The Bamboos were a

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band from

Collie, Western Australia Collie is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, south of the state capital, Perth, and inland from the regional city and port of Bunbury. It is near the junction of the Collie and Harris Rivers, in the middle of dense jarrah fo ...

which formed in 1984 by mainstays Mark Gelmi on bass guitar and Craig Hallsworth on guitar and vocals. They relocated to Perth by the following year and were joined by Greg Hitchcock (ex-The Go-Starts, Graverobbers) on guitar, and by

Shakir Pichler Shakir Pichler (born August, 1967 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian Drummer, Singer, and feature film Action Vehicle Coordinator. Shakir joined his first performing rock band, the WAMI award-winning The Kryptonics in Perth, Western ...

(ex- The Kryptonics) on drums in 1986 who was replaced by

Russell Hopkinson Russell Keith "Rusty" Hopkinson is an Australian rock musician and record label owner. He joined alternative rockers, You Am I, in 1993 on drums, percussion and backing vocals. He had previously been a member of the Bamboos (1986–87) and Kryp ...

in the next year. The Bamboos released an album, ''Rarer than Rockinghorse Shit'' and an EP, ''Born Killer'', before they disbanded in late 1987.

History

The Bamboos were formed in 1984 in the West Australian rural town of

Collie Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Many ...

, which is south of Perth. The line-up was Tony Chiallella on drums; Mark Gelmi on bass guitar; Craig Hallsworth on guitar and vocals; and Roger Russell on guitar. By 1985 they had relocated to the capital where Russell was replaced by Greg Hitchcock (ex-The Go-Starts, Graverobbers) on guitar. This line-up recorded three tracks for a 6× extended play box set, ''Cooking with George – Mark Too'', with Ian Davis producing at

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

Studio 621 in Perth. In 1986 Chiallella was replaced by

(ex- The Kryptonics) on drums. According to Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the '' Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, the group performed "raw guitar trash and country-swamp rock

hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...

caught the attention of Citadel Records boss John Needham". In September they released a single, "Snuff", on

Citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...

. A cassette album, ''Rarer Than Rockinghorse Shit'', followed on Cleopatra Records in the same year. Another single, "Dead Girl", was succeeded in May next year by a six-track EP, ''Born Killer'', on Citadel. After two national tours Pichler left to form his own

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band, The Howlin MoonDoggies, and was replaced by

(ex-Vicious Circle). They issued their final single, "With Which to Love You", in October 1987 and then disbanded. During their career The Bamboos supported

Lime Spiders Lime Spiders were an Australian punk rock band which formed in 1979 with Mick Blood on lead vocals. He was later joined by Tony Bambach on bass guitar, Gerard Corben on guitar, Richard Lawson on drums, and David Sparks on guitar. Their debut ...

Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York Dolls. He later played with ...

, The Dammed,

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...

The Johnnys The Johnnys are an Australian pub rock band from Sydney forming in 1982 and still active today that combines country and punk musical styles. Members are Graham Hood, Billy Pommer Jr and Slim Doherty and have included founder, Roddy Ray'da (ak ...

Hoodoo Gurus Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, ha ...

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004 ...

and

The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. T ...

Afterwards

After disbanding ex-members of The Bamboos joined other groups. Hallsworth formed The Healers, Wild Palms, Zuvuya, Outstation, Tangled Star and The Slow Beings. In 2016 Craig released a solo album - What's The Story With This Hole? through Hidden Shoal. This is available for digital download. In 2019/20 Craig reunited with Jim Butterworth on bass (The Healers, Outstation, Zuvuya, Wild Palms and Tangled Star) and they enlisted Michael Newman on drums to form magnets have souls. Hitchcock has been associated with The Neptunes, The Kryptonics, New Christs, The Verys, Challenger 7,

You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted ...

The Dearhunters The Dearhunters were an indie music, indie and alternative country band from Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Australia. History In 1998, Greg Hitchcock, Tim Oxley, Jodi Phillis and Raphael Whittingham, who were successful artists solo or in various ot ...

, and

The Monarchs The Monarchs are an American doo-wop band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1961. They are known mainly for their 1964 recording of "Look Homeward Angel". This single went to #47 on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Hopkinson joined Nursery Crimes and then You Am I. Hopkinson has also worked with Australian

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

act,

Radio Birdman Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth. Hist ...

, and managed a record label and distribution company,

Reverberation Records Reverberation is an Australian independent record label distributor. It helps distribute records from independent overseas records labels such as Alternative Tentacles and Eyeball Records, and also for small record labels such as Love Police Rec ...

from 2003 to August 2007, when it was taken over by Fuse Music Group. Pichler formed The Howlin MoonDoggies, Fink, Brutal Pancho and toured with Amphetish and United States band, Wish You Weres. Pichler also established his own label, Sexbeat Records, and appeared in feature films, '' Mission: Impossible 2'', ''On Our Selection'', and '' Fat Pizza: The Movie''; and a TV series, '' Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King''.

Members

* Tony Chiallella: drums (1984–86) * Mark Gelmi: bass (1984–87) * Craig Hallsworth: guitar, vocals (1984–87) * Greg Hitchcock: vocals, guitar (1985–87) *

: drums (1986–87) *

: drums (1986) * Roger Russell: guitar (1984–85)

Discography

Albums

* ''Bamboos/Mutants of Desire'' (Cassette) – independent release (1985) * ''Born Killer'' (EP) – Citadel Records (1987) (AUS No. 94) * ''Rarer Than Rockinghorse Shit'' – Cleopatra (1987)

Singles

* "Snuff" / "Virginia" – Citadel (1986) * "With Which to Love You" / "Winded" – Citadel (1986) * "Dead Girl" (free limited flexi-disc)

Contributions

*''Cooking with George'' – ABC (1985): "Law of a Gun", "Gone Wishin'", "Virginia" *''Positively Elisabeth Street'' – Citadel (1989): "With Which to Love You" Closer Records (France), Normal Records (Germany) *''Tales from the Australian Underground: Singles 1976–1989'' – Feel Presents Pty (2004): "With Which to Love You"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamboos, The Australian alternative rock groups Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 Western Australian musical groups 1984 establishments in Australia