Live Review: Robotosaurus, Totally Unicorn, El Alamein, Dirty Charlie

Is it the cold? Is it the rain? Is there some sporting event taking place that other people know about and we don't? Whatever else is going on, Crowbar is not the busiest of places tonight, but that doesn't diminish the enthusiasm of those who make it out. And it helps when you've got openers like local four-piece Dirty Charlie to whip up the crowd's spirits. Working with the material from their Heart Cooks Brain EP, Dirty Charlie's set frankensteins cantankerous hardcore with noise rock angularity to make something that sounds like Scratch Acid for kids who grew up on Converge and Coalesce. 

With a nod to post-rock, El Alamein let their songs sprawl out of the PA. And though they're not nearly as dissonant as the rest of the bands on the bill, El Alamein's set is a winner.

Man boobs a-flailin', the hairy and scary dudes of Totally Unicorn waste no time setting about freaking out the small crowd. Channelling the spirit of Damian 'Pink Eyes' Abraham of Canadian hardcore outfit Fucked Up, Unicorn vocalist Drew Gardner wastes no time jumping the barrier and getting his beard and belly up in the crowd's face. The only problem is obviously that this kind of shtick definitely hits best in densely populated rooms, so tonight the real attraction is their noisy hardcore. Fortunately, Totally Unicorn aren't a one trick pony, and the offbeat, sometimes bizarre, turns of the material off their Nine Inches (of course that's a dick joke) release comes through the speakers sounding like the perfect soundtrack for the generation of the diminished attention span.

The most disconcerting thing about the small attendance at tonight's show is the fact that headliners Robotosaurus might not be around too much longer. Apparently members are living in different cities and playing in other bands, and that the writing is all but on the wall for one of the most inventive Australian hardcore bands of the last decade. And if we are on borrowed time with these guys, why aren't more people making the most of it? It's a flummoxing proposition, but it's not one Robotosaurus spend any time pondering. No, these dudes aren't getting sentimental on us. In fact, it's very much business as usual from the Adelaide outfit: turn up the amps, play fast and hard, leave the stage. The mathy onslaught is a thing of beauty to witness live – fucked up and uncontrolled, but the band remain so in sync that the madness feels precise. It's not just that these guys are good musicians, it's that they work brilliantly together as a collective noise-making, chaos-generating unit. Hopefully they won't bow out before a proper goodbye tour. And if they do, people better show up.