Times New Viking, Cobwebbs @ Woodland 26/08/11

The weather resembled something of a dark graphic novel and the streets were bare in comparison to any ordinary Friday night in the Valley. Unfortunately the streets imitated the crowd within Woodland, which was a shame for Ohio's kings of lo-fi, Times New Viking who have made their inaugural trip down to play Australia. Following on a widely successful show in Sydney the night before, hopes were high for a repeat performance in which would be an intimate setting for the band on this occasion.

Starting ten minutes late, the much disorganised Meat Thump launched into their first track without even all their instruments plugged in. To the six or so people watching, the band came across with little respect, with even the keyboardist playing with his back to the crowd. For a band at this level, this is not charismatic or mysterious. The young band constantly had time/sound issues and would have benefited from more rehearsal sessions. A number of their tracks had a lot of interesting ideas behind them and if developed and worked upon, this band may find some success within their field. However, tonight a lot of their set issues just seemed due to laziness. Even their adopted sense of style from the likes of Modest Mouse and Neutral Milk Hotel looked more like it came from 'The Hills Have Eyes'.

The young pubic braiders, Cobwebbs are starting to get quite the following with a number of big shows coming up in the near future. From watching them, it is clear why this is so, with the band being really tight and energetic on stage. Vocalist … is lively across the board as he jumped around the stage, into the crowd and in between verses adopting a mean approach to the harmonica. Cobwebbs, equipped with only two guitars, fill the sound of two bands even with their drummer opting for a minimalist four piece kit with no high hat. Finishing with We Are Not Who We Are these young Brisbanites show a lot of potential. They are deserving of tonight’s support slot and are set to be a feature within the Brisbane rock scene.

The venue had picked up in attendance by the time Times New Viking took to the stage, despite still only filling out to about half capacity. With the drum kit reversed for lefty Jared Phillips, the band from the start demand attention but unfortunately the crowd at first seems a little shy, forming a semi-circle between the band and the stage. This space is soon utilised as the fuzzed out synth of No Time, No Hope from the bands 2009 album, Born Again Revisited made the ears bleed as the upbeat sing-along lured more and more to the front of the stage through its charm. 

Phillips’s drum kit fell apart mid song which in turn, made a good seat for Stephen Malkmus doppelganger, guitarist Adam Elliott. Who in the following track had his own instrument woes when he broke a string mid song causing the band to pull off a rather impressive improvised piece. Elliott pulled off one of the quickest instrument turn arounds ever and joined the group in mid song. Beth Murphy takes lead vocals as the band launch into the slightly calmer track No Room to Live from album Dancer Equired! In between tracks, Phillips bantered with the crowd asking if there were any questions, to which the main question offered by the crowd was 'what time is it’? 

A band like this can really see their lo-fi / shitgaze sounds suffer in the live arena and this has been seen happen to contemporaries Eat Skull, during their performance in Woodland earlier this year. However, Times New Viking seem to generally overcome this, with the walls of distortion and the brutalisation of the drum kit feeling like a slap in the face with a cold wet fish. Teen Drama is as rough around the edges as on record and a joy to see on stage while Move to California also sounds as brash as its VHS recording quality on Born Again Revisited.

By the end of their set Times New Viking had the audience eating out of their hands with the hour of entertainment they provided being a stellar and highlight performance. While the crowd was well under sold, those in attendance can safely say that they got their moneys worth.

Flavours of Skuzz Festival

The inaugural Flavours of Skuzz boasts 11 hours of garage fun over 3 stages with 25of the best local and abroad bands! Despite having a venue change and loss of a few bands, (namely my personal local favourite Los Huevos) the day/night promises to impress as Woodland fills up with homemade jackets and the bar sells out! 

Starting off on the floor stage is Gravel Samwidge. Within their blend of garage/alternative rock musings, a lot of influences can be heard. From the Dinosaur Jr. type sludge guitar work to the Sonic Youth noise and breakdowns. Still a good little introduction to start the festival off with. 

Then just off to the left on the main stage, Lobster Prophet kick off a blend of fast paced punk rawk. Guitar solos fly out of the speakers all over the venue. Even though it's not reinventing the wheel kind of tunes and I don't care for flying V guitars, the band are definitely worth a good watch for their onstage antics and all out rockin'. 

Making my way over to the third stage which is located through a back door into the Mustang bar function room. Brisbane's Feathers have just begun. With their all girl blend of psychedelic, lo-fi and surf, it is a change of pace from the offerings so far, with speed and rock being replaced with soundscapes and reverb. With lead singer/guitarist Michelle Brown abandoning her guitar in favour of being frontwoman, the band end with a cover of Wreckless Erics Whole Wide World. A highlight of the afternoon so far. 

