Hey everyone....

It’s been three long years since we last ventured into the recording studio to make an album. Governments have fallen, icecaps have shrunk, and wars have dragged on pointlessly. However, we’re very pleased to announce that a brand new Lucksmiths album is not too far away. At the end of this month we’re packing our warmest socks and heading to Tasmania, where we’ll record with Chris Townend at his studio in the foothills of Mt Wellington. Chris has previously worked with Portishead, Lior, Laura Jean, and our old friend Darren Hanlon, among others, and we’re really excited to have the opportunity to work with him ourselves. We have a bunch of new songs that we’re excited about, too; those of you who can make it along to one of our warm-up shows — and given the climate, that might be an all-too-literal term — in Melbourne and Hobart (details below) will have a sneak-preview of a few. And if that wasn’t enough to entice you along, we also have some brand-spanking-new Lucksmiths umbrellas for sale, as well as a new, thematically compatible fridge magnet. See you then, then.

May 2008

Melbourne and Hobart shows added!!!

Melbourne — Friday June 27, East Brunswick Club with The Bell Divers and Grand Salvo
Hobart — Sunday June 29, Republic Bar with Anthony Rochester and Sam J. Nicholson

Oh, and..... Singapore!!!! We're really excited to have been invited to play the Baybeats Festival on Saturday August 30. More news as it comes to hand.

April 2008

Alright — we’ve finally given in to our cravings for miniature bags of peanuts and/or pretzels, and over the coming month we’re taking to the nation’s skyways to bring the Lucksmiths live experience to a state capital near you.* There’s more information on our gig listing page, but, briefly, the shows are:

Sydney — Friday April 18, Hopetoun Hotel
Adelaide — Friday April 25, Grace Emily Hotel
Perth — Saturday April 26, Mojo’s
Brisbane — Saturday May 10, Jugglers

Come along — no excuses, now.

*Nothing confirmed for Hobart yet, but stay tuned; Canberra and Darwin are not state capitals.

March 2008

We're playing a really fun sounding show on Saturday March 29 at the Brunswick Velodrome! It's called Velorock and the sweet looking line-up also features The Crayon Fields, Mid-State Orange, The Motifs and The Icypoles.

Here's some of the great things about this show: It's FREE! It's ALL-AGES!! It's ALL-BICYCLE!!! So, this means all the bands and all the instruments, amplifiers, sound system, everything! will be carried to the Velodrome on bikes.

The show runs in the afternoon from 2 till 7pm at the Brunswick Velodrome (Harrison St, right down on Merri Creek, close to Ceres), and as well as music, there'll also be bike races and free bicycle repair workshops. We hope to see you there, sans-autombile!

January 2008

Happy New Year everyone — if it's not already too late for such niceties. And indeed there's a bit to be happy about: we’re very excited to announce that our good friends and labelmates Still Flyin' are making the long journey from one side of the Pacific (ie not this one) to the other as guests of the Laneway Festival. The party really kicks off, though, the night before, when they join us and Fred Astereo for a good old-fashioned L&L revel: Saturday February 23 at the East Brunswick Club. We played a bunch of shows with Still Flyin’ in the US late last year, and they were utterly amazing. It’s pretty much impossible to imagine a better live band — or to do justice in print to their riotous 15-piece (approx) brand of indie/world/reggae. See? You’ll just have to come along. We plan on breaking out some new tunes, and some old, for the occasion.

We also have a couple of support spots coming up: with Kelley Stoltz at the Corner on Saturday February 9, and with Feist at the Prince of Wales on Tuesday Feb 26 (sold out).

November 2007

Hello, and thanks for dropping by again! Firstly, a bunch of long-overduers — THANKYOU to everyone who helped make our US tour such a hoot, starting with the generous, hard working people who helped pull the shows together (most of whom let us pass out on their couches too) — Jimmy and Mary, Curt and Molly, Liz, another Molly, Erik, Bryan and Brian. And of course, all the venues and especially anyone who made it along to a show. Special thanksies to our travelling buddies Math and Physics Club, Ladybug Transistor and Still Flyin’, and to OJ for the hilarious itinerary!

Okay, calendars out..

Saturday, December 8 — Corner Hotel, Melbourne. LOST AND LONESOME PARTAAAAY!

Without overstating it, it’s the greatest night of your life just waiting to happen. Check the line-up: The Bank Holidays, The Smallgoods, Fred Astereo, The Zebras, Mid-State Orange, and us! It’s a ridiculous array of some ace bands, playing together to celebrate a year well done, though most likely full of regrets as usual. So fill your glass to half-empty and wear something pretty! Doors are at 7pm, and tickets can be purchased through the Corner website or at Polyester Records. See you there!

