Republic of Heaven

can't write too much as I'm VERY busy researching vegan desserts at the moment. I am committed to making vegan white chocolate mousse for my dear pal Fiyona's birthday on Friday, but am still searching for the perfect recipe.

so this is a whirlwind post to say that you should listen to Fall of Efafra, Hank Williams, Dead Moon, Pierced Arrows, Chamberlain, Heartless Bastards, Battle of Wolf 359...

...and of course Melbourne/Ireland's crustlord-superstar band THE MOOR (they played a couple of awesome shows, they recorded, and then Eric -of Easpa Measa fame- left Melbourne and went back to Ireland so they are kaput/finito/over/etc. but yeah, they did definitely record and will have a release pretty quicksmart, according to my sources).

but my greatest love is SEDATIVES. SEDATIVES SEDATIVES SEDATIVES, why are you so good? and how did I not discover you until very recently?

I don't even have any of their records yet (yeah I'm a poser like that), all I can do is go to their myspace page and play "Slip Away", "Cannot Calm Down" or "Same Mistakes" over-and-over again, and dream that I was seeing them at a houseshow somewhere in Canada. also in the dream, it would be summer. just saying.

I heard there's gonna be a new Mission of Burma album, so I'm excited but in that slightly nervous way, I'm crossing my fingers that they haven't, you know, jumped the shark.

And Samiam are touring here in September, so I have an impending revolution summer to look forward to. Actually scratch that, more like teenage melodramatic melodic pop-punk summer to look forward to. Glory days hopefully await.

PS. you should listen to these bands while eating Soyatoo vegan whipped creme from the Radical Grocery in Brunswick and $3 Vietnamese tofu sandwiches purchased in Melbourne's western suburbs eg. Sunshine or St Albans or Footscray.

PSS. Vegan Brunch is now at the top of my vegan cookbook must-get list. And it's an Isa book, so you know it's gonna be good. Word on the street (or the vegan blog-world, more accurately), however, is that the Babycakes cookbook comes not so recommended.

PSS. Watch this youtube video and weep about the fact that you weren't raised in Portland by parents who were probably in the Wipers or Poison Idea, and aunties and uncles who were probably in Tragedy or Red Dons or Harum Scarum or something equally punkrock cool