The Living End
Author: Kevin Bull

National Art School, Sydney
Tuesday, July 19
On a miserable, wet, midweek evening, The Living End gave their fanclub and a few select media types a preview of The End Is Just The Beginning Repeating, three days before its release. Within the confines of a small sandstone building, a crowd of no more than 150 lucky people witnessed what was essentially a club gig, by a band that outgrew this size stage many years ago.
The night was being filmed for a Youtube session, which added a sense of exclusivity, counting in the start of the gig when the stream went live. As expected, the set list was dominated by the new release, featuring eight of its 11 tracks and beginning with the album’s first three songs ‘In The Morning’, ‘Heatwave’ and ‘Machine Gun’.
This new material is classic Living End, with a number of songs destined to become live staples. A unique chance to see The Living End back on a small stage, heralding great things for their performance at Fat As Butter in October.
The Living End
Author: Nick MacKay
The Ending Is The Beginning Repeating
Dew Process
The Living End have long been one of Australia’s most loved bands, but they have one undeniable failing – all of their records sound very similar. That’s not to say The End is just the Beginning Repeating is not a quality release. It is: Chris Cheney’s frantic guitar work is technically brilliant and the songs run the gamut from pile-driving ballads (‘United’) to pile-driving rockers (‘Machine Gun’). Even a promising collaboration with The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn (resulting in title-track ‘The Ending is just the Beginning Repeating’) couldn’t get TLE to stray from the radio-ready punk rock they are known and loved for. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I guess.