The world adores matt hayward

Well I’m all wet and gooey as we speak because I’ve just read Tim Rogers blog (well sort of) and it looks like they begin recording the new album on April 14. Five, count em, FIVE days away! Oh sweet bliss. We’re well overdue for some proper arm swingin’, foot stompin’, Easy Beatin’, pontse and thuggery rock and roll. So before you sleep every night, pray to the rock gods that this will be as much of a cracker as the convicts, album if not better. Shape your hips like you mean it, rock your hair up, polish off all your paraphenalia and let’s hope Timmy, Andy, Rusty and Davey (never noticed the ‘ey thing before) rock it harder than ever.

And it looks like it’s gonna actually be called ‘I’m proud of my gay son’. So all in all, it looks like 2 or 3 months before this bad boy is in the stores - optimistically. This is gonna mean some rough sleeping patterns. In the words of old Big Kev, I’m excited!

In the mean time, support You Am I on the Facebook. Giddy up and become a fan and join the YAI group.

Oh and lo and behold, I just found this. One of the most insightful and interesting short vids I’ve seen of the great man in quite some time, discussing the origin of the Luxury of Hysteria.

To be truly honest, this is almost the solo album that I didn’t buy. There was lots of talk of orchestral arrangements and the dreaded ‘conceptual’ album. It didn’t work for Kiss (Music from the Elder), the Ramones (End of the Century) and I didn’t want to see Timmy go down a similar path. Before you get delusions of Phil Spector moments , like getting Timmy being made to play the intro chord 500 times, don’t stop reading just yet. Well Timmy’s solo efforts take a while to grow on you. But thankfully I am here to say, The Luxury of Hysteria is an absolute corker.

Gone are the melancholy moments of Ghost Songs (an album to shoot yourself to) and the guitar sleaze of Dirty Ron and Spit Polish. The Temperance Union are still there but used sparingly. At the forefront are some brilliant orchestral arrangements. They add so much more texture and dynamism to a very familiar and rocking Rogers vibe.

I’d almost go out on a limb and say that the orchestral arrangements are far from classical, far from contemporary. They almost remind me of Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys went he started adding orchestras - yes to me at least this album is that good (I’m not a huge Beach Boys fan so please spare me the emails).

Most tracks feature Rogers’ trademark half flamenco, half steel string sounding guitar work. Definite highlights would be When Yer Sad and James the Second. But there’s no dead weight on this album. No flabby bits whatsoever.

5 out of 5 Mr Rogers. Perfect songwriting, perfect tunes. A truly stellar album. Just don’t scare us with a concept album ever again. Fingers crossed the next You Am I album is this good.

Got a great surprise when I woke up today. Was driving to my GF’s place when they said on RRR radio that the new Tim and Tex album is out today. Bloody corker!

So Borders had it for $24.95. Gave it a very quick listen and man is it catchy. There’s none or very little of the melancholy strums of Ghost Songs, or the hip flask swilling sleaze of Dirty Ron, but a hell of a lot of tongue in cheek outright cheekiness. Will require several more listens to give a more thorough review, but so far the only track I don’t get is ‘Fire Escape’.  Frankly I think this easily tops that double album.

Everything else is fresh, and almost reaks of Willy Nelson and Johnny Cash (or Julio Iglesius(?)) duets of old. There is an aural texture to this album that seems instantly legendary. The superlatives keep coming. But you can hear whisky being poured between tracks it revels so well. Even Richard Kingsmill, radio JJJ music nerd, at first thought it was a throw away album and admitted Rogers had come out with some belters. He’s right.

Some of it also reaks of ‘What Rhymes with Cars and Girls’ which is a bloody good thing. Timmy has several solo tracks where this becomes apparent. One track had strong violin tinged bits which sound like the mellotrons used on ‘Hi Fi Way’. Tex has at least one. I hope the boys have another album in them. Because so far, this is a fantastic album. Rogers seems to be in a bit of a happier place with these tunes, but there’s some bitterness there. But it’s mostly good time, drinkin’ tunes. God bless ‘em. Some are for you and your lady will appreciate, but they work on all levels.

