One of Australia’s most loved and influential bands, the Hard-Ons are this year celebrating 40 years of punk rocking in public. In doing so they will embark on 40th anniversary tours of both Australia and Europe, along with the release of new music, starting with the fast-out-the-gate new single "Buzz Buzz Buzz". They are also the subject of a new feature length documentary film, The Most Australian Band Ever, which will premiere October 16 at Sydney's SXSW festival.
"Buzz Buzz Buzz", out today on Cheersquad Records & Tapes, is the first taste of the current Hard-Ons line-up's yet to be announced third album, and a great, razor-sharp pop song driven by intense energy and power. It's a Tim Rogers/Peter Black co-write (about which Blackie sez, "Our best collaboration so far. When Tim said 'I wanna get a little left of center with the melody on this,' I was BLOWN away (but not surprised :-))") and it's a promise of great things to come. Blackie, Ray, Murray and perpetual newbie Tim have covered a lot of bases on their two albums to date (2021's ARIA top 5 debuting I'm Sorry Sir, That Riff's Been Taken and last year's the Top 30 debuting Ripper '23), but the suggestion this time is the album is heavy on the pop. The sort of pop that can cause hearing problems that is - the Hard-Ons wouldn't have it any other way.
The Most Australian Band Ever is directed by Jonathan J. Sequeira for production companies Living Eyes and Play Vintage - the man and the production house that made the acclaimed 2017 Radio Birdman documentary Descent Into The Maelstrom (and it's worth mentioning the Hard-Ons just opened for Birdman on the three sold out Sydney shows that closed out their Birdman 5-0 tour). The film is set to premiere October 16 at SXSW in Sydney with a screening and Q&A at the Dendy Newtown. Perfectly timed with the anniversary, The Most Australian Band Ever offers insight into the band's long existence, with plenty of live footage and interviews and guest appearances from Dave Faulkner (The Victims, Hoodoo Gurus), Ross Knight (Cosmic Psychos), Jerry A (Poison Idea), Steven Hanford aka Thee Slayer Hippy (Poison Idea) and Rob Younger (Radio Birdman). The film has a particular focus on the Hard-Ons' early days, the obstacles - some self-inflicted - which they've had to overcome, and the legacy they've built.
It's been a long and punk-rocky road for our heroes, who formed the band while still in highschool in the multicultural South-West Sydney suburb Punchbowl. Reflecting that multiculturalism, the core band (despite members come and gone) comprised three kids of East Asian, South Asian and Eastern European parentage - not your typical punk rockers of that or any other era. Weened on high energy rock'n'roll (Kiss!) and then the early punk and post-punk eras (with a focus on local Australian sounds, in particular the '76/'77 punk of The Saints, Radio Birdman, Victims, Psycho-Surgeons and News, and the anarchic noise of The Birthday Party), the new group appeared on a Sydney scene that took itself fairly seriously. With one foot in the Ramones/Radio Birdman-influenced garage-punk scene and the other in the spikey-haired punk-inspired scene of the early ‘80s, the Hard-Ons found a common denominator of noise and energy and appealed to a young crowd who was open to anything. With their youthful and unforgiving band name, transgressive and hilarious graphics and diverse ethnicity, they also found plenty of resistance.
Following the release of their first EP in 1985, the Hard-Ons quickly began to build a large following. Not content to repeat themselves, new elements entered their sound, including thrash metal and psychedelia, which were previously unheard in Australian punk. Their unruly and un-stylised look, which soon came to involve shorts, thongs and bare torsos, became something of the look de rigueur in punk circles as the decade wore on. The Hard-Ons had become trendsetters and were welcomed with open arms in international punk circles.
In their original incarnation, the Hard-Ons shared bills with the likes of the Ramones and Nirvana and appeared on numerous Big Days Out. They scored a never-bettered 17 consecutive number 1's on the Australian independent charts and in 1989 were the only Australian band still based in Australia to hit the top 5 in the NME charts (the only Australian artists to have achieved that - Nick Cave and the Go-Betweens – had both been UK-based). Despite a break-up, the formation of another band (Ray & Blackie’s other ongoing band Nunchukka Superfly - don't forget that band's original line-up is playing a series of shows launching the long lost album Nunchukka Superfly '95 in August!) and, in Blackie’s case, a solo career, the Hard-Ons regrouped in the new millenium and found a whole new audience - kids who knew of their influence on subsequent groups like the Meanies and Frenzal Rhomb. New recordings ensued, and in 2018, by which time fans of another new generation of bands, including Clowns and Private Function were onboard, they undertook their 19th European tour, when they played the massive metal festival Hellfest, alongside Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Joan Jett. In 2021, the core pair of Ray and Blackie and "new" drummer Murray found themselves a new front person in the form of longtime fanboy, Tim Rogers of You Am I.
Over the years, the Hard-Ons have won the vocal support of artists like Dave Grohl, AC/DC's Malcolm Young and Jello Biafra amongst countless others. They’ve influenced not only subsequent generations of punk bands but a wide-ranging groundswell of Australian alternative artists – from You Am I to Spiderbait to Silverchair to Regurgitator to Magic Dirt to Powderfinger to the Dirty Three to The Chats – each of whom have been inspired by the Hard-Ons’ energy, free spirit and uncompromising dedication.
The Hard-Ons' 40th Anniversary Australian Tour Oct - Nov 2024
Friday October 18th - Soapbox, Brisbane
Thursday October 24th - Sussex Inlet Tavern, Sussex Inlet
Friday October 25th - La La La’s, Wollongong
Saturday October 26th - Paddo RSL, Sydney
Sunday October 27th - Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle
Thursday October 31st - Altar, Hobart
Friday November 1st - The Tote, Melbourne
Saturday November 2nd - Singing Bird Studios, Frankston
Sunday November 3rd - Red Hill Hotel, Castlemaine
Monday November 4th - Barwon Club, Geelong
Thursday November 7th - Amplifier, Perth
Friday November 8th - Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough
Saturday November 9th - Froth & Fury, Adelaide