September 2007

We're very excited and a little nervous as our US TOUR starts TONIGHT! Please check our gig guide for show details.. some shows have early starts and the Schubas Chicago show will be us playing first (thanks to our friends the Brunettes for adding us at such late notice!). There's also a New Orleans show just added at the Hi-Ho Lounge!!

Also, please drop by and check out our new-look Myspace page. Big thanks to Diana Valerie who set the long distance record maintaining it, and to Nate who has recklessly received the baton!

And finally just a quick note (before we load up the van here at Matinée HQ in Santa Barbara and head down to LA) to mention our new album Spring a Leak is out now through Lost And Lonesome in Australia and Matinée Recordings in the US!

Later in July 2007

Thanks so much to Hellogoodbye for having us along on their Aus tour recently. The shows were really great fun and they were true gents indeed. Thanks to all you kids for coming along too (even the ones who showered us in glow sticks, uhh..).

And, well yes, it's true... we have some US dates in the works for September and October! Still finalising venues and line-ups, but here's how the dates are shaping up....

Fri Sept 21 — Los Angeles, CA
Sat Sept 22 — Santa Barbara, CA
Sun Sept 23 — San Francisco, CA
Mon Sept 24 — Seattle, WA
Tues Sept 25— Portland, OR
Wed Sept 26 — Chicago, IL
Thurs Sept 27 — Cambridge, MA
Fri Sept 28 — New York, NY
Sat Sept 29 — Brooklyn, NY
Sun Sept 30 — Washington, DC
Mon Oct 1 — Durham, NC
Tues Oct 2 — Athens, GA
Wed Oct 3 — New Orleans, LA
Thurs Oct 4 — Austin, TX

Check the gig guide for further details. More news soon!

July 2007

When our fingers thaw out a bit, we'll be back to tell you a lot more about our exciting new double-CD entitled Spring a Leak. For now we can tell you it's a compilation of non-album Lucksmiths tunes from the past decade, gathering 7” tracks, b-sides, compilation songs, live tracks, unreleased rarities, and cover versions — 45 songs in all!!! Spring a Leak will be out in early-September on Lost And Lonesome and Matinée Recordings.

In the meantime, we've got two fine shows we hope you can make...

Friday August 3 in Melbourne at The Toff in Town with Hit the Jackpot and Julian Nation, and
Saturday August 18 in Sydney at Spectrum with Laura Imbruglia

Gonna be warmer than a beanie in a sauna!!

Even more May 2007

Thanks to everyone who came along to our recent shows in Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney! We had a great time at every single show. Thanks also to The Zebras, Trevor Ludlow, La Huva, Clementé, and John Columbus for cracking the keg, so to speak. Oh, and a huge thanks to Edwina, Trevor, and Cody the dog for pumping up the lilos and of course, flipping the snags at their amazing recovery BBQ and show in their backyard!! Lutwytch will be forever with us.

We have four big shows coming up in late-July — as guests of Hellogoodbye as they visit us briefly on their Australian tour:

Thursday, July 19 — Sydney, Roundhouse @ NSW University (all ages)
Friday, July 20 — Brisbane, The Arena (all ages)
Saturday, July 21 — Melbourne, Corner Hotel (over 18 only)
Sunday, July 22 — Melbourne, Corner Hotel (under 18 only)

More May 2007

Extra Brisbane show just added....

Sunday May 27 — Ed and Trev's backyard, 146 Stoneleigh St, Lutwytch. 3pm start. (Catch any 375 or 376 bus to Lutwytch. Get off when you see the big GOOD GUYS store. Other side of Lutwytch Rd is Stoneleigh St and you're there.)

May 2007

Extra Sydney show just added....

Sunday May 20 — Abercrombie Hotel (cnr Abercrombie St and Broadway). 2:30pm — 5:30pm. With The Zebras and Clementé. Presented by Purple Sneakers!

April 2007

Amigos, hola to you! Crazy times here as we prepare for some Australian shows in May, as well as working on some new jammies and getting our catalogue up and available for online impulse-purchase over at our new label Lost And Lonesome.

