Live Review: Mikal Cronin, Chris Cohen, The Friendsters

Playing to a mostly empty room, The Friendsters did their best to fill the space with their loud, buzzing lo-fi noises. The trio focused on female-led monotone vocals backed by fuzzy guitars, eerily reminiscent of Beat Happening. Yet it lacked the melodic punch needed to really capture and maintain attention.

American musician Chris Cohen took the night in a more whimsical direction, singing and playing drums with fellow band members on keys and bass respectively. His songs moved swiftly between breezy and hypnotic, soft art rock that was easy to bop along to without a care. Cohen's voice was lilting, carrying a soothing intonation that made every song, like the catchy Optimist High, sound like stepping into warm summertime.

Mikal Cronin's band looked like a series of Mikal Cronin doppelgängers. Despite arriving to the venue late having driven straight up from Melbourne, these four unassuming long-haired dudes in T-shirts got into their set with ferocity and gusto. Cronin was unstoppable; when he wasn't hair-over-head shredding on guitar, he was crooning into the mic with perfect pitch. His falsettos on songs like Weight were incredibly on point, and his all-over vocal strength made every song anthemic in its own weird grunge way. The energy remained set to high throughout the set, Cronin choosing to blast noise with tunes like Green And Blue rather than his down-tempo songs. The audience reactions proved Cronin's music attracts a broad cross-section: a couple in a corner dancing raucously to Change while three shaggy-haired men head-banged ferociously, and a few punters threw up their fists mid-audience. Meanwhile, Cronin smashed each song with enthusiasm, giving his whole body and voice to every note, making the night immeasurably enjoyable and the very definition of fun.