The Volcanics

The Volcanics launching a new album was always going to be an important event on the Perth music calendar, so it was a strange feeling entering a very underpopulated venue just as the night was about to kick off. Opening support acts, The New Invincibles and The Wishers, were left performing to just a smattering of punters, augmented by the odd person who looked like they’d gotten lost on their way to or from Oktoberfest.

That was a crying shame because both bands gave it their all, with energetic performances of their respective forms of solid classic garage rock that didn’t so much warm up the gig as start it with an explosive bang that set the perfect tone for the night – loud, dirty and electrifyingly executed. By comparison to long standing Perth rock stalwarts The New Invincibles, The Wishers are a relatively new band in their current form, but a lineup that combines musicians with long and illustrious careers with a contingent of younger members, The Wishers are a perfect storm of experience and youthful vigour.

Lesson number one, Perth punters: don’t wait until the headline act to show up. You may be missing some of the best new music out there.

Perth rock royalty Datura stepped up next, bringing a much heavier vibe that almost seemed like an unlikely but hugely successful combo of Alice Cooper and Springsteen with a touch of psychedelia and the occasional heavy blues riff. They closed their set with an absolute ripper of a track that set the stage beautifully for the main event.

By the time The Volcanics erupted onto the stage in a deluge of feedback and heavy bass, it was clear who most people had come out to see – the venue was heaving and within bars of the first song they had the usually sedate Perth crowd popping Iike corn in a frypan. When you witness a Volcanics gig one thing is very clear: this is a band who know what they’re doing.

Lead singer John Phatouros has the kind of charisma usually reserved for stadium acts, and in a venue as intimate as Amplifier you can’t help but feel like you’re seeing something seminal. Track after track the band impressed with their raw animal energy and flawless delivery, even dishing out a cover of The Easybeats ‘I’ll Make You Happy’ that paid tribute to the roots of the bands influences while owning the song so well they could take Stevie Wright and Co. to school.

Add some special guests in the form of a horn section into the mix, and the audience were treated to a whole new level of sound – an unexpected blend of heavy garage and big band that knocked it out of the park.

If the audience reaction on the night was anything to go by Get A Move On is an album that is going to fly off the shelves and this reviewer, for one, left the venue thoroughly reminded that The Volcanics aren’t just Perth rock at its best – they’re rock at its best, full stop.

_ MACEO POWERS - Xpress Magazine

The Volcanics launching a new album was always going to be an important event on the Perth music calendar, so it was a strange feeling entering a very underpopulated venue just as the night was about to kick off. Opening support acts, The New Invincibles and The Wishers, were left performing to just a smattering of punters, augmented by the odd person who looked like they’d gotten lost on their way to or from Oktoberfest.

That was a crying shame because both bands gave it their all, with energetic performances of their respective forms of solid classic garage rock that didn’t so much warm up the gig as start it with an explosive bang that set the perfect tone for the night – loud, dirty and electrifyingly executed. By comparison to long standing Perth rock stalwarts The New Invincibles, The Wishers are a relatively new band in their current form, but a lineup that combines musicians with long and illustrious careers with a contingent of younger members, The Wishers are a perfect storm of experience and youthful vigour.

Lesson number one, Perth punters: don’t wait until the headline act to show up. You may be missing some of the best new music out there.

Perth rock royalty Datura stepped up next, bringing a much heavier vibe that almost seemed like an unlikely but hugely successful combo of Alice Cooper and Springsteen with a touch of psychedelia and the occasional heavy blues riff. They closed their set with an absolute ripper of a track that set the stage beautifully for the main event.

By the time The Volcanics erupted onto the stage in a deluge of feedback and heavy bass, it was clear who most people had come out to see – the venue was heaving and within bars of the first song they had the usually sedate Perth crowd popping Iike corn in a frypan. When you witness a Volcanics gig one thing is very clear: this is a band who know what they’re doing.

Lead singer John Phatouros has the kind of charisma usually reserved for stadium acts, and in a venue as intimate as Amplifier you can’t help but feel like you’re seeing something seminal. Track after track the band impressed with their raw animal energy and flawless delivery, even dishing out a cover of The Easybeats ‘I’ll Make You Happy’ that paid tribute to the roots of the bands influences while owning the song so well they could take Stevie Wright and Co. to school.

