Live Review: Methyl Ethel, Benjamin Witt

Methyl Ethel brought much fanfare and enthusiasm whilst on stage at the Rosemount, exceeding expectations and swapping their trademark, wispy psychedelia with an unexpectedly, intense raw performance. Accompanied by sharp and drastic pool boy and the funky machinations of Benjamin Witt, it was a night saved with interesting endeavours and interesting music. With the band’s musical journey often drawing comparisons with other local-now-international-act stalwart Tame Impala it is obvious that drawing from this performance this band may go far beyond the close-knit and humble Perth music scene. 

Pool Boy opened up the night with a set filled with jagged electronic melodies and an attire reminiscent of a nineties sitcom; particularly aimed at the keyboardist, her ski-jacket evoked a joseph’s dream coat level of colour. At first it was hard to determine what kind of sharpness to go with when describing Pool Boy’s set, at first it was the sharpness when found being shanked in a prison shower, but after a while the sharpness grew on you and eventually it was akin to the sharpness found in a crisp, apple cider. The music was quirky and stood out at times, neatly accompanied by lead singer Beth commons; and in hindsight, that’s all that matters in a performance. 

Benjamin Witt brought about the funk and jazz, with the inclusion of a double bass on stage; much to the ire of some of the punters. Kicking off with the audible equivalent of an abstract art piece, what saved it from an abstract art-piece involving faecal matter where the smooth, undulating guitar solos which Witt kept smashing out. Eventually the long instrumentals actually petered out into something interesting, with a lot of jazz influences pervading into his performance into the latter half of his set. It was exciting, exhilarating and for the punters a sight to behold. 

Methyl Ethel’s set really brought the crowd closer to the stage. The desperation to catch a glimpse of the spritely band led some unsavoury punters to grind their way against people in order to attain a front row spot. Pertaining to that trademark reverbed, grainy instrumentation; Methyl Ethel laid bare their performance with electrifying zest. The close of their set included Twilight Driving, which was met with an explosively punter-sung chorus. Topped off with a legendary sax solo, the band definitely left their mark, having satisfied the crowd so much an encore was not required.