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Digger and the Pussycats - 'Young Tight and Alright' spooky012
Beat Magazine - Melbourne, Australia 'Album of the Week' Get on the Digger & the Pussycats mailing list Here
Noize - Italy
Ennesima uscita di casa Spooky è quella di Digger & The Pussycats. Si tratta di
un inedito duo australiano (di Melbourne per la precisione) formato da Andy
Moore (batteria, voce) e Sam Agostino (chitarre, voce), alle prese con uno
scatenatissimo rock’n’roll che spesso e volentieri si mischia al garage, al
blues e al noise. Molti li hanno paragonati agli Immortal Lee Country Killers:
paragone azzeccato, anche se (a parte le ovvie influenze di MC5 e Stooges) si
sentono pressanti echi di Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Pussy Galore e The
Oblivians.
Bleached Press - UK ‘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.’ And Clem Bastow of Melbourne’s Inpress magazine couldn’t be closer to the truth. with the weight and intensity of the 13 songs that make up Digger & The Pussycats’ debut album, ‘Young, Tight & Alright’ - one almost feels that they’re in the ring facing a Muhammed Ali attack! Its an 13 song/13 round non-stop ruckus of wailing garage noise, bleeding guitars and bruising percussion. Imagine the best songs from Mudhoney and the John Spencer Blues Explosion whisked with Iggy And The Stooges and you’re very close to the sounds of ‘Melbourne’s finest duo’, singer/guitarist Sam Agostino and singer/drummer Andy Moore. and it would be so easy to lump these guys into the same category as the famous duo that make up the White Stripes and label a new fashion but that would take away all that Digger have built up over the last year. For a start, they sound nothing like them. Agostino’s vocals are more in the vein of the Cramps than Jack White and the music lends itself to a simpler style of blues-inspired groove. The only real comparisons can be found in the visual stage presence and the great atmosphere and energy that they give off. Stand out tracks are hard to separate as the energy is stretched out over the entire album, no fillers here I’m afraid and definitely no let up; the crunching bounces of opening track ‘Motorbike’ are echoed later in the pacy pop-punk stomper ‘100 Degrees’. The bluesy Mudhoney turned sleaziness cover of Robert Johnson’s ‘Stop Breaking Down’ is continued in ‘I Went Out Looking’ and the penultimate track ‘I Got A Lover’. ‘Cars And Guns’ is alt-rock ‘n’ roll at its inception. A song that aint happy until it has you shaking your tail feather whilst in a twist, and definitely lifts the mood brought on by the disturbances in ‘10 Car Pile-Up’ and its story of death in its almost gospel-ternative style. Its this mix that makes Digger & The Pussycats heavyweights, not only is their album great but they can also cut it live too. You’d expect to lose a dynamic with the absence of studio overlays but instead they deliver an array of swift right hooks. Consistency like this both live and on record has earned the duo a great deal of respect on their recent European tour, that even included a show in Nottingham’s own Junktion 7. So with an album clearly stated in its title, a band who can be this ‘Young, Tight & Alright’ should have no problems going the distance...prepare your towels, lace up your gloves and by God put in your mouth-guard, this album’s a knockout! MP
Realmusic - Germany
An Selbstbewusstsein scheint
es dem Duo aus Melbourne nicht zu fehlen, denn ein Albumtitel wie "Young, Tight
& Alright" ist doch schon eine ganz ordentliche Ansage, genau wie der Bandname
mehr verspricht, als zahlenmäßig gehalten werden kann: Wenn der eine Digger ist,
wer sind dann die Pussycats, hä? Aber zur Sache: Mag sein, dass krachige Duos
derzeit eine gewisse Konjunktur erfahren, doch bevor jetzt alle Welt sofort
"WHITE STRIPES!" schreit, werfe ich mal ganz trocken ein "BLACK KEYS" oder "MODEY
LEMON" ein.