Of particular coolness are the last two tracks: Come on and Love Me (a very old Kiss song off the album Dressed to Kill) and Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s the Night. These are absolutely brilliantly cheeky but awesome acoustic renditions!

So bugger it. Tomorrow should be a sunny day. So buy this album, get some snags and a slab of Coopers Sparkling, fire up the barby and crank these tunes with some mates. That is the best possible way you can pay tribute to this album and these fine lads. Tim Rogers for president of everything.

Timmy and the boys have bought out their absolute heaviest release to date. There’s every chance when you throw in the CD and hear Thank God I’ve Hit the Bottom, you might think you have the wrong CD. Rest assured you haven’t. This album sounds more like the result of an amphetamine fueled punch up in the back of a tour van then 12 months in the studio. And with Rock and Roll, that’s a good thing!

There are some out and out classic tracks straight off the bat. Highlights are the angsty My Own Hand, the aforementioned Hit the Bottom, Nervous Kid and The Sweet Life. Slower moments such as Explaining Cricket (to Americans), Thuggery and Secrets still hit the spot. Even though they slow down, they never go below the speed limit. The page of this album is like mashing the loud pedal down through the floor and only slowing down when you see cops coming. All 35 minutes of it!

Sonically, this is You Am I’s best sounding album since Hi Fi Way. Songwriting wise, probably their best written since #4 Record. Every song is full of Roger’s trademark Aussie lingo and experiences. From the getting picked on by BMX Bandits as a teenager in Nervous Kid to the ‘You’re beautiful, but you’re fucked’ of The Sweet Life it’s all there.

What I like most about this release is that it’s the tightest lead guitarist Davey Lane has ever been with the band. There are great duel guitar parts in Gunslinger and sleazy bluesy harmonies in The Sweet Life and just plain no shit, hard hittin’ riffs all the way through.

If you want a listen, NineMSN are still doing a free preview of each track on the album. But you know what, screw that. It’s worth just going out and buying this. It’s pretty damn good.

There is a god. Here at musichead.com.au is the latest video from Timmy and the boys. The new single ‘ain’t it funny how we don’t talk anymore?’ played for the first time on JJJ last night on the ‘2006′ show.

Admitedly, when you hear the intro to this tune, it will throw you. It’s a bit of a departure from the typical You Am I stuff. I was expecting something remeniscent of the ‘Sound As Ever’ or ‘Hi Fi Way’ days when the band were first finding their sound. But with the opening Peter Townshendesque chords, I almost thought it was The Living End.

Frankly, (and I don’t want to jinx the boys, I love ‘em dearly), how can this miss? It’s short, it’s punchy and maybe even a little bit more radio friendly with slick, rocking grooves to it. This is a very, very catchy tune. Also it sounds a lot more cohesive than a lot of their stuff since the Dress Me Slowly album. Lead guitarist Davey Lane really is tight in there and sounds a lot more a part of it than the Deliverance album.

Oh and of course, look at Tim rock out in the video! The man is just made to rock. God bless Timmy Rogers, the world’s one and only true rock star in a world of clarlatin try hard pigs! Raise your glasses and salute the Jolly Rogers! Our boys are gonna go off this year if I have anything to do with it!

Launch the video on musichead.com.au.

Hey guys, I know you could just read this for yourselves at the You Am I forum, but the more syndication the better! As far as i’m concerned Timmy and the boys derserve all the grass roots publicity that they can get. And at last, a bit of clarification on why the release is called Convicts!

http://www.musichead.com.au/site/artist.asp?actID=53500&bio=1

“Hey, d’you remember that night when you told me, ‘You know, you’re pretty good, but you’re no Ray Davies’?” asks Tim Rogers, with raised eyebrow and a sly grin, before cuffing me on the shoulder, laughing like a drain, and spluttering, “I’ll always remember that …”

To try and make amends for this gaffe, from a draughty vantage point roughly 4,000 miles north of your good self, this whinging pom would like to take a dew minutes of your valuable (drinking) time to reflect upon why Australia is one lucky-assed country to have a band like You Am I warming your cockles, nursing your broken hearts, and sound-tracking the downing of a schooner (or three).

