Live Review: GUM, Mossy, Pretty City, Dom Kelly

First up, Dom Kelly and band present a swaggering pace underscored by (three jangly) guitars and meandering vocal lines. Kelly - who boasts a syrupy timbre - is dressed for winter in beanie and oversized, long-sleeved navy polo. We find ourselves humming Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down when a riff calls to mind the song's chorus melody. These songs have a hypnotic quality. Kelly says his "thank you"s during their last song, before launching into the final chorus.

Another triple-axe outfit, Pretty City could wake you from a coma. The dudes are all dressed to impress up there in carefully selected stage outfits (especially frontman Hugh Matthews' paisley shirt with cascading frills around the neckline) and there's something of the post-punk revival definite article bands (The Vines, The Strokes, The Hives) about Pretty City's rollicking sound. The lamenting tone of Don't You Remember Me My Love and more rambunctious Running Around are equally memorable. "I'm getting coffee and cake at Brunetti with my folks afterwards if ya wanna come," Matthews jokes. This band are a well-oiled, tightly rehearsed unit as perfectly demonstrated via their caterwauling cover of T Rex's 20th Century Boy, during which the bassist's chops are showcased to perfection.

Mossy (born Jamie Timony) delivers the lyrics, "Everything is fine and alright," in a way that's not exactly reassuring as sustained synths add a menacing touch. He's a commanding presence up there with maximum-coverage eye contact that makes you scared to look away. "We wear each other doouuwn" - Timony's vowel sounds are exaggerated ocker. Electronic flourishes sizzle during Electric Chair. His timbre calls to mind Lloyd Cole, but Mossy is definitely one of a kind. The band's closer, Ginsberg, is raw exasperation. Google Mossy sharpish.

Some fellas nearby proudly show a Jay Watson (aka GUM) selfie around within their group while warning, "Don't delete it!" Turns out they accidentally wandered into the band room after mistaking it for the toilet and Watson happily posed for the pic. All cram as close to the stage as possible for GUM, who gets straight into the funky guitar riffs. This shit is groovy and bass vibrates up through the soles of our feet. Watson's keys positively shimmer. The multi-instrumentalist alternates vocals, guitar and keys while Ali Flintoff of Dream Rimmy plays guitar, Jenny Aslett (Gunns) deals bass and San Cisco's Scarlett Stevens drums along. "So why's Thursday night in Melbourne so hectic?" Watson inquires. Punctuated by sparse tambourine, Growin' Up shows off Watson's lyricism ("I understand what it takes to be a man/But I don't have the time of day to be brave") as well as his enviable falsetto.   

Trippy, primary-coloured squiggly lasers decorate the venue's roof. Watson reveals of the incredible band he's assembled: "We've been playing for about a week. This is our third-ever show!" A more downtempo number with sorrowful, descending riff stops us in our tracks. GUM's tunes are characteristically psychedelic, bouncy and bass-driven and there's some enthusiastic arms flailing about like sky dancers in the front section.

GUM closes with an inspired, parred-back, gentle cover of Science Fiction by Divinyls - well, that's how it starts, anyway. Once Watson's guitar wails into the arrangement it goes postal! And with a few bleeps that evoke R2-D2 malfunctioning, they're done. What an appealing, multi-talented multi-instrumentalist Watson is! If he keeps this up, GUM should enjoy the stratospheric career trajectory experienced by the other bands he plays in: Tame Impala and Pond.