An Aussie Studio Is Reinterpreting Classic Punk Records For Charity

Tribute albums are nothing new, but Victorian recording and rehearsal studio Goatsound is putting its own spin on the practice by reimagining classic albums from punk-rock history, turning its attention to local scene legends the Hard Ons in the wake of paying homage to Black Flag with a revisit of seminal debut album Damaged — and, better yet, it's all for charity.

The Black Flag tribute was released in mid-June, after 15 bands visited Goatsound Studio and donated their time and talent to lay down a track for the album, each one allocated only 30 minutes to lay it down right (or as right as they care for it to be; you know how punks are). It's truly a community project, too, with featured artists including Flour, Vicious Circle, Party Vibez, Hotel Wrecking City Traders (featuring Magic Dirt's Raul Sanchez), The Kill, DevilMonkey and many more.

It's currently available for free download on the studio's Bandcamp page, but if you do have some cash to spare they'll happily take a donation for charity of choice Sea Shepherd.

The Hard Ons release — a start-to-finish reimagining of the band's second album Dickcheese (1988) is still something of a speck in the eye of owner Jason 'PC' Fuller, with an expected recording stint to occur in September with a release date planned "very soon" after. Contributing acts are yet to be revealed, and proceeds will be donated to an as-yet-undetermined children's charity. However, one thing has always been clear about this next reinterpretation — it had to be a local act.

"After much deliberation and conversation with people about all the bands that we could do as the next Goatsound reinterpretation album, I started thinking that I really want to do something that pays tribute to an Australian band," Fuller wrote on Facebook.

"I mean, Black Flag are cool and all but they don't have stories entwined with us personally — the influence of Black Flag is one that comes looking/admiring/listening to them from afar.

"I thought about all the bands that have influenced/made an impact/been good dudes and simply stuck around and it was these thoughts that led me to thinking that the Hard Ons would be a great candidate for this type of reinterpretation."

With the studio having now settled the crucial questions of which band and album to reimagine next, we're even more excited to what happens from here than we were to begin with, which wasn't an inconsiderable amount on its own. 

Follow Goatsound on Facebook or check out the studio's website for more information.