12 hours, 12 bands, $12. A pretty good deal if you ask me. Put it in an old warehouse turned arts studio, combine with a photography exhibition and the launch of The Super 8 Diaries, a documentary showcasing the better side of local music, and I’m there. The fact that it’s being held less than five minutes from my house means, of course, I turn up late, and unfortunately I miss the Ooga Boogas. But I do get there just in time for The Thaw. Visiting from Sydney, this three piece are masters of transition. Soft beautiful melodies transform into walls of feedback and distortion with such ease and subtlety you barely even notice things have changed until you hear screams over the top and realise everything is as it should be. Elsewhere they fall back on jazz chords and weird rhythms before somehow bringing it all down to a whisper again.
Touch Typist are a completely different feel, but such is the beauty of this lineup that you never know what’s coming next. Consisting of guitar, drums, keyboards, vocals and sometimes a trumpet, these guys deliver an electronic/indie type rock, which mixes programmed beats with some cool organic jams.
Hardcore is the best word to describe Majorca. An energetic blur of screams, fingers and arms for sure, but technical ability and an understanding of how to structure a song separate this group from what tends to pass as hardcore these days. Top it off with the intensity and screams to prove that there’s no faking here, only real passion for what they do.
Next up is Chris Cobilis, whose band The Tigers appear on the Super 8 Diaries. Using a laptop, miniature guitar and microphone, Chris creates long drawn out soundscapes. Sometimes these lead into what Chris jokingly refers to as “proper songs” where he sings about ideas such as how we name things, but the two styles form a good balance as notes from the guitar are used to build the next soundscape.
Charge Group just weren’t for me. Apologies to the band; they showed an easy talent, sung and played together well, and I’m sure their music would appeal to a lot of people. But they just didn’t grab me on the day. Never mind, enough people were enjoying them that I’m sure they didn’t even notice me down the back.
12 hours may be great value, but it’s also a long time. So I took this moment to step out, grab some lunch and a coffee. I was out a little too long and missed the start of Aleks and the Ramps, another band to appear on the DVD. But luckily I didn’t miss it all. In their cute matching t-shirts they made a sound that was energetic and crazy, but mostly fun. There was instrument damage, there was dancing and there was a good time had by all.
What better to follow this, than another wall of screaming intensity? Enter Eucalypt, who brought back the hardcore. I recognised one guitarist as the guy, who’d been up the front dancing and screaming for Majorca. Suddenly it all made sense. Although we were all lined up across the front of the performance area, one of the band pointed out that there was still a lot of space in front of that, so we swarmed onto the carpet to join with them in a mess of bodies and movement. I don’t know what else to say about Eucalypt except they write some great tunes and use their heaviness to great effect.
Ladybird were the sole international act of the day, visiting us from France. They brought a softer, sweet touch to the day’s proceedings. But their cover of You Shook me all Night Long had them embraced as if locals for a sing-a-long closer to the set.
Tucker B’s move from a relaxed early 90’s sound to something far more raucous. Another band to appear on the Super 8 Diaries, it’s fitting that they play before the screening of a teaser introduction/interview with the project’s creators. Made for Chickens by Robots plays a guitar and sings through a megaphone while using drum pedals to play percussion on suitcases. The similarities to Bob Log III are inescapable. Having seen Bob not too long ago, I found both suffered from being unable to understand a word they said, which made the whole performance hard to get into.
There could be no more fitting headliner to this night than Baseball. Not only are they on the DVD, they are probably the best band in Melbourne at the moment, and encapsulate everything the Super 8 Diaries project is about. While the members may all be in other bands such as Pikelet, The Assassination Collective, Love of Diagrams and Ninetynine, those bands are hard enough to describe – put these four together and they become something else entirely. It’s rock, most definitely, but it’s also got elements of gypsy violin and chaotic punk. Most importantly, it’s the most original sound I’ve heard from any local band. If you live in Melbourne and haven’t seen them yet, you really should. Their debut album is coming out in February, and then there will be no stopping them.
In the meantime, check out the Super 8 Diaries DVD for a taste, along with live footage and interviews from Colditz Glider, Love of Diagrams, My Disco!, Baseball, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Tigers, Mukaizake, Aleks and the Ramps, Bang!Bang!Aids!, Die!Die!Die! and Tucker B’s. Visit MySpace for info on how to get the DVD and a few clips.
(Originally published on FasterLouder)
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