Spacejunk
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Spacejunk

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Moon and his cohorts Betty Righteous, Speed Cam and Eugenius will perform the entirety of Bite Your Tongue at the official album launch this Friday at The Old Bar. “We had a rehearsal last night and everyone is sounding really good,” says Moon. “Everything is coming together. We worked out our set list for the launch – we’re going to play the whole album and a few of our older classic hits. You’ve got to give the punters what they want.”

Bite Your Tongue came to life in familiar surroundings. “We recorded the album in our rehearsal room above a bar in North Melbourne. It’s a room we share with the Peep Tempel and Tankerville and few other local bands. Everything we’ve released so far has been recorded in that room because we’re on a pretty tight budget as a band. We pay to rehearse in there, so we figure we may as well record in there.”

Spacejunk are a completely self-funded punk band, and they get by with a little help from their friends. “Bite Your Tongue was mastered by Mikey Young [of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Total Control]. He is reasonably well known in the garage rock’n’roll scene in Melbourne and around the world. He mastered a couple of re-issues of some Melbourne bands of the ‘90s, like Bored and the Powder Monkeys. They are bands that I was a fan of, so when I saw that he remastered them, and they sounded so good, I thought I’d like to get him on board. And his rates are really reasonable as well, which is always handy when you’re in an indie rock band.

“It was recorded by Matt Duffy, he’s a bass player in the Graveyard Train. He’s a mate of ours. He’s got good taste and good ears, and we’re pretty relaxed pretty relaxed and so is he.”

The laid-back four-piece like to keep things simple both on and off the stage. Accordingly, their music can be described as short, fast and loud. “I like to come up with riffs at home, take them to the band and see what happens. Our songs are short and to the point. If you keep it simple you make every note or every cord count – and we love to jam and just shoot the shit.”

Other local bands are lining up to shoot the shit with Spacejunk. Their support acts are a who’s who of the Melbourne thrash punk scene: Weedy Gonzales, Uptown Ace and Shit Sex. Weedy Gonzales are a last minute replacement for Grim Rhythm, who had to pull out due to scheduling conflicts.

“Two of the guys are from Clowns and they have a heavy, doomy stoner sound – they’re awesome. Uptown Ace feature a friend of mine Johnno [Walker]. He’s also our record label guy – he’s High Kick Records. They’re like Hellacopters meets The Replacements and The Gaslight Anthem. They’re fist pumping stadium rock. They’re a good time and nice dudes, and they write awesome anthem–y rock songs.

“I went to see Shit Sex last night because they have a residency in the Tote,” he adds. “They’re lovely people with a kick arse thrash rock band. They’re similar in style to the Meanies and Cosmic Psychos. There’s definitely an Aussie ocker vibe, but they’re full meat and potatoes rock’n’roll. They’re definitely worth a look.”

BY NATALIE ROGERS