melodic numbers. However, breaking from the punk-rock ideology, as it turned out, was their downfall. Playing a set that lasted way to long, the novelty eventually wore off leaving the night to end on, if not a dull note, than perhaps a drunken lament on what our future garage rock heroes should and could have been.

If garage-rock keeps one thing when it finally comes crashing out of the media spotlight once more in favour of the next fad-de-jour, let it keep its sprit and integrity. In the end, it is that which will forever set it apart from those who one day dream of stardom and will do anything to get it. Let its morals stay true and its no bullshit values be held holy above all else. Garage-rock is dead, long live Garage-rock.

Jonathan Dekel

 

Lowcut Magazine - London

By pure luck I came across this exciting and raunchy rock'n'roll act when I asked people at garagepunk.com if there were any cool bands playing at my 40th birthday in London. They headlined a 3 band bill north east of Camden in a club called Boston Arms in Islington. From the word go the young A2-piece exploded into a feverish set of shitraw blues'n'punk that was only equalled by a Oblivians show I saw in the mid90s. Some moron couldn't handle the energy and threw a bottle at singer/guitarist Sam Agostino and cut open his chin in their 2nd song. I of course then declared war on all Brits in my drunken birthday celebration, and like a trooper he and drummer Andy Moore battled on with blood pouring down Sam's chest for 45 minutes. Afterwards we had a nice chat since me and my woman seemed to be only ones who truly enjoyed their awesome set. They also gave me their kickass "Young, Tight and Alright" cd which is a further proof of their gutsy attitude towards rock'n'roll, and believe me, lotsa of whiny Copenhagen bands could learn a lot from these hardass Melbourne motherfuckers.

LC: The creation of Digger & The Pussycats, former bands you've been in?

Sam: Andy and myself played in another band before Digger that was a 3 piece. When things fell apart we started up the Pussycats. We have been playing in bands together for about 5 years, after we met at university. We just have a blast and play heaps

LC: I hear Beasts Of Bourbon, Cramps, and especially Gun Club in your tunes, are they some of your heroes?

Sam: The Beasts are a big influence on us. Spencer P Jones is a good friend and played on our Tour EP. I have always dug the Cramps. Until about 3 months ago I had never heard the Gun Club so a friend lent me the "Fire Of Love" record and I really like that. I can see how people say that we sound the same as them but it is strange that we had never heard them. Maybe we listened to the same records they listened to and arrived at the same point.


LC: How's the chin? I can't forget the thug who threw that bottle in London. How did the rest of tour go down?

Sam: Well the scar looks pretty cool and I think it has healed up kinda nicely. The rest of the tour has been great. Europe is a really cool place and everywhere you go there is something exciting and new to do. Right now we are in Amsterdam just finishing off the last few dates before we go home and make another record and tour in Australia

LC: Your live show is pretty wild, the drums sure get a beating, is there lotsa repairing of equipment on the road?

Sam: The gear gets pretty beat up every night but thats cool. Yes we have to put the gear back together pretty much every day. I have blown up 2 amps on this tour and it can sometimes be a nightmare. Andy has broken more sticks and skins than we can keep count of. I think some bands try to wreck gear just to look cool, I dont know why people do it. We dont so it delibaretly but we sweat a lot and play pretty hard and that creates wear and tear on everything.


LC: Pros and cons of only being 2 in a band?

Sam: Pros; more beer and less whining band members. Cons; The conversation dries up pretty quick

LC: The Aussie rock'n'roll sound, why is it somewhat rougher than the rest of the world?

Sam: I think in Australia there is a big pub rock tradition so that makes bands pretty rough and ready, at the same time Australia has an amazing power pop history as well. I think cause we are so isolated from the rest of the world and before the Internet so much music was so hard to get especially in the 70's pre-mail order stuff that people read about rock music and kinda played like how they thought is should be. Aussie bands also tour like motherfuckers in Australia so sometimes you gotta be rough and ready to drink, fight and party.


LC: New Aussie bands we should look out for? I've heard The Specimens who's really cool...

Sam: The Legends of Motorsport are the coolest band in Australia at the moment. They are from Melbourne and play this like Mudhoney meets The Sonics organ rock and roll. They are fucking fantastic

LC: "History Of Adultery"? Based on personal experiences?

Sam: No quite the opposite. History is a song about a fucked up guy who doesnt really know what the fuck he is doing in life. It is more of a finger pointing song, like I dont wanna become like this guy who cant be straight with anyone not even the people who are real close to him.

LC: Is "I Went Out Looking" a twisted Digger & The Pussycats take on soul music? And I can get some more? haha

Sam: I really like a lot of soul music, especially Curtis Mayfield and Gil Scot Herron. There is this real fine line between funk and soul. I really like Soul music when they are just great short songs but a lot of funk stuff gets into 30 minute 1 chord jams that after a while really lose me. Like Fela Kuti can keep it together for 8 minutes and I really dig that but a lot of stuff that people assosciate with soul music is just not for me.