Add some special guests in the form of a horn section into the mix, and the audience were treated to a whole new level of sound – an unexpected blend of heavy garage and big band that knocked it out of the park.

If the audience reaction on the night was anything to go by Get A Move On is an album that is going to fly off the shelves and this reviewer, for one, left the venue thoroughly reminded that The Volcanics aren’t just Perth rock at its best – they’re rock at its best, full stop.

_ MACEO POWERS - Xpress Magazine

Perennial Perth rockers The Volcanics launch their new album, Get A Move On, at Amplifier this Saturday, October 12, with support from Datura, The Wishers and The New Invincibles. TRAVIS JOHNSON has a word with lead singer, John Phatouros, ahead of this momentous event.

If you’ve ever seen John Phatouros on stage, then you know he’s the real deal; a powerhouse rock frontman, all surly swagger and forceful vocals, one of the few remaining pureblood members of a tribe with a rich and terrible history.

It’s always amusing, and a little confusing, to meet him in person, then, and find a guy who’s polite, self-effacing, and even – dare we say it? – a bit on the shy side.

“Aw, do we have to include that?” he replies when asked for a quick précis of his band, The Volcanics. His reticence is charming.

For those who don’t know, The Volcanics have been around since 2002, releasing their first EP, Nothin’ For You, in 2004. They formed with the sole aim, Phatouros says, of playing “… Australian rock’n’roll, influenced by all the bands that the guys in The Volcanics dig: The Saints, Radio Birdman, The Screaming Tribesmen, Cosmic Psychos. It’s mainly the ‘80s guitar bands we’re influenced by, and a lot of them on Citadel – ‘70s and ‘80s Australian.”

That name-check of Citadel Records is deliberate, because that legendary label will be releasing The Volcanics’ latest effort, the full-length album, Get A Move On. Citadel, as Aussie music aficionados well know, has been home to an impressive roster of talent, including The Lime Spiders, The Trilobites, The Bamboos and The Stems. The Volcanics should be right at home.

The Volcanics came into existence because Phatouros and his bandmates were none-too-pleased with the early 21st century Australian music landscape. “There were lots of Australian bands playing music that made them sound like American bands,” he explains. “There were more Australian bands playing music that made them sound like they were American rock’n’roll than Australian, so that made it – not an easier choice, because we don’t choose to play that kind of rock’n’roll, that’s just what’s in us, if you know what I mean, but at the time there was fuck all Australian bands that we knew of playing the music we were influenced by.”

Asked to elaborate on what makes Australian rock stand out for him, Phatouros shies away from giving a concrete answer – he just knows it when he hears it. “I can’t say what’s distinctive about Australian rock’n’roll but I can say that Australia, just like Britain and just like America, they know how to play rock’n’roll. It’s real. A lot of other countries, they want to play rock’n’roll, but they’ve got a different beat or they’ve got a different shuffle and it just sounds almost like a tribute to rock’n’roll – and we’re not doing a tribute to rock’n’roll. I don’t know the Australian sound, but I know that when you hear it, you know it.”

That fierce allegiance to the heritage of Australian popular music informs Get A Move On, right down to the choice of behind-the-mixing-desk talent that helped midwife the album into existence. Rob Younger of Radio Birdman and The New Christs produced, while living legend Wayne Connolly mixed the project.

Still, it’s The Volcanics’ baby, a collaborative effort between the four members, with none taking centre stage in the production process. As Phatouros tells us, “We all write and we all choose not to write a whole song and then bring it to the band and have the band cover it, so to speak. We don’t enjoy one person writing a song and the other people learning that song. We all write, like a lot of bands, together. Someone starts it and then we all jump on it and make it better than if one person did it. At different times, different members start the idea.”

Of course, with a new album comes, almost inevitably, a new tour, and Phatouros is excited at the prospect. “We’re going to tour early next year - just an Australian tour – and we’re applying to see if we can go to SxSW. If that does happen – we’re trying to organise that. Our main priority is promoting the album, though, so our main thing is our album touring around Australia.” - X-Press Magazine

True mainstays of Perth's rock'n'roll scene, the Volcanics have waited six years to release the follow-up to their 2007 debut and the result is the fiery and rather ironically titled Get a Move On.

