Live Review: Mammals, BUOY, Beastside

The Lansdowne hosted a small gathering for about 30 people on Friday night, with Mammals heading a bill supported by singer/songwriter BUOY and Sydney rappers Beastside. Sonically it was a mismatched line-up. Each act stood apart from the others. Not a bad thing per se, but listening to skip-hop before moving onto synth-pop and then to post-rock was a little jarring.

Beastside is a sextet that’s been operating for a couple of years now, but they still have a long way to go. They have raw talent but showed little discipline or finesse during their set. In  fact, it was sketchy and disappointing. Their flow wasn’t quite right and it just all felt rough.

Local chanteuse BUOY played a nice set, hovering in the sweet spot between Bat For Lashes’ wiccan pop sound and the hypnotic digital arrangements of early-career Bjork. Her sound was lush and graceful, and was a refreshing change. Her lovely, detailed arrangements were a welcome tonic and she certainly played the best set of the night.

Mammals have never felt like an outfit that takes things seriously, despite the sombre po-faced tones and powerful minor chord heroics of their music. The set disintegrated towards the end with members of Beastside invading the stage and rapping (badly) over what could’ve been an Explosions In The Sky B-side. Despite all the blustery alt-rock they churned out, the moustachioed gents always seemed to be ready to crack a smile and shrug away any atmosphere they may have accidentally generated.