Live Review: Skegss, TOTTY

"Who's in the mood to self-sabotage tonight??" yells Kelly Jansch, lead singer and guitarist of Wollongong "shed-rock" outfit, TOTTY. With all the charm of a dropped servo pie, Jansch and her band can barely string a fuckin' sentence together without fuckin droppin' the fuckin F-bomb, ay bruz. But! It doesn't matter, this ain't Q&A, it's just a perfectly decent set of noisy, bogan-voiced garage-rock to warm up the crowd. With bassist Max Piroddi playing his bass with full arm motion like a man trying to start the lawnmower and drummer Chris Peruch banging away like someone had just nicked his Tally-Hos, TOTTY get the crowd nice and cooked for the main act.

TOTTY @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.

Hailing all the way from sunny Byron Bay, Skegss have been described as Australia's answer to blink-182. And while comparisons to classic Dude Ranch-era blink are reasonably appropriate, Skegss are really more like our answer to the noisy surf-pop of San Diego's Wavves. As a giant banner of their logo is drawn before the audience and the lights of The Forum dim, out steps none other than the Master Of Stitch-Ups himself, Aaron Gocs. The crowd goes appropriately mental, and one of the many greasy, long-haired, beanie-wearing lads of the venue is heard saying, "Aw, this is gonna be so fucking heckers, cunt."

But before Gocsy can even get a few words of his introduction in, he's suddenly struck in the face by a flying can from some mouth breather down below. Talk about un-Australian! "Stop throwing shit, you fuckheads!" cries Gocs. Here, here Mr Speaker! The introduction is resumed and out come Skegss, who kindly ask the crowd to find the blockhead that hit their mate. It's show time and the tunes are kicked off with the lively hedonism of Spring Has Sprung.

Skeggs @ The Forum. Photo by Monique Pizzica.

Everyone up the back of the joint is having a good time, but down in the pit, it's clear that the real fans are having a great time. Cans, clothes and bodies are flying left and right to the nasally, acid-soaked high of the music. At one point a surfboard even gets thrown into the mosh, and of course, people try to fucking ride it until security steps in to save a few necks from breaking.

While it's true that half of these songs sound the same, you can't really deny the fact that these boys know their way around a good hook and a chorus by now. A Skegss show is a guaranteed rowdy, good time. But let it be known that this reviewer held his bladder for a good two hours to avoid the horrors of whatever the bathroom of a Skegss show must look like.