Having supported and often upstaged legends such as the New York Dolls, the Saints and Radio Birdman, frontman Johnny Phatouros took the opportunity to ask one of his heroes if he would lend a hand on the album.

"We played with Birdman a couple of times and one night after a Capitol gig I asked (singer) Rob Younger if he would be interested in helping us in the studio with our next album and he said he would," Phatouros recalls.

Although the Volcanics waited half a decade to formally ask Younger, the Radio Birdman vocalist stayed true to his word.

"When I got in touch with him I didn't think he would remember who the f… we were, and I certainly didn't think that he would remember that I asked him, but he remembered everything," Phatouros says.

The local band and the Aussie punk pioneer holed up in YoYo Studio in Osborne Park for a month before the album was mixed at Alberts Studio in Sydney by multiple ARIA Award- winner Wayne Connolly, who has worked with everyone from You Am I to Boy & Bear.
With an aim to play at South by Southwest in Texas and embark on a European tour next year, Phatouros is confident Get a Move On will get people moving. "The songs on this album compared to the last one have more variety. The playing is better, the sounds are better, the songs are better. Everything's better." - The West Australian

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see the punk legends of yore taking to the stage again these days. Recent years have seen the New York Dolls at Amplifier, and a single, solitary Ramone still flying the flag for leather jackets and bad haircuts. Hell, you can even go as far back as The Sex Pistols’ Filthy Lucre Tour in ‘96, but while it’s fun to see the old warhorses strut their stuff once more, it’s worth remembering what another leather-clad luminary once sang: you can’t put your arms around a memory.
The sold-out crowd kept their distance from opening act, The Volcanics, a vast, empty, arc of floor stretching from the stage to the mixing desk like a moat. The received wisdom is that support acts get given the cold shoulder by the headliner’s faithful followers, but in this case such apathy was underserved. The Volcanics were the highlight of the night, delivering a blistering, full-bodied performance, defiant in the face of the lacklustre crowd reaction.
One punter loved them, though; a one-man mosh pit who thrashed around at the foot of the stage in a state of musical ecstasy, oblivious to all around him until an overly zealous security guard collared him and hauled him out of the venue. In a sudden display of solidarity, a chant of “Bring him back!” rose from punter and player alike, until the unfortunate rocker was readmitted in time for The Volcanics’ last song, and a dozen or so members of the audience surged forward to dance alongside him in solidarity.
Sadly, that was pretty much the most punk rock moment of the evening. The Saints, elder statesmen of Australian alternative music, opened with a fizzle and proceeded to sidle slowly downwards for the rest of their set.
You can pretty much chalk the whole thing up to unmet expectations. Firstly, if you’re going to advertise the presence of a brass section, even a small, two-man unit, tradition dictates that they should actually take part in the scheduled performance. The Saints rolling without brass isn’t exactly a deal breaker, but it was a disappointment. Amongst other things, that meant no “Know Your Product.”
Indeed, it meant not much of anything from The Saints’ decades-spanning back catalogue. Bugger all from the Ed Kuepper era - and perhaps that was the be expected - but also precious little from the band’s later work, either. The focus was firmly on the latest album, King Of The Sun, which is all well and good if your tastes run to the AOR/MOR end of the spectrum, but the antsy crowd indicated that most of the punters who’d shelled out around 70 bucks to be there at least wouldn’t have minded hearing Stranded.
To be fair, the desire not to be shackled to the glories of the past is an understandable one, but in their efforts to do so, Chris Bailey and company left their audience high and dry. Only those committed fans who had actually heard the new album were pleased with the evening’s outcome, and there were precious few of those in attendance.

_TRAVIS JOHNSON
- Xpress Magazine

The Volcanics’ latest EP “Shakedown” is a vicious serve of garage rock, sonically referencing The Count Five, The Stooges and even Roky Erikson’s 13th Floor Elevators.



