violent soho at the northcote social club, melbourne.

If you meet me and ask me about violent soho, I might bang on for a while about all the reasons I think these guys are great. For now, I will ask that if you get the chance, see them live. They are on at 1pm on friday at splendour in the grass, according to this timetable. I hope all punters heading to SITG have an incredible festival, it will obviously be huge so look after each other.

There are a couple of other shows listed here – http://www.myspace.com/violentsoho

The Holidays play the John Curtain in Melbourne

The Holidays – ‘Golden Sky’ (mp3)

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The Holidays have been kicking about for a couple of years and I really liked an old self titled ep of theirs. Lately we have had a couple of singles released in anticipation of their debut LP, due in September. I was curious how the sound would translate live and I am glad to say they did a good job. It was a fairly packed John Curtain and there was a good energy in the crowd, despite the set consisting mostly of new and unheard material. Take a look through more pictures after the continue reading jump.

Keep an eye on these guys here – http://www.myspace.com/theholidays

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Parades live pictures from the East Brunswick Hotel

Sydney band Parades played the East Brunswick Club in Melbourne on Friday night and it was a pretty effin great show.
Parades are currently touring their debut LP ‘Foreign Tapes’ details here – http://www.myspace.com/parades

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Perth band ‘Pond’ party at the Workers Club in Fitzroy

Perth band Pond, was formed like a dream and that ‘fantasy’ feeling, beamed throughout the show that played to a packed Workers Club in Fitzroy on Sunday night.

Nick ‘Paisley Adams’ Allbrook on Vocals and glitter mayhem – he joked that he’ll probably have to clean up the place himself. Joseph Orion on bass and Jay Watson, the drummer of Tame Impala, make up the core members. Jay played a bunch of instruments, swapping around with Jamie Terry who plays guitar and keys in The Silents. Kevin Parker, Tame Impala’s lead guitar and vocals, played the driving drums that seemed to tie the whole room together, not unlike Lebowski’s rug. These guys are all very bloody talented and made the show one of the most fun gigs I have seen at this venue.

Look out for an album soon but check out their myspace now – http://www.myspace.com/mickmanmoose

More photos after the continue reading jump

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The Leafs play Builders Arms Hotel

Mike and Gus, members of Battlesnake, make up the poptastic sounding Leafs. Short punches of pop that slap you about, kinda like the concords – if they were more rock.
These guys played with the Bon Scotts, who were also very intense and great, at the Builders Arms in Fitzroy. A small dining room gets taken over for the evening, and 100 peeps squeeze in with a minimal stage setup and down lights with red gels gaffered on. Third support slot by Frontiers in Photography rounded off a very nice evening of intimate sets.

The Leafs play about town so check em out here – http://www.myspace.com/theleafs

The Leafs – ‘Figs’ (mp3)

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Pikelet launches new record ‘Stem’ at the Northcote Social Club

Pikelet 2010

Dates for more shows this month here – http://www.myspace.com/ovalyn

Last Dinosaurs support slot at The Corner

Cheap party props are fun and Last Dinosaurs wear them well. They also play like a band that have been touring for years despite their youth. They may have been too young to play Rats but they are familar with the Phoenix back catalogue – loved the Funky Square Dance jam. Hopefully they’re allowed to get pirate ear rings next time, as their support of Yves Klein Blue continues through April. Dates on their myspace here.

Follow them on twitter for decorating advice here.

St Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2010 reviews

Review by David Payne, Melbourne:

I really like St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, actually I love it. So to those that bitched about a blow out last year – well, nothing. There were only a small number of basement dwelling noisy dickwads and nobody actually cares about them. This year’s festival sold out of course and it was once again – awesome!

The immediate feeling of the Laneway Festival is that it’s put on by music lovers for people that actually dig music. This is not a festival to get trashed and throw cans at Lilly Allen before pushing smaller people out of the way to get a glimpse of some inflated rock opera. It is a diverse, well considered and quite manageable day of quality Australian and lesser known International Artists.

Dirty three were an obvious highlight for me, Oh Mercy were solid and the Philly Jay’s have well confirmed themselves as one of the most exciting live bands in the country. Bridezilla showed confidence on the larger stage but really need an evening slot to help the atmosphere of their sound. Sarah Blasko has played every festival I have been to over summer, so it’s fair to say I saw nothing new but it’ll take a while to tire of hearing her perform tracks from ‘As Day Follows Night’. Finally, a quick mention of XX as the most incredible international band of the day and definitely the sexiest bass player to grace our shores.

