Feedtime: Сиднейлік шу рок тобының тарихы

Feedtime (stylised as feedtime) is an Australian noise rock band from Sydney, New South Wales, that was initially formed as a duo in 1979 by Rick Johnson on guitar and vocals and Allen Larkin on bass guitar and vocals. They soon became a trio with various drummers until 1982, when they were joined by Tom Sturm. This line up issued four albums, Feedtime (late 1985), Shovel (February 1987), Cooper S (May 1988) and Suction (early 1989), before disbanding in February 1989. They reunited in 1995 with Johnson and Larkin joined by the latter's younger brother, John Larkin, on drums for another album, Billy (April 1996), before disbanding again in 1997. The Rick Al Tom line up reunited again, in 2011.

Rick Johnson and Allen Larkin had met at a Parramatta secondary school in the early 1970s. They formed Feedtime, in December 1979, as a duo with Johnson on guitar and lead vocals and Larkin on bass guitar and vocals. The band's name is stylised with a lowercase 'f'. They were soon joined on drums by Dave Carter who was replaced, in turn, by Nella Mobbs and, in 1982, by Tom Sturm. Ned Raggett of AllMusic described the album, "From the opening hoarse crawl and gargle of 'Ha Ha,' feedtime on its debut sounds like its members were out to not merely perforate eardrums, but flat out bludgeon skulls." Their debut single, "Fractured", was issued in September 1986 via Sydney based label, Aberrant Records. Robert Christgau opined that they were a "little slower and more old fashioned than the IRT the Ramones/Dolls came in on, which definitely doesn't mean they're slow or old fashioned. Just an art band cum power trio that's spent nine years perfecting its sonic wisdom." In May 1988 they issued their third studio album, Cooper S; according to McFarlane it "featured all cover versions done in the inimitable feedtime style of raw and heavy thrash." Christgau felt "Most cover albums trip over their own roots – self conscious simplicity is too neat a trick to bring off a dozen times running." A fourth studio album, Suction (early 1989), appeared prior to the group's disbandment in February. The group had been planning their first US tour when "emotional and psychological issues" resulted in their break up: Johnson "later admitted to have suffered a nervous breakdown." He recalled, "I got to the point where I would either kill myself or commit murder." He later clarified that Feedtime "broke up because I was having a breakdown, that's all. There was a lot of anger and darkness that underlaid a lot of feedtime's makeup. I had to remake myself or die. Allen felt that he might have to do some repair work as well. Some stuff about feedtime involves very hard stuff and needs to be left alone." McFarlane declared that they were "one of the most uncompromising and influential groups to emerge from [Sydney]'s early 1980s inner city scene there was only one other band that could match them for sheer sonic force and rhythmic density: the notorious X." Feedtime's sound was loud, primitive, and brutal. The most distinctive musical element is thick, roaring electric guitar, played with a slide, over a thick, chugging rhythm section. Their loud but stripped down, minimalist approach led them to be compared to the British postpunk band Wire (although Feedtime didn't know Wire's music), but Feedtime's sound also heavily referenced rural American country and blues. A large influence from classic rock is most easily heard on their covers LP Cooper S on which they covered the Rolling Stones and the Animals in addition to punk forebears like the Ramones and the Stooges. Bruce Griffiths of Aberrant Records said of his interaction with the group, "the most satisfying was feedtime, because they became extremely close friends as a result of working with them, and I guess part of the satisfaction with them was the fact that they achieved recognition; they were licensed to Rough Trade in America, they're now licensed to Vinyl Solution in England and Europe, to Megadisc in the Benelux countries in Europe, so I guess that was satisfying in the way things happened, and a lot of people as a result of my involvement and us working together came to appreciate this band that I thought was really special."

Feedtime reunited in 1995 with Johnson and Larkin joined by the latter's younger brother, John Larkin on drums. In April 1996 the trio released their fifth studio album, Billy via Black Hole Records in Australia and Amphetamine Reptile in the US. followed by a US tour the following year, in conjunction with Sub Pop's reissue of their first four albums as the compilation, The Aberrant Years. On 3 April 2012, they performed their first ever in studio live radio performance on WFMU, a community radio station in New Jersey. In October 2015, the reunited Johnson Larkin Sturm line up recorded their sixth studio album, gas, with Mikey Young of Total Control. The album was released on In the Red Records in March 2017.

The band chose the name 'Feedtime' "because it had no obvious association with tough, fast, or punk, and it had no other associations or meanings". When asked why they spell it with a lowercase 'f', they said: "Looks better."

Despite limited impact at home, Feedtime exerted influence in the United States, particularly in the Pacific Northwest, and is recognised as having "presaged or even helped create grunge". Many bands in Seattle discovered Feedtime through the college radio station KCMU, where DJs and Feedtime fans Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman joined to launch the Sub Pop record label. Describing Feedtime's sound, Arm said: "I liked the reduction—the sonic reduction that was only promised with The Dead Boys, but this was the real deal". Feedtime's use of slide inspired Arm to use the technique on songs such as "Touch Me I'm Sick", In 2012, Al stated that they were unaware of any interest overseas: "the band were a bit socially dysfunctional, not really tuned into the world. [Laughs] it's great to think that feedtime might have had some role to play in the work of those US musicians".

During a 2008 interview on Triple J, Sub Pop co founder Jonathan Poneman listed Feedtime's Shovel among the five albums he wish he'd released. This prompted Bruce Griffiths of Aberrant Records to offer Sub Pop the chance to reissue Feedtime's albums.