Live Review: Babaganoüj, Bearhug, Black Zeros

First cab off the rank, Black Zeros, made a strong first impression, with frontwoman Joe Jackson’s voice, a potent mix of Missy Higgins and Joan Jett, providing a welcome addition to the sausage-fest that is Aussie garage-rock.

The trio had a great sound, built on a fantastic distorted guitar tone, but unfortunately their songs didn’t show off their skill and energy as well as they could’ve. The naive sweetness of I Want You would make Bethany Cosentino blush, but ended before it could really kick off. Their last song, Ride, was encouraging, though; they found the perfect balance between light and shade with a building melody that really paid off in the post-chorus.

Sydney mainstays Bearhug crowded the stage with lanky limbs and guitar pedals; so much so that they couldn’t face the crowd, which gave their presence a rehearsal-room feel. However, the sound they produced was anything but. The band have been compared to Dinosaur Jr, and Bearhug do have that same balance of mellow melancholy and ear-splitting, theatrical guitar-work for which the Massachusetts band are known (then there’s singer Ryan Phelan’s bang-on J Mascis impression). The band were in fine form, flailing around the stage and creative huge walls of noise. Three lush guitar parts made each sweet, poignant major-seventh chord feel earthshakingly powerful.

Brisbane power-pop quartet Babaganouj have consistently impressed us over the last few years and, building on the success of recent singles, are sounding tighter and more confident than ever. The band stormed through some of their better-known tunes – the epic build of Bluff and surefire toe-tapper Can’t Stop – before sprinkling in a handful of brand-new ones, all of which showed off the band’s knack for catchy boy-girl hooks and punchy riffs, with an increasing variety of styles under their collective belt.

A newy with the refrain “I want you too” felt like a winking reference to its Edge-y reverb guitar part (yes, U2!), while guitarist Ruby took lead vocal duties on a couple of others, including the sugary-sweet Awhile. The band’s oldest song, It’s Raining, It’s Summer, was made fresh again with a towering solo, while Too Late For Love brought the set to a rollicking close much too soon.