Since 1992, You Am I have bagged seven ARIAS, set a record for three consecutive straight-in-at-No. 1 albums (“Hi-Fi Way”, “Hourly Daily”, “No. 4 Record”), attracted legions of adoring fans, sound-tracked two movies (Idiot Box, Dirty Deeds), picked up some heavyweight admirers/touring partners (Oasis, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth), been asked to gig with their idols (The Who, The Rolling Stones), gave foreign artists their first widespread exposure downunder (The Strokes, The Detroit Cobras, The Dirtbombs), AND inspired a host of Australian bands to do things their own damn way (Silverchair, Jet, The Vines, The Sleepy Jackson, Wolfmother, Dallas Crane, etc, etc). Well, that ain’t too shabby, for starters …

Now that we’ve got the maths outta the way (never anyone’s favourite part of the equation), it’s down to the real business at hand. Also, you can just forget them headlines concerning onstage meltdowns, celebrity dwarf tossing, and whiskey-stained action slacks, cos this here album offers cast iron proof that You Am I are still at the top of their game. And, as ever, ladies and germs, that game is pure-brewed rock’n’roll - in the form of a freshly-squeezed pint (and a half) of soul juice known as “Convicts”, You Am I’s first outing for their new home, Virgin/EMI.

To paraphrase the late Bob Hope, “Convicts” will put hairs on your chest (or other places), and part them in the middle. It’s a darned effective musical elixir for whatever ails you. It’s a quick (36 minutes), slightly grubby and occasionally freaky, 12-track reminder of Messrs Rogers, Hopkinson, Kent and Lane’s considerable collective charm. The sheer vim and vigour of “Convicts” makes it gosh-darn difficult to grokk that it’s YAI’s SEVENTH album – let alone their ninth, if you count live set “Saturday Night ‘Round Ten” and the double-disc retrospective, “The Cream & The Crock”.

From the feedback-strewn opening punch of “Thank God I’ve Hit The Bottom” (confesses Andy Kent, “We actually slowed that down”), it’s onwards and upwards in a riot of ear-melting rifferama. But never fear, tender hearts, as thanks to such tunes as the simply gorgeous “Secrets”, there’s also a Tim Rogers-sized portion of seriously heartstring-tugging humanity on the side.

If you ever danced your socks off at a “Rumble”, hit the pillow accompanied by “Heavy Heart”, played air guitar to “Who Put The Devil In You”, or got joyfully smashed while singing “waited all summer just to piss on your lawn”, then “Convicts” is a cert for your bar, boudoir or barbecue. No dreaded ‘comeback’ soft-soap here, this is the tightest AND loosest You Am I have ever sounded. It’s (yet) another Rogers-penned tour de force of rock’n’soul’garage’n’punk’n’beat’n’folk’n’country’n’Junk.

What makes “Convicts” all the more amazing is that its producer - veteran YAI mucker and “all-round good guy” Greg Wales - wrested this absolute rip-snorting monster of a rekkid from the tough’n’tender hooligans in a total of only 16 days in five different studios, spread haphazardly over the course of as many months. Rumour has it that they’ve even got enough material in the can for another album - whatta work ethic! Jeez, at this point in most band’s careers, they’re barely communicating, let alone working out their kinks (pun intended) on record, as You Am I do with “Convicts”’ supersonic second track, “It Ain’t Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore”.

Yeah, bub, it seems like the whole darn world’s been starved of You Am I-style suss’n’strut for too frickin’ long. But nobody could accuse Tim, Rusty, Andy or Davey of resting on their laurels during You Am I’s hiatus, as each of ‘em managed to shoehorn another career into the available space: Tim toured all over the globe, acted on TV, and made a mighty fine, soul-scouring double album with The Temperance Union. Rusty started a record distribution business/label, Reverberation, and joined Radio Birdman, with whom he’s toured and made a new album. The inscrutable Andy Kent became a manager (and not just of You Am I, themselves), worked on boutique tours/records with Love Police and played bass on the latest Vines set. And for his part, dear Master Lane painted his own, full-length masterpiece with The Pictures, played with The Wrights and toured with Jimmy Barnes.

