Live Review: In The Pines

In The Pines usually comes to us at the pointy end of the colder mid-year weather, but the 2015 leg was blessed with a clear day.

A slight obstacle to those that had had a big night before, sure, but what better way to detox than amongst the pines with some of the best music Perth has to offer?

Gina Willams and Guy Ghouse’s opening acknowledgement of country was a beautiful way to start off the day, before they presented a song cycle centring on their great album, Kalyakoorl. The Wilds then dropped in a whole lot of country twang, their laid-back attitude getting the early crowd drawn down to the front of the stage. The Eduardo Cossio Quartet then filled the auditorium with quaint, catchy and poppy jazz, Cossio himself bopping up and down the stage – the set well-complimented by his taste in vintage sweaters.

Aborted Tortoise provided the first tasty chunk of powerful punk on the day, with the band’s self-described “stupid music for stupid people” going down well. It’s always amazing to see such a young band with such a tight idea of their direction, and it’s likely only a matter of time ‘til they hit the big time.

Maurice Flavel’s Intensive Care was, as usual, on point, with the Nick Cave-esque lean of their music bringing a sense of drama to the day. Hideous Sun Demon blasted out the heady mash-up of sounds that has come to define the band, with some real heavy riffage and jamming loosening up those dancing bones. Husband brought the mood down to a more intimate level, the band’s well-constructed tracks and great pop sensibility keeping their whole set smooth and enjoyable.

Shit Narnia might’ve been a bit of a shock to the uninitiated, but the quickly-amassed crowd made the point that these guys are the real deal. Plenty of jamming guitar and great lyricism got the mid-arvo swinging. Lanark, on the other hand, built sophisticated layers and textures through a slightly muted set, but one that showed plenty of skill in experimentation. Thee Gold Blooms injected a whole lot of bubbly joy into the darkening air, with their jangly, poppy rock numbers serving as good fare for the family contingent at In The Pines.

Grim Fandango are one of those bands that probably need two hands to count how many In The Pines shows they’ve played, but they’ve never lost any of the raw energy that’s kept them on call for so long. Plenty of angular, choppy riffage and direct presentation meant that, though it might be their last In The Pines, substance over style has always worked well for the band.

SpaceManAntics lent out a whole lot of wonky and carefree rock, with tracks like A Man Is A Ghost Of Peter Pan being big highlights for the entire day. Statues were a completely different story, though: a huge cacophonous onslaught of noise that saw band members tearing arse through the crowd at various points, denim jackets flapping in the wind.

The Jangle Brothers were the first throwback highlight of the day, and with various members of the Perth music fraternity filling their roster provided an eclectic and wholesome amount of good grooves. Rachel Dease brought in a whole lot of complex yet sensible orchestration. No two Dease gigs are the same, and it’s always great to see a whole lot of new sonic explorations coming from the musician.

Methyl Ethel were all about shoegazy, sultrily dreamy pop numbers, and drew the night into one of quiet delight. Long-time ITP performer Felicity Groom has had only a short amount of time to get back into performing of late, but she was pretty dang successful; her set was full of rolling groove and delicate touches of pop sensibility. Fait brought back the shoegaze for a bit, their great skills in combining disparate sounds creating a whole set of unmissable music.

The Rosemary Beads were the second-to-last band and the second throwback group. They were obviously chuffed to have such a committed crowd, as the full complement of ITP’s punters made it down to the stage in time for their set.

But it was all about Abbe May by the end, welcomed warmly as she stepped out on stage. With a few new tracks thrown in – something that, thankfully, was also covered by a lot of the other bands – it was a clearly powerful set from May, who went from hard-as-iron rock to synth-driven numbers at the drop of a hat – a faultless set to wind up the festivities.