Hailing from Perth, Western Australia, there’s a sense of the dry desert wind in their dual guitar work – Pete Lake and Tommy Hopkins sear the ears with their textured playing and scorching solos, while Pete Acklin and Dave Knox nail down a rhythm section which weaves in and out of the guitar and vocal lines – but never content with following from the rear.



Johnny Phatouros’s vocals hold everything together here – surly, troubled, insurgent and intense, like the rest of the band he is never content to just sing or play along – they drive the Volcanics juggernaut forwards at all times.



Rob Grant and Kenny Watt have done a great job to capture most of The Volcanics live dynamism and intensity, and whilst all five tracks are a great soundtrack to your chosen disaster, the title track, ‘If You Don’t Want My Love’ and ‘Pls Pls Me’ are modern day nuggets your collection simply should not be without. - Shane Pinnegar - The Rock Pit

If the EP and its stand-out track "So Cold" hit like an adrenalin shot into a dying man's heart, the full-length self-titled album by this Perth quartet doesn't fall short of that same mark. A baker's dozen (one untitled cut is well hidden) of hard-bitten songs are here for your appreciation and it's a world class album, if a couple of tunes do persist too long.

Putting aside punk, Australian bands mining the hard rock vein inevitably fall into four categories: Over-the-top Zeppelin-esque parody; re-treaded heavy metal; chugging Acca-Dacca boogie that more often than not poses no threat or lacks character; and a more mutant strain of Dolls/Stones/Stooges blasting powder that goes by the misnomer Detroit. More a flag-of-convenience than a definitive tag, almost none of the bands labeled "Detroit" actually came from there. Plus, hardly anyone from Michigan has heard of them, much less believe you if you tell them about a parallel universe like Australia, far below the Equator.

Perth's as far removed from the Motor City as anywhere else in the world so you may as well tar The Volcanics with the same brush. The ingredients (extreme energy, loud guitars and confronting vocals) are here in abundance. A nice dose of jaw-jutting attitude - mainly via vocalist John Phatouros who's been listening to all the right singers - emphatically stakes out the band's turf.

There's a big dash of the Exploding White Mice in "Sweet Little Mama", a swirling maelstrom of sound that at 6min23s is the longest work-out here. It's the sort of tune that used to show the Mice were more than Ramones copyists. As far as The Volcanics are concerned, it throws Mick Whitby's fine guitarwork into stark relief. Plenty of other gold to be prised out of Lindsay Gravina's tough mix like "Let Go", the menacing "Foldline" and the swaggering "Save Me Compression".

"Cut A Slice To See You Walkin' " and the Hitmen-like "Don't Know What You Don't Know" are relative oases of calm among the sonic sandstorms and pace the album nicely. As alluded to earlier, a few songs do outlast their welcome and if there's a weakness it's the band's tendency to overplay its hand. A little judicious editing might have made this a classic rather than almost great album. But The Volcanics are young and have time to burn. It's a pity line-up changes (bassist Jason Cleary has walked but drummer Waren Hall is apparently back in after also walking) appeared to throw The Volcanics into mild disarray as they were considering an East Coast tour but they're still setting a benchmark that too many young bands could do well to shoot for.

The album does have a sting in the tail: The nameless hidden track - a stripped back neo-rockabilly stomp draped in reverb - is the surprising closing act. - The Barman - The Barman - i94bar.com

If the EP and its stand-out track "So Cold" hit like an adrenalin shot into a dying man's heart, the full-length self-titled album by this Perth quartet doesn't fall short of that same mark. A baker's dozen (one untitled cut is well hidden) of hard-bitten songs are here for your appreciation and it's a world class album, if a couple of tunes do persist too long.

Putting aside punk, Australian bands mining the hard rock vein inevitably fall into four categories: Over-the-top Zeppelin-esque parody; re-treaded heavy metal; chugging Acca-Dacca boogie that more often than not poses no threat or lacks character; and a more mutant strain of Dolls/Stones/Stooges blasting powder that goes by the misnomer Detroit. More a flag-of-convenience than a definitive tag, almost none of the bands labeled "Detroit" actually came from there. Plus, hardly anyone from Michigan has heard of them, much less believe you if you tell them about a parallel universe like Australia, far below the Equator.

