Squadcar 96; Shagpile; Beige, Grosvenor Front Room, June 29, 1996

sorry it’s late, the vaccuum cleaner ate my parrot.

When the faithful all congregate to hear the mighty words, sounds and thudding drumbeats of the mob, there is little one can do to escape its fearful spell.

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Spill; Prawns With Horns, Planet, June 22, 1996

Cruising in from the suburbs, the comfortable Friday crowd at Planet was stacked with the fans and family of CD debutants Spill, the drinking buddies of the Prawns and one guy from up North who was ably debiting his minesite paycheck.

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Spank; the Eidelweiss Dance Troupe; Cinema Prague; Beaverloop, Fly By Night, June 1, 1996

The Electric Mistress CD launch was always going to be huge – you could tell by Spank’s collective fingers bitten to the quick and the poster glue on their clothing. And as Spank guitarist Sam Hobbs jigged at the side of the stage to Beaverloop with over five hundred punters in the house, you could tell they didn’t mind a bit of stress if this was the ultimate outcome.

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O!; Panelbeater; Bluetile Lounge; Tucker Bs, Grosvenor Hotel, May 24, 1996

Sprinting down Hay Street to the ever-closer sound of the Tucker Bs, greeted at the door by WAM’s James Nagy saying that they were one of his favourite bands, then getting settled to catch a snippet of their snappy timing and joyous riffing … hey, isn’t this what the WAMIs are all about?

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Squidfinger; Circus Murders; Cinema Prague, Metropolis, May 22, 1996

With a vast sea of fresh, frantic faces mingling with the local constabulary for the start of Kiss My WAMI volume 3, the Metropolis atmosphere was, for some, a bitter-sweet occasion. As the new look Fremantle ‘cleaners’ hovered about – badges and truncheons symbolising the new family-orientated Fremantle – the kids put their feet and torsos airbourne for three of the Port city’s favourite nutters.

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Caterpillar Now; Team Jedi, Grosvenor Hotel, May 18, 1996

What a great time to catch a couple of mooted maestros of our megalopolis! Ensconced in warm loungerooms throughout Perth, most of the local gig-going public were doing their benchpresses for this week’s Kiss My WAMI marathon, thus the hardest of hardcore heads got their chance to swing cats in near empty venues and check out up’n’comers in comparative comfort. Elbow space, even.

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Not Enough Rope; Honey, Fly By Night, May 11, 1996

greetings! i’m just doing my abdominal crunches for the dead can dance i/v tonight. oh well, back to the “ab roller plus” …

adm schwarzenegg aaarrgh.

With one’s back firmly planted against one of the many heaters spread throughout the Fly By Night Club you can sometimes forget that you are within a sheet-metal aircraft hanger. Similarly, when the syrupy languidness of one of those Ian Campbell/Sunday session ensembles warms the ears it amounts to a real cosy cocktail.

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Botticelli’s Angel; Mutt; Flashing Tablet, MX, May 4, 1996

Perth’s sonically-disjointed, indie-rock outfit Flashing Tablet would probably be the first to admit a slight genre clash in their place in this line-up … not that they disappointed. Here was a case of indie kids gone metal!

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