Live Review: sleepmakeswaves, Breaking Orbit, Foxes

The eclectic crowd that packed out Amplifier were always in a for a treat with this one: one of Australia’s best live bands, belting out their new album. Sleepmakeswaves have made something epic with Love Of Cartography, and the set was one to match.

Locals Foxes were up first, taking a very familiar spot on stage. Having played a bunch of supports at Amps, as well as a few Wednesday night Academys, they’re pretty used to the stage and so managed to fill it out ably. Foxes’ sound, found somewhere in between hardcore and minimalist drone, has grown a lot, with more depth and variance to tracks, which is always welcome. Sadly, it was ginger ninja Alex’s last show with the band, but hopefully they’ll keep the magic going.

It’s obvious what you’re in for when Sydney’s Breaking Orbit hit the stage: all black t-shirts, shiny barbed guitars, tremolo riffs. And then song titles like When Isis Starts To Cry… yes, they could be the most prog band in the world. But if you like your clear-cut prog rock, no band seemingly tries harder to hit all the right notes. Lead man Matt Quayle put in an admirable effort, and the whole band were obviously loving the whole experience. Tip of the hat to drummer Mark Tyson, who could give Neal Peart a bit of a run for his money in the awesome set-up race.

Sleepmakeswaves are regular visitors to Perth, and every show ends up perfect, thanks to a balanced mix of technical accuracy and face-melting awesomeness from the four-piece. Perfect Detonator and Traced In Constellations served as the one-two punch of the new record, with the band playing through a mix of both new material and the most called for tracks from their debut record, And So We Destroyed Everything. The happy undulations of How We Built The Ocean, the cutting riffs of The Stars Are Stigmata, the crunchy industrial section in Emergent; Love Of Cartography is full of perfect moments, and they were translated to the stage with all the vigour and passion you would expect from a band who give as much of a shit about their music as sleepmakeswaves do.

Tracks like To You They Are Birds, To Me They Are Voices In A Forest broke up the new material, but proved there is a very clear line of progression for the band. Coming in at various points in the set, the older tracks fit in perfectly, keeping the energy levels high. The striking visage of bassist/electronic wizard Alex Wilson split the stage in two, and as usual, his choice in language summed up the night. “We fucking love you, Perth,” he shouted as they wound up. And Perth loves sleepmakeswaves.