Live Review: Into It. Over It., Zzzounds, Jack R Reilly

Cult emo-folk identity Into It. Over It. was surprisingly verbose. It's cheap to link being American with being overly talkative, but based on tonight's show it's easy to understand the stereotype. Evan Thomas Weiss was charming, warm and open, in stark contrast to emo's melodramatic MO. He was accompanied by two men both eager to bare their souls, but with varying levels of success.

Jack R Reilly is a Sydney artist with a raging boner for early-'90s cinema, specifically Tim Burton and Kevin Smith. He's also a big softy with a lilting, whispery voice that, honestly, doesn't quite suit a song about Clerks (or Beetlejuice for that matter). His set was feather-light and perfectly balanced on the thin fence between heartbreaking and maudlin. The best part was when he unplugged and played in the crowd, sans safety net, revealing a truly inspired musician.

Busy local artist Zzzounds (aka Dave Drayton, aka Milhouse, aka Between The Devil & The Deep) played a set that, despite some deft work playing the fretboard, came off as irritated and irritating in turn. Songs whinging about the dole and about celebrity baby names came off as snarky instead of witty, but Drayton shone when it was simply about the music.

Into It. Over It. played a generous set, covering all three studio albums (including, of course, the recently cut Standards) as well as some requests (from vocal Glaswegians). Musically he was on-point, from the crystal-clear delivery to the diamond-cut accuracy of his pitch to the beautifully constructed clockwork melodies typical of the genre. He was engaging, relating a story about (sort of) playing with Slayer, among other things. He was also graciously accommodating to the swarm of photographers mobbing the small stage. The modest size of the crowd belied their passion, and they responded as strongly as Weiss delivered.