Review by Matt Hickey, Brisbane

I’ve been to a fair few music festivals. Which isn’t to say that I’m any more ‘hip’ than anyone – as if going to summer music festivals is any sort of exclusive activity these days. But I mention this because I’m all too well acquainted with dancing to filler line-ups while being pressed up against sweaty, shirtless ‘bro-gans’ and ’sluzbots’ that decided bikinis were adequate clothing. It’s not an indictment on the quality of Laneway’s program in the slightest when I suggest that my favourite thing about the festival wasn’t the bands but the atmosphere. Held in a small, nifty seciton of the RNA Showround’s, Brisbane’s Laneway Fest 2010 was undoubtedly a success. There were trees, lot’s of cover from rain and/or sun, an indoor bar, bands that have good records AND can bring the shit live – and I only saw two southern cross tattoos all day. I know it’s an easy shot to target the universal emblem for bogan nationalism and one that will probably spark accusations of pretension and a sense of misplaced superiority. But hey, there was a definitely a civilised air about proceedings that is missing from, say, BDO’s Boiler Room; an appreciative atmosphere that allowed The Dirty Three’s long-from instrumental workouts to play second last on the main stage to an attentive, sizable crowd.

With that out of the way, Laneway – musically – was in fine form. While I thought the program did kind of lacked a big headliner this year, the high quality of acts from the outset alleviated any potential disappointment at the end of the night. Kid Sam were the first band that I caught proper and they were simply great. They were somehow left off my ‘best of 09′ list and also, I realised, have been criminally uncovered on whothehell.net. If anyone involved with Kid Sam reads this, you should send me everything that you put out from this point on. Their songs are moving with an anthemic quality to them, and the instrumentation is a perfect mix of technical flair and DIY sloppiness. If you’ve not seen them live, don’t hesitate when next they play your fair city.

Philly Jays were great and uber-energetic as usual. Sharing a slot with Mumford and Sons (the “poor man’s Frightened Rabbit” as my Twitter peep @albertinho calls them) meant that there was a small crowd at the start. But after those British nu-folksters ill-advisedly played ‘Little Lion Man’ about third song in, the crowd grew to an impressive size in time for a rousing rendition of ‘I Don’t Want to Party (Party)’ that devolved into a weirdly hypnotic drum freakout as per usual before leading into set-closer and Hottest 100-charting ‘The Good News.’

Highlight of the day probably went to Wild Beasts. That any band should have one singer with a falsetto like that is near unfathomable, let alone two singers! That’s just obscene. The moment when that second, almost bland looking bald singer stepped up to the mic only to shriek out the opening “watch me, watch me” from ‘All The Kinds Men’ was literally my favourite moment of the day. And there’s just something far more offputting but alluring about a booty call invitation being sung in that high, warbly male voice that kinda gives me the goosebumps. I thought these guys would be good, but I didn’t know how good.

I won’t ramble. The xx brought enough charisma (well, bass player Oliver Sims/Chuck Bass did anyway) to overcome the lull in energy that can result from not having a live drummer; The Dirty Three did as The Dirty Three do, which is generally quite enchanting; and Florence was mildly underwhelming just as she was when I saw her in Belgium last August. I was really kicking myself for not seeing ECRS again but thank fuck they’ve announced that album tour. I shan’t be missing that. Nor shall I be missing Laneway 2011.

I don’t think I spoke to anyone that didn’t enjoy the day. Although it’s grown in size, Laneway has managed to retain its boutique charm, curating line-ups of quality acts over big names for a crowd hungry to soak up every last note.

Photo Review of 2009: Live Shows

Eddie Current Suppression Ring @ Billboard

Sherlock’s Daughter @ The East Brunswick Club

Oh Mercy @ The Corner Hotel

Bridezilla @ The Hi Fi Bar

Violent Soho @ The Espy

Illzilla @ The Corner Hotel

Rushcutter @ Roxanne

Decoder Ring @ The Hi Fi Bar

Crayon Fields @ Trades Hall

My Disco @ The Lounge

Firekites @ The Corner Hotel

The Drones @ The Laneway Festival

The Devoted Few @ The Northcote Social Club

The Temper Trap on New Years Eve in Marion Bay.

It’s no secret that being popular or striving to be successful, especially overseas, can lead to negative reactions from snarky music fans in Australia. Sadly, popular Australian music forums encourage such chatter and that can sometimes turn potentially new fans against good bands. The Temper Trap had received mixed reviews before heading to the UK to set up camp and release the debut LP ‘Conditions’ internationally. They spent most of the year working hard with a very busy touring schedule and were rewarded with an overwhelming welcome home that included a set at the Marion Bay, Falls Festival. I was holidaying in Tassie and going to the festival, so I took the opportunity to get some shots of these guys, who delivered a short but cracking set. The lead vocalist may have been ill but he didn’t show it and the crowd thanked him as they excitedly sang along to all the songs, not just that one big single.

Check out their myspace for remaining local tour dates here.