Live Review: Split Seconds, Methyl Ethel, Fait

Despite rarely getting to see them play anymore since their move to Melbourne, it is nice to know that Perth-bred indie-rockers Split Seconds haven’t forgotten about us.

The shame lies with Perth’s population though; despite a really enjoyable show, the venue never reached half capacity. Really though, each band on the bill differed quite heavily from one another. Fait kicked things off in front of a handful of punters with some equal parts dense and delicate instrumental rock music that provided a great platform for your mind to wander wherever the tune decided to take you. There was no talking between songs, but that was good: it was nice to not have any disruptions throughout the journey instrumental music takes you on.

Methyl Ethel played next, soothing the audience with their dainty indie-rock tunes. Frontman Jake Webb is always such a pleasure to hear in a live setting: the Aussie twang in his voice, strangely, works all too well with the textured and pacifying guitar lines.

As mentioned, it was a bit of a shame that the venue wasn’t busier when Split Seconds took to the stage, as they put on a really enjoyable performance. With a new EP titled Neil Young & Dumb to flaunt, the group pulled out a bunch of tracks from that, plus some of the classics. The EP’s opening track Delivery was an apt starting point, seamlessly moving into another new track, Two Birds (One Stone). Maiden Name produced a few cheers of recognition from the audience, but the highlight of the set came about midway through the set, when frontman Sean Pollard went solo on the final track of the new record, (I Didn’t) Leave The House – an ode to a number of WA and Australia-whole references including TEE exams, Chris Judd, The Go-Betweens, Shane Watson and more.

Pollard was at his humourous best and audible laughs could be heard around the room throughout the song. The band rejoined him and they played out the set with some of their bigger tracks – All You Gotta Do, Top Floor and recent hit Halfway There were all included, and the set finished with everyone undoubtedly wishing the boys would decide to stay home for good this time. Come back soon, guys!