Live Review: Courtney Barnett, Jarrod M. Mahon, Eves

There's a decent crowd here early for Eves' set of sophisticated, sharply pretty pop songs, which are impressively structured and boosted by subtle electronic effects. Hannah Karydas' voice reaches effortless, Kate Bush-invoking heights, and her ability to transition between whispery, despairing love songs full of longing, and darker tracks like Heavy, with its low, breathy vocal that draws you in just to hit you in the face with a beautiful soaring chorus, is impressive. Some super slick drumming from James Wright (who returns behind the kit for Jarrod M. Mahon) helps keep things from going too cutesy folk-pop.

This is Jarrod M. Mahon's first foray under his own name, though he's previously played with the same band under the moniker Emerson Snowe, and been one half of local wonders The Creases. The sound here's pretty different from either of those projects, relying less on English guitar revival influences and more on Mahon's sensitive, heart-on-the sleeve song writing, backed by a formidably talented band who give weight and substance to these moody and smart indie rock songs. With only six tracks played, this set's a bit of a tease from Mahon, and hopefully we'll be seeing heaps more of this band in the future.

Courtney Barnett's powerhouse single History Eraser was up there in a lot of best song lists last year, and she also seemed to top pretty much everyone in Australia's “Person I'd Most Like To Drink a Beer With” list, so there's a lot of love and excitement in the room when she takes the stage with a stomping, raucous version of David off last year's How To Carve A Carrot Into A Rose EP. Banter is relaxed and appreciative but minimal, though Barnett is so present in each one of these tracks that by the end you feel like you've made a friend for life. It's hard not to just quote lyrics when talking about Courtney Barnett; practically every line gets a chuckle, cheer, or sigh from the crowd, and her pinprick observations of drudgery and every day tragedy are the thing that most stick with you long after she stops singing.

However, what's almost even cooler is that this band is making blues acceptable for kids again, not just a thing for Woodford dads and Sunday afternoon pup bands. They rock out in a totally earnest way, with big riffs and solos and hair waving, working with Barnett's straight-talking poetry to seduce the crowd's brains and bodies.  A couple of new songs are debuted, one for the first time ever, but the crowd are saving their biggest reaction for closer Avant Gardener, singing along triumphantly and making the low key chorus of “I was never good at smoking bongs/ I'm not that good at breathing in” sound like something truly transcendental.