Pomade and Underground Culture throughout the Ages

Ever since the inception of rock’n roll music, extravagant hairdos have been  inextricably linked to underground music cultures. However, some of them also have their trademark go-to products to refine them. I am not necessarily referring to punks using glue and anything sticky to ensure that their mohawk is at a ninety degree angle but rockabillies and greasers, whose nomenclature already suggests the products they prefer, i.e. tubes of grease or pomade.

Derived from French “pomade”, in its original form it was made from the curious melange of mashed apples, animal fats and herbs and was thus used as an ointment, long before being employed as a hair product heavier and being lauded for doing a better job than traditional waxes or creams.

Ever since the 1950ies and I vividly remember both my grandfathers using it extensively leaving their respective bathrooms with the resulting hovering wafts of the product’s aromas, pomades have been used to not only keep one’s quiff in shape but imbue the pompadour with a luscious, stylishly shiny and waxy look, so it should not be further wondrous that it has become synonymous with rockabilly culture.

Eventually pomade has evolved to become a more refined product than to serve the purpose of greasing back young Elvis’ hair, with a modern twist giving birth to a range of different variants giving a softer, slightly texturized or matte finish, which was just around the time when it made a comeback into underground culture and hardcore. 

However, despite having evolved from a product that leaves residue everywhere to one with ingredients that make it feel like set jelly with a bit of bounce to it, pomade has still retained a defined purpose and distinct vibe, which seems essentially geared towards a certain hair type, i.e. at least medium length top and side, short in the back.

I usually start with a coin sized bit of pomade applied to slightly damp, towel-dried hair starting with the sides to then move to the back and finally pull my fingers through the top, to then add more if needed. Apply it vice versa and you are going to end up with a front-heavy piece. 

While I usually wear my hair fairly short, I have witnessed unapologetic perfectionist psychobilly friends finetune their more exaggerated distinction between the top, back and sides, creating sculpted, upwards pointing shiny, hairy waves that would make the Fonz jealous, or alternatively the Mike Ness’ of this world, rough and ready, pulled back with a comb and a generous serving of pomade to give it a glossy finish and ample opportunity to reshape throughout the day.

Intrigued by its stylish presentation and the overall brand concept within the confines of a barbershop, I was introduced to King Brown Pomade and its product range. Luckily, their tobacco and vanilla scented core product lived up to what the designs on the tins promised in terms of hold and sheen. 

Eventually I moved to King Brown’s cologne scented water soluble based formula along with the lemon myrtle and sandalwood fragrance carrying, natural look enhancing Cream pomade variant, as both dry firm yet can be restyled without the need of a water source, complemented  by the sheen-less volume enhancing  Kingbrown grooming spray geared at taming longer hair.

All of the aforementioned enriched my grooming routine immensely and looking a bit deeper into how King Brown came about, the love, care and research that went into refining individual products along with the schmick designs that adorn its products and make it look classy instead of merely novelty products that try to fit into an overcrowded niche.

The Formative Years

Beastie Boys

My first exposure to Beastie Boys was via a birthday present I received as a prepubescent in form of the Licensed to Ill vinyl album, which constituted first hip-hop vinyl album I owned. 

It was not long after that I discovered what I thought was a hardcore punk band with the same name via a copy of the New York Trash compilation. I shared my curious discovery with an elder scenester only to be corrected that it was indeed the same band – a fact that blew my mind. 

Listening to their Polly Wog Stew 7” started a lifelong interest in Beastie Boy’s creative cosmos and I explored their evolution from their early rudimentary punk days to the incorporation of rap into their sets, their Def Jam Rick Rubin years in the mid-'80s, the move to Capitol Records and the recording of their fantastic Paul’s Boutique album. Just when I thought I had them figured out, they released an album that again upped the ante in terms of existing almost exclusively of eclectic samples.

Next up was Check Your Head, which took an interesting deliberate detour into territory where the band started playing instruments, incorporate jazz and funk elements along with a tribute to their early hardcore punk roots, and saw them found their own label Grand Royal Records.

Ill Communication followed in 1994 and while being another great album, it was around the time that I lost interest due to them getting extensive air play on MTV as in the year that punk broke, jocks got into alternative music via the mainstream success of bands like Nirvana, which was something my teenage rebellion could not tolerate.

I only recently dedicated time visiting their output from 1996 onwards and was richly rewarded:

Hello Nasty added another string to their bow with bombastic beats and more experimental sounds; To the 5 Boroughs saw them taking the helm as producers, followed by the instrumental album The Mix-Up. 

