The 80 Aces

Eleven Things You Didn't Know About The 80 Aces
1. The 80 Aces formed in Warrnambool in 2004. Drummer par excellence Jarrod "The Hawk" Hawker joined in late 2006. They were called The Extreme Sprinklers for the first three years of their existence
2. The 80 Aces love playing poker. So far they have played poker with members of Ground Components, The Roaring 40s, The Grahams, Hex, Blue Heat and Tank Dilemma. They hope to play more poker with more bands in the future.
3. The 80 Aces were voted best band (2004) and best recording (Jamaica, 2005) and were nominated for best recording (Ice-Cream Headaches, 2006) by the public at the Warrnambool Associated Music Industry Awards.
4. Singer Jade "Duda" McLaren once worked in a gun store and in fact has a lengthy history of selling weapons to crazy hillbillies and assorted nuts. He now works with children. Duda has also been filling in on singing duties with The Grahams , who rock mighty hard.
5. The 80 Aces have supported Regurgitator, The Vasco Era, 67 Special, The Exploders, The Gingers, Butterfingers, Mach Pelican, Ground Components, My Disco, Intercooler, Mary Trembles, The Black Popes, and Man Bites God. Some of these bands don't play poker.
6. Matt "Hewy" Hewson is distantly related to Bono from U2. Hewy is also not really a bass player - he's really a jazz saxophonist going through a rock phase.
7. The 80 Aces have released two EPs - Jamaica, which sold out, and Identi-girl, which has almost sold out. Admittedly, they didn't make many copies but it's the idea that counts.
8. Hawk has cooked for the Queen (I think it was a rocket salad) and owns a guitar that Mick Jagger once played. He plans one day to harness the power of the sun.
9. If one was inclined to put their music into some sort of easily defineable category, one would be inclined to call them alt-rock. One could also suggest they sound like lots of other bands, but at least they're trying hard and are writing songs they like.
10. Matt "The Doctor" Neal has been occasionally refered to as an "anti-guitarist", which is a nice way of saying he doesn't really know what he's doing. He is also a journalist and, therefore, the enemy. He is not to be trusted.
11. At a recent gig a young fan broke his nose moshing out. He was later spotted at the after-party getting smashed with the band. The 80 Aces would like to state that all punters attend Aces gigs at their own risk.
"(The 80 Aces) impressed with a rock-solid set of polished tunes with likable new-wave references." -Nui Te Koha, Herald-Sun
"No band can be all things to all people, but Warrnambool's (80 Aces) come close. The lyrics have a mischievious bent without being lightweight and the band pays tremendous attention to musical detail without getting stuffy or self-indulgent. Singer Jade McLaren's voice covers an equally diverse range of styles as he emotes like Tears For Fears' Roland Orzabal or throws in a Michael Jackson-style vibrato. Not content to build a song around a single pop hook, each track could be cannibalised for the seed of three or four more." -Chris Rodda, Warrnambool Standard