Back over to the Main stage I am able to catch the end of the punk rock stylings of Dick Nasty. The band who have earned themselves quite the reputation over the ten years of their existence with their energetic performances and heavy punk sounds. They definitely have a strong fanbase with the crowd loving everything and anything they do. 

I have not heard of Brisbane surf instrumentalists The Narwhals before tonight but I was damn impressed. The technical proficiency of the band is through the roof with 60's guitar riffage over the typical surf organ and drum beat is out and out captivating. It's not all surf and sand as the band throughout the set also touch upon psychedelica and manage to work up some impressive walls of sound that intrigue the audience circling around the floor stage. 

Due to everyones watch not being synchronised, I am fortunate enough that over on the function room stage The Boondall Boys are still playing. Upon entering it is clear the bar has been in overtime as lead vocalist 'Mad Macka' has cigarette, microphone and beer in hand. Their sound is similar to the dirtier side of Guided By Voices mixed with a bit of Cosmic Psychos. Even though I only saw a bit of their set it was enough to know these guys are on true form. 

Following The Boondall Boys, A projection screen of some sporting telecast goes up and it is apparent that the staff want people to leave the function room during the events scheduled two hour break. 

I make the mistake of running five mins late for HITS and it cost me. Due to the massively packed function room, the only time I could see the band over the insanely tall or impossibly short band was when frontman 'Evil Dick' elevated himself with microphone stand in tow. Still the band took all their stooges comparisons and delivered it in spades with the whole venue enjoying every note of the two femme guitar attack courtesy of Stacy Coleman and Tamara Bell. Even with a full set it was all over too soon unfortunately and teased upon when Dick's ranting didn't equate into more tracks. Still a band well worth the reputation they have garnered and continue to deliver upon. 

An influx of folk from HITS flow into the main stage where Adelaide's, The Meat Beaters are gearing to go. They are another band that clearly wears their influences out in the open with a similar sound and look to bands like Cosmic Psychos and Motorhead. But hey, that is a tried and true formula and the band sound great. 

Now Velociraptor are NEVER a band who disappoint. That's why I questioned their billing on the much smaller Floor Stage. But after they begin it is clear that it was a good idea! As the (for tonight, I'm guessing!) eleven piece including (guessing again) four guitarists and just about every other instrument under the sun spill from the floor onto the main stage in a slew of garage pop. Their performance tonight was almost like a scene from a Where's Wally book with the band and crowd merging into one. Songs like 'Hey Suzanne' are impossible not to groove to and the band constantly challenge the crowd as to who likes it more. Definitely one of the days highlights if not best performer.The crowd and the band still want more even after the band play over time into Hoss' set with not a complaint in the room. But I could dissect and talk about this band all day, but you just have to see them to understand the marvel. 

With the destruction from Velociraptor phasing into more order with the crowd manoeuvring themselves out from nooks and crannies back to the designated area for top bill perfumer, Melbourne's Hoss. Featuring (oh yeah!) Dirty Three collaborator Joel Silbersher as head honcho and Cosmic Psychos drummer Dean Muller looking after the back, the group are unstoppable with their blend of unbeatable straight up rock n' roll with hints of good old fashioned 70's boogie. Despite rarely venturing to Brisbane, the band definitely have a lot of fans in the crowd with singalongs and drunken moshing being the ode of respect. They fill their hour set quite easily and it was a pleasure to see such talented musicians with extensive legacies within Australian music shine. 

Their self described term of glitter punk, proves to be accurate for Brisbane lasses Pastel Blaze. With the band sporting David Bowie like facial glitter, it is almost being slightly misleading in a way to the high spirited angst of the group. It's a colourful yet feedback ridden, musically dingy affair which reminds me of early Blonde Redhead mixed with Boredoms with a bit of MC5 thrown into the mix. 

Another band that don't disappoint is Slug Guts, Their (quite literally) deafening dark garage shoegaze mix is unique and true. The thing with this band that has had a question mark for me is their look. The Mick Jones type hat, open leather jackets exposing chest hair and tattoos, slicked back hair, sunglasses etc. Are so damn cool that it looks almost too legitimate. It would be interesting to see if they live like the characters they are on stage or whether in their spare time they enjoy a nice book and cup of tea. Playing tracks off their debut album, 'Howlin' Gang' tracks like Down in the Mornin' and Howlin' build a wall around your head and try their best to melt your brain. Another highlight of the day and the reason this festival exists. 

Closing the Function Room stage, Keep on Dancin's didn't necessarily do anything wrong. Musically and performance wise they were great. But due to elevated blood alcohol levels and having had a solid 9 hours already, the crowd were diminished and the folk that were there just had no energy. The slowed down surf tracks while good, were just too conclusive and didn't get the crowd fired up. Another stage, another time perhaps But tonight the pride of closing a stage just didn't do them any favours. 

