Review / Book Review
Tex Perkins
Tex

Macmillan Australia (2017) T

Tex Perkins – Tex cover artwork
Tex Perkins – Tex — Macmillan Australia, 2017

Pizzazz. 
Omph. 
Attitude.
Sensibility.
A sardonic sense of humour.
Charisma.
Swagger.

If your music depends entirely on that, the dependency is too great.

So much for the basics.

See, you could claim that Tex Perkins and his incarnations have had a more than profound impact on my ever since I planted a foot on terra australis. 

Tex Perkins has been in the game for close to four decades. 

He oozes the aforementioned qualities yet his oeuvre stands for itself.

More than three decades of versatility and effortlessly moving between a range of genres and incarnations, while still retaining his own DNA.

Tex Perkins has fronted some of the most spirited best bands Australia has to offer, e.g. The Cruel SeaThe Beasts Of BourbonTex, Don & CharlieDark HorsesThugThe Ladyboyz and many other projects, including performing as Johnny Cash in the acclaimed Man In Black theatre show. 

His memoir Tex documents a life less ordinary.

A life that has been lived the hard way and against the odds.

Having been raised as a Catholic and socialised in the narrow minded streets of Brisbane, the book starts with Gregory Perkins’ escape to Sydney and sheds light on his metamorphosis to “Tex” and the frontman personality that would first front odd bands before finding mainstream exposure as the iconic frontman of internationally acclaimed outfits and with it success, its trappings and spoils.

Gigs. Albums. Tours. Fights. Feuds. Arrests. Drugs. High times. Low roads. The good life.

A tour de force of a life documented and driven by Tex’s dry wit and idiosyncratic energy.

9.0 / 10T • July 31, 2017

Tex Perkins – Tex cover artwork
Tex Perkins – Tex — Macmillan Australia, 2017

Related news

Rock the Gate to feature 60+ bands and raise funds

Posted in Shows on November 20, 2014

Recently-posted album reviews

Burned Up Bled Dry

Next Stop… Dead Stop…
Prank (2026)

There’s no easing into Next Stop… Dead Stop… No buildup, no warning just impact. Fayetteville, Arkansas’ Burned Up Bled Dry return from decades of dormancy with a debut full-length that feels less like a comeback and more like a long-awaited detonation. Formed in 1996 and tied to that gnarlier mid-south hardcore lineage alongside bands like His Hero Is Gone and … Read more

Blue Ash

Dinner At Mr. Billy’s
Peppermint Records (2026)

Most people treat the Blue Ash story like a collection of "almosts" and they are sure missing the point.Almost famous, almost signed, almost the American Beatles. Forget that, erase that fable from your feeble grey matter. Dinner at Mr. Billy’s—straight from the Peppermint Productions vaults—proves they weren't just "lost" contenders. They were the engine room of the Rust Belt. While … Read more

Luxury Teeth

DCxPC Live & Dead, Vol. 3
DCxPC Live (2024)

There’s something inherently appealing about a record that doesn’t try to hide what a band actually sounds like. DCxPC Live & Dead, Vol. 3 captures Luxury Teeth in two very different settings and more importantly, shows that neither version feels like a compromise. Side A, the “Live” portion, was recorded at the Ottobar in Baltimore while opening for GBH, and … Read more