Fun Things (Bands from Brisbane, Australia)

The Fun Things originally formed as a high school band in Brisbane called the Aliens in 1978, with Brad Shepherd on guitar and vocals, bassist John Hartley, and Murray Shepherd on drums. For a brief period after the Aliens, the Shepherd brothers, along with guitarist Graeme Beavis and Mark Lock, played as the Phantom Agents. In 1979, Hartley returned and with the Shepherds and Beavis became the Fun Things. Live covers included bands such as Radio Birdman, The Stooges, The Monkees, and Blue Oyster Cult, among others.

In 1980, the band went into the studio to record four tracks for what would be their one and only release: "Savage", "Lipstick", "(I Ain't Got) Time Enough for Love", and "When the Birdmen Fly". Only 500 copies were pressed of the self-titled vinyl EP, issued in May 1980. When the EP was released, Beavis had already left the group, and the remaining three continued as the Aliens again for a short time until Brad Shepherd left for England in the summer of 1980.

And so the Fun Things became more famous for who they produced, although the rerelease of their EP (which these two tracks are taken from) has also created a lot of interest.

Brad Shepherd would go on most famously to help form eighties aussie legends the The Hoodoo Gurus as well as The Monarchs and The Persian Rugs and he has played in a number of other bands.

There is a nice excerpt of an interview with Brad Shepherd talking about his early days and influences at Break My Face and Brad talking about the Gurus, the Monarchs and the Persian Rugs at the I-94 Bar.


Fun Things - Savage

Fun Things - When The Birdmen Fly

Boris and sunnO)))

i saw Boris and sunnO))) last night

these bands are both from the drone metal genre which i don't have much experience with

it's been a while since i've seen a band whose catalog i didn't know, at least i usually know a few tracks before seeing a band live. it's probably been since New York in 2005?

but that's what happened last night, my ever hard working and sexy wife really likes Boris, whereas i only have a passing knowledge of their music - neither of us knew anything about sunnO))) - and she was keen to see Boris and i'm always happy to see interesting live music

so immediately after finishing 5 hours overtime at work on a Saturday (oh yay) we found ourselves at QUT's student guild bar surrounded by many of the noise and metal fans of Brisbane

Boris were great, with some cool, crusty guitar sounds and a crazy drummer. they played a interesting mix of noise and drone and even included some melody in their set

i found the extremely slow and endless sustain of sunnO))) a tad frustrating and their tendancy to dress in robes only made me think of Spinal Tap, which didn't help

i understood what they were doing and recognised the intensity and power of the minimalism, but i wasn't converted

or perhaps i missed the beer and rocking out experience which is the norm at most of the gigs i attend? at least i had sufficient amounts of beer last night. but this was only my experience, everyone else thought it was an excellant gig and were waxing lyrical about their favourite sunn O))) moments after the show

and i was impressed and interested enough in both bands to buy the new collabaration album altar which they have just released and found this very enjoyable, combining elements of both bands sets from last night

The Australian tour continues with both bands playing tonight in Sydney and Wednesday in Melbourne. If you like metal or noise, or if you are just a bit curious, then this is a gig to get along to

here are a couple of tracks from the new collaboration "Altar":-

boris and sunno))) - Akuma No Kuma

boris and sunno))) - Her Lips Were Wet With Venom


and for all of those lurkers who like to watch, this live clip sums up the set by sunn O))) quite well, rock out on those guitars, boys ...




and here's a great live clip from Boris ...