Well, I wasn't expecting this. Boyfriend/girlfriend duo Gooch Palms take their name quite literal with frontman Leroy MacQueen exposing the inner depths of his rectum within seconds of beginning the show. The band work off a mixing desk, organ, hot pants, guitar, a mean theremin and just unleash fun orientated chaos. They have more energy than the whole room combined, in a good way. Even with the manpower peep show, they are actually quite talented musicians and Leroy can bust out a mean guitar solo. Keyboardist/theremin artist Kat is the ying to Leroy's yang, almost a proud no-matter-what mother figure to Leroy even with his lower intestine acting as a third member on stage. Finishing with a ball sack on a microphone, they were an excellent way to finish the day and with no doubt have lead the boys and girls in the crowd to question their sexual orientation. 

With the bar out of booze and glass, blood, sweat etc slathered all over Woodland. Flavour of Skuzz was an incredible success. No band on the line up was not worthy of playing the festival and what the festival is doing for the dirtier side of music is more than commendable. 

Hopefully the festival returns next year, or at least evolve into a bi monthly institution. 

(Originally for Fasterlouder)

Ty Segall @ Woodland

Murphy?

It is a cold winter’s night in the valley tonight with the dark sky acting only as further torment to this sub-zero climate. However within the walls of Woodland tonight is a blanket of musical warmth with US garage maestro Ty Segall, who has abandoned the oh so tempting US summer circuit in favour of the arctic tundra that is Australia.

With the smoking area abandoned upon arrival it seems that locals Martyr Privates going down a treat with fans and newcomers alike. The three piece garage dronish sound laced with reverb really sets an atmosphere for the night but it is over all too quickly. 

A quick turn around sees local supergroup Tiny Migrants take to the stage with ease. From the first note the sound is bang on perfect and the band are tight. The band’s female vocalist Jacinta Walker (Butcher Birds) for the first couple of tracks has a drunken almost crooning quality to her voice, which then evolves into a Kim Gordon/early PJ Harvey-esque sound for the rest of the set as she plays the counter to other vocalist/lead guitarist Julien James’ (Velociraptor) frantic high energy approach to his instrument. 

Praise must be given to the group’s drummer Jesse Hawkins (Velociraptor) who is literally a machine tonight. He was bashing and crashing at breakneck speeds all with a sense of precision and style. His counterpart however, the group’s 'tambourine' player Tegan (Keep On Dancin's) is by no means a 'Bez' or 'Joel Gion' with her role in the group seeming pointless throughout the set as she stands at the back of the stage more often than not facing a wall. Her job could be easily eliminated by duct taping her tambourine to James' guitar.

Some bad penis puns in relation to the band’s name and over persistent merch pedalling aside, the group finish with some call and response vocals and guitar strings shooting off in every direction. Tiny Migrants were a great slice of garage rock fun and at times surpassed what they have achieved within their other branding. An awesome support for tonight’s show.

Some pesky leads cause a slight delay to Ty Segall. But the band take it in stride and as soon as the issue was resolved they launch into the title track off Ty's latest album, 'Goodbye Bread'. Segall and his three piece band are in high spirits tonight and it shows through their musicianship.

With four full lengths under his belt in less than four years (That’s not including his work with the many other bands he works with). There is no shortage of tracks on offer tonight. 'You Make the Sun Fry' takes a queue from its title and is inches away from frying the Woodland PA. 'Girlfriend' from last year’s 'Melted' shows Ty's strained vocals and in many ways surpasses what is available on record. This is the same with most of the tracks on show tonight with some doubling in tempo or having feedback solos added to them which just makes them sound so damn good.

'My Head Explodes' had the Woodland crowd moving more than any gig before. The powerful chorus cut through any barriers or inhibitions that (if) anyone may have had about the band. The group even bust out a surprisingly classy version of Black Sabbath’s 'Paranoid' which, if done incorrectly can ruin a gig. But these guys pull it off.

Even though Ty's name is on the bill his band including a monstrous bass player and girl drummer match his energy and in some cases take it one step further. A number of times throughout the night the band are thankful for being in the country and it is quite legitimate. The band’s positive attitude really comes off well and it transcends into the audience as well.

The band leaves the stage to wild applause and happily come out for an encore which included a few 'Goodbye Bread' and 'Horn The Unicorn’ tracks. Even when they are done the crowd still wants more.

With the stage covered in glass and all energy spent, no one has gone home tonight without a smile on their face and a sense of satisfaction. With 'Goodbye Bread' being hailed as some of the man’s best work to date, it appears Ty is going from strength to strength at the young age of 23.

One can only hope that he returns soon, for tonight’s show has been some of the best garage rock Brisbane has seen all year.