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SixFtHick - 'On The
Rocks'
spooky027
Reviews TheDwarf.com.au - Australia Six Ft Hick first came to my attention at the Hootenanny Spring Fair in Erskineville in 1999 where very few Sydneysiders had witnessed these rawkus Queenslanders before and there were many jaws hitting the floor after their half hour set of crazy, sweaty and ferocious brand of sleazy hicksville rock’n’roll. That was eight years ago and four albums later and they still impress. It is reassuring that a band as dangerous as Six Ft Hick still exists out there in this day where the look of the band can be more important than the music they play. If you haven’t heard of them yet, then shame on you! They have been the support act of choice for many of the finest rock bands to visit our shores in the past ten years and more than often they would blow the headline acts away with their dual vocal assault and acrobatic stage antics. On The Rocks is as close as they will ever get to capturing the live energy that goes into a Six Ft Hick show – you can almost see the Corbett brother’s sweat dripping out of the CD player whilst this album is playing. On The Rocks opens with ‘Sirens Pt 1’, a spaghetti western style instrumental before diving head first into ‘White Light, Wet Heat’ which is a serious slab of white trash, bourbon fuelled punk’n’roll. ‘Subject to Change’ and ‘La Galleon’ are other highlights at follow their tried and true formula but they also take the foot off the accelerator to get all dark and twangy on songs like ‘Live Girls’ and ‘Euthanise Our Love’ (feat Adilita of Magic Dirt). Whilst Six Ft Hick may have been guilty of including a few filler tracks on previous releases, that is not the case here; every song is worthy making it one of the better Australian releases over the past year. On The Rocks is Six Ft Hick’s most accomplished album thus far. They are running with arguably their strongest line up to date here and the song writing on this release is far beyond their previous efforts. Album review by: Mark Snelson
Time Off – Brisbane Local
‘Canepunk’ purveyors SixFtHick have always been a powerful and captivating live
force, and their recorded output has been getting better and better with each
release, peaking here with their fourth studio album On The Rocks. BEAT MAGAZINE - MELBOURNE Fifty years ago it was common for notable Australian artists to pack their bags and head to Europe to try and prove themselves in the vibrant European artistic climate. In the 1970s Bazza McKenzie chundered all over the image of the urbane Australian mixing it in the halls of European culture, suggesting the average Australian tour was a collage of beer, profanity and offensive behaviour. One wonders, then, where Sixfthick's recent European travels fit into the cross- mix. On the Rocks is Sixfthick's second outing on local label Spooky Records, and the band's first release after cutting a swathe through nominally suspecting European audiences. There aren't too many surprises on a Sixfthick release – this is a band that tends to shout down suggestions of subtlety – and On the Rocks, on the whole, stays true to the normative Sixfthick line. At the same time, this isn't a replication of ground the 'hick have traversed in the past – the album is book ended by the short instrumental Sirens Part One, and Sirens Part Two, the forming painting a landscape closer to the gringo plains of New Mexico than the outer regions of the Sunshine State, and the latter a lament to love left at home while the narrator indulges his rock'n'roll lifestyle. In between those markers there's plenty of classic Sixfthick material, the Corbett brothers' cane punk harmonies give voice to the band's typically colourful observations of human detritus. Live Girls describes the pitiful reality of $2 peep shows, On the Rocks is a relationship break-down played out in the context of violent imagery and Subject to Change is an emotive account of a sociopath in his – or her – natural environment – but doesn't even hold a candle to the anger of Spit ("On my second night in town I ran afoul of some cunt"), and on Ruin Ben Corbett channels his gentle side, using ever chemical and pathological metaphor in the book to make his point. You won't find Sixfthick mentioned in John Howard's authorised list of Australian values, but it's hard to imagine many other bands that so vividly exploit a niche Australian sociological market – namely, the cane cutting, beer drinking, speed fed north Queensland redneck. In its natural form it's a cultural phenomenon to cringe at; in Sixfthick's hands it's a musical creature to behold. Patrick Emery Mess and NoiseThis is the fourth full-length album by the Queensland cane trash boys, who are probably still best known through their relentless touring. Their live shows are an explosive mix of noise, sweat, spilt beer and broken glass, erupting off stage and into the crowd. They have a distinctive sound – usually a kind of sleazy stripped down funk, overlaid with screaming guitar and the twin vocals of the Corbett brothers, Ben and Geoff, which range from urgent screams and hollers to deep sweet crooning. Recorded by Spooky Records boss man Loki Lockwood, and featuring guest vocals from Magic Dirt’s Adalita, this is the most successful attempt yet at capturing them in the studio. Amongst a load of nautical imagery there are plenty of the usual lowlife lyrics: live girls dance for $2.00 a pop, cab drivers get stabbed for ashtrays full of change, and the antihero of ‘Spit’ (“Did you spit on him/Well then, you asked for it”) ends up with his head in his hands and his teeth in the gutter. There are life on the road songs here – ‘One Night Only’ strips last year’s European tour down to a sketched tale of drink, gigs and general craziness as seen in the grottier clubs of the continent – and even a love song, too. Though, as might be expected, ‘Sirens Part 2’ is about loving a lot of women, not having a lot of love for one woman in particular. There’s life in these salty dogs yet. by Trevor Block Previous Releases on Valve Records
Cousins
Daddy's Home
Chicken
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