Anarchy and Peace - Germany
ell yeah!!!
maximaler minimalismus, oder so in der art. verzerrte gitarre plus ein extrem
spärliches drum-set und gesänge... so sah das ganze in etwa live aus, als das
duo aus melbourne (australien) seine interpretation vom abgefuckten, dreckigen
und rauhen blues-punk-aussie-rock`n`roll vorgetragen hat. und es klang wild!
fast schon natürlich bei guten australischen bands kommt die platte nicht ganz
ran an die live-performance, aber das sollte nicht negativ für die konserve
gewertet werden, sondern positiv für die live-qualitäten der band. keine platte,
sei sie noch so genial, kommt an ein gutes konzert der band heran. vor allem
nicht, wenn es sich um rock`n`roll oder nachkommen handelt.
Lowcut Magazine – Denmark If Gun Club, Oblivians, Cramps and Revelators is yer kind of poison then look no further cuz this 2-headed Aussie monster will blow the lid off yer skull, baby! From the first punk blast of "Motorbike" followed by a shitraw take on Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down", you know you're in the company of two youngsters with a true sweaty passion for keeping rock'n'roll raw and exciting. They also got an irrisistable knack for writing catchy songs combined with an outerwordly sonic onslaught, just listen to "10-car Pile-Up" and "100 Degrees"! They also cover songs by Supercharger and The Make-Up. Sam Agostino (vocals, guitar) and Andy Moore (drums, vocals) have got a special place in my heart since I saw'em in London on my 40th birthday, and believe me, Digger & The Pussycats is NOT a band you wanna miss. Some thug throw a bottle at Sam and cut his chin open, but our brave Aussie motherfuckers just kept on playing (with blood pouring down Sam's guitar) even though they knew they were gonna spent the nite at some crummy hospital - NOW THAT TAKES SOME FUCKIN' GUTS! And later 8 stitches. Lowcut # 16 will feature an interview with this sensational 2-piece. Jens
Rocktribune – The Netherlands Trashy garageblues door een Australisch duo. Niet zo losgeslagen als pakweg The Immortal Lee County Killers maar wel verwant. Opener "Motorbike" zet meteen de puntjes op de i. Rauwe primitieve fuzzrock met overslaande stemmen en een steeds herhaalde tekst. De song staat zo scherp dat ik m'n oren snij door ernaar te luisteren. Ha! Dat Robert Johson god is voor een ganse generatie wisten we onderhand wel, hun versie van zijn "Stop Breaking Down" is meer dan ok maar de overkill lonkt. De titelsong is dan weer Neil Young & Crazy Horse tijdens een wilde uit de hand gelopen drugtrip en stort tonnen feedback over je heen. Jawel, een beetje overgave wordt van de luisteraar wel gewenst. We gaan daar natuurlijk graag in mee, je weet misschien wel dat de voltallige Rock Tribune crew ooit nog begonnen is als act in de gereputeerde Gentse 'Slaves For Pleasure"-club. Behalve CJ dan, die baatte de zaak uit. Het kan verkeren. "Save Yourself" is nog zo'n knaller. Net Marc Bolan die vanuit z'n graf T-Rex tot een dolle vampierenfuif oproept. "Young, Tight & Alright" dingt niet naar je gunsten. Nope, het schijfje komt recht op je af om je brutaal in je gezicht aan te staren met een air van 'heb ik wat van je aan'. Voila, zo hoort het.
OOR – The Netherlands Twee notoire bluesrockers uit Melbourne, Andy Moore en Sam Agostino, werden door het label Spooky uit het clubcircuit geplukt om hun Australische versie van fucked-up blues op de plaat te zetten. Hoe vreemd de wegen van dat label ook zijn mogen, dit is weer eens een gouden greep. Bijgestaan door twee leden van The Drones spelen Digger & The Pussycats de tent op vrij briljante wijze aan flarden. Muzikaal meer dan onderlegd, vreemde visies op akkoordenschema’s, maar de blues op amfetaminekoers houden alsof het een genre is waaraan je nimmer een gedachte vuil moet maken. Die souplesse missen – laten we eerlijk zijn – de meeste muzikanten in deze hoek van de muziek. Heel soms zien Digger & co. opleukerij ten onrechte aan voor een grace note en ook moeten we ons temidden van de heerlijk gesjeesde blanke deltawerkjes door een paar wel hele vreemde nummers werken. Een fout powerpop nummer bijvoorbeeld, en als slot een fenomenale, hoewel zeer bizarre sonische punkrocksong (lijkt toch een beetje een schop naar Modey Lemon:’wanna rock suckers?’. Neemt niet weg dat er op ‘Young, Tight & Alright’ grotendeels uiterst gevarieerde, zwaar verslavende fucked-up blues staat waar je gevaarlijk energiek van wordt.