Here are our dates:

Thursday May 3 — Peninsula Lounge, Moorooduc VIC, with The Zebras and Summer Cats.
Tickets $12 + booking fee from www.peninsulalounge.com.au or $15 at the door

Saturday May 5 — East Brunswick Club, Melbourne VIC, with The Zebras and Summer Cats.
Tickets $12 + booking fee from www.eastbrunswickclub.com or $15 at the door

Friday May 18 — Hopetoun Hotel, Sydney NSW, with La Huva and John Columbus.
Tickets $12 at the door

Saturday May 19 — Tilleys, Canberra ACT.
Tickets $20 at the door

Saturday May 26 — The Troubadour, Brisbane QLD, with The Zebras and Trevor Ludlow.
Tickets $15 from Oztix

January 2007

Hey guys!

Happy New Year to you all!! Hope 2007 so far is everything you’d hoped it would be. We’d first of all like to kick off this action-packed news update with a humungus overdue THANKYOU! to all the wonderful hard-working people who helped make our European tour last year such a wild raging success, and more importantly, just a real fun time. Thanks a lot Fortuna Pop!, Lovedance, Professor Pez, Frode Strømstad, Svenska Musikklubben, Matti Eräsaari, Marsu On Paras, Tauno Maarpuu, Three Cheers For Our Side, Roberto and Laura, Uke, Victor, Sones Live, Enrico Poddighe, Knifeville, Paola, Homesleep… the list is seemingly endless! Thanks to everyone who came along to the shows, and to all the great bands we got to play with (yes, that even includes Fred Astereo) – thank YOU! So many other people offered us their floors, couches, kitchens, driving skills, etc, and to them we are eternally grateful, but to list them all would break my keyboard and restrict me from typing up the other news items we’d like to hit you with, for examps..

Candle Records farewell shows!

Yes it’s true – this year’s Candle shows will be laced with more than a little sadness, as they will bring the curtain down on the label that has been so good to us over the last twelve years. As you may or may not know, our good friend Chris Crouch has decided to hang up the iron fist and close down Candle Records. We thank him and Danielle Atkinson for all their tireless work, and for being so integral to our lives, and to so many of our closest friends’.

Friday February 9th – The Metro, Sydney

Saturday February 10th – The Zoo, Brisbane

Friday February 16th and Saturday February 17th – The Corner, Melbourne (we play on the Saturday night)

For all line-up and ticketing details, visit the Candle Records website.

New label found – Lost And Lonesome!

So, to answer the question many people have been asking us – we have decided to release our records ourselves in Australia, through our own Lost And Lonesome Recording Co! Lost And Lonesome (or L&L for short, and let’s face it, we like short.. esp when txtn) has been releasing CDs from some of our favourite bands over the past decade, so we’re extremely happy to be joining the party. The L&L website will be getting a serious makeover pretty soon, so online ordering will be a breeze, and we hope our new label will be of as much assistance as Candle has been. Crouchy will be working with us to make sure we don’t make a mess of things, and of course he’ll be the first one we run to when things get icky.

Our whole back-catalogue will eventually be available through L&L. And as always, you can still find Lucksmiths releases aplenty around the world through the excellent people at Matinée Recordings (US), Microindie (US), Fortuna Pop! (UK), and Boompa! (Canada).

Anyway, hope you’re doing well and getting the right dose of vitamin D and either eating plenty of soy products or avoiding them (depending on which current affairs program you choose to believe…). We’ll see you soon somewhere!

xo, us guys.

November 2006

Melbourne show!!

We're so excited to be playing again back in our old 'hood. We have just one big Melbourne show before the new year rings its shiny bell. Thursday, December 7 at the East Brunswick Club with support from Light Music Club. You can't even begin to imagine how much fun it's going to be!

More news soon when I can afford another coffee at this wifi hotspot..

August 2006

Second London show added!

As tickets to F-POP!Fest have been selling quickly, we've decided to squeeze in a second London show right before we fly back home, on Wednesday September 13 – in the east this time, at The Spitz. Support on the night will be from the wonderful Michaelmas.

Ticket info soon.



July 2006

Tour o' Europe!!

Hello dear friends! After months of sneaky tip-toeing around, we The Lucksmiths finally have a bona fide European tour to announce!! Yes, it's true. Some of you smarter cookies seem to have guessed it was imminent, so extra sprinkles for YOU! We've had some very friendly and organised people helping us plan our way around, and know these shows will be the most fun ever! We're very excited to be making the long journey over, and hope you can make it to one of the concerts.. if we're not playing in your town, flights seem cheap around September, so why not plan a little late-summer escape? This tour will mark the first time we visit many of these cities, and actually, the first time we visit Estonia and Italy, so please come along! See you soon.

