Live Review: The Laurels, Witch Hats, East River

A packed house at the recently renovated 'Dale greeted surf-rock trio East River to the stage and amongst all the super garage sound and vocals you could hardly hear, beat the hearts of three gents who just want to get wasted and make music. Each song seemed to end whenever one of the band members got bored and so their set being partly disjointed also felt like we had stumbled in on a not-drunk-but-on-my-way jam session.

Melbourne's Witch Hats returned to Sydney, performing a number of the tracks from last year's Pleasure Syndrome LP as part of their guttering, post-rock performance. A bass guitar glitch at the start only fuelled their resolve and it was a strong performance that was less noise-based and appeared more focused on song structure. They still gave a nod to their roots and played a stellar version of Jock The Untold, but their current set-up suggests a trajectory that might see them unconsciously trying a more accessible formula.

After a six-year wait, The Laurels now have a full-length album they can actually tour and be damn proud of too. It may have been a little strange for the band to be actually headlining their own show (as opposed to their regular support slot), but from the looks of things, they appeared to have sold out the night. Traversing through the new album, Plains, a number of the songs received a rapturous response and, as expected, their trademark washy and reverbed-to-the-max sound was notched up a few extra dials for the special occasion. This was a bit of concern given the album sacrifices some of the live feel in order to allow for some of the layers to come through, but the band didn't get too carried away and the hooks that make up the tracks such as Traversing The Universe and Tidal Wave were just as good live as they sound on the album.

Not ones to say much between songs, they should have made the comment, 'Did I listen to pop music because was I miserable? Or was I miserable because I listen to pop music?' But instead they declared “encores are for losers” and proceeded to finish with the 13th Floor Elevators hit, You're Gonna Miss Me, a great way to end an overall good live show.