An Australian’s journey from the suburbs to original punk-era Sydney and beyond. Operating record labels, designing & printing rock posters, running amok with fireworks into the night – all to the soundtrack of some of the region’s best-ever contemporary music. In pursuit of even more, he evolved into a Global traveller and World Citizen of no fixed address.
Within ‘CRAIC as it happened’ you will find discourses on: Radio Birdman / Lou Reed / The Saints / The Birthday Party / Television / Lydia Lunch / Bob Dylan / Neil Young / Kraftwerk / Iggy Pop / Punk-Era Sydney / White Light Records / Phantom Records / Red Eye Records / Beasts of Bourbon / The Crystal Set / Mixed Relations / The Cruel Sea / Steve Kilbey / Killing Time / The Clouds / Buying Toys / Selling Antiques / Dealing in Art / Living in Paris / Living in New York / Visiting Cuba / Ralph Records / Polydor Records & PolyGram / Designing Posters / Making Records / Buying & Selling Collectable Records / Bands Seen / Books to Read / Being a Kid / Becoming a Teenager / Friends, Lawyers & Lovers. Loads of observations, laughs and pictures - all as it happened.
John Foy is a former graphic designer and poster artist who also ran two prominent independent record labels during Australian music’s particularly golden era in the 1980’s & 90’s.
John is also a great friend to us here at Trash Cult and we are super excited to have signed copies of his his new book in stock.
GOD were the seminal Melbourne group consisting of Joel Silbersher, Tim Hemensley, Matty Whittle and Sean Greenway.
This new edition of 1000 comes on translucent-blue vinyl with blue/black cover art and insert. (Different to the February sold out release.) Due to the crazy sell-out of the Feb release, these new editions surely will be gone soon.
This track was their 1987 debut single, written by the band's Joel Silbersher when he was just 15 years old. It has since become a punk rock classic, one of the most enduring songs of the Aussie underground.Characterised by a simple descending guitar riff, a driving rhythm section and the impassioned roar of Silbersher's vocal, 'My Pal' is ferocious but catchy and possesses an intoxicating, loose energy. An archetypal grunge song released years before grunge went mainstream.The single came out on Au Go Go Records, a small Melbourne label run out of a shop of the same name by Bruce Milne.Members of GOD would go on to make more seminal music in their careers in bands like The Powder Monkeys, Hoss and Tendrils. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/doublej/music-reads/features/the-story-of-gods-my-pal-an-enduring-australian-underground-clas/10272494
Masterful music producer-engineer Tony Cohen defined Australia’s punk and rock sounds in the late ’70s and ’80s. His long and celebrated career took him from the studios of Melbourne to West Berlin and Abbey Road. Half Deaf, Completely Mad is an exuberant, hilarious, tragic and triumphant memoir that reveals a chaotic genius who lived hard and loud.In candid reflections, Tony’s decades-long relationship with Nick Cave and his bands – Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – is well documented, along with behind-the-scenes classic recordings by Laughing Clowns, Models, The Reels, The Birthday Party, The Go-Betweens, Hunters & Collectors, Cold Chisel, Beasts of Bourbon, The Saints, X, The Cruel Sea, Paul Kelly and so many more.
Author: Jane Gazzo, Andrew P Street
The ’90s was a magical time for Australian music. The Big Day Out and Triple J went national and suddenly everyone was getting a 3-piece together and gigging in the inner-city pubs of their town. This volume is a celebration and a documentation of this fertile period with never-before-seen photos and archives from the time and never before told stories about the songs, bands, festivals and break-ups from the artists and industry folk who were there. Sound As Ever is named after the eponymous Facebook Group co-founded by Jane Gazzo that is a very dynamic space with over 18,000 members.
The ‘80s were so good because you could experiment without any kind of fear of consequence. – Kate Ceberano
The ‘80s.The era of Hawke, a booming economy, big hair, genderbenders and the new-wave synth-pop explosion.
Every Sunday night, Australians would be glued to Countdown to watch the latest and local bands strut their stuff. Bands who became household names and soundtracked our lives in one of the most colourful and creative decades in Australian music.
I Hear Motion is a celebration of the Aussie bands we loved: Models, Machinations, Wa Wa Nee, Real Life, Kids in the Kitchen, Do-Re-Mi, Koo De Tah, Eurogliders, Boom Crash Opera and more – and what happened to them following the end of the decade. With interviews, never-before seen photos and archives of the time, plus never-before told stories about the songs, bands, excesses and break-ups, I Hear Motion is a must-have for every Australian music fan.
STANDARD EDITION Hand-printed cover and sleeves. Just art, sweat, and sound.EXCLUSIVE TO TRASH CULT:The iconic DEAD boys have given Trash Cult the exclusive pre-sale for their epic new double LP Memory Jar. In-store pickups available immediately.Mail orders ship early May.Recorded at Sound Recordings in Campbell’s Creek using all-analogue gear — no digital trickery.YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!Spend $50 in-store at Trash Cult (including your DEAD LP pre order) and go in the draw to win:1x TEST PRESSING EDITION of Memory Jar (packaged like a book!)A Trash Cult beanie + your choice of a Trash Cult crew neck or hoodie
Winner drawn Friday, 30th May.Support local. Score something rare. Look awesome doing it.
