Don't Freak Out, But Be Prepared----Bloods---Golden Fang EP

You know what? I haven't even gotten my mitts on a copy of Sydney three-piece Bloods new EP (yet), but I can't wait to say something about the band. I've seen and heard some of their tunes, and I think I'm hooked. Their combination of pop crunch, punk drive, and Stoogelike attitude is a winner. In fact, their EP Golden Fang is not all that new, having been released about a year ago.

In that long gestation and migration period, from recording, to factory manufacturing of product, to my American eardrums, Dirk, MC & Sweetie have earned a lot of critical praise in Oz. And why not? To paraphrase enforcer Ross Rhea from the immortal movie Goon, they've got The Stuff. The Shit. The Grit. For a long time I have intended to do a bit on that stellar Do The Pop! anthology of Australian music, and I thought about using the old line that the 1978-88 period being the "Golden Age" of Australian rock music. With all the new bands out there I can't be sure that the Golden Age isn't now! And I'm still playing catchup to the great music made in-between. You can't stop the future, and if you don't grasp this, you simply have stopped listening.

Oh, yeah. Do the Pop!--absolutely great anthology. Don't hesitate. Seriously.

But 2 minutes + of punk-pop excitement are worth a thousand words. See if you are into this as much as me. You might think that I have Stooges on my mind merely because Bloods share a song title with Iggy & Co. You know, that hardwired human tendency to have to associate things for the sake of association. But Bloods don't really sound like the Stooges---it's just their vibe that I can't overlook, the confident swagger.

But of course, the hard rocking Detroit-Australia connection is no mere matter of conjecture, it's a scientific fact. Someday they will probably have a show on the History Channel stating that it could only have been aliens that brought the Detroit sound so many thousands of kilometers from home. You never know.




Here's another one just for kicks!

You can get a lot of their music at BandCamp, plus Bloods merch, like pizza-inspired clothing and totes. So far I only see Golden Fang available in vinyl or download. Supposedly they are working on their first full album as we speak. I think we'll be hearing a lot more from these guys. Soon.