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The Hard-Ons 2021! Murray Ruse, Peter Black, Ray Ahn, Tim Rogers. Photo by Michelle Young/Lantern Studio.

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The HARD-ONS 
announce supports
for the final leg of their
I’M SORRY SIR
THAT RIFF’S BEEN TAKEN tour

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The Hard-Ons kicked off their I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken tour – their first tour with new singer Tim Rogers – in March, only to hit a Covid hurdle after the first three shows. After the seemingly inevitable stop and start, the band is set to complete the tour with four shows in West Australia in August.

Local support acts for the WA dates have just been announced and include appearances from power grungers Seawitch (featuring old mates Fiona Horne from Waterfront label mates The Mothers – and Def FX –  and Dave Hopkins from The Hellmen); short-fast-loud-chaotic punkers Leeches, and Leeches guitarist Benny Ward’s great power pop band the Rinehearts; old-school-skateboarders-playing skate-punk Ocean Drive; high energy rock’n’rollers The Secret Buttons, and all-female punks The Shakeys

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The WA dates follow the band’s recent AIR Awards ‘Best Independent Rock Album Award’ nomination for I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken, and the group’s much-viewed surprise APRA Awards performance of “Know Your Product” in tribute to The Saints’ Chris Bailey. And reviews of the tour so far have been great:

“The energy this band presents is incredible, and Rogers’ adds a new progressive vocal element and a tambourine and handclaps at times…I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen The Hard-Ons, and they are amazing every time. A great night.”
– Punktuation

“Sporting new front man Tim Rogers on vocals, Blackie, Ray and Murray exploded into their signature pedal to the metal thrash punk  rock from the get go… There was a bit of back and forth banter, but they were clearly here to do a job – and that was to blow the roof off the Factory – which they proceeded to do… the Hard-Ons are still the Hard-Ons.”
 – Searching for the Brown Note

“Long story short – I’m still reeling. The Hard-Ons have crossed the Rubicon and what they’re doing in Australia is anyone’s guess. Right now they should be out slaying the world, Europe then USA, then South America…   I’ve seen this outfit several times over the years (with a bunch of gaps between) and … this is their most impressive incarnation. The maturity, the simplicity of the songs, the power … all this goes to waste if you don’t have a brilliant front-man.”
– I-94Bar

The Hard-Ons’ tour follows the unprecedented chart success and fantastic response to their new I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken album –  their first with new singer Tim Rogers.  As the shows too fate have proven, the tour is  unmissable; the band is in magical form. The magic comes in part from the fact that Tim Rogers has proven himself the perfect new addition to the band, which in turn is partly due to the fact that he has long been one of the band’s biggest fans.  As he recently told Blunt: “I’m a fan first and foremost. [They were] the first band I loved that I could see, the first band I got my nose broken to, [and the first band] I lost my hearing to. There are so many firsts. And then to be in the rehearsal room… I looked over at Blackie’s amp and went, ‘Oh, that’s the amp.’ And I saw the SG, and I was like, ‘That’s the SG.’ I’ve been watching him play with those since 1986.”

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HARD-ONS
tour dates:

Thu Aug 4 – The Prince, Bunbury  + Leeches + Ocean Drive  
Fri Aug 5 – Amplifier. Perth + Seawitch + Leeches 
Sat Aug 6 – Indian Ocean Hotel, Scarborough + Seawitch + The Secret Buttons 
Sun Aug 7 – Mojo’s, Fremantle + Rinehearts + The Shakeys

Tickets HERE

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About THE HARD-ONS:

One of Australia’s most loved and influential bands from the mid- ‘80s through to now, the Hard-Ons came out of the multicultural South-West Sydney suburb Punchbowl and quickly won a large following nationally with their irreverent attitude and catchy, noisy high energy sound. Appearing on the Radio Birdman-influenced Sydney scene of the early ‘80s and preceding the punk-pop boom of the ‘90s, the Hard-Ons were a musical bridge and became a punk and alternative music sensation, blowing open doors by incorporating disparate elements – like a range of metal styles, from glam to thrash – which were previously unheard in Australian punk.  All the while they were forced to push through other barriers; barriers that appeared because of their mixed ethnicity and their wilfully transgressive and irreverent nature, which was typified by their name, and by Ray’s outrageous artwork.

In their early days, the Hard-Ons shared bills with the likes of the Ramones and Nirvana and appeared on numerous Big Days Out. They scored a never-bettered 17 consecutive number 1s on the Australian independent charts and in 1989 were the only Australian band still based in Australia to hit the top 5 in the NME charts (the only Australian artists to have achieved that – Nick Cave and the Go-Betweens – had both been UK-based).  Despite break-ups and the formation of other bands (Ray & Blackie’s other ongoing band Nunchukka Superfly) and, in Blackie’s case, a solo career, the Hard-Ons undertook their 19th European tour in 2018, when they played the massive metal festival Hellfest, alongside Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Joan Jett. Soon to celebrate 40 years together, their new album with new kid Tim Rogers  is their 13th.

Over the years, the Hard-Ons have won the vocal support of artists like Dave Grohl, Henry Rollins, and Jello Biafra. They’ve influenced subsequent generations of punk bands – from the Meanies to Frenzal Rhomb to Private Function – as well as a wide-ranging groundswell of Australian alternative artists – from You Am I to Spiderbait to Silverchair to Regurgitator to Magic Dirt to Powderfinger to the Dirty Three to the Chats – each of whom have been inspired by the Hard-Ons’ energy, free spirit and uncompromising dedication.

The Hard-Ons’ new album I’m Sorry Sir, That Riff’s Been Taken is out now via Cheersquad Records & Tapes. (Distributed by Magnetic South)

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Photo credit: Mark Fraser

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Follow THE HARD-ONS
Website – Facebook

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AMNPLIFY – DB