SUPER DELUXE EDITION – ONLY 66 COPIES WORLDWIDEHand-printed sleeves. Hand-printed cover. Just art, sweat, and sound.EXCLUSIVE TO TRASH CULT:The iconic DEAD boys have given Trash Cult the exclusive pre-sale for their epic new double LP Memory Jar. In-store pickups available immediately.Mail orders ship early May.Recorded at Sound Recordings in Campbell’s Creek using all-analogue gear — no digital trickery.YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!Spend $50 in-store at Trash Cult (including your DEAD LP pre order) and go in the draw to win:1x TEST PRESSING EDITION of Memory Jar (packaged like a book!)A Trash Cult beanie + your choice of a Trash Cult crew neck or hoodie
Winner drawn Friday, 30th May.Support local. Score something rare. Look awesome doing it.
The third album by BLOWERS, BLOWMANIA, is a raw and ferocious blast of garage punk straight from Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. With a four-pronged vocal assault and an unrestrained attitude, the band delivers pure intensity and irreverence at every turn. Inspired by The Reatards, The Spits, and Wipers, BLOWMANIA channels the untamed spirit of punk at its most chaotic and unapologetically loud. Prepare yourself for a sonic explosion!
Sleeve artwork fully illustrated by Luiz Berger.
Welcome to BLOWMANIA – one wild ride of a record that sees BLOWERS returning to form and upping the ante, turning their blistering vocals and buzzsaw guitar sounds up to maximum levels while adding synth for extra layers and urgency, with some truly warped production touches to top it all off. It’s an all-out attack from opener ‘Wasted On My Own’ to closing track ‘Everybody In This Room Hates Me’. The album delivers full-blown earworms and depraved humour about hospital-prone fans (‘Tony’s In Hospital Again’), drug love (‘Mushrooms On My Mind’), anxiety (‘Nightmares’), lifestyle choices (‘Cigs, Beer and Wine’) and hate-fuelled duets (‘I Hate You All The Time’). BLOWMANIA delivers 11 sharp shots of unapologetic punk adrenaline and is not for the faint-hearted – enter at your own risk!
BLOWMANIA follows up from BLOWERS’ debut self-titled LP released to acclaim and disgust back in 2021, and their second album, Blown Again, in 2023 (both on Chaputa Records/Spooky Records). BLOWMANIA was engineered and mixed by Julian Cue (Street Sweeper, Gut Health, Civic, Screensaver) and mastered by Mikey Young.
BLOWMANIA is due out in April 28, 2025 on Chaputa Records (EU) and Trash Cult Records (Australia).
Tracklist:Side 1
Finally back in print! GOD's My Pal 7" is a genuine Australian rock & roll classic, an iconic slice of teen-punk from a band who dissolved only a bit over a year after the release of the record but has had a huge influence on Australian independent music for 37 years - both the band and record itself and the members' musical diaspora throughout the past three decades.
GOD were the Melbourne teenage quartet made up of Joel Silbersher, Tim Hemensley, Matty Whittle and Sean Greenway. They existed between the years 1986 - 1989 and released this 7" on the Au-go-go label, soon followed by the Rock Is Hell 12" EP and then by their sole full-length LP, For Lovers Only.
Punk is Dead exposes the lasting impact of Punk on visual culture worldwide. Hundreds of flyers, photos, set lists, vintage fashions and other ephemera from all of your favourite bands are jammed into this menacing volume. Punk is Dead is massive, featuring a wide spectrum of bands that initially catalysed the scene, and later fuelled its global expansion. Contributing writers such as Wayne Kramer, Arturo Vega or Kid Congo flesh out the visual assault. This long awaited follow-up to the highly influential bestselling book Fucked Up + Photocopied: Instant Art of the Punk Rock Movement also features hard hitting interviews with Ian Mackaye, one of the most respected voices of the DIY music underground, and Malcolm McLaren, likely the most impactful promoter of the early punk movement. From the unknown to the infamous, they will likely be found within the pages of Punk is Dead, Punk is Everything!
The follow up to the critically acclaimed 'Untitled. Street Art in The Counterculture. Untitled II the irreverent book of street art has again been created without the collaboration of the artists and certainly without the permission of the wall owners. There are blatant statements that embody outrageous lies, articles laced with satire, plus cynical synopses of attempts to commercialize street art and make it fashionable via celebrity endorsement. Consideration is given to the question What the hell is it about the color grey that makes it appeal the powers that be and their ridiculous minions? and Outsider Art is it an expression of artistic impulse without interference from the idea of personal gain? All of this amongst a collection of graffiti collected from all over the world and preserved on these pages before the legions employed to destroy them chip them off the walls. Artists featured include Miss Van, Dan Witz, Ron English, Obey, Banksy, Blek le Rat, Swoon, Os Gemeos, and Herakut.
I'll Kick You In The Head With My Energy Legs depicts the coming of age, travels and traits of a group of skateboarders from London, who managed to escape the grips of a nine-to-five. Each character offers a different dynamic to the ongoing story; be it walking along the sludge covered beaches of the river Thames in search of an American visiting friend who happened to be taking an emergency shit' after accidentally drinking an entire bottle of laxative, or a journey to the hospital to fix a dislocated elbow, or playing with a dead pigeon.
