Live Review: Lost Race Festival

Alright, no time to waste. Lost Race Festival. Coorparoo Bowls Club setting. Twelve bands, insane weather, cheap as shit beer and UV lights to bring it all back to reality. Naked Maja kick things off in the spacious upstairs band room and it's the usual affair of boy/girl harmonies in a dream-pop driven world. Then, in the homely downstairs pub area, Pale Earth in collaboration with Subsea kick up something rather different from the norm – a more dance-orientated groove throwing off the room's natural vibe. Occults up the volume and aggression for the day with their bleak sludge-rock going down well. We're then brought back up with the drum machine beat of Do The Robot who perhaps would have been better upstairs like Black Vacation, both of whom jump between minimalist pop and bleak delicacies. 

The colourful history of almost supergroup Greg Boring sees those previous bands shine through an electronic oscillator – it's a powerful and spellbinding set that's an early highlight. Launching their new album Sun, Dreamtime, as usual, pull off a mystifying performance, with a backdrop of appropriate visuals. Everything is tight and they're a band that seems to be going from strength to Hulk. Back down, it's cheap keyboards and high quality brass as Primitive Motion give the strongest reason to dance yet. Launching their latest 7”, Nite Fields couldn't be in a better light – the backdrop of coloured water setting the mood completely. Ditching the drum machine, the group work well together, delivering a solid set of post-Joy Division bliss. No Art drummer Charles Buddy Daaboul takes to the guitar, delivering up an interesting set of loops and various effects which shows his complete versatility. At times intense – others tender, and everything in between.

Sydney hype machine fodder Day Ravies follow, and the comparisons to Twerps proves somewhat justified, albeit in perhaps a safer light – they're a tad too cute on this line-up. Downstairs, Secret Birds kicks off the usual fare of experimental sound-searching his performances are renowned for, always solid and head-scratching. Then it's Cobwebbs who are launching their debut LP tonight; it's all rock'n'roll as they lay down the downbeat version of Iggy & The Stooges' Raw Power marred only with the odd technical hiccup. Back down to groove with oddball two-piece Four Door who offer a more aggressive house style in comparison to the duo's other projects: Holy Balm and Naked On The Vague. And what better way to end things than with recently Pitchfork-approved Blank Realm, who nail every aspect of tonight's performance, slogging things out with perfect sounds and a set leaving you wanting more of their ever-morphing aesthetic. Finally, closing things off downstairs is the Euro-electronica of Uplock which, even at this late hour of a long day, still has the kids dancing.