“Hot Sauce Committee” became an instant favourite with the melange of playing and sampling obscure records as they were playing.

2018 saw the release of the memoir, i.e. Beastie Boys Book, which is a gem and highly recommended as it documents their journey from starting as a hardcore punk band that started to infiltrate mainstream culture via hip hop and rap rock, to then subversively mix elements of funk, electro and jazz to trailblaze create their very own lane and thereby created the foundation for alternative hip hop and alternative rock in equal measure.

Wonderdome

Entertainment Quarter 

Sydney, Australia 

Until 30 January 2022

The last couple of years have seen the incarnation of quite a few visually immersive experiences on terra australis. 

Most of them were interesting, however, not each one managed to actually come close to accomplish the dissolving the boundaries between the third dimension and digital realities in a bid to let the audience experience an entirely new one.

Housed in a pop up 360 dome, the aptly titled Wonderdome employs cutting edge technology to transform what is thought possible within the confines of cinematic entertainment: 

Merging elements from movies, music and underlying artistic concepts, Wonderdome creates with projections emanating from twelve individual sources and the employment of a blur edge blending technique an idiosyncratic virtual reality where one feels like being an active part of the experience. The fact that Wonderdome creates a seamless experience on an overarching screen instead of complementary individual ones only adds to the cohesive appeal.

Diverse in nature as far as the themes of the immersive worlds are concerned, ranging from exclusive Australian productions centred around the celebration of indigenous dance and song via David Attenborough narrated National Geographic and playful children friendly films to vibrant space odysseys and more abstract, aesthetically challenging artistic concepts, the common denominator is that Wonderdome presents a new way of not only watching but literally experience films.

Once seated in bean bags with supporting neck rests, one is in the perfect position to get lost in world of stimulating, superb imagery, which results more often than not in emotionally heightened reactions. I cannot wait for technology to advance for regular feature films to be experienced in the Wonderdome manner.

The Formative Years

Septic Death

I vividly remember the first I was exposed to Septic Death. 

It was unlike any other hardcore punk, thrash or crust punk I had heard before. 

Not only were the songs thematically centred around themes like fear, paranoia, terror, mental illness and political issues of 1980s cold war era, but sonically I was blown away by how effortlessly and technically concise Septic Death conveyed the horror of the songs’ lyrical content. 

Singer Brian Schroeder’s, i.e. Pushead, detailed second-to-none idiosyncratic artworks added another intense mind-altering dimension to make the package complete and sealed the deal with the way he created gripping and immensely recognizable visual equivalents to the music and made Septic Death instantenously one of my all-time favourite bands.

Septic Death was and to this day remains a unique band in that it not only created its own unrivalled haunting niche sound, which was lightning fast, extremely erratic and noisy, but a whole world on itself.

I loved the fact that Septic Death did not really rely any metal tinges to add a punch to their emission, but was in league with bands like Deep Wound, Siege, the fervour of furious Italian hardcore punk like Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers and Raw Power, trailblazing rudimentary European outfits like Pandemonium and Laerm as well as Japanese hardcore thrashers like S.O.B.: Septic Death’s guitar parts sound at times like condensed white noise, drums are reminiscent of a madman running amok with a pair of metal sticks in an abandoned industrial site and stating that Pushead’s varied, well thought through and at times deliberately obnoxious vocal delivery was unorthodox would be an understatement par excellence.

Needless to say, Septic Death’s legacy influenced how punk music evolved from the likes of Discharge and Black Flag to what became widely known as powerviolence, trashcore and other blast-beat dominated extreme music.

One of the most imaginative, pioneering, seminal hardcore punk bands that occupies a special place in my heart.

Thus Let Us Drink Beer

Public Brewing, King Road Brewing & YH’s Beer’a’dise

Public Brewing Co. has been on my to-try list of Australian craft distillers for the longest time, not just because of the fact that its head distiller Gab Porto previously channelled his alchemy at Akasha Brewing, but because word around the campfire has that its focus is firmly put on a sustainable, environmental footprint limiting community-first approach. 
 
With its portfolio centred around approachable pale, red and sessionable beers that are bound to appeal to a wide range of brew lovers, it is specifically the special releases and collaborations with other breweries that intrigued me. Case in point: Public Brewing’s Maku hemp range of beers. The Maku IPA is based on a melange of  Columbus and Amarillo hops, interweaved with hemp, which imbues the tried and tested grapefruity citrus foundation with idiosyncratically nutty, piney and biscuity highlights, rounded out by dry, earthy finish.

