Live Review: Babaganouj, The Good Sports, Love Signs

Love Signs are a brand new local band risen from the ashes of squeaky-clean '60s-worshiping pop group Johnny & The Fembots. This band sticks to that decade, but with a stripped-back sound that's refined and surprisingly mature. Izzy Mellor's voice is classically angelic, imbuing every song with a sweetness while managing to avoid being saccharine or vapid. Keeping the guitar simple highlights some excellent bass melodies, and Liam Campbell's drumming is tight and on-point. It'll be interesting to see how Love Signs develop and if they can translate the warmth and confidence of this set into some recordings.

Speaking of confidence… The Good Sports hit the stage practically swaggering, but for good reason, as this is the most together and self-assured set we've seen from them in ages. The band are gearing up for their first interstate tour and seem to have chucked the occasionally over-long jams that were previously a staple of their show. They've cut the fucking around without losing the fun, letting Nash Johnston's killer songwriting punch through. The Good Sports are making psych-ish garage music that's actually concise and hard-hitting and it's about time the rest of Australia got to hear it.

This is the last stop of Babaganouj's Too Late For Love tour, and there's no shortage of warm and fuzzy feelings in the crowd and on stage (as much as singer/lead guitarist Charles Sale may try to hide it in his angsty '90s rock dog performance). Some of these tracks have a naïve kind of sweetness: My Favourite Colour Is You stands out as one of the most traditional of pop songs, with lyrics like “It doesn't matter if you like red or blue/I'm gonna make it my favourite colour too”. But mostly these are love songs firmly planted in the reality that sometimes love is dumb and fucked, with stories of bad timing and even worse decisions, that somehow still leave you feeling optimistic. Maybe it's because they're just so goddamn catchy. Singles Love Loath Love You and Too Late For Love are both so strong that almost any section could be a chorus, but even beyond that, every song seems vital and written with such a love for pop music and melody that you get totally sucked in. Bassist Harriette Pilbeam's laconic vocal fleshes out and adds extra emotional depth to these tracks, and she and second guitarist Ruby McGregor anchor the sound in a super-cool and effortless way, keeping Sale's shredding and Jack Gleeson's wild and technical drumming from becoming too overwrought and burning out the audience's patience. A triumphant homecoming for one of our town's most fun and likeable bands.