BIGSOUND Live Reviews Part Two

VILLAINY

It's easy to see why New Zealand rockers Villainy are making waves across the Tasman, with a hard-edged rock sound that has plenty of hooks.  Charismatic singer and guitarist Neill Fraser has an undeniable stage presence, and lead guitarist Thomas Watts really knows how to shred.  The band's enthusiasm is infectious, and it's clear they plan on having a good time while they're here, with Fraser excitedly telling the crowd about their impending trip to Nimbin.  He then informs us that “after these last two songs I'm going to get shit-faced,” before the band finish their set with two of their strongest numbers; No Future and Alligator Skin.  On the basis of tonight's set, it will be surprising if the lads aren't playing festival stages in the near future.

YOUR FAVORITE ENEMIES

Villainy are a hard act to follow, but Montreal's Your Favorite Enemies know how to make an entrance, with guitarist Ben Lemelin playing his instrument with a bow as the stage lights come on.  The six-piece's atmospheric blend of post-punk, prog and rock goes down well, and singer Alex Foster has an impressive vocal range, at times reminiscent of Birds of Tokyo/Karnivool frontman Ian Kenny.  The band are clearly chuffed to be here, with Foster in a playful mood, thanking his dad “for telling my mum I'm still studying at university”.  Highlights include When Did We Lose Each Other, A View From Within and Kerosene.

CALLING ALL CARS

The audience at the Tempo trebles in the few minutes before Calling All Cars take to the stage and the Melbourne three-piece don't disappoint, putting in an energetic set comprised largely of new material.  Singer Haydn Ing puts in a particularly energetic performance, walking into the audience and back on the stage while playing, without missing a note and drummer James Ing and bassist Adam Montgomery are as tight as ever. New single Werewolves gets a rousing response, as does the aptly named Raise the People.  Although the band already has a decent following, they're bound to have earned a slew of new fans tonight.

MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA

Despite the relatively small confines of Bakery Lane, the more than 20 members of Melbourne Ska Orchestra manage to squeeze themselves on to the stage and while their brass-heavy wall of sound on record, it's even more impressive live.  Lygon St Meltdown immediately gets the crowd skanking and the more subdued The Best Things in Life Are Free sound near album-perfect.  Frontman Nicky Bomba has the audience in the palm of his hand, telling everyone “to turn around and count to four, then turn around and dance like you've never danced before,” before slowing things down with set closer Katoomba.

WILLOW BEATS

Taking over the Rev's Inthemix stage, Melbourne duo Willow Beats trade off male and female vocals across a set that spans the range of electronic music, from banging dubstep club anthems to chilled out jams where Kalyani Ellis' Björk-esque vocals really shine. The set's breadth of sound is truly impressive, Willow Beats manage to create a vibe equal parts the band you'd go out to the club to dance to, and the band that you'd spin alone in your home when you want to get your groove on to after a hard day of work. 

THE DEMON PARADE

Over at the Press Club, Melbourne four-piece The Demon Parade come on like a groovy as hell retro flashback. Channeling the tight harmonies the early '60s Beatles and the freewheeling sense of fun of the late '60s Beatles' lysergic jams, The Demon Parade balance being a throwback act with one that also pays homage to modern bands like The Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. They kick out guitar-heavy jams for the duration of their set and are a treat for the crowd assembled in front of the stage.  

AERIALS

In front of a blur of strobe lights, Brisbane three-piece Aerials close out BIGSOUND over at the Tempo Hotel. Taking cues from Muse, minus the massive stadium rock pomposity, the rock'n'roll outfit marries big choruses with lashings of modulated guitar and enough stomping riffs to make the average punter think that they're caught in a stampede. The crowd might be thin, but Aerials deliver a set with a potent mix of power and passion. It's no wonder they're headlining the stage. 

Tom Hersey

ELIZABETH ROSE

The shimmering and occasionally driving electro pop of Sydney's Elizabeth Rose gets official proceedings started on Bakery Lane this evening. A gentleman controls the synths while Rose jumps around and generally injects plenty of energy to the show, not quite coaxing the onlookers to follow suit, but certainly making for an engaging show. An alumni of last year's event, Rose's voice seems to be strengthening and those songs she's writing and playing sure aren't getting any worse.

THE LOVE JUNKIES

It's kinda hard to put your finger on what The Love Junkies play in a general sense, but that's not a bad thing. At one moment they're rollicking through garage blues, the next they're a lightweight indie Sabbath clone, then they're belting out harsh post-hardcore style fare and then they're all soulful and carefree. As a music fan, you'd want them to stay as they are and develop from there, but, without a genre to hang their hat on, you wonder how much bigger their audience can get. Fact is, they're a great band.