I Punk Rock - Spain Un buen debut de
este dúo de Melbourne en el sello Spooky, formado por Andy moore ( batería y voz)
y Agostino (guitarra y voz), que responden al nombre de DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS. MORE...Trece efervescentes temas que vienen de las
entrañas del grupo, de salvaje blues punk, en los que hablan de chicas,
violencia, infidelidad y lujuria, perfectos para animar el cotarro de cualquier
etílico fiesta.
The First Church of Holy Rock and Roll - USA Compared to the Immortal Lee County Killers, the Pussycats actually surpass them by dispensing with the alienation factor and just getting down to the business of hard music. The CD cover depicts Digger and an accomplice holding up the bar with a couple of pints, and the riffs contained therein are just as unpretentious. They celebrate the thrills of a new motorbike, cars and guns, traffic accidents, and Robert Johnson, and steal "Sooprize Package for Mr. Mineo" (yclept "Stab a Motherfucker") from not only Supercharger but the Mummies by giving in to the temptation to make it sound good and DIRTY. The Reverend
Psychotic Reaction Zine - Spain I don’t care if you played with great bands ! I don’t care if you’re hyped ! I don’t care if your drummer got a redhead afro ! AND I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE COVERING THE SUPERCHARGER (Stab a motherfucker)! You only got 2 goods songs. You should have released a 7’’ or something ! Your punk blues is boring ! BOORRING !!! If you had released a 7’’, I would love your band rite now ! I would talk about you like you were the greatest band in the rock n’roll history ! But you released a CD (not even a vinyl ) so, now, I’m sorry for you ! Maybe I’m overreacting. Maybe you’re not so bad after all. But, overall, it’s not great ! You should have released a 7’’ with your first and last songs, and I would wore a t-shirt with your face on it. Digger and the Pussycats is a punk blues band in the vein of Immortal Lee County Killers and that kinda of shit. Their first track, motorbike, is SO AWESOME that other songs made me sad. Their last song, Stab a motherfucker, is a supercharger song so, it cannot be bad. In between, you got some so-so to boring punk blues song that don’t match the first and the last song. Release a 7’’ DAMMIT ! Tony Suicide
8Weekly - The Netherlands Slechts een paar maanden terug schreef ik hier een cd-recensie van The Double Agents . Dit illustere, Australische gezelschap bracht een cd’tje dat mij prima beviel. Nu, slechts enkele maanden later, bereikt een nieuwe release de 8weekly-burelen. Jawel, een nieuw plaatje van Spooky Records. Weet U nog, die ook de plaat van The Drones hebben uitgebracht. Het sympathieke label uit Melbourne brengt ons de ouderwetse garagepunk waar Australiërs (en Spooky Records) schijnbaar patent op hebben. Ditmaal komt het geweld van Digger & The Pussycats, een bedrieglijke naam, want we hebben hier te maken met een tweemansformatie. Sam Agostino en Andy Moore, op gitaar/zang en drum/zang, brengen een fijne cd genaamd Young Tight & Alright.
