In the Brisbane of the 1970s, and even the ’80s, bands like Clag were the subject of harassment, or worse, from the long, corrupt arm of the Bjelke-Peterson government. Loud, snotty, confrontational and occasionally puerile punk rock had no place in an orderly society defined by dysfunctional political hierarchy and economic privilege.
By the ‘90s, the period in which Clag existed for just long enough to become a local cult act, Brisbane was throwing off the shackles of the Bjelke-Peterson era. Clag played two-minute songs blending bubble gum pop with razor sharp punk rock licks, drawing inspiration from The Spinanes, Bikini Kill, The Shaggs, The Ramones and The Go-Gos.
Having largely been condemned to the dustbin of history since its cessation as a functioning unit, the band’s recorded material, complimented with a 4ZZZ live-to-air and a profanity-laden live show, has been released on Guy Blackman’s Chapter Records. Tracks like Goldfish Bowl are as sweet and cheesy as homemade apple pie served with a slice of orange cheese on Thanksgiving Day. Thirty-second narratives of ubiquitous fish surveillance are balanced with cheap and cheerful Casio melodies critiquing the solemnity of department store security services and passionate fuzzed-out tributes to chips and gravy. Kill Rock Stars-quality feminist rhetorical flourishes vie with tales of Christmas presents, Jason Priestley’s sideburns and astute commentary on boorish male rock’n’roll behaviour; covers of Sonic Youth’s My Friend Goo and Devo’s Girl U Want are garage-perfect tributes.
In some respects, bands like Clag are a dime a dozen – in the brazen world of youth, anyone can pick up a guitar and tell the world to fuck off with a charismatic smile. But it’s only very few bands that can take that two-chord attitude and turn it into a punk rock classic. And that’s what Clag did. Long may they stick around in our hearts and minds.
BY PATRICK EMERY
Best Track: Goldfish Bowl
If You Like This, You’ll Like These:THE GO-GOS (original punk version), BIKINI KILL
In A Word:Punk
