Contrast (replacing Possible Humans), the first of tonight’s Anglophilic guitar-heavy line-up,
set the precedent for turning the charisma to zero and the effects to ten.
Bashing out a batch of five-minute-plus slices of careening shoegaze, the
four-piece win the small amassing crowd over in no time. Singer/songwriter
James Thomson finds a seemingly limitless number of ways to invest languid
guitar sounds with the piercing fury of Jesus and Mary Chain. Recent single Dull is the highlight of a revelatory
set.
Playing longer and
darker songs than those on last year’s Swallowing
a Sunflower album, Parading somehow
manage to combine the sensation of floating on a cloud with the reality of
actually falling through the freezing atmosphere while being stabbed by
millions of tiny water droplets. Boasting the brilliant, piercing guitar of
Keith Mason, the sheer force of the band’s music takes on an extra depth as dry
ice billows and the blue lights render them sickly ghosts.
Several months
away from (finally) releasing their debut album, Lowtide begin their set with their best known and oldest song No Horizon. Once the highlight of their
set, its early dispatching indicates a newfound confidence, one replicated in the
bright, crystalline mix and the band’s banter. Wedding Ring and upcoming single Blue Movie are highlights of a set driven by the dual basses of
Lucy Buckeridge and Giles Simon.
Despite the
unremitting quality of tonight’s acts, Sydney’s Day Ravies manage to earn their headliner role with a set that ably
showcases their balance of texture and pop song-writing. Despite forming in
2011, last year’s debut album Tussle announced
their national arrival, set critics fawning and ensured hype built quickly. It’s
hard to imagine Lani Crooks’ chimerical keyboard lines, Caroline de Dear’s muscular
bass and the hacked chords and melodies of Sam Wilkenson’s guitar can translate
live as well as they do on record. Happily, they massively exceed expectations.
Following the meticulous guitar work of Lowtide’s Gabe Lewis is a big ask for
any performer, but Wilkenson’s mix of crunching chords and fluid melodies work
around the other players brilliantly. I
Don’t Mind and Tussle highlight Staring is Caring stand out, but it’s
the rollercoaster ride of Fake Beach with
its fuzz bass and synth stabs that shows how much this band have going for them,
and how bright their future is.
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