Muzikale geestverwanten
Eerbewijzen
Hechte scène
Diggin’ for Dirt – The Netherlands Andy Moore en Sam Agostino
weten wat rulle blues is. Ze moeten weet hebben
Kindamuzik - The Netherlands
Waarschuwing: Garagepunk
drums-en-gitaarduo gesignaleerd. Martijn ter Haar
The Rawk – Nashville, Texas
aussie guit and drums duo
raising quite a racket and Manthon
Thrust Magazine – Canada Digger and the Pussycats? What the hell? Someone let me in on the joke, must be an Aussie thing. Yes Aussie. Apparently they use English down there, but screw it up so we don't know they're slagging us silly. Thank gawd for rockinroll, for as we all know, no matter how poncy an accent you may speak with, there's only one way to holler into a mike over electric guitars, and that's American English. Back to Digger and the felines. Actually a duo - all the rage in garage blues punk rawk circles (see: White Stripes, Black Keys, Sonny and Cher, uh...) - that bring a primo primal guitar and drum sound to the table. Scant chord tunes about cars and guns, like "Cars and Guns" for instance, provide thrills, chills and alcohol spills. Young, Tight and Alright indeed. Goose bumps all around ... on me! John Sekerka
Moloko Plus 03/04: - Germany
Die Welt ist klein, verdammt
klein sogar. Da landete letztens die Email der zwei Melbourner Bluestrash Punker
in meinem Postfach, ob ich ihnen meine Unterstützung für einige
Deutschlandtermine zu Teil kommen lassen könnte. Dies wäre ja noch nicht
wirklich spektakulär. Doch Udo, einer aus der sich immer weiter zu verstreuen
scheinenden Punk Rock Keimzelle Freiberg – jetzt tätig in der Veloschmiede eines
gewissen Barny Trouble, gab ihnen nen Tipp. Und Udo wiederum, kennt die Jungs
von seinem einjährigen Australienaufenthalt. Natürlich wollt ich erstmal hören
was man mir da aufs Auge drücken wollte. Und Tusch - das ist großartig. HOLM!!!“
Sleazegrinder.com – USA Digger n’ the Pussycats, eh? Well, first off, there’s only two of ‘em, so at least one of the cats or maybe Digger is purely fictional. The only part I know to be true about the whole affair is that there’s two black hearts responsible for this mess o’ blooze, and they both crawled outta the goo-goo muck of Melbourne Shock City, Australia. Now, you may already be aware of the bad magic that occurs when one drummer and one geetarist turn everything up to 13 and channel their inner Muddy Waters like rock n’ roll never happened – think Black Keys and Lee County Killers, and, if yr kinda lame, The White Stripes- so, just imagine that kinda wretched, unstable gospel n’ bruise slop filtered through the abused livers of a cuppla Aussie ‘Roo hunters with blood in their teeth. Yep, that’s what ya got here, mad daddy - the blues as a sockful of quarters slammed into yr jaw. I’m gonna give ‘em 1,000 extra points for mixing their bone-cracking gutbilly primitivism with psycho-techno turntable terrorism for mondo bizarro closer “Stab a Motherfucker”, but they were already on the winning side for so thoroughly treating Pussy Galore like the precious Noo Yawk bitches that they were by copping their junkie rattle whole-hog and turning into a manly, sweaty boozebeast. Aussies are good for that kinda stuff, ya know. Umm, this might be a good time to howl like a wolf, or somethin’. The Sleazegrinder
Thee Cave This is the debut album from a duo outfit that locates in Melbourne, Australia. This isn’t a 60’s oriented album but a blues-punk one with lotsa guitar noise, angry vocals and pounding drums. Their sound reminds of NYC Pussy Galore and Big Black although the Cramps, Beasts Of Bourbon, supercharger and early 80’s Aussie scene sounds are obvious in here. The members of Digger And The Pussycats are Andy Moore (drums/vocals/organ) and Sam Agostino (guitar/vocals/bass/percussion). I don’t know if these guys play all instruments at live gigs or they use session musicians but any of you curious people out there will solve this mystery on May and June 2004 while the band will be touring Europe. Digger & The Pussycats’ songs are about lying, cheating and stolen motorcycles and that’s yet another good reason to get their album and visit their shows! Get the picture? George
CR
Entertainment -
Digger and the
Pussycats is a two piece from
Daniel
Triggerfish – Germany Spontaneität und natürliche Rauhheit
Es ist kaum zu glauben, aber in
der Garagenpunk-Schublade geht's genauso zu wie bei Dieter Bohlen, wenn er vor
seinem Keyboard sitzt... ist erst einmal ein Trend ausgemacht und ein Hit
produziert, wird bis zum bitteren Ende darauf herumgeritten. Unglaublich hip
sind nicht erst seit den White Stripes Bluestrash-Combos, die sich nur einem
Schlagzeug und 'ner Gitarre bedienen, und eigentlich hatte ich mir fest
vorgenommen jede weitere Band dieser Gangart rücksichtslos zu ignorieren.
