Monday, March 23, 2026

Barfly

ORIGINS: Northern Beaches, NSW
GENRE: Punk, Hardcore
YEARS ACTIVE: 1993-1995
 
MEMBERS:
RELEASES:

  • Demo (1994) - Download Here.
    • 1. Is This My Life?
    • 2. Defacement
    • 3. Deepness of Beyond
    • 4. Cemetery of the Deceased
    • 5. Moth 
    • 6. Eyeless Faces 
  • Jungle Studio Sessions (1994)
    • 1. Is This My Life?
    • 2. Eyeless Faces
    • 3.Within the Woods
    • 4. Thru Eyes of Carnage
    • 5. Raindance
    • 6. Starving Lips of the Staring Bowel
    • 7. Crestfallen
    • 8. Floorless Yearning
    • 9. The Nice Song
  • Virtual Carnage (1995) - Split with Mergatroid, Mope, and Crankcase
    • 1. Is This My Life?
    • 2. Look Into the Sun
    • 3. Floorless Yearning
    • 4. Disappear From Your Sleep
    • 5. Stabbing Hands
  • Discography Album (2004)
    • Features tracks from the first demo and the Virtual Carnage CD plus a few others. 
SUMMARY: Northern Beaches quartet who played for around 18 months. Formed from the ashes of two previous bands, Fallintous and Lost Trolls, the band Barfly mainly played in venues around the Northern Beaches. They released one demo and contributed some songs to a split album. 

 
SHOWS: 


ORAL HISTORY:
GRANT: It started with James and I deciding to start a new band in late '93. We invited Damian from Fallintous over to my place for a jam after they had just broken up. We had one or two jams, wrote about four songs, then Damian asked Adam (also from Fallintous) to come and have a yell with us, which he did. The band was then born.
Grany Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

DAMIAN: Crabby and I were previously in a band called Fallintous at the same that Grant was playing in Lost Trolls. Once those bands kind of faded out we started to jam with Grant. I can't remember how Jimmy came to play with us but I'm glad he did! Jimmy and Grant were so good to play with. I was influenced by different stuff like Dinosaur Jr and Metallica but also a lot of the Aussie bands at the time - Massappeal, The Hard-Ons, Mergatroid, Dreamkillers.
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025


GRANT: Between us all, we were into bands such as The Accused, The Faction, Poison Idea, Excel, Jerry's Kids, Token Entry, Bl'ast, Raw Power, Negazione, The Stupids, G.B.H., Dinosaur Jr., D.R.I., Alabama Kids, Lip Cream, Gauze, Outo, as well as Aussie bands such as Massappeal, Terrible Virtue, Bezerk, and S.U.X., to name a few. 
Grany Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

DAMIAN: We practised at a place called Rockafellas in Brookvale. It was great - good vibe, and pretty casual. Paul Hogan's son ran it and he was a classic. A lot of bands from the Northern Beaches jammed there. 
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

CRABBY: Our first show was in a back garden at a house. It was on a slant. We also played down Longreach Beach on a Sunday arvo.
Crabby, Radio Northern Beaches interview, 1994


DAMIAN: Our first show was probably at the Manly Vale Hotel - I would have been shitting myself, ha. We played there a lot though. I loved playing with Mergatroid and any show where we had heaps of mates there to watch. Our sets changed every show depending on what mood the singer Crabby was in. Music-wise we were always pretty tight but when the weirder Crabby was on stage, the better the gig. Sometimes he would rock up and not look at the crowd at all; other times he'd get right into it. You never knew what you were going to get with Crabby, so it was probably weirder to us than the it was to the crowd. 
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

GRANT: We played at a Bowlo opposite the Lansdowne in the park once, and everyone sat down. We also played The Manly Vale Hotel... if you're lucky enough Molly Meldrum will come and check your band out, and get completely smashed drunk while doing so. Haha, he's never turned up at one of our shows.
Grant Lawrence (Drums), Radio Northern Beaches interview, 1994

CRABBY: The song 'Is This My Life?' is about... no idea. Stirring thoughts. 'Defacement' is about hitting gravel, really hard. And 'Deepness of Beyond' is about arguing with yourself in front of the mirror.
Crabby, Radio Northern Beaches interview, 1994