LC: You cover Robert Johnson, Supercharger and The Make-Up, any other cover tunes in your set?

Sam: Often we get pretty trashed and start breaking into covers of everything. So far on the tour we have played Velvet Underground, Nirvana, Sex Pistols, Stooges and of course the Purple Hearts song "Just a Little Bit" which we have recorded and is on our Tour EP. I like playing covers now and again and I think crowds really dig hearing them especially a band like us where people who come to the shows really only know maybe a few songs if any at all. Its not like when you go and see TurboNegro and you can sing every word to every song.

LC: Fave drink, movie and live album?

Sam: Aah, a loaded question. If I answer some liquor for a drink I will look like a tough guy and anything else I will look soft. Favourite drink maybe beer. Favourite movie; This is a tough one, maybe something like arthouse films by like Jean Luc Goddard or something. I always go blank for that question. Favourite live record; Jimi Hendrix at Monterey always comes to mind cause no-one was into him in the States and then he went to the UK and they loved him and this is his first show back in the States before "Are You Experienced" came out and he was like "Fuck you guys, I am the shit" and he was and this show proved it.

LC: Why did Mad Max became a crazed Christian Fundamentalist?

Sam: I'm not too familiar with Mad Max but this sounds like a joke that needs a good punch line. Maybe there is more money in Christian Fundamentalism or maybe searching for over priced Diesel all day is too close to reality. I dunno.

LC: Future plans, anything to add?

Sam: Well, we are gonna be back in Europe in March/April after we do our second record and have that ready to rock, at the moment it has the working title "Watch Yr Back" and should be out in September or October. It will be a lot different to "Young Tight and Alright". A lot broader styles of music on the record and a lot more fucked up. Some of it is already done and I cant wait to go home and finish it up.

By Jens

 

 

Digger and the Pussycats - Artrocker @ The Buffalo Bar London

Digger's eight week tour did not start well. During their first London date, singer and guitarist Sam Agostino received a glass bottle to the head. Nice. Welcome to our country boys!

Thankfully things improved from there, and after a well received Birmingham date supporting The Big Bang, and another in Nottingham, the boys were back in London for one final show before heading off into the depths of Europe.

The basement setting of the Buffalo Bar suited their sweaty, energetic blues-punk. The audience didn't seem to however; composed more of haircuts than headbangers, they watched with detached amusement, and even looked a little afraid when Sam and drummer Andy Moore flung themselves around the stage and occasionally into the crowd.

Still, despite a static audience and being tired from their six days, five shows and little to no sleep on these here shores; the Aussie two-piece sped through their set, playing a handful of titles that will no doubt stick in the brains of all present - at least for a little while ('Coming To Get You' with its chorus of "Drive like a c*nt!" for one).

The music is raw, but often their sheer enthusiasm makes it seem larger than the one guitar, two drums and a cymbal they are equipped with. Andy is so into it that he plays the drums standing up. Their pure, unrefined energy takes their sound, rolls it around in its mouth for a while and then spits it into your face. And you love it.

This isn't particularly intelligent music, but armed with their lyrics about screwing, cheating and stealing, Digger offer a perfect and fun antidote to the dreary rainy-day British pap we've been spoon fed for too long.

More punk than Jet, less panto than The Vines, you wanna be in this Melbourne band's gang if you know what's good for you.

Jo Finlay

 

El Jugular - Madrid

Con la sala medio llena los DIGGER & The PUSSYCATS (guitarra y semi-batería) sorprendieron con su energetico show!!!, si ya el disco "Young, Tight & Alright" (que están presentando en directo por toda Europa) es una delicia para los oidos de los amantes del blues y el rock'n'roll, el directo es aútentico y salvaje Blues-Punk'n'Roll !!!.

Un batería que bailaba mientras tocaba y un guitarrista que acariciaba las cuerdas para interpretar todos sus temas y algunas versiones como la de Supercharger "Stab A Motherfucker" (dedicada a Lilymunster por llevar su camiseta de los Mummies) y la de los Cramps "New Kind Of Kick" (dedicada a Murky "Alehop!!" por haberlos traído a este primer día de mierda).

Lily Munster

 

Buffalo Club – London

Digger and the Pussycats are Australian; perhaps that’s why they give such a chaotic performance. They know they are going home soon and won't have to pay for the damage. It's a two-piece, but they cause as much damage as a full band on crack. You get a drummer, with two drums and a guitarist/singer. So far, so nothing unusual, but as soon as they strike up the first chord, it seems there's something more than a little unusual going on. The first thing that strikes you is the sound. The closest thing to compare them to would be a sort of Buff Medways hybrid, with the sort of hollow sounding, punk-esque chords but with a more rockabilly sound. Rockabilly crossed perhaps with hardcore punk. It sounds great, anyway, if difficult to sum up.

