Live Review: The Lazy Eyes, Salarymen, Elliott Road

With just over a week to Christmas, Marrickville Bowls was the scene for a party. A party to celebrate three exciting up and coming indie Sydney bands and to bring in the silly season with some much-needed cheer.

A band represented by the street they practice on in the Shire, Elliott Road certainly made the trip worthwhile. This four-piece delivered punchy and tight indie rock bordering on the psychedelic. Second track, Bass Girl (“…you are my space girl!”), really showcased the chops of this young band, including some ripping guitar solos from Aiden Bagshaw and excellent bass from Rory Moylan.

The sax player from Kosher Groove (a band that had to unfortunately pull out of the gig), Finn Koslowski, joined the fray for a fun and extended solo in one song, lending to a loud, ragtag start to the celebrations.

Pic by Josh Groom

In contrast, Salarymen were subdued with their comforting, warm and cooler paced tunes. The duo became a five-piece for this show, showcasing songs they've written over the past couple of years of the band’s existence (“..can't remember which lockdown.”) and songs that have firmly established the group for their boppy and catchy retro-inspired indie pop rock.

The band were at their best when the harmonies of singers, Thom and Renée, combine. Runaway, a stand-out from their Scene Change EP of this year, saw the pair exchange verses in the way a good conversation flows. The floaty, happy feeling of this band was enough to help you forget about the world outside the, suitably retro, Bowls Club.

A special Christmas treat, suitable for the evening, was provided to us with Renée de la Motte nailing the high Mariah Carey vocals in their festive cover of All I Want For Christmas, before wrapping their fantastic set with their latest, All In Vain. Despite the Marrickville Bowls disco ball not being turned on, this band certainly brought the light with their charming set.

Pic by Josh Groom

The Lazy Eyes, fresh off a week that saw them with the number one played song on triple j, had gathered a mixed crowd of young and old, excited to see one of Inner West Sydney's most promising groups. The clump of young punters up the front screamed as It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas brought out the four-piece who eased straight into a song from their EP1 EP, The Seaside.

“We’re Back!” declared frontman Harvey Geraghty, who was clearly excited to be playing live again, especially to such a vocal and energetic crowd. Without pause, the band descended into the bass line from their latest track - and one that has appeared on a lot of Hottest 100 lists - Fuzz Jam. The wooden floors of the Bowls Club certainly got some stress-testing under the bouncing crowd.

The refrain, “I want it all to be ok; I want it all to stay the same”, echoed the feelings of the room as they sang along with gusto. The psychedelic meanderings of this band were anything but. They were tight, pulling from their years of hard work of learning and playing together since meeting at Newtown High School of the Performing Arts as 15-year-olds.

Pic by Josh Groom

The band have a great synergy. The guitar work of Itay Sasha, with his ‘King Gizzardy’ microtonal solos, stood out above the solid rhythm from Noah Martin on drums and bassist, Leon Karagic. The progression of songwriting is noticeable with this band, transitioning between newer song, Nobody Taught Me to their first single, Cheese Love Song. Admittedly, there’s only a year between releases, but this exhibits the exciting progress of this special group.

Where’s My Brain? could be replaced with “Where’s some water?” as the band finished with a triumph leap and the sweaty and doting crowd made their way out into the humid Marrickville evening.

In an era of missing so much, this was a perfect way to give hope for the future and, in turn, provide one of the year’s live music highlights.

Pic by Josh Groom