Live Review: Parcels, Alfalfa

In his 2011 book Retromania, British music journalist Simon Reynolds writes that “a characteristic of the retro sensibility is that it tends neither to idealise nor sentimentalise the past, but seeks to be amused and charmed by it”. On stage this evening, it’s clear from their '80s-inspired exercise clothes that the young band members of Alfalfa are positioning themselves as amusement, or entertainment, rather than as earnest sentimentalists. 

While there is a place for novelty bands, and while embracing the prerogative to warm up the crowd in the most interactive and engaging manner is admirable (there’s an attempt to coordinate a synchronised workout routine with the crowd at one point), Alfalfa’s ironic stance is one that seems particularly fraught. Not only is their visual aesthetic a confusing one – their sweatbands, sunglasses, and oversize ski jackets land them somewhere between Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta in Perfect (1985) and a Perisher Ski Resort commercial – it seems to have little in common with the music they’re playing. The end result feels like we’re watching a cover band play at a university party.

Despite this, Izabella Tunis-Notley is a capable lead singer, the jazzy inflections of her voice resembling the slippery intonations of Naomi "Nai Palm" Saalfield from Hiatus Kaiyote or even Kimbra at times. However, perhaps more bewildering than the band’s outfits are Tunis-Notley’ forays into hip hop, as she raps Andre 3000’s verse from Kelis’ Millionaire as well as performing her own original verses. By the time she’s rapping the final lines of the band’s last song it feels like we’ve had more than enough.

Thankfully, Parcels arrive to prove that it is possible to draw from the past while still maintaining a coherent and distinctive artistic vision. In saying that, it is of course arguable that their music’s relevance lies more in its nostalgic yearning for pop’s golden age – a similar nostalgia that collaborators Daft Punk appealed to with their latest album, Random Access Memories – than it does in their songwriting, which spans the usual pop sentiments although is often rather opaque.

Originally from Byron Bay, the five-piece has been based in Berlin in recent years and seem genuinely ecstatic to be playing to Australian crowds once more – keyboardist Patrick Hetherington doesn’t stop smiling for the entire set. Lead singer and George Harrison-lookalike Jules Crommelin is similarly ebullient as he struts around the stage wearing a silk scarf around his neck and chucking jazz chords on a hollow-body guitar during Comedown and Lightenup. 

The band mostly stick to songs from last year’s self-titled debut, although they revisit Hideout and Gamesofluck from their Hideout EP early in the set. “You make it dangerous/When you're playing games of luck,” Crommelin sings, which seems like it could be something of a manifesto for the band; listening to Parcels’ music, every note seems to lie in the right place, carefully orchestrated and arranged to achieve the most easy-listening experience.

At times, this effortless quality of their music seems due to an excess of familiarity, such as during Exotica, which sounds like Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, only the “na na na”'s are the most memorable lyrics in the song.

Thankfully, the band experiment with enough different styles and genres on their debut to keep their live material interesting. After half an hour of thumping bass (we get it, it’s dance music), Bemyself is a brief respite as drummer Anatole "Toto" Serret picks up a tambourine and joins the rest of the band at the front of the stage – it’s moments like this, and when they cover Paul McCartney’s Every Night, that Parcels seem more like a boy band than anything else. They’ve certainly got the looks.

Tieduprightnow, Closetowhy, Overnight, and IknowhowIfeel keep the crowd dancing before the band make their exit one by one during an instrumental jam that features some jaunty disco chords. Ever the professionals, they wave graciously before leaving the stage. Remember, this is the same band that thank their hairdresser on the final track from their debut album – what else would you expect from them?