Perth's as far removed from the Motor City as anywhere else in the world so you may as well tar The Volcanics with the same brush. The ingredients (extreme energy, loud guitars and confronting vocals) are here in abundance. A nice dose of jaw-jutting attitude - mainly via vocalist John Phatouros who's been listening to all the right singers - emphatically stakes out the band's turf.

There's a big dash of the Exploding White Mice in "Sweet Little Mama", a swirling maelstrom of sound that at 6min23s is the longest work-out here. It's the sort of tune that used to show the Mice were more than Ramones copyists. As far as The Volcanics are concerned, it throws Mick Whitby's fine guitarwork into stark relief. Plenty of other gold to be prised out of Lindsay Gravina's tough mix like "Let Go", the menacing "Foldline" and the swaggering "Save Me Compression".

"Cut A Slice To See You Walkin' " and the Hitmen-like "Don't Know What You Don't Know" are relative oases of calm among the sonic sandstorms and pace the album nicely. As alluded to earlier, a few songs do outlast their welcome and if there's a weakness it's the band's tendency to overplay its hand. A little judicious editing might have made this a classic rather than almost great album. But The Volcanics are young and have time to burn. It's a pity line-up changes (bassist Jason Cleary has walked but drummer Waren Hall is apparently back in after also walking) appeared to throw The Volcanics into mild disarray as they were considering an East Coast tour but they're still setting a benchmark that too many young bands could do well to shoot for.

The album does have a sting in the tail: The nameless hidden track - a stripped back neo-rockabilly stomp draped in reverb - is the surprising closing act. - The Barman - The Barman - i94bar.com

Original protopunk rockers from the 70s New York Dolls are rediscovering their love for touring the world and recording, despite age and years of abusing the lifestyle that comes with being a rockstar, the Dolls hit Perth for the first time on Friday night.

The Painkillers were on first bringing an eclectic fusion of garage rock and folk. It was refreshing to see a duo that didn’t need the support from more band members. They just rocked out with a sense of urgency and threat for the half an hour time slot and drew in a breaking age range of audience members.

The Volcanics squashed onto the stage next, having only a third of the space to use, the five piece still emphatically delivered a stand out performance. Singer John Phatouros, looked as though he wanted to leap off the stage and let loose his inner rock star. As the set went on, he morphed into a simulacrum of Iggy Pop. The quick-paced tunes, accented with a Flying V, delivered raw, real, rock ‘n’ roll guitar solos that sent cheers from inside to the street.

Strolling to the stage in sunglasses; amidst the sound of thundering bass lines, New York Dolls to this day are the epitome of rock stars. Oozing cool attitude and rock and roll hearts, the band are as glam rock as all hell and as enticing as they were in the 70s. It was disheartening to see a band of this calibre to be playing on a stage as small as Amplifier, but it kept it intimate enough for fans to dance up close and even reach out and touch their guitars. Diving straight into Looking for a Kiss it was just a mere taste of the extravaganza the next hour and a bit would hold.

We’re All In Love put David Johansen in multi-tasking mode, bringing out his harmonica as well as singing, and the cymbal smashing Dance Like a Monkey influenced the crowd to swing their hips, jump around and sing in ecstasy. Old as they may be, Sylvain Sylvain and Earl Slick can pull off guitar riffs so well-defined they are incomparable to new bands these days.

There was a decent amount of tomfoolery between songs, from crowd interactions, taking breaks and actually forgetting songs, which killed the mood in parts. This along with Johansen’s file of song lyrics proved they aren’t exactly in their prime time. The crowd obviously shrugged it off and it couldn’t stop them clapping in time to his hip thrusts as they regrouped and picked up the pace for Private World. Who Are The Mystery Girls produced a song of hard rock at its finest, with Sylvain’s bellowing , rhythmic power chords and Johansen’s women’s blouse swaying for an eye capturing performance.

Talk to Me Baby showed Slick’s ego as he played throughout the song – and the night – with a sense of ease and cockiness. He was on the stage, he owned the stage, he owned hearts in the crowd and he knew it – completely opposite to Sylvain’s ability to amuse the crowd vocally throughout the set. Pills hit the crowd like an adrenaline shot, as one of the first incarnation of the Dolls, the performance was as vital and full of panache as it would have been back in their days of youth which carried on through the highlight of the night, Trash.

