Six Ft Hick (Bands from Brisbane, Australia)

Six Ft Hick are most probably one of the wildest and coolest bands to emerge out of Brisbane, or Australia for that matter, since the glorious “alternative” era of the early eighties when bands like the Scientists, The Birthday Party and the Beasts of Bourbon helped change the musical landscape in Australia.

It is this legacy which Six Ft Hick grabbed by the balls, felt up to make their own, and are still running hard with 10 years later.

Fronted by the dual headed Corbett Cane Toad, the brothers take turns spitting vitriol and rock ‘n’ roll. Their live experience sits somewhere between an evangelical moment of pure realisation and a sticky moment during a lap dance.

In the early 1990s, Geoff and Ben Corbett crawled down to the city from the swamps of the cane country a few hours north of Brisbane and became involved in performance art and rock n roll theatrics.

In 1995 the Corbett brothers presented their death-country musical "Country Style Livers". This proved to be a 3 week sellout at the Metro Arts theatre in Brisbane and, ditching some of the performance art component for the Brisbane Livid Festival, soon morphed into a pure music experience.

6fthick had thrust its loins upon the world.

The Hicks have been playing their Cane Punk to Australia and the world for over 10 years now and have played at intimate gigs in tiny venues through to festivals such as Livid and the Big Day Out.

The band have also released a handful of EPs and 4 albums including last years On The Rocks, perhaps the album to have best caught their live sound and attitude in the studio.

But if producing this music alone isn’t enough, each of the band members also play in other bands. Geoff Corbett leads The Tremors, brother Ben fronts Gentle Ben and his Sensitive Side and fellow Hicks Fred, Dan and Tony are all involved in their own projects.

I first saw 6fthick supporting Reverend Horton Heat in Sydney in 2001 and for my money the Hicks were the band of the night. It was a hard act for the Reverend to follow and his music seemed innocent in comparison.

I last saw 6fthick last month at Rics in Brisbane, a venue where they cut their teeth, and they were on fire. The tiny room was packed, but Ben still slithered between us all and over the tables, broke glasses over his head and generally sexed up the room, while Geoff taunted and threatened everyone.

Go to their myspace page and listen to some tunes, go to your local record store and buy their albums, or buy them at spooky records but most importantly, go to their gigs – you will see the light, you will be healed, and you will be saved by the damnation of rock ‘n’ roll.


Sixfthick - Cousins

Sixfthick - White Light, Wet Heat