Rip It Up – Adelaide, Australia
Melbourne's
sleazy, blues punk guitar and thumping, hip shakin'
drums two-piece, Digger & The Pussycats, has deservedly become an Adelaide live
favorite for their energetic, uncompromising, self-destructive and charmingly
sloppy, fun-filled rock shows and this debut album should find welcome homes
on the shelves of many a fan.
Inpress Magazine – Melbourne, Australia Sometimes a band, a song, an album 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? Fuck them! These moments are rock’n’roll Watergate and the The’s are Nixon. The latest of these ball lightning berserkers are Digger And The Pussycats and their opening salvo is Young, Tight And Alright. Bursting from the ashes of Melbourne's Fort Mary (not counting about a million other smoldering and/or firing-on-all-cylinders ensembles), Digger are good pals Sam Agostino on axe and vocals (and then some) and corkscrew-locked Andy Moore on drums (and vocals and possibly red cordial). For a band who find their niche primarily in their synapse-frying live shows – the usual vomit-inducing ‘seeing is believing’ clichés don’t even get close to their rock’n’blues aerobics, Oz style – their debut album is impressive in its energy. Such a primal blooze riot can be hard to capture on record; recent co-headliner Bob Log III suffers from a killer live sound that never quite convinces on disc. But these kids are smart; they know that once the energy dies down, if you’ve got no tunes, you’re out the door like so many rock shysters. Opener Motorbike’s buzz-saw riff and yell and response vocal tears its way into your psyche, setting the tone for the rest of the album. Their reworking of Robert Johnson’s Stop Breaking Down is easy sleazy, grotty blues scrofulation for beginners; when Sam grunts “this stuff I got/It’ll blow your brains out baby”, it’s like that Kevin Smith gag about Superman’s hot white jizz busting a hole in Lois Lane’s back, or that bog body whose abscess had exploded through the side of his skull – sickeningly, undeniably, primally thrilling. The aching History Of Adultery is like the ragged little brother of AC/DC’s Ride On; the line, “I love my baby/So when I go out cheatin’/I find a girl who looks exactly the same/If I’m lucky she’ll have the same name/Over and over again”, surely shoots straight into the annals of great rock’n’roll lyricism. Save the occasional directionless moment (the danger of such basic soundz is of course that, when laid out bare, they can run a little thin), Young, Tight And Alright is a rip-roaring debut. In their loose re-approximation of the blues-via-punk, Digger And The Pussycats have neither Jack White’s self-consciousness nor Dan Auerbach’s alarming premature weariness, just a whole buncha great tunes, exciting promise for the future and enough energy to jam a rocket up the ass of the old guard. How d'ya like that, huh? Clem Bastow
Beat Magazine - Melbourne, Australia
'Album of the Week'
From all
accounts, this debut disc from Melbourne’s enraged, yet fun, Digger & The
Pussycats, was recorded for 600 bucks, and the recording time span was 14 hours,
with a similar length devoted to the mixing. The recording, done by Loki
Lockwood, sounds as crisp as an onion slice, but all the raggedy, uncombed
sweat, and rock and roll threat of the Digger & The Pussycats live sound is
apparent, but more importantly, it’s enhanced.