Obvious favourite Personality Crisis ended the set with a thrill of ecstatic emotion pouring through the room and the tired, yet insanely impressive Dolls formed up and bowed in unison. - Nichola Gray - fasterlouder.com.au

A small but passionate fan base turned up in support of Perth rockers The Volcanics on Saturday night at the Fly By Night.

Perth blues-rock outfit Cal Peck & The Tramps, performed an energetic set filled with their irresistibly danceable tunes, turned up on the night in support of The Volcanics. The crowd eagerly received Kenny Watt whose commanding vocals resonated in the small venue and propelled his charismatic persona even further. The Good Sons continued the pleasantly set mood of the night and impressed the audience with their vibrant rock sounds.

By the time the Volcanics were on stage, the Marshall amps were hot and at full gain as the boys played through their set with raw power and conviction. One thing that was apparent was the potent stage presence and self-assurance, expected from a band that has been around for a decade. Every square inch of the Fly Trap was filled with the roaring, full-bodied sound of the band. Their natural fervour was reflected throughout the tightly executed set. You could not talk about the Volcanics without evoking references to bands such as The Stooges, MC5 and Black Sabbath that permeate the group’s primal garage rock essence. They certainly gave it their all for the few grateful punters that did show up on the night.

Despite the small turnout, the night was made all the more enjoyable by the unabating enthusiasm of all the bands on stage and their determination to have fun and entertain those members of the local musical community that have especially discerning taste.
- Iva Filipovska - fasterlouder.com.au

The Bird is a good venue to watch and listen to music. You can get as up close and personal to the small stage as you want or you can hang out up the back but still be close enough to feel involved. If the music is not to your taste, you want a break or a nicotine hit, you can wander outside to the compact open-air courtyard. On this early spring Friday night most people were mingling outdoors with generally only 40 or 50 people venturing back inside for the night’s various sets, which was a shame considering the quality of the music being dished up inside.

The Vincent Gallows commenced proceedings in the cosy confines of the venue and displayed impressive chops whilst punching out their dirty, bluesy groove that wouldn’t be a million miles away from being influenced by The Doors and their ilk. There is always one punter under the influence of something, dancing away in their own little world up the front and tonight was no exception, but lead singer Nicholas Wharton took pity and showed some class by jumping down and dancing with him. A short but impressive set.

The Painkillers were up next and they did what they normally do, and that is play their own hybrid brand of country/ blues /punk with an energy, professionalism and a sound that belies a two-piece. Some snippets of music must have been filtering out the back, as some of the curious ventured back inside and were impressed enough to stay until the end. Singer/ Guitarist Joe Bludge and veteran tub thumper James Blake are certainly worth catching and the more intimate the venue, the better.

They play straight forward raw rock ‘n roll. They are influenced by Radio Birdman (Rob Younger has worked with the band) and the “Detroit” sound. They actually introduce the names of songs before they play them (hint to other bands – this helps the punters know what they are called). They have a tight rhythm section and a guitarist who knows his licks. They have a classic front man in John Phatouros who could work any room. They are The Volcanics and they were excellent this night.

The venue provided a good sound man who did a great mix but the stage has no fancy light show so there is nowhere to hide should your music or effort come up short. This was obviously never going to be an issue once they launched into the first song and never let up from there. The band were focused but relaxed and chatted amiably with the crowd and amongst themselves during the evening.

Again, their set was way too short, particularly considering they were headlining and it was stopped due to time constraints, just when the band had the punters excited and amped up for the next song. Though all bands at this gig were worthy, perhaps consideration should be given to booking only two bands or starting earlier to alleviate this problem.

Whatever musical trends come or go, we know that rock ‘n roll will always be a constant and will always find a fan base. The fact that The Volcanics don’t have a wider audience or a record label is a travesty of justice that hopefully relentless gigging or word of mouth may rectify.

They are the real deal, they are in Perth and lovers of rock should see them.

- Stephen Cook - fasterlouder.com.au