JEREMY NEALE

Jeremy Neale opens proceedings by calling everyone in attendance a legend (he's just that kinda guy), then going on to open on his great tune Winter Was The Time. His band is sounding great right now, the addition of keys working very nicely indeed at filling out the sound. He drops a few new songs which are great, of course, but you can't go past the hit parade that ends the set; Darlin' (featuring a seriously impressive Rainbow Chan on sax), A Love Affair To Keep You There and the wonderful Go Violets collaboration In Stranger Times.

Dan Condon

THE MIDDLE NAMES

All the way from Tasmania they come, five of them, away from the cold into the heat, Alhambra Lounge a sweat box early in the evening which suits The Middle Names just fine. They play hard-edged pop 'n' roll, and they play it well, pogoing when the need arises, hard riffs too, because sometimes you need that, dedicated to their craft, you can tell they mean it. Ali Probin, on the end, seems to spend more time tuning her guitar than she does playing it, which detracts from the overall unit-ness of the situation, but you can't win 'em all. Decent and tight, good at what's happening, but not blowing minds – the road's a long one.

TWIN BEASTS

Psychedelic spaghetti western. Flying sweat and moustaches so bad they're good, checkered shirts and cowboy boots, but with a healthy dose of Rove Live to tone it down and make it real, appeal to the people, but fuck the people, those people don't know what's going on. If they did, then Twin Beasts (formerly the Toot Toot Toots), would be bigger than fucking Jesus in this country, or whomever you care to worship, and so it should be – this is music with stories, tales set to tune as rambunctious as your Grandma after a few sherries, you know it, Twin Beasts know it, and so you should get the hell on board. This is real.

MR. CASSIDY

I've been approached by this folky, bluegrassy duo (as they were at the time) before, filed the disc away, dug on the ethos they displayed, but was underwhelmed by what they wrought from same. Tonight, with an upright bass player / acoustic guitarist, and a drummer, this banjo / fiddle combo didn't quite hit the mark. They're aiming for the realm in which Gillian Welch inhabits (to their credit, they're not just ripping it off), but they don't quite get there. Their vocal harmonies are sugar-sweet, but there's an experience, a knowledge, a wisdom that Mr. Cassidy don't yet have. I hope they find it.

LIME CORDIALE

I'm in the process of reviewing Sydney-siders' Lime Cordiale's debut EP, and so am quite familiar with the tunes, and yet I expect the worst. It's late on the final night of BIGSOUND, I've been drinking. Haven't we all…? And yet I climb the stairs, grab a drink and am immediately, and somewhat surprisingly, taken by these tunes. It's pop-laced, those catchy hooks, melodies etc, but there's a hardness in there that you wouldn't normally associate with such goings on. I find myself really getting into what they're pedaling, I find myself tapping my worn out feet, I find myself becoming engrossed… I find myself being surprised that I like this so much. One of the finds of the week I'd say, as nice a surprise as one can get at the dreg-end of a happening like this. Keep your eyes peeled, this is good stuff.

Samuel J. Fell

DAMN TERRAN

Damn Terran. Pic by Benny Doyle.

Ten minutes in and Damn Terran drummer Leigh Ewbank has gotten his shirt off, and unbelievably the intensity jack-knifes even higher when the skin is on show. The Melbourne rock trio are delivering decibels at ridiculous levels, but the quality on stage matches those heights so everyone just grins and bears it. The riffs from brother Lachlan Ewbank and Ali Edmonds are bone shattering and frankly the crowd can't get enough; yet even the quieter moments – if you can call any point in the set that – present delicious licks otherwise masked beneath the fury.

GOSSLING

Same time slot (early), same venue (Black Bear Lodge) as 2011 for Gossling, but this time she's returned with a backing band to give the full experience and show off all facets of her pop-smart songwriting. She sounds decent enough over the usual bar chatter, but the gorgeous songstress and her musical partners look fairly rigid on stage. In saying that, their legs could be kicking out all sorts of crazy moves and this reviewer would be none the wiser; the venue is more bloated and cramped than Pete Doherty after he kicked the gear. Never has a stage been so close, yet seemed so far.

BORN LION

Born Lion. Pic by Benny Doyle.

