In celebration of the vinyl reissue of Bluebottle Kiss's 1996 album 'Fear Of Girls', the band and their friends Screamfeeder are playing three Australian shows in November.
Bluebottle Kiss, who formed in Sydney in 1993, sound only like themselves: a strikingly volatile unit harnessing sweetness and ferocity, conjuring tales of personal vulnerability and a kind of warped Australiana.The recent live album 'Bluebottle Kiss: Never Leave Town – Live in Sydney' captures the rich hues, rough edges, sensitivity, menace and vitality of Bluebottle Kiss as they perform some of their most accomplished material to a packed house.
Love As Fiction Records, the boutique re-issue label out of Perth behind the 'Never Leave Town' live album will also be re-releasing Bluebottle Kiss' second album, 'Fear Of Girls', on double gatefold vinyl.
Produced by the legendary Seattle-based Jack Endino (Mark Lanegan, Nirvana, Afghan Whigs et al), 'Fear Of Girls' is a sprawling, epic mix of the group's ambitious take on noise-rock, folk, indie and psychedelia; 28 years later the new vinyl version is split over four sides, and has been lovingly remastered by Endino.
Screamfeeder needs no introduction, but here goes. Lovers of loud and beautiful music since they were each conceived, they've been compared to all the greats: Husker Du, The Jam, The Replacements and The Who.
Contradictions and dualities abound within Screamfeeder, and therein lies their beauty. They are the band you grew up with, whose songs are imprinted into the DNA of every music lover who came of age in the '90s and '00s.
A band of eternally youthful fuzz-pop darlings who, however improbably, have continued to play together for over 30 years and somehow have not only gotten better, but have become even more loved. A band that combines loud with beautiful, intense with joyous, chaotic with precise and pulls it all together in a way that very few acts ever manage.
After more than three decades, Screamfeeder are still releasing vital and engaging music, as 2022's exceptional 'Five Rooms' album proved.
Jamie Hutchings (BBK) answering questions from Kellie Lloyd (Screamfeeder)
You have a long train journey ahead, and you have a Walkman and you can take two CDs, what are they?The Beatles - 'The White Album'. This album is like listening to 20 albums, so it's a great choice if you've only got two choices. This Heat - 'Deceit'. This album is an album I've been trying to get my head around for the past few years, it takes you down a sonic rabbit hole every time.
Tiny house or McMansion?
I've worked in a lot of McMansions; they're usually full of nothing, they annoy me. I'll go with a tiny house full of junk with no noise restrictions.
To impress someone who is super cool, what movie would you recommend?
'Dumb And Dumber' or 'A Street Car Named Desire'.
What's your favourite street?
I've never thought about this before. I should pay more attention. I think it's called Rue Wilson in the town of Binic in Brittany, France. There's an amazing patisserie at the bottom of the street and a church to the left that is beautiful and fire damaged.
The further you go up the hill, the quieter it gets and there's loads of amazing old houses built out of stone with creepers climbing the walls. At night it's bewitching, during the day it's blissful.
What is your perfect Saturday? One that you can spend on your own doing whatever you want?
I'd prefer it to be a Monday, but I don't have to go to work. I wake up at 8am. I get to the beach at 9am and surf for an hour, there's no one around. The sun is reflecting really strongly off the water, so that sometimes I can't quite see.
I go in and after I dry off I get a coffee and sit and watch the surf a bit more and maybe scribble some stuff down or let my mind be blank. I head home and I make a proper breakfast; fried eggs on toast with some avo, baked beans and more coffee. I have Phil Cohran's 'African Skies' on the turntable.
I read a book for awhile. I go into our spare room and work on something, some mixes or some recording. I make a couple of cheese and tomato toasties and have another coffee. I put Nick Drake's 'Five Leaves Left' on and I fall asleep to it on the couch.
I go back down to the beach and jump in the water for awhile and then read my book on the beach. I head home and cook some spag bol and open a bottle of half decent bordeaux whilst listening to Liars Drum's 'Not Dead' album. I eat and drink a little. Listen back to what I've done. Have a shower, read my book and fall asleep.
Kellie Lloyd (Screamfeeder) answering questions from Jamie Hutchings (BBK)
What's the first song you remember hearing, how did it make you feel?This is a great question, and I can't remember! But what I do remember is at Christmas time, putting up the tinsel tree we had with my mum, and Xmas would always be Neil Diamond's 'Hot August Night'.
The first side of that album and 'Crunchy Granola Suite' in particular, makes me think of my home town, Christmas beetles, thunderstorms and the passionfruit vine dripping with water spray to keep us cool, eating lunch in the bush house my dad built.
I remember loving the build up of the orchestral introduction and that was just so exciting to me. The way he talked to people in the audience was so kind, and the photos inside, what an amazing concert that would have been to experience.
Are you reading anything at the moment; how is it?
I just started reading 'Hunger' by Knut Hamsun. Written in 1899, this is a novel that inspired John Fante and Charles Bukowski etc. I've only just started reading it, but I can see it's starting off as a detailed experience of a decent into madness, very eloquently told.
Do you have a signature dish?
I have been very inspired by Instagram for cooking lately; and I'm trying to broaden my repertoire. I'm leaning in to Japanese and Korean flavours and dishes.
Currently my go to is very simple salmon rice cooked with miso, onion and edamame in the rice cooker. Super simple and insanely delicious. I got it off a seven-year-old Japanese kid's Instagram account! Genius.
What's the most embarrassing/ traumatic live gig moment you've experienced?
Hmmm, this is hard. I feel like you're trying to lead me into a story about being drunk and smashing bottles against a brick wall in a car park and screaming one of your songs at you, But no, I'm not going to because it wasn't embarrassing or traumatic.
There are many stories, many traumas. I'll just leave it with that humorous anecdote because it didn't make the doco. What have you been listening to lately? Been listening to Deafcult demos because we've just finished recording an album and I need to learn the songs for live shows. Last night I did a nighttime airport run listening to 'Tinderbox' by Siouxsie and the Banshees very loud in my car. It's just brilliant and hasn't aged a day.
Bluebottle Kiss & Screamfeeder 2024 Tour Dates
Fri 8 Nov - Jive (Adelaide)Sat 9 Nov - Northcote Social Club (Melbourne)
Sat 16 Nov - Marrickville Bowling Club (Sydney)
