Live Review: The Bronx, DZ Deathrays, Spitfireliar

Tonight's show kicks off like so many other shows Brisbane rock shows do; local four-piece Spitfireliar are nigh upon ubiquitous at shows around town these days. If a headliner's not afraid to play things quick or stomp on a distortion pedal, chances are these guys are going to be somewhere on the bill, helping to get the party started. It's a role they seem to relish as well – they can rip out a handful of numbers like Hole In The Head, Alcohol and I Want To Eat Natalie Portman's Poo – which sound like rock'n'roll on a strong dose of cheap speed – and then spend the rest of the night drinking side of stage.

Brisbane's favourite trash punk twins DZ Deathrays are doing their thing next, and by the time vocalist Shane Parsons thrashes out the first overdriven chord, The Hi-Fi is just about packed, the mezzanine is open and it's shoulder to shoulder on the ground level. What's most notable about tonight's DZ Deathrays set is how polished the band's live show has become. After all, this is the duo that had their genesis playing sweaty house parties and gained notoriety for polishing off a bottle of Jäger rather swiftly in front of a video camera. Now, they've just finished sharing the bill with tonight's headliners on the national run of the Groovin' The Moo festivals, and their show has grown right alongside their profile. Dare we say, DZ Deathrays hit numbers like No Sleep and The Mess Up with a particular degree of, gasp, professionalism. It's still fast and fuzzy, there's just not as many fuck ups, and the band sound so much better for it.

The Bronx are back, sans the charro outfits and trumpets that they brought along when they played 2012's Big Day Out as their Latin music alter-ego Mariachi El Bronx. Celebrating their rowdier incarnation, frontman Matt Caughthran sets about trying to elicit some animation from the crowd. The vocalist tells us that because they were 150 tickets short of selling out The Hi-Fi that tonight will be the last time The Bronx play Brisbane. What is, presumably, a ploy is unnecessary, but gets the desired result; the crowd is dancing like it's last call.

The crowd's furore is justified in tonight's headliners performance; behind all of The Bronx's hardcore stage antics and neck tattoos lurks the soul of an incredibly potent garage rock band. The band expertly tap into that duality; there's melody in the thrashiest parts of cuts like Too Many Devils and there's a punkish economy in the jams of efforts like Six Days A Week and Around The World. It sure is one hell of a show.