Live Review: White Lung, Upset, Bloods

Sydney three-piece Bloods kicked off the night with their brand of garage-pop, cutting through a pretty tight set with plenty of charm. Leaning on 2013's excellent Golden Fang EP, as well as some new material, the small crowd were treated to a suite of quality two- and three-minute punk tunes. While there's a tendency in many Australian guitar bands towards only joking around, Bloods have an advantage over the vast majority of them by taking what they do seriously. Which isn't to say they can't have fun, especially on their bassist's birthday, and the girls captivated with skittish melodies while their drummer thumped away in the back. Mi Luchador and Into My Arms were standouts.
Upset were up next, continuing the garage vibes. Not long off the plane, frontwoman Ali Koehler (previously of Best Coast and Vivian Girls) won over the crowd, even with the floor feeling like it was sloping away from her. Never Wanna was an early highlight, with Jennifer Prince shooting through their songs with catchy leads heavy on octaves. The band nailed a cover of Jawbreaker's Do You Still Hate Me?, a song close to their beefed-up live pop-punk, with Patty Schemel turning in a solid performance on drums. The band distinguished themselves from a La Sera/Best Coast group with their deeper cuts, like the first-rate Oxfords And Wingtips, and will hopefully continue to get recognition for this.
White Lung kickstarted the Australian winter with blazing, muscular songs, their speed and intensity a sharp departure from the previous bands. Opening with new song Drown With The Monster, opening track from the forthcoming Deep Fantasy, they followed with the abrasive Face Down. Fortunately guitarist Kenneth William and the sound guy then realised the guitar should be turned up for the remainder of the set, his scorching jag alternated between chaotic, hardcore-esque progressions and squalling leads, with Mish Way howling over the top. Long-time (now former) bassist Grady Mackintosh was underrated for her contribution to the band, especially for being able to stay with Anne-Marie Vassiliou at all, and new member Hether Fortune does a solid job in her absence, toiling away in the bottom end on favourites like Bag. It was surprising to see a relatively unresponsive crowd for such a great performance, but maybe the lights were too bright. On the drive home The Music tried to think of bands we'd seen that really gave a shit like White Lung did. Couldn't think of many.