Live Review: Band Of Skulls, Apes - The Hi-Fi

Melbourne's Apes (not to be confused with the latest Tex Perkins project) played a raucous set proving their versatility and skill with a riff. They've listened to a lot of White Stripes, but they process that in interesting ways, and their performance was as punchy and frothy as it was suave and controlled. They were an excellent match for BOS, and frontman Ben Dowd had a shaggy charisma that worked for everyone. They didn't lean on the affectations of rock 'n' roll like a crutch, and their focus was on the music, not how they looked playing it. Chunky riffs and sneaky hooks littered the place, and it sounded great.

England's Band Of Skulls flirt with mainstream success, and they know how to write a devastating hook or three, but they remain cheerfully unkempt and understated. Their generous set was a great place for neophytes, with material pulled from all angles that covered all sonic bases. Their latest album Himalayan provided the opening songs Asleep At The Wheel and the title track, and early work Death By Diamonds And Pearls and Light Of The Morning closed the three-song encore. Not a bad stretch.

The sound they revel in isn't new, but it's so infectious and was played so well it feels like buzzkill to throw out a 'How unoriginal!' claim. It wasn't a master class in guitar technic or an improv night, it was a by-the-numbers hit parade that produced monstrous riff after monstrous riff, and hooks and choruses that moved the whole room. It was super-fun stuff that bounced and grooved and had beer flowing and heads nodding. It had good energy and momentum and never got stale, despite some repetition in songwriting. Band Of Skulls are an antidote to aloof rock tragics like Beady Eye or even The White Stripes, and they prove a good riff minus the wank works like a charm.