Live Review: The Villenettes, The Bluebottles

Would it be lazy of me to compare this band to The Beatles? Ah, the rock journalist’s dilemma. Wait – now they’re playing a Beatles cover. Vindication! And it turns out Please Please Me makes a fantastic surf-rock instrumental!

Melbournites The Bluebottles were making their first visit to South Australia and were met with a receptive crowd at Adelaide’s beloved Grace Emily Hotel. Of course, in the rockabilly, cow-punk and surf-rock worlds, if you’ve got the look down pat you’re already halfway there. But this four-piece had all the playing chops and nostalgic melodies needed to back up their manicured quiffs, matching guitars and coordinated Beatles-on-Ed-Sullivan suits.

Their longest tune topped out at about two and a half minutes, so the fun came thick and fast. It was a delight to watch the group’s onstage interactions, rhythmic bobbing and occasional gleeful grins (there was definitely at least one McCartney head-wobble.) Often ‘retro’ genres like this rely on a certain in-your-face bravado and attitude that can get a bit tiresome, so The Bluebottles’ clean-cut, almost wholesome take on vintage surf-rock was a genuine joy from start to finish.
It’s been a busy period for hometown favourites The Villenettes. Tonight they’d flown in from a solid week of recording in Melbourne to play the third in a series of four Grace Emily residency gigs. In response to the energetic openers, they opened with a short, sweet surf instrumental of their own. With song titles like Zombie and Leather Jacket, there are no prizes for guessing what The Villenettes are all about. There are flashes of ‘50s girl groups, the aforementioned rockabilly, cheesy horror flicks and chunky blues riffage. Tonight they were jubilant, perhaps delirious from their whirlwind week away. Or maybe, as bassist Kylie Porter offered, they were “just a bit drunk.”

At a few select moments during the set, the band, which has been performing together for about two years now, suddenly gelled into a louder, heavier version of itself – hopefully a sign of things to come. Lead singer Anna Bouras has a commanding voice, but you’re sometimes left kind of wanting her to snap – to prowl the stage menacingly as if she really was about to break your bones and set you on fire. It’d be fantastic to see The Villenettes’ live intensity kicked up a notch or two as they head towards releasing their debut album later this year.