Live Review: Jeff Rosenstock, Hachiku @ The Croxton Bandroom, Melbourne

American indie punk solo star Jeff Rosenstock delighted audiences this past Saturday night at Melbourne’s Croxton Bandroom. Once a member of bands Bomb The Music Industry! and The Arrogant Sons Of Bitches, Rosenstock is a DIY legend.

With a massive catalogue of recorded music both as a part of these projects and under his own name - along with soundtrack and production credits – Jeff is arguably the hardest-working punk rocker working today.

Delivering an almost 40-song set packed with favourites and oddities, Jeff Rosenstock is an unmissable live act for fans, young and old alike.

Accompanying Rosenstock on the Melbourne leg of the tour was dream-pop artist Hachiku. German-Australian Anika Ostendorf fronts the project with delicate yet dynamic vocals and grainy guitar.

Gearing up for the release of their sophomore album, The Joys Of Being Pure At Heart, in February of next year, Hachiku bring warmth on new singles Tell Your Friends You Love Them and Keep On Swimming. Soft, splendid vocals soar over light synths and a combination of live drums and bouncy digital percussion—a great energy to open the show and a brilliant artist to keep your eyes on.

Before the clock struck 9:30 pm, System Of A Down’s Chop Suey blasted through the PA, delightfully confusing punters – and midway through the song, Jeff Rosenstock and his band suddenly took over to scream through the last chorus. A hilarious way to begin a set, Jeff set the tone immediately.

Jumping right into a sequence of tracks from last year’s HELLMODE, including WILL U STILL U, HEAD and LIKED U BETTER, Rosenstock took an effort to preserve the punk storytelling of his records whilst empowering the madness of a live show.

Another example of this was the 11-song run of Pietro, 60 Years Old, all the way to Perfect Sound Whatever from 2016’s Worry—a commitment to the format.

Singalongs aplenty took place during fan favourites Festival Song, Pash Rash and Nausea. With songs as catchy as Jeff Rosenstock’s, there’s really no surprises there.

Speaking of surprises – Bomb The Music Industry! acoustic oldie Future 86 made an appearance in tribute to a fan who requested it at the airport before the show - along with a cover of Courtney Barnett’s Pedestrian At Best at the tail end of the show.

Interestingly, Jeff also played a track from his infamous ska re-recording of his 2020 record, NO DREAM, aptly titled SKA DREAM. So, instead of Leave It In The Sun, we were treated to the ska-tastic reimagining of Leave It In The Ska. An eclectic discography must make for an equally eclectic setlist!

With typical short punk song lengths, a lot of tracks can fit into a short set, meaning many artists end up playing dozens of songs in no time at all, but this was not a short set. The 42-year-old performed an absolute marathon of a show and barely broke a sweat. A stadium-level show in a thousand-person bandroom is not something that can easily be done.

Equal parts epic and intimate, Jeff Rosenstock is a true blessing in today’s music. Timeless yet ever-changing, cool and goofy, mature yet naïve. In essence, the cores of both punk and singer-songwriter in one perfect mess.