Live Review: Calling All Cars, The Love Junkies, The Sinking Teeth

You know you've gone pro when you bring your own sound guy on tour. Even though Melbourne three-piece Calling All Cars have been a part of some huge tours, their little show at the Indi Bar on Sunday night as part of their Raise The People tour was a very low-key affair. It was a perfect setting for the band to show everything they've learnt on the pro circuit.

Punk rockers The Sinking Teeth opened the show, rumbling into their set with The Sexy Mates, the opening track of their EP White Water. The band were as snarly and terse live as they are on record, a stunning display of high energy packed into tight thumping songs, so good that the middle-aged guy next to me leaned over and remarked “Oh, these guys are professionals.”

That guy left before local boys The Love Junkies got on stage, but no doubt he would have been just as impressed. Trading in tight and polished for a thrash-punk attitude and big fuzzed-up distortion, the three-piece grunge rockers' set was so hot it burned a hole through the air and set your auditory cortex on fire. The crowd were like stunned mullets under The Love Junkies' hammering breakdowns, in awe of their powerhouse of a drummer beating his kit like it owed him money.

A pack of punters suddenly appeared for Calling All Cars' set, who launched into it with the dark, industrial tones of new hit Werewolves, slamming out rhythm-heavy sections that bit like a rusty saw in the hands of an angry lumberjack.

The crowd were waiting for the classics though, and the big, burly bass lines and thundering chorus of Disconnect had them hooting and hollering. The high octane hit Animal was a turbo-charged V8 juggernaut, with vocalist Haydn Ing taking to the bar top to deliver his rock'n'roll sermon while The Sinking Teeth guitarist filled in on stage. The band blitzed the remainder of their set, with the unfaltering rhythm section locked into the growling guitar lines and full-throttle vocal melodies of the upbeat anthem Standing In The Ocean to close the night.