Review, from the zine Issue 1, 1994

GRANT: I remember loading our gear into the Basement room of the Manly Vale Hotel for a show in '94, and the whole room stunk of Dencorub, like, very mega strong bad... Toe to Toe were also playing, along with Damaged (who were from Melbourne). Damaged were about to soundcheck. Their drummer Matt Skitz, dressed in a pair of VFL footy shorts only, was covered in Dencorub from his neck to his feet. He would have had to be burning, I swear, haha. He and the band ran through a song or two and fuckin' slayed. What a way to loosen the muscles to rage for a drummer, no thanks, haha.
Grant Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

DAMIAN: We recorded in a place in the city under the highway. I loved the whole experience. One thing I remember is doing some back-up singing in one song... then I heard my voice and thought, "that sounds like shit", haha. They deleted it - thank fuck. 
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

Promo artwork for first demo

REVIEW: Barfly are from Sydney and are into a very idiosyncratic style of hardcore if their 4-song demo is to be believed. Half the time, it's a regular, aggressive style with growly death vocals chopping out some memorable tunes. The other half is a real contrast - wavy intestinal guitar underneath about 3 layers of unintelligible but tuneful moaning, like on the third song 'Deepness of Beyond'. Compared to the urgency of their other way of playing, this is like entering the Room of Mirrors in the middle of a welterweight title fight. It's great, especially when the two surface in the same song, like on 'Is This My Life?' I'd definitely like to see this mix go down at a live show.
Review of Barfly Demo by Anthony, Loaded to the Gills Issue #6, November 1994

GRANT: The guy who was recording the second demo for us, we were hoping to use it for a 7" but that was around the time when the pressing plant in Marrickville closed down, so we missed out on getting a 7" done. And the recording itself - the guy got evicted and got sent back to New Zealand, so he packed up all his stuff before he got the chance to finish it. He said he'd send it but the punk never did.
Grant Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026


REVIEW: Barfly are a post-punk technical hybrid with an epic feel that incorporates a blasting concept with haunting pieces as well.
Review of Virtual Carnage by Con, Bar Code the World Issue #5, 1996

GRANT: One of the Brookvale Hotel shows was fun till the cops turned up and shut it down just after Terrible Virtue started. A few punters had been having too much fun and were getting rowdy while the bands were playing. I'm guessing a staff member called the police. The Hotel had just recently moved the stage from the Pittwater Rd entrance side to the other end of the public bar (the car park end). There was a massive fish tank (complete with fish tank) directly behind where drummers would play. I always felt so sorry for the fish and always expected to see some floating upside down after every show... thankfully there never was. 
Grant Lawrence (Drums), Noise Levels discussion, 2024

DAMIAN: We all said at the start that as soon as it stops being fun then we would end it. Crabby said it once after a show and that was it. The band was done. I didn't play in any bands after - I drifted into surfing and snowboarding. I've always kept playing guitar but it's just in the garage with a couple of beers, ha. 
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025


DAMIAN: It was great just getting to play music with my mates. It's that feeling you get when you play a song that you made up with freaks that are talented and good fun to be around - that's all you really need. And if there's someone in the crowd who likes it, then that's a bonus. Really fun days! I am stoked that both Grant and Jimmy are still going. 
Damian Bruce (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2025

Grant Lawrence, An Exclusive Interview With... #1, November 2007

RELATED BANDS: Fallintous, Lost Trolls, Scapegoat, Mope, Seconds Away, We Each Knew, Blood Like Water, 4 Days in a Maze, Twin City Faction, Violent Abuse, One Take... Earthquake, Frank Rizzo, The Future Device, Gene Pool Sharks, Downtime, Arcane, Chroma, Damage Zone, Hostile Objects, Herbal Lunatics, Proton Energy Pills, Attack/Delay, Cruel World, Massappeal, Grand Fatal, Epics, Brave the Burrito, Ramps, Lord Sword, Minds-R-Controlled, Crankees, Lojetz, Bad Scene, Gold Imparlour

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