Live Review: Cash Savage & The Last Drinks, Los Tones

Los Tones are of the same breed as Royston Vasie, Drunk Mums, or a punked-up Little Red.  They enjoy their garage rock with the slightest hint of country, they don't shy away from pop, but most of all, it all comes down to the riff.  On My Way has a '60s repeating riff, backing vocals and stompy drum line that sounds like it was written while lazing on a sunny afternoon.  Whether covering a rockabilly classic, or unveiling a new track only a few weeks old, the groove emanating from the boys had the whole joint shakin'.  They ventured into some surf rock vibes on Going Down, and strutted through heavy trash alt.blues territory, before circling back to good old rock'n'roll.

Banjo. Upright bass. Horns. Violin. Telecaster. Hollow-body guitar. Drums. Folk. Blues. Country. Cabaret. To say that there are many facets to Cash Savage & The Last Drinks is somewhat of an understatement.  It is apt then, that the first song of their set urged the crowd to Let Go And See Where She Takes Me.  Which the crowd did willingly.  Cash Savage is unlike any other band touring Australia's pubs and clubs. She is an Australiana soul singer with a colonial blues band, who writes songs brimming with veracity and vulnerability. 

All of their songs tell the story of a moment. Bareknuckle Boogie captures perfectly the brainless stupidity that can be seen any weekend, in any pub, in any town, of dickheads punching on. Early Morning Comedown Blues evokes the wince behind your eyes as the first cracks of dawn bring reality to a fantastic night out.

Musically the band are balanced. The violins and banjo don't sound like a Mumford & Sons rip off.  The guitars don't battle for solo supremacy. Meanwhile, the drum and bass create an alloy of strength underpinning Savage's husky low tones.  All of this, as musically high-brow as it might seem, had an eager crowd dancing from the opening bar to the end of the genuine encore.