Nice bloodlines

Mark Sisto (The Visitors/Radio Birdman Minister for Defence) jamming with Gary Quackenbush (ex-SRC), Box Taylor (Powertrane) and Ivan Kral (ex-Iggy Pop sideman)? Check it out here.

And aliens killed JFK

Expat American Mark Sisto (singer for the Visitors and numerous other bands of his own creation) loves a good conspiracy and tugged my coat to a video on YouTube allegedly showing the stockpiling of hundreds of thousands of plastic coffins in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s rumoured to be the precursor to a catastrophic event of the US Government’s instigation, the end game being you need to have somewhere to stash the bodies.

(Come to think about it, didn't Mark already sing about this in the Visitors' song "Disperse"?)

Ever willing to fuel such fires, Mick Farren (of the Deviants and the Pink Fairies and also the author of a fantastic autobiography covering his time in the UK underground of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s called “Give the Anarchist a Cigarette”) has penned a dissertation for LA City Beat. It's not short on the wonderful Farren invective.

Personally, I think the coffins are actually mega-sized compost bins to accommodate output from the enormous servings that US fast food outlet dish up.

Re-visiting the Visitors legacy

If you detect a degree of enthusiasm behind this plug for the CD re-issue of the 1978 recordings by Radio Birdman spin-off the Visitors you'd be correct and it's not because I had some minimal involvement behind the scenes.

The original Visitors existed for just a dozen shows in Sydney in 1978-79 but their songs (and a new line-up) live on. If you haven't heard their music, think the Doors meeting Birdman with a one-guitar-and-keys configuration giving extra space. The full review is here and pop over to Citadel if you want to score a copy.