The nomenclature of Andy's DDH Oat Cream IPA could not be more spot-on in that it delivers via a velvety mouthfeel both in terms of lactose heavy, sweet malty aromas, as well as a medium bitterness and mild notes of coffee.

My favourite of the range, however, is Public Brewing’s collaboration with Akasha Brewing, i.e. the much fabled about Sour Blueberry IPA. 

Clocking in at 6.7%, this little number is the result of dry hopping a sour with resinous, woody and stone fruity Talus hops to then add an extra flavour infusion with a metric hundredweight of blueberries post-fermentation. A fantastic accompaniment to a dram of Ardbeg Corrywrecken and much less a novelty beer than the name would suggest. Au contraire, it is a veritable pity that it was incepted as a one-off project that has now sold out.

Now, being a lover of hoppy DIPAs, I for one am not the biggest fan a light beers, so when I like one it attests to the fact that a knockout brew has been created that still ticks all the boxes in the flavour department without leaving one lusting for much more, which is exactly where Public Brewing’s Feather Weight Craft Light Beer shines, striking a balance between a delicate bitterness and subtly fruity aromas, which dance on a canvas of Cascade and Amarillo hops.

King Road Brewing

Looking at its genesis and the constituents involved, King Road Brewing Co is an example par excellence for a family business. What started as a humble hobbyhorse in the realm of experimentation with cider making has become a veritable powerhouse on the firmament of the Western Australian craft brewery scene and there seems to be no end in sight as there are currently further expansions underway.

Starting out with a core ranged based on two seasonals, a classic Wheat, a Pacific-style Session Ale and one arm of their operation being dedicated to the production of freshly hand-pressed cider, their core expression of which is a crisp, clear and refreshingly strong aromatic one.

Intrigued by King Road’s approachable Pale Ale with its distinct bitterness courtesy of Amarillo and smooth tropical and floral nuances derived Citra hops, which shine against a backdrop of caramelly sweet maltiness, things piqued my interest when they started to experiment with the release of their creative limited editions and the launch of their first IPA expression: 

King’s Road IPA is a solid, multi-layered brew and I love how the waves of passion fruit and citrus blend in with strawberries at the green and acidic end of the spectrum, to then take a surprising yet welcome U-turn into wonderfully dank and resinous territory, which is borderline reminiscent of cannabis. 

My favourite of King Road Brewing’s recent emissions must be their fantastic Hazy IPA. 

Based on the hoppy triumvirate of tangerine-tinged Zamba hops, stone fruity and slightly bitter El Dorado pellets and smooth floral Citra hops, it should not be further wondrous that the result is a fulminant flavour bomb that meanders between well-calibrated juicy tropical nuances to then round out and culminate in a clean, dry and nicely bitter landing. Clocking in at 7.4%, this babyh packs a bit of a punch and alcoholic warmth as well. 

I can only hope that King Road Brewing will try their hand at the creation of a double IPA…

Young Henrys – Beer’a’dise

Let us wrap this instalment up with one of my favourite local community-based breweries, i.e. Young Henrys. 

After a myriad of interesting and boundary pushing initiatives over the last couple of years, thematically centred around YH’s quality brews, this time around they have channelled their alchemy to create a melange of music, art, skateboarding, surfing and Australian mateship through joining forces with skateboarding powerhouse Volcom in a bid to celebrate their thirtieth birthday in style. 

To honour the occasion, Young Henrys brewed a limited edition beer, informed by avalanches of tropical goodness. 

A pale ale in nature, the limited Beer’a’dise release is an example par excellence for a sessionable brew and a tour de force at it, with the nuances of citrussy highlights, mandarin, pineapple vigorously dancing against a refreshingly, medium dry backdrop.

Another quality release that I was lucky enough to get a taste of, as not unlike Young Henrys other limited emissions, it sold out immediately.

The collaboration between Young Henrys and Volcom also fostered the drop of specifically designed limited edition merch, fusing the iconic illustrations that have somewhat become a trademark of Young Henrys with Volcom’s quality garments to create gear that will have you primed and covered for the upcoming summer on terra australis.

I hope that we will be able to cover the upcoming extension of the YH x Volcom birthday celebrations in more detail, i.e. the Welcome to Beer’a’dise party, which will see a floating device meandering across Sydney Harbour in between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House to host a skate showcase serenaded by bands like Hockey Dad and guest DJs, along with other surprise guests.