The Bitter Vics

7pm doors open
7:30-8:10pm Willy Gomez
8:30-9:10pm Lunatic
9:30-10:10pm The Hybernators
10:30pm The Bitter Vics

Naarm punk ‘n’ roll quartet The Bitter Vics celebrate the release of“Rock ‘O’ Shell” their debut 7” single through Cheersquad Records & Tapes.

“Rock ‘O’ Shell” the rockin’ opening salvo from The Bitter Vics introduces the band’s potent distillation of 50’s proto rock n roll mixed with 70’s pub n punk rock energy.

The traditional combination of downright bass courtesy of Martin O’Keefe, Leanne Constantino’s slap back laden drums and George H’s hot-rodded hollow body electric guitar provide the driving soundtrack to this tragic tale of a graphic and very public zenith of madness, witnessed by singer Irene H in the CBD of satellite town Geelong in her teens.

The exact details of the event, far too graphic to share in something as frivolous as a facebook event, though Irene shares that, “I witnessed a man’s mind full of chaos, end things tragically”. That event remained etched in Irene’s mind throughout her life and poured out all at once over a chord progression her brother George presented on his back porch in North Coburg as a sketch for a new song.

The name Rock ‘O’ Shell is a play on both the name of the inner-city lane where this tragic event occurred and the ever-present flame of the Shell refinery that shone as a sentinel torch and backdrop to the gritty streets and dodgy happenings that Bitter Vics siblings Irene and George called home.

Like most small cities around Australia, mental health issues, drugs and violence are an everyday reality. “Rock ‘O’ Shell” reminds us that as bystanders the effect of inadequate services to counter the challenges that the modern world places on the vulnerable has long reaching effects.

Joining The Bitter Vics will be high octane Geetroit faves The Hybernators, fellow Naarm/Melbourne riff lords Lunatic and Willy Lopez.