theredsunband, Souls on Board @ Northcote Social Club

I have a feeling I’ve seen Souls on Board somewhere before. The name sounds familiar, but I can’t say I recognised the band once I saw them. What I did recognise was a crowd who didn’t understand what they were watching. We arrived at the Northcote Social Club to catch an energetic and enjoyable end to the set, being watched by a lazy crowd sitting on the floor. Now, this is my first trip to this relatively new venue, and maybe such behaviour is common in this laid back room, but it certainly did no justice to the performance on stage.

Fortunately the room filled up a bit more and people decided to stand by the time theredsunband came on stage. I’ve often felt that theredsunband belong in Melbourne, yet tonight that connection doesn’t seem quite there. Perhaps it’s the room again (if you’ve never been to NSC either, they do have a rather unique bandroom), but having seen them play shows at The Tote and The Evelyn where it seemed like they were “home”, tonight’s show just didn’t have the same impact. Despite the stage being lower than in either of those venues, the sound wasn’t as loud, and there was not the same connection between band and crowd. Where the last shows had seen punters up against the stage, tonight saw a (perhaps unhealthy) distance between the crowd and the band.

That being said, the band played well, as always, and proclaimed their happiness to be visiting us again. In recent months the band has been working on their second album, and the set included five or six new songs, which it was great to hear. Particularly the opening song stood out, with it’s soft extended intro eventually leading into a louder part around the time most people thought it was finished. Other highlights included Astrovisionary, with a feedback solo which always pleases, singles Sleep Forever and Pavement, and a rockier version of Farewelling. The biggest crowd response was kept for Devil Song, but once again the sound let the band down, with the driving guitar consistently drowned out by the organ. In fact all night, every time Sarah’s distortion came in – loud, as it should be – the guitar seemed to get turned down in the mix.

The vocals still shone through though. On album Sarah’s voice is soft and sweet. While live she still retains this, slips and creaks in the voice during the highpoints of songs certainly add an extra edge to them. And the interplay between her voice and those of drummer John and Organ/Tambourinist Liz are the true strength of theredsunband’s music. Three part vocal harmonies over a wash of distortion and organ is such a wonderful sound to hear.

There was no encore unfortunately, but since half the crowd left as soon as they first stepped off the stage, the band can hardly be blamed for this. The fact that the other half of us hung around hoping on the off chance anyway says something about how good this band is. While I still believe theredsunband belong in Melbourne, perhaps they are not so suited to Northcote.

Tirany, Bullet the Blue Sky, A Death in the Family @ The Arthouse, 01/04/05

Band names are a funny thing. How do you finally settle on a few words which are going to represent your band forever?

I can’t understand band names like A Death in the Family or Funeral for a Friend. Sure they sound romantically melancholic, but if you’d actually had a friend or family member die, wouldn’t you feel depressed every time you had to do something with your band? (Also, try doing an online search for “a death in the family” and see how many sites you come up with that aren’t some kind of self-help, pseudo-psychology. As a result, I have no idea of the names or history of anyone in the band.) That being said, it doesn’t really matter what A Death in the Family are called, because despite my reservations about the name, they really impressed me tonight. A punk energy runs through their set, but they use this as an excuse to let their sound explore new territories, rather than just hold them back. Particular mention must be given to their drummer who perfectly complimented the music with interesting beats and fills. Where a more standard rummer may have dragged the band down, his efforts made the songs more enjoyable and energetic. They also make very good use of the interaction between the main vocalist/guitarist and backing vocals from their main guitarist. Her voice is definitely unique, and draws your attention whenever she starts to sing against his. And I’m sure I heard a scream near the end of the set.

Next up were Bullet the Blue Sky. Now this is a band name I like. And as a result I’ve wanted to check out these guys for a while as a result of their name drawing my attention. But the quirkiness of names kicks in again, and I found Bullet the Blue Sky weren’t to my liking. I don’t want this to reflect on the band, as they were pretty tight, and they had a bit of a crowd who were enjoying watching them. Clearly they are good at what they do, which was a more straightforward punky sound, but this just wasn’t for me.

“Tirany? They’re another metal band, aren’t they?” My friend sighed with disappointment when I invited him to this gig. To which I had to laugh. It had been a while since I saw them last, but I was pretty sure Tirany were not in danger of heading down the metal path anytime soon. “But with a name like that, how could they not be metal?” Clearly the lesson tonight is that band names are not to be trusted.

Hailing from Rock ‘n’ Roll High School around five or six years ago, Tirany seemed to have disappeared recently. But not broken up, rather the break was due to overseas holidays and the recording of a new EP. Tonight’s gig was the launch for this EP, 2 second time delay, and the filming of a video clip for the single, Jeopardy. Like most songs on the set tonight, Jeopardy proved to be somewhat poppy, but still strong and well constructed enough to feel solid and worthwhile. Alys’ subtle vocal melodies bring in the opening lines of the song as if we’re already half way through. Guitarist Alice seems to have a natural ability to play a melody over chord progressions which brings an extra strength to every song. Again it’s the interplay between the vocals and guitar lines of these two, and the “more-than-just-basics” bass lines of Miles which are the bands main strengths. Miles holds herself on stage with the ultimate cool attitude – explorer bass at her knees and a bat-symbol belt buckle? It’s hard to top that. While drummer Kate proves again how a good drummer can bring out the best in a song. It bothers me that too many good bands are brought down by average drummers, who should have all been paying attention to tonight’s line-up.

The Band tried a no-stopping approach to getting through their songs tonight, providing some extra bang for the cover charge, with many of the highlights coming from the new EP. After is another example of what the band do best, and despite troubles with Alys’ guitar, Colour of Sky showed a lot of potential, with some really interesting melodies on guitar and voice. The final track So Long, (available on the first EP Are we There Yet?) is am old crowd favourite and provides a good end to the set, with it’s intro building up to a rocking chorus.

Tyranny: an unjust or cruel abuse of power.

Tirany: a pleasant, sweet sounding, yet most importantly rock band.

It’s hard to name a band these days, it really is.