Weds Aug 30 - The Luminaire, London, UK
As part of Fortuna Pop's F-POP!FEST
w/ Would-Be-Goods, Airport Girl & Fanfarlo
Tickets on sale now for £8.00 from Ticketweb

Thurs Aug 31 – Garage, Bergen, Norway
w/ Professor Pez and Fred Astereo
(Please note this is the new venue for the Bergen show).

Fri Sept 1 - Sound Of Mu, Markveien 28, Oslo, Norway
w/ Fred Astereo & Southern Alps - Early Show

Sat Sept 2 - Pop Dakar Festival, Stockholm, Sweden
Presented by Svenskamusikklubben
w/ The Russian Futurists (CAN), Rubies (US), Love Is All, Fred Astereo (AUS), Basteroid (DE), Vapnet, Blood Music, and more
Free entry!

Sun Sept 3 - Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden
w/ Fred Astereo

Mon Sept 4 – Semifinaali, Helsinki, Finland
Presented by Marsu On Paras
w/ Ultrasport and Fred Astereo
Tickets at door - 8pm Start

Tues Sept 5 - Von Krahli Bar, Tallinn, Estonia
w/ Ans Andur and Fred Astereo
Tickets at the door

Wed Sept 6 – Pustervik, Gothenburg, Sweden
w/ Sambassadeur and Fred Astereo

Thurs Sept 7 – Prinzenbar, Hamburg, Germany
Presented by Three Cheers For Our Side
w/ The Catalysts (Glasgow, UK) as well as Three Cheers For Our Side DJ Collective spinning Indiepop, C86 and Tweepop.
Tickets available here.

Fri Sept 8 – Barbarella Club, Madrid, Spain
w/ Uke

Sat Sept 9 – Wah Wah Club, Valencia, Spain
w/ Uke

Sun Sept 10 – La [2] de Nitsa, Barcelona, Spain
Presented by Strange Ones

Mon Sept 11 – Ridotto del Teatro Verdi, Maniago, Italy
Presented by Knifeville (myspace.com/knifeville)

Tues Sept 12 - Hana Bi, Marina di Ravenna, Italy
Presented by Homesleep (www.myspace.com/homesleepmusic)
Free entry!

Wed Sept 13 - The Spitz, London, UK
Presented by Fortuna Pop!
w/ Michaelmas

March 2006

An Open Letter to Mr Glenn A. Baker

Dear Mr Baker....

At a recent show of ours in Fremantle, we were approached by a punter bearing the news that one of our songs — “The Chapter in Your Life Entitled San Francisco” — had been included on the new Qantas in-flight playlist. We were understandably excited, being due to fly back to the east coast the very next morning with said carrier, and thus having something to look forward to besides three and a half hours of Scrabble cards. Taking our seats some hours later, a little the worse for wear courtesy of Mojos’ unrivalled hospitality and Darren Hanlon’s never-say-die party spirit, we eagerly pulled the dog-eared copy of “the world’s best airline magazine” from the seat-back pouch, and were delighted to find our own ode to the foggy city included in your musical tribute alongside such classics as Scott Mackenzie’s “San Francisco (Wear Flowers in Your Hair)”, Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”, and (more confusingly) Starship’s “We Built This City” — which, we speculated, may have been an oblique tribute to the reconstruction effort after the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906.

Time passed. Through highs such as “San Francisco Teardrops” by Marty Robbins and “Back in San Francisco” by the Orange Peels, and lows like “Lights” by Journey, our excitement grew as the moment drew nearer. We considered informing the flight crew, who seemed unaware of the presence of the four bona fide contributors to popular music’s rich heritage seated in row 21. Then, at last, came your forward-announce (to paraphrase): “Next we hear from nineties Melbourne band The Lucksmiths, with their captivating tale of an Antipodean a long way from home.” Nineties Melbourne band? Ouch! As you will recall from the preceding paragraph, this was taking place on tour; we were on our way home from a show the night before. The song in question was released as a single in early 2005, and as part of our album “Warmer Corners” later that year. Since the dawn of the twenty-first century, we have released three albums, four EPs, and a compilation CD. Admittedly, we formed in the 1990s, but by this logic David Bowie should be described as a sixties artist, Pulp as a seventies band; your good self, for that matter, as a seventies music journalist.

