Live Review: Spencer P. Jones & The Escape Committee, Shifting Sands, Alex And The Shy Lashlies

Alex And The Shy Lashlies are first up tonight and, sadly, with the exception of their closing song, there isn't anything particularly memorable about their set. Their final number, however, is a dull, drawn-out affair that causes any interest their previous songs may have aroused to dissipate. Their brand of generic indie pop isn't bad, but it does lack any substantial hooks.

Brisbane's Shifting Sands have taken their time to get to our fair city. Sadly, their first visit to Melbourne is without guitarist, Dan Baebler (SixFtHick, The Tremors), but that doesn't stop them. Sitting on a chair in a pose that pays homage to true dive bar style, Geoff Corbett (SixFtHick, The Tremors) croons, “If you really love her, you'll keep her airway clear.” This opening line sets the bar with regard to what Shifting Sands is all about.

Dylan McCormack's (Gentle Ben And His Sensitive Side, The Polaroids) guitar accompaniment helps concrete the band's unsettling, off-kilter songs of love and other such things. The restrained keyboard and backing vocal interjections, courtesy of Danielle Golding, combined with Alex Dunlop's equally restrained drumming, offset Corbett and McCormack to just the right extent.

Just as you wonder if the tone may improve, the next song is introduced as “a song about surfing and stabbing to death the performer Jack Johnson in an alleyway in Surfers Paradise.” This draws a rousing round of applause before Corbett adds, “It's a dream I had.”

While it may be a surprise to see Corbett in this light (as opposed to his usual crazed, injury-inducing antics as co-frontman – along with his brother, Ben – of SixFtHick), but it shows that he is not a one-trick pony. The whole thing is the ultimate musical interpretation of happy hour and is wonderfully disturbing.

The original bill for tonight's show included the Spencer P Jones And Kim Salmon Band. This, however, was changed to Spencer P Jones And The Escape Committee due to personal reasons. Jones relays Salmon's apologies to the crowd, informing us that Salmon has returned to WA following the recent passing of his first wife.

Jones and his band then kick of their powerful set with When I'm No Longer Poor, taken from the band's album Fugitive Songs. The fact that Shifting Sands are so stripped back certainly helps make The Escape Committee's sound seem even fuller than normal. Throughout the hour-and-a-half long set, Jones shows why he is such an important figure in Australian Music.