Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Live Review: LURCH AND THE CHIEF, TULLY ON TULLY, THE RED LIGHTS
The Workers Club, 30/03/2013
From the moment The Red Lights step on stage,
the rapidly filling and chatty Workers Club snap to attention. Boasting
tight, charging melodies and Dean Valentino’s laser-beam precision for guitar
and vocal lines, the three-piece channel a rousing vein of clean guitar pop
with bags of swagger. Ghosts, Radio and This Just In are
Killer(s) Strokes of harmony-driven indie rock and an irresistible blast from
the early 2000s. Their catchy hook-laden tracks let their set rise like a
Phoenix from the hypoglycemic slump of a Good Friday evening; they’re the
perfect choice for a Bloc Party. I’ll stop now.
Tully on Tully is a shining example how much great music there is in
this town, and a reminder of how few great performers there are to sell it.
Singer Natalie Foster is a mesmeric presence on stage; totally committed to the
performance and fronting an incredibly proficient four-piece. Struggling
against sound issues while dispatching their playlisted single Naked, it’s
still clear they’re going from strength to strength with every gig a new high
point and further evidence of Foster’s evolution to being a genuine star. The
twisting heartbreaker So Close to Over is a sterling example of the
songwriting chops at work, and
with an album due later this year, it's thrilling to see a band this good
before the spotlight reaches them. After a monstrous take on current single Stay
they close with Going on Like This, its glorious spiraling guitar work
and Foster’s bell-clear vocals earning the raucous audience reception.
Six-piece Lurch and Chief have gone from
anonymity to packing out the Espy and now the Workers Club in under a year, and
from their opening track it's easy to see why. Psych-pop hooks clash with
southern rock attitudes in an intriguing way, and though the rock is played
with reverence there is a sense of fun that infuses all they do. Without ever
suggesting there is a chance of ‘losing control’ or getting too down and dirty,
all the touchstones for an Australian Alabama Shakes/Black Keys are present;
hirsute frontman who looks like he drove the band here in his Chevy, wailing
girl soul singer, crunching riffs and deep and loose rhythm section. The
burgeoning talent, curiously long song structures (essentially adhered riffs
rather than verse/chorus) and stage proficiency mean they're only going to get
more and more known, and for the right reasons; tonight’s audience are already
vocal converts. All the sounds are spot on (particularly single I’ll See You
on Planet Z), the look is fantastic and singers Hayden Somerville and Lili
Hall work well together, but the ingredients haven't quite found their right
amounts yet. It won't take long, and it will be fantastic when it does (I
predict a Golden Plains 2014 slot and Jack White to be a fan). Tonight’s single
launch for stellar closing track On Your Own is a pitstop on a journey
to greatness.
Andy Hazel
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment