Thank you

Hey, a big thanks for your continued support of Off The Hip Records thru 2012.

this year was another big one for us; we turned 10 at the beginning of
the year, and it's been our pleasure to bring you many great new
releases thru the year from the likes of: KING SALAMI, TOMBSTONE
RAMBLERS, MIDNIGHT WOOLF, THE SINGLES, ZOOBOMBS, JOHNNY CASINO, MESA
COSA, BRAT FARRAR, CRYSTAL THOMAS, THE NO REAL NEED and RUSSIAN
ROULETTES. plus many great gigs in the record store, and some great
live sets along the east coast by touring bands: ZOOBOMBS (japan)
KING SALAMI (uk), LOS CHICOS (spain), and JOHHNY CASINO Y LOS SECRETOS
(spain). plus we got a couple of local bands over to europe: MIDNIGHT
WOOLF (sept) and BRAT FARRAR (for what felt like most of 2012, please
send them home so they can record a new album).

our plans for 2013; we got releases at the (vinyl) pressing plant for
LA BASTARD, TEA, CARRIE PHILLIS AND THE DOWNTOWN 3, then into the year
records for JOHNNY CASINO (it wouldn't be a year at off the hip
without something new from our man johnny), LOS CHICOS (with a tour
sometime the second half of the year), and many many more.

this year's christmas instore party is friday 14th dec, live we got
LEECHES (perth punk), plus local acts IOWA and CHRIS RUSSELS CHICKEN
WALK. rock up from 6:30pm, BYO.

and saturday 15th dec we're throwing a benefit for our flooded
brothers over in Brooklyn, NY - NORTON RECORDS - who lost their entire
warehouse to the recent Sandy hurricane floods. OLD BAR w/ MIDNIGHT
WOOLF, MESA COSA, THE REPROBETTES and WRONG TURN ( as a friggin 3
piece, yes they went 'soft' and added a bassman in the form of the Rum
God- ask to see his plaque, as he still hasn't shown me?); all
proceeds will be donated to NORTON RECORDS.

important: off the hip's last day of trade for 2012 will be friday
december 21st, we'll re-open wednesday 9th january.

happy festive season, and we look forward to bringing you more great
music thru 2013,
mick, jack and chris - off the hip records

May news

G'day,

Thanks to everyone that got out to one (or more) of the LOS CHICOS
shows; what a fabulous party!! LOS CHICOS plan to return late 2013!!
and right now i'm booking shows for not one, but two touring bands due
here mid august: KING SALAMI AND THE CUMBERLAND 3 (UK) and JOHNNY
CASINO Y LOS SECRETOS- our man in sydney plus his spanish backing
band.

recent releases:
**THE HARD-ONS "SMELL MY FINGER" 2xCD - Citadel Records is proud to
announce a five part reissue series The Hard-Ons - A Decade Of Rock.
This definitive body of work will present the entire official recorded
output of The Hard-Ons' first ten years of existence with a new
reissue every three to four months.
Smell My Finger debuts the series. Spanning the years 1984 - 1987, it
contains all of the band's early 7 inch releases and the two 12 inch
album releases Smell My Finger and Hot For Your Love, Baby. Every
officially released Hard-Ons' tune from the period, down to the most
obscure compilation track, has been included. Adding interest to the
mix is some bizarre and fascinating live documentation from salvaged
party tapes and desk recordings.

**CRYSTAL THOMAS AND THE FLOWERS OF EVIL "A CHANCE IN HELL" CD -
Through unhinged guitar lines and intense brooding vocals, Crystal
Thomas is set to release 'A Chance n Hell' - Crystal's sophomore
album; written, recorded, and co-produced with Spencer P Jones and
Matt Walker, captures Crystal’s 'Australian-gothic', confessional
lyrics over a dark disco pulse and rock n roll swagger, raw against
the lush production of the previous offering – 2008 Stovepipe records
release.

**THE NO REAL NEED "NONLOCAL MOTIVES" CD - Nonlocal Motives is The No
Real Need’s second album, and is the first
document of the band as a four-piece. Recorded by Robert Pollard’s
right-hand man Todd Tobias at Waterloo Sound in the USA, and by Brent
Punshon at Melbourne’s Head Gap, it has more of a live feel than
2009’s Thistles Where We Slept; yet the addition of new voices has
only broadened the canvas for Steve’s idiosyncratic pop, which reaches
a little further out into space this time. The songs project richly
imagined, echo-laden nth dimensions, littered with metaphysical
musings and Jungian freak-outs. There are more layers, more
echo-tinged tangents than before, all coated in a sticky shared DNA
damaged as much by grunge as by tape delay. But the essential sound of
Steve’s operation remains: an odd blend of stiff-armed Colin
Newman-style experimentalism and buttery, harmonised pop. Probably
closer to the latter, much to the drummer’s chagrin. Cassette version
available in April on Do Your Block.

coming later this month for the off the hip record label:
**JOHNNY CASINO - SAMPLER CD featuring new recordings from Johnny's
many current projects; secrets album, johnny solo album, johnny y los
secretos, carrie philis and the downtown three 7", plus tracks from
his entire career. Who can stop this man??