Back to Ric's and Born Lion are delivering a punch-drunk take of Percy Sledge's When A Man Loves A Woman. It's short-lived, though, and quickly the quartet burst into the meat and potatoes; from there on it's a shithot display of gutsy punk rock, no frills, just the way the style should be sent out. John Bowker is soon claiming he's in a kiln which results in a flurry of water spray, while drummer Dave Murphy continues the trend of shirtless skinsmen. The guys kick harder arse with every song until Bowker finishes it all off from the middle of the crowd while jagged riffs slice around him.

EDEN MULLHOLLAND

New Zealander Eden Mulholland has brought over a couple of friends with him to bring his awkward pop to life. The bass guitar player looks like Jimmy Kimmel, the husky drummer getting freaky back of stage could pass as a bearded Jonah Hill, and the resulting set pretty much plays out like we're watching a Wes Anderson film – you keep expecting there to be a punch line, but it never comes. It's a strange take on music we're hearing – a bit rocky, a touch funky – and although it all feels a little unconvincing until the last song, it concludes fantastically.

THE GRISWOLDS

The Griswolds. Pic by Benny Doyle.

It's a vibrant explosion of colour and sound when The Griswolds do their jungle indie thing, complete with Christmas fairy lights and fluro face paint. They play The Courtship Of Summer Preasley and as the drums pound with native intensity you wonder if Vampire Weekend even know they're getting usurped. Chance Waters smiles through a gap in the venue's dividing brickwork while the Sydneysiders move and shake and let the music coarse through their body. Their humbling and charming charisma is hard to deny, even for the cynics. An untitled new track off a forthcoming debut shows plenty of promise, too. Big things – expect them.

MITZI

Mitzi. Pic by Benny Doyle.

Technical troubles threaten to push Mitzi's slot completely off the bill, but luckily 15 minutes after scheduled start time and our West End heroes are getting straight down to business. They quickly take us under the sea with their deep disco, and the sonar-like signals that pop out suit the feminine tones of frontman Dominiqe Bird completely. He has charisma by the truckload – from the way he clutches the mic to his shuffle cut dance moves when the guitar is strapped on – and overall things are groovy with a little oomph. DFA on Red Bull perhaps. All I Heard goes down with ease, while a cover of Fatboy Slim's Praise You is inspired.

SURECUT KIDS

Surecut Kids. Pic by Benny Doyle.

Doing a live set, something that they've never done before, Elanora High alum Surecut Kids deliver a performance deserving of far more tuned-in punters, although those in the Rev are going suitably mental. Honey and Perry are looking relaxed but get heavy with their sounds, throwing out some beefy trap to start off with before some squelching, compressed effects get the ground level crew going troppo. Had not seen a moombahton mosh pit until tonight; can now tick that one off the list. A bit of banter between what are actually songs only endears the Kids further to those in attendance, and technically speaking, their digits don't miss a beat.

Benny Doyle

RAINBOW CHAN

The first of (probably few) dance parties tonight comes from Sydney's Rainbow Chan, who works magic with loops, keyboards, and a saxophone as fluidly as if they were her own limbs. Her vocal is commanding and effortless; pretty but never boring, and boy can she dance. There's an odd moment when Melbourne hip hop dude HTML Flowers gets up to rap over a song, which, while kind of dorkily fun, doesn't really work.

MAJOR LEAGUES

Oh Hello have downgraded their sound issues from last night's “excruciating” to “just regular terrible”, which is good because Major Leagues is so packed there's not much to see, even on tip toes. The band show a more energetic side in this set of sweetly cynical 90s pop, though true to form no one's overly chatty, though singer Anna Davidson's mid-set proclamation, “Brisbane, huh?”, kind of says it all. They end with a particularly strident version of single Endless Drain and the harder edged Feel, which apparently will be released on an EP soon.

BORED NOTHING

Bored Nothing's set definitely exhibits one of the highest dickhead per square metre ratios of the festival, in a surprisingly empty room. Perhaps because of this, most of the songs fail to connect throughout the set; kind of hanging in the air beautiful but useless. And they are good songs, with lyrics of mundane depression, scuzzy rock choruses and clean cut melodies that just can't seem to cut through. Fergus Miller looks uncomfortable, but gamely attempts semi-friendly banter while the crowd continue to chat amongst themselves.

TIGERTOWN

A much more attentive crowd appear for locals Tigertown. Their sound is lush and dramatic, but they deftly manage to keep it completely in control. After a couple of songs their latest singe What You Came Here For comes out, and the band and the audience both loosen up and hit their stride. It's this energy that elevates this set about the usual harmony driven folk-pop fare. In the middle of a particularly rousing chorus two dudes in the audience pull out drums and start beating them along with the song, taking the idea of auxiliary percussion to a whole new level.

Madeleine Laing