Coming Up at the Corner

Seminal dream pop outfit undergroundLOVERS will debut their seventh full length album, ‘Weekend’. The album title, a nod to Jean Luc Godard’s agitprop ‘60s masterpiece of the same name, ‘Weekend’, takes its listeners on a musical journey of exquisite tension and propulsive rhythms to a place you never want to leave. A combination of distinctive guitar, dance loops, ethereal vocals and introspective lyrics produce the unusual pop / rock songs and atmospheric dance music that is the first album in 14 years from undergroundLOVERS. A trailer for the album and first single, ‘Au Pair’, can be seen here. Be the first to see it come alive when the original line up of Vincent Giarusso, guitarist Glenn Bennie, Maurice Argiro on bass, Richard Andrew on drums, Phillipa Nihill on guitar and vocals, and joined by Emma Bortignon, also on bass, for a special album launch show at The Corner April 20th with tickets costing $25.

Punk songs played on folk instruments, by a band lead by a comedian. Should be rubbish, actually it works quite well. Adrian Edmondson, for his roles in The Young Ones and Bottom, is no stranger to the music world having played the Monsters of Rock and Reading Festivals with Bad News, Hyde Park with The Who, and he’s toured with The Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band. As well as a number one single with Cliff Richard. In 2007 after a boozy pre-Christmas lunch in Soho Ade stumbled along Denmark St, home of many alluring musical instrument shops, and whilst inebriated, ‘accidentally’ bought a mandolin. Touring with the Bonzos at the time, he brought his mandolin along, and had a go at ‘London Calling’ in the dressing room. Encouraged by his initial foray, Ade got in touch with Troy and Maart, resulting in The Bad Shepherds – a band specialising in punk songs played on folk instruments. Not as a gag, but because they really like the sound. Covering songs by the Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Stranglers, The Jam, Sham 69, The Undertones, and even Kraftwerk. Giving the punk classics a Celtic feel, it’s easy to sneer, but it sounds great and the live shows are a riot, sort of. The show takes place April 29th and tickets cost $45.

Where: Corner Hotel, 7 Swan St, Richmond, Melbourne
Info: cornerhotel.com