About Cosmic Psychos
Cosmic Psychos is an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1982 as Spring Plains. Founding members included Ross Knight on bass guitar and vocals; Robbie Addington on guitar and vocals; and Steve Morrow on vocals. Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, described their music as "arty kind of punk noise, somewhere between The Birthday Party and a more narcotic sounding Ramones". Late in 1984 the group was renamed as Cosmic Psychos. They issued their debut album, Down on the Farm, in December 1985. Several albums have followed and were backed by national tours and international tours to Europe and North America including festivals with Mudhoney, Nirvana, L7, Helmet and Motörhead. In 1990 Jones was replaced by Robbie Watts on guitar and vocals. By 2005 Walsh was replaced by Dean Muller on drums. On 1 July 2006 Watts died of a heart attack, aged 47, and the band continued with John McKeering joining.
Cosmic Psychos developed from Spring Plains which formed in 1982 in Melbourne with a line-up of Peter Jones on guitar and vocals; Steve Morrow on lead vocals; Neal Turton-Lane on bass guitar; and Bill Walsh on drums and vocals. According to Australian rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, their music was "arty kind of punk noise, somewhere between The Birthday Party and a more narcotic sounding Ramones". In 1984 the group recorded a track, "American Hymn", for a various artists compilation, Asleep at the Wheel. Late that year Morrow and Turton-Lane were replaced by Ross Knight on bass guitar and lead vocals. They financed a self-released cassette which included "Custom Credit".
By early 1985 the group were performing as Cosmic Psychos, which McFarlane felt used "equal parts Stooges riffs, Ramones tempos, lashings of wah wah guitar, American 1980s hardcore attitude and a healthy dose of yobbo humour. played no-frills, stripped-down punk rock". In December 1985 they issued a five-track mini-LP, Down on the Farm, on Mr Spaceman Records. It included "Custom Credit" and was produced by Ross Giles . In October 1987 they issued a single, "Lead Me Astray", which was co-written by Walsh, Knight and Jones. In December Mr Spaceman Records followed with the band's debut self-titled LP, which was produced by Rene Roth. In June 1989 a performance at Melbourne's The Palace was recorded and issued in November 1990 as their first live album, Slave to the Crave. An early band manager was Neil Rogers .
Cosmic Psychos signed to Survival Records and in December 1989 released, Go the Hack, which was produced by John Bee . In 1990 the album was released on Sub Pop Records into North America. Allmusic's Patrick Kennedy found it was "dirty, mean, simple, garagey punk rock & roll. Dr. Knighty's vocals and lyrics evince the rough-hewn stain of manual labor, tempered with a night out at the pub. In other words, this is a working man's rock band". A single, "Lost Cause", appeared with the album, with writing credits to Walsh, Knight and Jones. Early in 1990 Jones left to join Enter the Vertex and Robbie "Rocket" Watts replaced him on guitar.
The group signed to Amphetamine Reptile Records for the American market for their 1991 album, Blokes You Can Trust. Production duties were by Butch Vig, fresh from completing Nirvana's Nevermind, at his Smart Studios in Wisconsin. Blokes You Can Trust provided two singles, "Dead Roo" , which shed light on some Australian highway hazards; and "Back at School" which was a shared single with L7's "Shove". In May 1993 the band released a six-track extended play, Palomino Pizza, on the local Arschlock/Shagpile label, which was distributed by Shock Records. It included cover versions of Lobby Loyde's "G.O.D.", Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs' "Most People I Know" and Buffalo's "Sunrise"; and three originals.
They followed with two studio albums on Arschlock/Shagpile distributed by Shock Records, Self Totalled and Oh What a Lovely Pie , which appeared on Amphetamine in America. For Self Totalled the band's members were given pseudonyms: "Fess Parker" on guitar, "Slapper Jackson" on bass guitar and lead vocals, and "Billy Arschlock" on drums and vocals; while their producer, Lindsay Gravina, was "Big Vinny" Gravina. Kennedy described the work as "erhaps the band's most full-realized album, Self-Totaled doesn't deviate from the band's formula of hard driving rhythms, fuzzed out guitars, humorously sneering vocals, and true-to-the-bone working man's attitude. In fact, it builds on that formula: The melodies show better craftsmanship, the band is tighter, and the engineering is perfect". Associated singles were "Neighbours" and "Whip Me" .
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