So, to sum up (and stop the waffling), “Convicts” is the new You Am I record, and it’s a cracker. Play it loud, right now, preferably at someone’s sister (or brother) …

Righty-ho, I’m off, and I guess I’ll see you at the bar? As Mr Rogers once suggested, during a lazy night in a smoky London boozer, “Let’s split this round – you do the poms, and I’ll get the convicts.”

I’ll raise a glass to that idea.

“God bless the fucking lot of us!”

Joss Hutton
Sonic Reducer
Londinium
March 2006

Album ‘Convicts’ will be released on May 13, 2006

Thank you god. Was reading the You Am I forums today and it appears more or less official that the new album will be called ‘Convicts’ (not ‘The Old Heave Ho’ as Tim Rogers speculated last year). It sounds like it’s going to be an absolute friggin’ corker:

You Am I sign with EMI

Seven albums into the rock and roll career of the much loved You Am I, and EMI is incredibly excited to confirm the band have signed a deal that will see the new album from this great Australian rock band released in May on the Virgin label.

Titled ‘Convicts’, the album was recorded in sixteen days over a three month period in five studios. Produced by Greg Wales in Sydney during 2005, it is described by Rusty as “a little bit punk, a little bit psychedelic with a beating heart of pure energy”.

Andy Kent said, “Feels good brothers and sisters.”

Tim Rogers said, “I’m calling it a comeback. We’re back fools!…..or mmm, We’re back, we’re fools”.

John O’Donnell, Managing Director of EMI Music Australia said, “You Am I are one of the best Australian bands of all-time. Their body of work has left an indelible stamp on this country over the last decade and more – and they have influenced just about every artist of substance to have emerged since they started. But as Johnny Thunders once said ‘you can’t put your arms around a memory’ and we only signed You Am I because when we heard ‘Convicts’ we immediately knew it was amongst their best work ever. We’re humbled and proud to be working with You Am I.”

Tim Rogers (guitar, voice), Andy Kent (bass), Russell ‘Rusty’ Hopkinson (drums) and David Lane (guitar), have been awarded seven ARIAs, while three of their albums — 1995’s Hi Fi Way, 1996’s Hourly, Daily and 1998’s #4 Record — all debuted at #1 on the ARIA chart, and the band have toured internationally to great acclaim. Oasis’ Liam Gallagher was heard to comment that they were “so fookin’ good, I want to put ‘em on me mantlepiece”.

‘Convicts’ will be released on May 13, with the single ‘It Aint Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore’ released digitally on April 11.

So bitches, get out there and spread the word! Let’s make this the biggest YAI release ever!

Timbo was in pretty good form today. Not fantastic, but not bad. He seems to be at the tail end of a rather harrowing experience and might just pull through. In hindsight, he’s become like a negro, Delta blues star: idolised by everyone for years to come but no one would want to be in his shoes.

I’ve spent most of today in a melancholy mood listening to ‘Ghost Songs’ on repeat. On first impressions, ‘Dirty Ron’ has lost the cool, rocking country twang of Spit Polish and is trying to pull off some Rockabilly shit thing. It’s just not working for me yet. But ‘Ghost Songs’ is uniquely poignant and almost voyeuristic and compelling, like what ‘Big Brother’ is meant to be. There is a tragedy in the boy that’s for sure!

So what better way to finish a day listening to dulcet, yet depressing duos on Ghost Songs, than to see Timbo play? There were about 200 or so people there. You have to give it to Timmy, even though he couldn’t remember half of his own tunes (hey man, he’s written HUNDREDS and blatantly hadn’t rehearsed), he’d play ‘em in a heartbeat if asked. Two people came up and sang.

He was in good humour, although he seemed to have an epiphany when he read the liner notes of his own CD. Poor bastard wen’t silent. Now Timmy’s stopped playing his Guild acoustics, his guitar sound is a little more shallow. I have to admit i’m not completely taken with it.

Anyway it was good to see Timmy soldiering on. He reckons You Am I have recorded 7 tracks for their new album. And they only pan out to about 17 minutes. So there’s a bit of animosity comin’ our way, that’s for sure. After Dirty Ron, I can’t wait! It will be a welcome change.