Nevertheless, our indignation abated through “Ballad of San Francisco” by Caedmon’s Call , and when Marky’s barely audible bass kicked in through the crappy disposable headphones, our song had never sounded so good. We bopped our heads and exchanged smiles of quiet pride across the aisle. Then, just as the middle-eight segued into the breakdown, something odd happened. Instead of Louis’ eminently tasteful wah-wah part (for all of us, the high-point of the song), there came a staccato piano none of us could recall. In a different key. Pride turned to momentary confusion, and then the awful truth dawned: we were already some bars into Vanessa Carlton’s imaginatively titled “San Francisco”. Now, the “radio edit” treatment wasn’t entirely unexpected; the memorable whistling over the fade-out of Otis Redding’s masterpiece “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” had been conspicuous in its absence, too. But you had shorn our tune by almost a full quarter, removing the last (extended) chorus, and with it any sense of narrative closure — the lyric suddenly ending on the decidedly unresolved “Or will I learn to do without you?” — and turning our carefully arranged middle-eight into some sort of half-arsed outro. We took off headphones (difficult to do when shaking one’s head in disappointment) and returned to our Scrabble cards. It might have been a coincidence, but the very next word laid out was DOOFUS, and it was accepted without debate.

Yours,
The Lucksmiths

January 2006

Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying the extreme heat or blustery chill. We sure are. And after our nine-month wind-down period, we Lucksmiths are very much looking forward to regrouping, rehearsing, and rerocking at the Candle Records party at the Corner Hotel on Friday February 24. It's exciting to hear we'll have some friends making the long journey around the globe, so we'll certainly try and make an effort for once with our outfits.

In the meantime, you can see what we look like when we don't make an effort with our outfits on the Candle Records 10th Birthday DVD. Filmed in February 2005 in the hottest place in the world (The Zoo, Brisbane), the DVD features a bunch of fine performances and interviews from most of the artists on Candle. And the filming quality is surprisingly good.

And whilst we're shamelessly plugging away here, we have a new CD-single coming out soon. A Hiccup in Your Happiness is the title, and it comes complete with three previously unreleased b-sides: "From Macaulay Station", Rue Something", and To Absent Votes". It's out on Feb 20, but maybe you can order it earlier through Candle Records and Matinee Recordings. We hope you like it!

September 2005

Marty's very happy this month, and not just because the Saints are looking good for the flag... Congratulations Marty and Em on the arrival of little Tom. Hope he grows up to be a fine footballer, balladeer, barrista, whatever! Just not a Carlton supporter.

Oh, and something else very exciting: our song Now I'm Even Further Away is on a new split-7" record called Ä PoP, featuring songs by Pipas, Sodastream, The Shermans, Nice Man, and Charm Filter. Out now on Spanish label Tragadiscos!

July 2005

Hi everybuddy.

Just a bunch of solo shows coming up over the next month or so.....

Marty has a residency on Thursdays in August at the very salt o' the earth Brunswick Green Hotel (Sydney Rd, Brunswick, Melbourne) with Anthony Atkinson and Rob Clarkson. And then on Saturday, September 3 at Gertrudes (Gertrude St, Fitzroy, Melbourne) with Small Knives, Richard Easton and Rob Clarkson.

Meanwhile, up the road Tali celebrates making The Believer's list of best singing-drummers at the trusty Empress Hotel (Nicholson St, Nth Fitzroy, Melbourne) on Wednesday, August 3 with Duckdive.

In another hemisphere altogether, Mark is playing with Pipas on Friday, August 26 at Landet (T-Telefonplan, Stockholm).

If a t-shirt's what you're after, we have a few left over from our recent US tour at the Matinee website. Same design as the ones we had on our Australian tour, but different colours.

Recently we did an interview with BBC Global Hit.

May 2005

Hey Crouchy!

Sorry I haven't written in a while. Guess I've been wallowing in a dark misery that lasted till the Saints finally notched up a win this past weekend. Actually, maybe it's just been a mild case of the post-tour blues. Speaking of the tour, you'll be glad and proud to know that we wowed 'em all over the US (well, as much as we could fit in in two weeks), and think we came out of it wiser, tighter, and (unprecedently) with dignity firmly intact. (Though Tali's onstage repartee did, on occasion, give new meaning to "beyond blue"...) And hey, I didn't spend all my pocket money on chick-o-sticks this time!

Have you heard from Jimmy? As usual, he (and the whole Matinee Recordings crew - wife, baby, cats) were outrageously generous, letting us set up base in their beautiful Santa Barbara house, as well as working their tushes off for the betterment of the tour. Can't thank them enough, and won't even embarrass ourselves trying to. We also owe Jimmy for introducing us to this amazing band called Math and Physics Club who we were lucky enough to play with in LA, San Francisco, and Seattle, and also helped us out with our KEXP live-to-air. We had great help with all the shows. Somehow Yoshi and Alicia managed to pull the SF show at the Rickshaw together and the Makeout Room on the Sunday night was great too - tho