Hard Rocktober!! The Monarchs--What Brad Shepherd did on Hoodoo Hiatus

Brad Shepherd of Sydney legends Hoodoo Gurus released this stellar hard riff rocking album under the moniker The Monarchs, in that sad dark period when The Hoodoo Gurus were temporarily no more. Make Yer Own Fun is great heavy garage rock album made by a bunch of real pros. And I would not hesitate to assume that this album must have been a blast to make. Perhaps there is a bit of tongue and cheek aspect to the record, but when all is said and done, the music here was executed with white hot reverence.

If you heard this huge sounding aggressive record and imagined that Shepherd and company had hopped on the Seattle Grunge bandwagon, you would be mistaken. For whatever reason, there has been a longstanding love of hard rocking American bands in Australia, like The Stooges and The MC5. Bands like Radio Birdman, The Saints and The Scientists notably were onto this sound early in the game. Ignore these great bands at your peril. Or for a broader picture check out the amazing compilation Do The Pop!, which collects 50 nuggets of Antipodean goodness. A fantastic overview of a very special time.



The briefly lived band was comprised of Brad Shephard on guitar and vocals, Andy Kelly on Bass, Greg Hitchcock on guitar, and Brad's brother Murray on the drums. I'm thinking that I heard about this record from a review by Steve Gardner of NKVD Records/Noise for Heroes, who for a time reviewed records for BigTakeover magazine. He was one of the few people who touted great rock music from places like Scandanavia and Continental Europe, but also had a lot of admiration for the Australian golden era of the 80's and early 90's. And he was not wrong with his glowing review of this disc.

This just a really fun retro sounding record that is no way revolutionary or innovative. These guys just rock out, blow all the carbon out of the pipes. And the enthusiasm and energy is infectious, beginning with the hardrocking space garage of 2001. Equally exciting is '69 Monaro a neat 70's macho race car tune. One of my favorites is the more pop oriented yet still heavy Yer Movin On. That Reminds Me.... is in a similar vein and also pretty terrific. But most of the album is loaded with heavy riff hedonism,  with tunes like 1 Nite Only, Everyone's A Superstar, and Give It Up For the Band. Great album to listen to when driving. Grab it if you can find it.



As for the Hoodoos, one of the better Australian bands, who are also blessed with a great sense of humor, they are back again, with a new album, their first since 2004's Mach Shau! I was on to them early buying their 2nd album Mars Needs Guitars when it was first released, then grabbing Stoneage Romeos shortly afterward. Their new album, entitled Purity of Essence is supposed to be terrific, but unfortunately I have not picked it up yet. In 2009 Shepherd was diagnosed with cancer, but was expected to make a full recovery. Here's hoping all is well with him today and for long into the future.