**THE SINGLES CD - compilation from this early '80s sydney powerpop
band. contemporaries of LITTLE MURDERS and YOUNG MODERN.

GIGS:
Sat 12th May The Chords (UK) @HiFi w/ Little Murders & the Messengers

Saturday May 12th Midnight Woolf @ The Gasometer w/ Mass Cult and Bad Vision

Friday 18th May - Brothers Grim and the Blue Murders @ the Tote w/ La
Bastard and the Murlocs

Saturday May 19th Brothers Grim @ The Tote w/ Midnight Woolf and the Merlocs

Sun 20th May - JOHNNY CASINO & friends @ The Sando from 4-7 for FREE !

Fri 25th May – The No Real Need @ Town Hall Hotel (Album Launch) (2 sets)

Friday 25th May - La Bastard @ the National Hotel, Geelong w/ The
Living Eyes and the Kremlings

Sat 26th May. Cold Harbour @ Great Britain w/ Little Murders

Thursday 31st May - La Bastard @ the Luwow, w/ Murder Rats and Sin and
Tonics (Tasmania)


get in touch for your next mailorder, or simply drop into the record
store when you're next in Melbourne town.

have a tops weekend, and thanks for your continued support of a true indie,
mickster

The No Real Need - Nonlocal Motives CD - OTH 7111

The No Real Need can be traced back to when a teenage Steve Hewitt first blasted Guided By Voices' 'Teenage FBI' from the downstairs bedroom of his parents house one morning in 2000. His younger brother Mark was appalled at what he heard. First it had been The Beatles, then R.E.M., and now this—another flimsy second-tier guitar-pop band whose frivolous melodies would follow him around day and night, burrowing into his consciousness permanently like bad television, polluting his puritanical version of Modern Rock—a military state in which Fugazi ruled with an iron fist and the only pop to be heard was the slip of a spinal disc in an all-male mosh pit where no-one was allowed to do the twist. But he couldn't shut out the fun forever. A decade later young Mark found himself—one part D.C. and nine parts Ringwood—in the woods in Ohio where the Pabst flowed like water, belting the drums in the name of his older brother's studio debut. When Leon Cranswick and other brother Adam Hewitt joined a little later, Steve's lo-fi bedroom recording project became a full band.

Nonlocal Motives is The No Real Need's second album, and is the first document of the band as a four-piece. Recorded by Robert Pollard's right-hand man Todd Tobias at Waterloo Sound in the USA, and by Brent Punshon at Melbourne's Head Gap, it has more of a live feel than 2009's Thistles Where We Slept; yet the addition of new voices has only broadened the canvas for Steve's idiosyncratic pop, which reaches a little further out into space this time. The songs project richly imagined, echo-laden nth dimensions, littered with metaphysical musings and Jungian freak-outs. There are more layers, more echo-tinged tangents than before, all coated in a sticky shared DNA damaged as much by grunge as by tape delay. But the essential sound of Steve's operation remains: an odd blend of stiff-armed Colin Newman-style experimentalism and buttery, harmonised pop. Probably closer to the latter, much to the drummer's chagrin. Cassette version available in April on Do Your Block.

Happy Birthday to us!

Happy new year all you people with great taste in music!

OFF THE HIP RECORDS turn 10 this february. We began feb 2002 with the
release of the debut STONEAGE HEARTS album "turn on"; since then we've
released more than 100 albums, 5 magazines and a handful of singles
and eps. We thank you for your continued support of our label and all
things rock'n'roll.

We've kicked off our 10 year celebrations with three new australian cd albums:
LA BASTARD "FABULOUS SOUNDS"
BRAT FARRAR "S/T"
RUSSIAN ROULETTES "PHYSICAL EDUCATION"
check our website for all the info and cover for each release:
www.offthehip.com.au

Please get in touch for your next mailorder....or drop into the record
store when you're next in melbourne.

and next month we present two more australian releases- THE NO REAL
NEED and CRYSTAL THOMAS (featuring SPENCER P. JONES).

All the best for the new year,
Mickster, Chris and Jack
Off The Hip Records