MY DISCOMax Crumbs' music greets us as we make our way into the Corner bandroom. His smooth, almost liquid sounding songs (reminiscent of Caribou) are a world away from his work in grindcore bands. The acts tonight swap between the main stage and the side stage, with Standish/Carlyon on the side stage next. The duo play a dreamy, heavily '80s-influenced R&B, which goes down well with the crowd that's gradually trickling in.
London-based Melbourne expats HTRK are up next on the main stage. The duo make the stage seem huge, as the amps behind them take up more space than they do. While their quiet, minimalist sound works wonderfully on record, as evidenced in 2011's excellent Work (work, work), it doesn't quite make the jump to a good live show. Throughout the room, the murmur of conversation competes with the band, drowning out the smaller nuances.
Over on the side stage, New War kick off with a song that sounds almost lounge style with a simple bassline, soft drums and Chris Pugmire crooning over the top. The rest of their set fits more with their atmospheric and industrial sound. The crowd picks up with the more upbeat and energetic songs and a handful of people make their way to the front to (try to) dance. Despite the keyboard coming unplugged halfway through, Ghostwalking is a set highlight; as is Revealer which bursts out of the speakers and finishes the short set.
The curtains split to reveal the focus of the night's celebrations, My Disco. Or they would, if it weren't for the thick layer of smoke and minimal yellow backlight reducing our vision of the band to silhouettes. They don't waste any time locking into one of their bare-bones grooves that they've well and truly made their own over the last ten years. With little time between songs they move their way through crowd favourites and album highlights like Perfect Protection, You Came To Me... and Sun Bear.
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Guitarist Benjamin Andrews plays like he belongs in a metal band, thrashing his head around with abandon and throwing himself all over the stage while his brother, bassist Liam, largely stays in front of his mic stand. Drummer, Rohan Rebeiro, gets to show off his chops with a five minute drum solo early in the set. While appreciative, the crowd starts to get a bit weary towards the end; luckily the band counters this when the solo transitions seamlessly into Turn, one of the standouts from their last album, Little Joy.
My Disco have a knack for longer songs that settle into simple one or two note repetitive grooves that either end abruptly or explode into chaos. The set tonight has plenty of moments of the chaotic and abrasive noise that they do so well, but it ends abruptly, half an hour earlier than advertised. With little warning, exactly an hour after they started, they finish their set, say thanks and that's it. It's their party and they'll leave if they want to.
