[engl] STIFF RICHARDS are 5 blokes from Melbourne playing tunes "straight from the shed straight to your head...". Those blokes are called Lochie, Mawson, Raf, Gaz and Wolfie and they're just the latest in a growing number of Aussie punk bands to feature on here. If you're a fan of balls out rock n roll then Oz is where you should cast your gaze. Melbourne scuzzy punk rock band who have created a buzz about town with this admittedly EXCELLENT slice of raw rock & roll which doesn't let up for a second over its all-too-brief duration. Totally A-grade Aussie punk rock. There's nothing fancy going on here: just raw, savage rock n' roll that kicks you straight in the teeth and comes back for more. These gentlemen have definitely absorbed the lessons of the Detroit and Aussie rock of yore, and they manage to invigorate that sonic tradition with an energy that's off the charts. You've got guitars firing at full fury, a punishing rhythm section, and a madman howler on lead vocals who probably literally spits fire. "Do It Right Now" may be as blatant of a Stooges homage as you'll ever hear, but it's also one of the best. Play it at max volume, and you will feel indestructible! And while Stiff Richards are especially satisfying in short, fire-hot doses ("Bad Disease", "Ostentatious"), they sound no less thumping in full-on heavy rock mode. "Dig", which delivers monster riffs and transcendent maniacal screaming from deep within Wolfy's loins, opens the album with a proverbial bang. "PEA", with its call to arms of "Power! Energy! Action!", might as well be Stiff Richards' theme song. It's always a cliche to credit a band with capturing a "live" energy in the studio. But if Dig sounded any more live, you would be able to smell the sweat and spilled beer. These guys play every note like they're trying to blow the roof off of the joint. Something tells me they've succeeded on more than one occasion. A ripper. Short, sharp, intense and fun this LP is in heavy rotation- like a moon around jupiter.

[engl] Funny to think there was a time not so long ago when Stiff Richards was a name that required explanation - but not to you, of course, o punk connoisseur. This is your territory, after all. Music is your oxygen and the sound of the underground is your clarion call. You can explain the distinction between ‘Know Your Product’ and ‘No, You’re Product’. Hey, you’re probably pretty good-looking too. You know your shit, either way. So no wonder you’re drawn to this relative holy grail of modern garage rock - the 2017 self-titled debut album by the aforementioned Stiff Richards. Originally released on their own Stiff Records (and again by Legless in 2020), it lays down all the elements that made last year’s mighty ‘State of Mind’ LP such an instant classic. OK, we’ve established you know the drill, but let’s recap: scintillating Aus-punk that recalls the heroic high-speed riffs of their countrymen The Saints and Radio Birdman. It sounds like Royal Headache covering Motörhead, or maybe the other way around. It’s a full-on riot in 30 minutes - the rawest of rock’n’roll bleeding into the grimiest of power chords with hooks for days. You already know you’re gonna love it. Whether going full-throttle and aiming straight for the nerve receptors that get your head a-nodding and your toes a-tapping - like on sub-three-minute highlight ‘Strung Out’ - or sludgin’ their way through groovier cuts like ‘Bustin’ Out’, they’re never less than a treat that’s guaranteed to get your serotonin flowing and your speakers up to 11 (or beyond). As a certain similarly-named record label once said, if it ain’t Stiff, it ain’t worth a fuck. Frightfully rude, but that’s rock music for you, I suppose. Get it in your ears.

[engl] First things first - you don’t need me to tell you about the significance of Australia in the history of punk. I mean, what am I, Jon Savage? Google it yourself, FFS. Instead, let’s just agree that the speedy, feral racket thrown together by the likes of The Saints, Radio Birdman and The Scientists in the mid-late ‘70s is AT LEAST as deliriously entertaining as anything concocted by their UK/US counterparts, sowing the seeds for seemingly endless garage-inflected noisemakers in the land down under. No one likes using words like ‘tradition’ or ‘heritage’ here - the punk rock clusterbomb is far too messy for any of that business - but also emerging from Australian rock’s primordial soup is the addictive sneer of Stiff Richards. Like their predecessors, the band are a gleefully wracked mess of full throttle energy and barrelling power chords, with songs like ‘Kids Out On The Grass’ and ‘Point of You’ proving at least the equal of ‘(I’m) Stranded’ or ‘Aloha Steve And Danno’. Nine tracks in less than 30 minutes, all winners and all determined to leave you flipping over couches and smashing your TV set. And let’s face it, you may as well; there’s nothing good on. It all builds towards frantic closer ‘Fill In The Blanks’, which rattles around your speakers like the UK Subs trying to play Ed Kuepper riffs at the centre of an earthquake, before grinding to a halt as a voice says, “That’s the one.” Does it sound self-satisfied? Hey, it’s got good reason to - this is the best no-frills garage rock party since Gino & The Goons’ ‘Do The Get Around’, and the only appropriate response is to declare yourself betrothed to Stiff Richards because you can’t imagine your life without ‘em. Don’t believe me? Sort out your ears and get ‘State Of Mind’ in ‘em. Rock’n’roll as it’s supposed to be played.