Live Review: Harmony, Keep On Dancins' Woolpit

Not even biblical downpours can keep a sizable crowd from turning up early tonight, and those punctual attendees are treated to a strong set by local relative newcomers Woolpit. The band aren’t yet a household name but there are some very familiar faces – especially the rhythm section of Skritch (Gota Cola, Mary Trembles) and Tony McCall (Resin Dogs) on bass and drums respectively. However, it’s frontman Pete O’Brien who seems to be driving the bus with his innovative, angular guitar work and often angsty vocals. Their sound flits between vibes at the heavy end of the guitar spectrum, playful at times and then moody, but never less than interesting.

Local quartet Keep On Dancin’s have been going from strength to strength in recent times, and their offering tonight is no exception. They concentrate on their more morose, reflective side with an exhibition of sultry psych-rock which is abetted nicely by the visuals showing the newly-installed screens behind the stage, the sights and sounds combining to emit a nice ambience. Compelling frontwoman Jacinta Walker is laidback and laconic but still acts as an emotional fulcrum, with the densely atmospheric Hewitt Eyes the highlight of a resolutely strong performance. 

There’s a solid crowd jostling at the front of stage for prime listening vantage points by the time the six members of Melbourne mood rockers Harmony file into position and kick into the discord, guitarist Tom Lyngcoln stripping his vocal chords at the onset of No Family before the choir of heavenly female vocals drops in to offset the darkness with some light – the trio of Amanda Roff, Quinn Veldhuis and Erica Dunn in typically fine fettle – and the whole shebang meshes into a tuneful cacophony unlike any other. Throughout the performance the efforts of ex-Mclusky bassist Jon Chapple – who has his back to the crowd for the duration, seemingly transfixed on the job at hand – and drummer Alex Kastaniosis are absolutely critical to the band’s appeal with their thunderous rhythms and deep grooves, but it’s the way that Lyngcoln’s guttural screams clash against the spectral harmonies that really bring the goosebumps, like two disparate entities that somehow intertwine to equal far more than the sum of their considerable parts.

As they pour through powerful tracks like Big Ivan, Fourteen and Extinction Debt the crowd is sucked towards the noise like a vacuum, the experience intense and primeval and somehow confusing and enlightening at the same time. Harmony also make good use of visuals with their distinctive artwork featuring prominently behind them – the creepy great white shark from the cover of the Diminishing Returns seven-inch particularly evocative – but its naturally the music which stuns, the choral crescendo of recent single Water Runs Cold captivating in the extreme. It’s an exquisite performance throughout and they top off a slew of great tracks at the back end such as Carpetbomb and Vapour Trails with the massive Heartache, which finds Lyngcoln desperately strangling his guitar to extract every last inch of emotion, this closing rush both tremendously visceral and utterly inspiring.