The Digger
live show is a fiery and unstable event, cymbals flaying from being crunched,
drums falling over, with the guitar carved and garrotted. While all that
happens, both Sam Agostino (vocals, guitar) and Andy Moore (drums, vocals)
somehow make do to remain standing up, and they put on a go-ahead and active
show. Knowing how good they are live, there’s an apprehension in this release;
can Digger sustain that hectic state over a full length, and will their live
essence be intact? The answer is a reverberating yes.
It’s obvious
that this was an awesome night of recording, quite mad yet purposeful, and the
addition of bass and keyboards, plus guests from The Drones, Rui Pereira and
Gareth Liddiard, feed up an already fat sound. Young, Tight & Alright is 13
tunes in a rock and roll box, strung together in rotten twine, and bashed out by
two freaks that are enthusiastic and genuine for their liking of mucked-up, rock
and roll.
Motorbike is
an accurate opening track, all bashing snare drum, and racing guitar, with a
lyrical interaction between Sam and Andy which is the extraction of a screaming,
call and response. 10-car Pile-Up has its melodic roots in some gospel
exhortation, and is the first tune to feature Gareth Liddiard on keys. The
sentiment of this song is some dude dying in a car crash, and then being sent
down below to hang out with The Evil Sprite. According to Agostino the moral of
the song is “don’t fuck around, drive fast, or do nothing taboo.”
100 Degrees
is all simple rhyming and staccato drumming, and at first listen the
undercurrent of feedback that permeates the track, sounds like an out-of-tune
radio imbibing its own static beneath everything else. Cars And Guns has a
shimmering riff, andis the song to shake your arse and strut your legs to. While
you’re doing that, you might as well tuck your thumbs under your arms and do the
chicken dance as well.
An
interesting thing about Digger & The Pussycats is that they’ve decided to add
three covers on the album. Okay that might not be interesting, but what is
interesting is their choice of covers, instead of rewriting some 60s artist’s
back catalogue, they’ve decided to cover tunes from their contemporary punk,
rock and roll peers, namely Rip Off Records and California’s finest,
Supercharger, and Washington’s soul-socialists, the Make Up. The original title
of the Supercharger cover was Sooprize Package For Mr. Mineo, but in Digger’s
hands it’s been reworked into a padded version of lunacy, and it’s an inspired
adaptation.
In the last
year, Melbourne’s uncompromising word-of-mouth has been gabbing about Digger &
The Pussycat’s live performances. Young, Tight & Alright proves that they can
excel in the recorded medium. It’s an outstanding release.
Shane Jesse
Christmass
Time Off – Brisbane, Australia Out of the bowels of Melbourne come rock’n’roll’s latest middle-finger fireball, consisting of Sam Agostino on guitar and vocals and Andy Moore on snare, tom, cymbal and some crazy-assed wailing. Branding their names on the bare ass of blues-rock and/or roll, it’s a lean, mean tale of bad luck (‘10-Car Pile-Up’), bad women (‘100 Degrees’) and just downright bad attitude (‘History Of Adultery’). Added to the mix are some genuinely original re-workings of Robert Johnson’s ‘Stop Breaking Down’ and The Make-Up’s ‘Save Yourself’. If you’ve ever given The Mess Hall or SixFtHick the time of day, it’s in your best interest to check out this document of the barroom high life. Carl Snatch
The Brag - Sydney, Australia Garage blues rockery a la Black Keys but with more grunt and a little less distinctiveness on the vocals. Digger and The Pussycats are a duo from Melbourne who shatter any preconceptions about the sonic potential of two guys and a headful of angry drum and guitar riffs. It’s all as loose as anything, with a distinct live feel, though the instruments sound big and the songs themselves are good enough to overcome their drippings of distortion. You can almost picture the two members – Sam Agostino and Andy Moore – flaying their instruments wildly whilst screeching twisted lyrics of love and remorse into a battered old microphone. Young, Tight and Alright is very immediate. It’s like a jam in your garage with the amps turned up to eleven and the songs only really half-formed – though to be fair, that half is absolutely rocking. This is for anyone who has ever dreamt about forming a band but just can’t quite get the numbers together to do so. Zolton Zavos
Updated 20th October 2003 |
