Loose Unit - Life After DeafEP Launch

Wed 20th Oct, 2004 in Gig Reviews

Loose Unit, a dirty rock band from Perth, previously known as Bumfluff, ventured into the studio late last year to record their debut EP. Assorted delays – much to the dismay of fans – have meant that it was only now that they were able to release the recording, Life After Deaf.

Supporting Loose Unit in their launch were Bus #56, Mr Sandman and the Screwtop Detonators. Bus #56 filled in for El Horizonte, who weren’t able to play due to illness.  Even though the drummer for Bus #56 was also ill, the band came out and played a brilliant set. They only played to a small audience, but still managed to play an energetic and powerful set filled with dynamic vocals, soothing bass, funked-up guitar riffs and mad drumming.

Mr Sandman have a reputation for being dirtier than the dirtiest rockers. The energy that’s exerted onstage is tremendous, and it doesn’t seem to matter if members are playing guitar and running around on stage – it seems that they always manage to the microphone in time to get the words out. Although they’re a little average compared to a lot of other bands out there, they have improved tremendously lately, with lyrics, vocals and the arrangments seeming to, now, mould the band into a neat package.

The next band, Screwtop Detonators, seemed a little strained this evening. The songs that the band play determine whether the vocalist or guitarist is singing. This isn’t to say that one is better than other, but the style in which they sing is quite different – which is probably a good thing anyway. But this evening’s set didn’t seem to run too smoothly. Having seen them a few times myself and on seemingly ‘bad nights’, it makes one wonder whether their bad nights are sometimes better than their good nights.

Loose Unit opened with three of the tracks from their EP. People gathered on the dance floor, the stairs, and the rails above the stage to watch one of Perth’s best rock acts shine. Given that they’ve had the EP under their belt for just over a year now, many hoped that they’d have new material to share – and that they did.

Played live, the band’s new material shows that they have matured, and the music has matured with them. The new songs can’t really be labelled as ‘dirty’ as they have a more distinct feel to them, yet they remain a little undefined. It’s undoubted, though, that Loose Unit know how to write songs that touch the heart and the feet.

The band played for about an hour and toward the end of their set they pulled out two songs that they haven’t played for a year (one of which, Should Be, is on the EP) and the audience was excited. The Circular seemed to have been the favourite song of the night and there’s no surprise, given that it was one of the earliest songs that Loose Unit had written, but one of the best too – the arrangement, the vocal lines and the melody all blending to make an awesomely sweet song.

The end of the set had arrived and everyone wanted more. Up above the stage in a windowed room 6 sets of bumcheeks were firmly planted upon the panes, hinting at the coming of Bumfluff. The band returned to played one of their better Bumfluff songs. Ecstatic hands rose in the audience and my ears weren’t blown from the music but from the cheering and clapping. And that was that.

The wait for the launch was finally over, but with the click of a finger, the night had passed, with all T-shirts (and almost all CDs) sold out. There’s no secret track on the CD… but we can’t have everything can we?