Sonic Porno, Endless Nameless,New Jack Ruby's, Little Vegas@ The Zoo, Brisbane,22/02/2008

Wed 27th Feb, 2008 in Gig Reviews

The always hot and steamy Zoo created the ideal sweaty atmosphere for Grungefest. All bands hailing from Brisvegas, the main attractions featured were Sonic Porno, Endless Nameless, New Jack Ruby’s and Little Vegas and the Fuzz Parade.

The gig kicked off with Endless Nameless – the name of the secret song from Nirvana’s Nevermind album. Surprisingly there are traces of Nirvana-esque grunge peppered throughout their songs but with a raw edge that makes them uniquely garage sounding. The crowd seemed willing to nod their heads and stamp their feet and were interacting with lead singer Ash when he screamed “I am f**king cool. We are f**king cool.”

The New Jack Ruby’s boast they “make a weird beast of a thing.” The sometimes screaming, sometimes harmonious quartet performed with both strength and enthusiasm, and they were definite crowd-pleasers. A smidgen of musical chairs occurred throughout the gig with Doug proving that he can sing nearly as good as he can drum, and joining the show were Sabrina, Byron and Will from Little Vegas and the Fuzz Parade. The range and variety of their music is evident through the band’s influences of Mudhoney, Radio Birdman and the Stooges.

Looking as though they were playing dress up in their mother’s Sunday best, Little Vegas and The Fuzz Parade played hard and fast (which would have been difficult in those dresses) whilst the velvety voice of songstress Sabrina Lawrie unified their pretty sounds. They have the perfect combination that gets the crowd up in the pit. The band’s hit song Gift Horse is easy to listen to – no wonder this cool crew of cousins and brothers have won national accolades (triplej unearthed and WOTNEXT people’s choice award).

Sonic Porno know what they’re doing and they do it well. This two piece band is absolute in its song formation and sound quality. Obviously, each song differs in tempo and lyrics, from fast and loud to slow and beautiful – Their song Eleven is a good indication of this. Tone Porno has the most delectable singing voice that compliments the master of percussion Joel Sonic superbly. Mostly songs about love and girls, Sonic Porno put on an explosive show that just proves grunge is not dead.

The Grungefest tour will continue to Sydney, Woolongong, Hobart, Launceston, Adelaide, Coolangatta and finishes with a Grande Finale at the Jubilee in Brisbane. This is a tour that is not to be missed.