New Christs
| The New Christs | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Genres | Hard rock |
| Years active | 1980–1981, 1983–1984, 1987–1990, 1992–2001, 2006–present |
| Labels | Green, Blue Mosque/Festival, Citadel, Lance Rock, Laughing Outlaw |
| Associated acts | Other Side, X-Men, The Hitmen, Radio Birdman, Lime Spiders |
| Members | Rob Younger, Jim Dickson, Dave Kettley, Brent Williams, Paul Larsen |
| Past members | see Members |
The New Christs are an Australian hard rock band formed in 1980 by founding mainstay, Rob Younger, on lead vocals. Younger was the lead singer in the punk rockers, Radio Birdman, and in other hard rock groups, New Race, Bad Music, the Other Side, Nanker Phelge and Deep Reduction. The New Christs line-up since 2011 is Younger with Jim Dickson on bass guitar, Dave Kettley on guitar, Paul Larsen on drums and Brent Williams on guitar and keyboards. Over their career the group have issued five studio albums, Distemper (1989), Lower Yourself (1997), We Got This! (2002), Gloria (2009) and Incantations (2014). Three former members have died: Stevie Plunder in January 1996, Mark Wilkinson in December 2012 and Christian Houllemare in June 2014.
The New Christs were formed early in 1980 in Sydney as a hard rock group with Clyde Bramley on bass guitar (ex-The Hitmen, Other Side), Bruce 'Cub' Callaway on guitar (ex-X-Men, Saints), John Hoey on keyboards (ex-X-Men), Don McGloneon on drums (ex-Bedhogs) and Rob Younger on lead vocals (ex-Radio Birdman, Other Side). This line up never performed live but they released a single, "Face a New God", in August 1981, which was produced by Callaway for Green Records. The track was co-written by Callaway and Younger. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described it as "searing acid-punk" which has "since emerged as one of the most collectable artefacts of the Australian punk/new wave era." They disbanded later that year.
The New Christs reformed in June 1983 with Younger joined by Chris Masuak on guitar, Mark Kingsmill on drums and Tony Robertson on bass guitar (all from The Hitmen) and Kent Steedman on guitar (also in the Celibate Rifles). They supported an Australian tour by Iggy Pop and then Steedman returned to the Celibate Rifles. Younger kept the band going with Richard Jakimyszyn as a replacement on guitar (ex-Lime Spiders). They issued two singles, "Like a Curse" (April 1984) and "Born out of Time" (April 1986), on Citadel Records, which were written and produced by Younger. McFarlane felt they were "consummate, guitar-driven, hard rock".AllMusic's Jack Rabid reviewed "Like a Curse", as being "more slam-bang rock with great rhythm from a man who has it coursing in his bones." The group's music was used on the soundtrack of the feature film, Going Down (1983). This line-up broke up in May 1984.
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