The other thing that strikes you is the fun they are having. Particularly the drummer; whether he has no stool by accident or design is something we shall draw a veil over, but he strikes them drums with such force that he actually jumps as he plays. It's an amazing thing to see, a talent that you didn’t know existed, like something out of a cartoon - A Fred Quimby type cartoon, that would have to be, with a lot of violence and disrespect for property. The backdrop goes quite quickly and is thrown into the audience with much aplomb. They're foul mouthed as well. Ever seen a band with a song called "You Drive Like A Cunt"? If you see Digger and the Pussycats then you will have; subtlety not being a strong point with these fellows. "That wouldn't play on your Radio One", they quip, which is ironic 'cos it would make an utterly fantastic single as its one of the most memorable songs of the night.

It’s all over far too quickly, or at least it seems that way. They don’t so much play their songs as throw them at you. Sadly, they appear to have gone back down under now, but look out for them if ever they should return. Foul mouthed fun with a capital F.

Karl Wareham

 

Interview with Blunt Magazine, Sydney Australia

 

Band name? Digger and The Pussycats

 

Personnel? Andy Moore – Drums/Vocals. Sam Agostino – Guitar/Vocals

 

We are a…? Two piece band that like destroying things including ourselves

 

Where and when did the band form? Melbourne end of 2000

 

If Guns & Roses are a cross between Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols and an LA prostitute, what three things would you say your band are a cross between? Ronald McDonald, Pete Sampras and a dangerous amount of amphetamines

 

When and why did you realise that rocking really is the best way to waste time?

Sam: When I was 13 and found that masturbation started to hurt.

Andy: When I realized playing Cat Stevens on the guitar is not nearly as much fun as playing motley crue on drums, about age 11.

 

Briefly (very briefly...) describe your best gig...

We launched our album at 2am on a Friday night in Melbourne to 250 people packed into a small room called the Pony Bar. The crowd ended up on stage, there was blood and beer everywhere and someone brought along a bubble machine...oh and the pub opened the bar to us after the show and Andy went home with a Swedish girl and her friend, only to pass out on his couch with a bottle of vodka, while the two girls slept in his bed.

 

Living or dead, which three people would you like to record a song with?

Ian Svenonius, William Reid and Steve Albini

 

Which Australian band would you most like to play with and why?

We've already played with The Beasts of Bourbon, which was a dream come true, so probably Radio Birdman. Both these bands have already done what we plan to do, so we look up to them in adulation.

 

Which international band would you most like to play with and why?

The White Stripes. No disrespect, we saw them on their first tour playing tiny club shows in Melbourne and they were alright, but we'd seriously show them how two-piece rock and roll really works. 

 

Who are the best up and comers you’ve seen/heard recently?

A few weeks ago we did some shows in regional Victoria. There were some

16-17 year old girls who I think will be excellent in a couple of years.

Also a band called Jape Squad from Melbourne. They're like an 8-piece party rock and roll band in the vein of Big Star/early stones with a singing bearing striking resemblance to a young Shaun Ryder. Their drug intake is on par with the Mondays also.

 

Who would you like to see on the cover of Blunt?

The Cants

 

What one question do you most want to know the answer to?

Why don’t girls like us?

 

What's the best album of all time, and why?

The closest we can come to agreeing on one is My Bloody Valentine -

Loveless...this record is timeless. Each song flows into the next and

Not one moment is out of place. We're both still trying to find faults in it.

 

Which member of the band drinks the most?

Andy for sure. Sam is the straight guy like Dean Martin and Andy is like Jerry Lewis

 

Which member attracts the most groupies?

Generally Sam but Andy has run into some good form of late

 

One thing you can't say no to?

Vodka and Free Editorial Space

 

And yes to?

Having Plastic bags inserted up our arses when returning from abroad

 

What's your best recording and where can we get it?

"Young, Tight and Alright". Someone said they had it on the counter at Red

Eye in Sydney with a sticker saying, "Looks like anyone can form a two-piece" or something like that. So get it there or at any other like-minded record store or online at Australian Records who have the cheapest locally released albums in the world. Also our label www.spookyrecords.com

 

*If the band was stuck in a tour van for six months and you could only listen to 3 records, what would they be?

With two guys in the band a van would be bigger than most of the hotel rooms we stay in on tour.

1.         Nation of Ulysses - 13-Point Program to Destroy America

2.         Jesus and Mary Chain - Psycho Candy

3.         Mclusky - Do Dallas

 

If God was a woman, what sort of underwear would she wear?

What do you mean "if"?  Of course God is a woman. I'm sure she wears

something comfortable and practical yet attractive

 

In one sentence, convince us to come to your next show...

In the words of Prince in Let’s Go Crazy “Please Come, Come, COME”

 

Anything else to say to Blunt readers?

Stay Young Tight and Alright and if you can’t be that then let it all hang out.

 

Matt