Live Review: Violent Soho, Straight Arrows, Undead Apes

Hometown heroes Violent Soho have sold out two nights at The Zoo to launch their Hungry Ghosts opus, and fate has been kind in that it's delivered all four members of local punk outfit Undead Apes together in Brisbane at the same time so that they can make an all-too-rare appearance opening proceedings tonight, their steady stream of frenetic and catchy numbers pelted at the growing crowd with a vigour that's both compelling and uncompromising; it's enough to make one sad that we don't get to see this great band often enough these days.

Next up are Sydney's Straight Arrows, clearly chuffed to be dragged along by Soho for the national run and able to get their brand of energetic garage rock into the ears of vast and sympathetic crowds. They lock tight into their cruisy grooves and allow frontman Owen Penglis to show off his wares, tracks like Mind Control and Something Happens clearly making their mark on the by-now packed house before them. Penglis mutters “This is a new song and it goes out to us” before the four-piece (featuring a bloke standing in for absent bassist Angie Bermuda) smash into brand new single Make Up Your Mind, a bratty but imperative tune which augers very well for their next long-player.

There's a tangible sense of parochial pride filling the room, and from the emphatic build into the intro proper of vital new number Dope Calypso Violent Soho have the adoring crowd eating out of the palms of their sweaty hands. Hungry Ghosts has been out quite a while before the national launch tour, and this lag has clearly given fans the chance to get hands on with the new material, so songs like Lowbrow already seem to fit snugly like a pair of gloves or a well-worn old jumper – friendly and familiar – as the night's first crowd-surfers let loose, guitarist James Tidswell offering, “There's nothing like a hometown gang” before they thunder into Love Is A Heavy Word and Neighbour Neighbour. The dark Eat Your Parents seems even more caustic next to the catchy-as-fuck Saramona Said, which takes a whole new lustre in the live realm and seems confident and vibrant and bristling and perfect. Every member of Soho does their bit – frontman Luke Boerdam is the brain, drummer Michael Richards is the muscle, the hairy Tidswell is the band's soul and livewire bassist Luke Henery is the heart, exuding every ounce of effort as they smash though Liars and In The Aisle before a raucous Jesus Stole My Girlfriend has hair flying everywhere both onstage and throughout the room. They power though song after song with well-drilled precision, finishing with Eightfold, new single Covered In Chrome­ and Tinderbox, before being coaxed back to finish a brilliant night with OK Cathedral and the evergreen Muscle Junkie. Tonight Violent Soho take no prisoners, and the jubilant rock fans of Brisbane town are the lucky beneficiaries.