Live Review: The Bronx, High Tension

Melbourne's guys and gal hardcore fiends High Tension have been handed the reins to warm up an already unwieldy sold out crowd in the snug Crowbar tonight. This powerhouse foursome, reconfigured from members of The Young & Restless and The Nation Blue, shout the early Sunday night riff raff a devastatingly good time. Frontwoman Karina Utomo is the ultimate smiling assassin, letting her petite frame inspire subconscious doubts before letting that brutal vocal rip for popular newbie High Risk, High Rewards. They're something of a visual spectacle, with Utomo's shiny black mane whipping things down front into chaos as they run through most of their catalogue, from Are You Safe to Lucky Country, before bidding adieu. For their young years as a band they certainly sound like anything but newcomers.

When LA's most successful, likeable homage to the east coast takes the stage it's to the roar of fans who haven't seen The Bronx on our shores since their Groovin The Moo visit over a year ago. Needless to say there's some intense jubilation spilling forth, nicely paired with sticky booze suddenly flying through the air as leading dude Matt Caughthran plunges the five-piece into Kill My Friends. Anyone who's lived and loved this band knows that Caughthran and co. look mean and seasoned, but that sincere appreciation for their audience peels back the tough guy veneer, despite the violent sentiments of “Motherfucker I want your blood” in History's Stranglers.

It's at this point that Caughthran goes skyward, becoming a tangle of feet, arms and mic cord in the sweaty pit. If the crowd were whipped up, now they're frothing when he leaps even further afield for LA Lady, claiming he's found the Crowbar's “G spot” in the centre of the room, and celebrates by lapping up many a slap on his bald noggin while getting amongst it for the song's entirety. Much-loved oldies and newbies False Alarm, Past Life and Inveigh work their riff-laden magic, and the snappy old-skool White Tar gets High Tension's leading lady hoisted over some sweaty heads down the front. Around The Horn's extended guitar shred seals the deal for the set with that jarring offset snare. The crowd is clearly insatiable though, and a brief lapse is all that's needed to get the quintet back out for Shitty Future, prefaced by a rant about our “shitty dancing, but it's the effort that counts”, and classic face-melter Heart Attack American, in which Caughthran drops his bulk into the front row like a bomb. Blood, sweat and most likely tears for what seems like a set that just came and went far too quickly make The Bronx boys living legends of LA punk rock.