Witch Hats @ Gangbusters, Bar32 (10/04/2008)

Sun 13th Apr, 2008 in Gig Reviews

For anyone who feared that the good parts of the 90s were dead and never coming back, fear no more because at the forefront are Melbourne based band Witch Hats who stunned many curious punters at last Thursday’s Gangbusters set at Bar 32.

Witch Hats hit it off with Neil Dimond to open their set, their usual garage-grunge sound was cut back even more in the small venue. But this seemed to work for them, unlike Soft Tigers’ insistence to play like that on their last visit to Canberra. The Witch Hats’ entertaining re-visit to the long lost genre of grunge kept heads moving with their driving basslines, psychadelic solos and husky, indecipherable vocals. It also appeared to keep the drinks flowing at the bar, or maybe it was just student night. However, this didn’t do too much good for the band, as they explained ”[they] had to jump the queue because [they’re] too drunk,” and it showed. This definitely wasn’t a band for everyone, but it seemed to bring in a crowd from off of the street. Unfortunately, Witch Hats also didn’t do too much for their album launch tour, only mentioning the album as one of the CDs available at the merch desk with t-shirts after the set finished.

Gangbusters is a fortnightly event at Bar 32 showcasing local and interstate live acts in the effort to take back the night from the dodgey dance clubs of the Sydney Building with, according to the promo on their website, “the tight-jeaned and long-haired [fighting] back for an almighty night of music composed on pure spontaneity and pluck, on power and passion, on guitars and drums.”

The latest installment of the event saw a range of artists, including last minute locals Kempsey introducing many of their new songs, and other bands in the set ranging from the dreamy noise/art-rock of Cherry Marines comparible with the likes of Mogwai; to the likes of Group Seizure who, while talentedly taking a page from both the books of early punk and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, don’t quite pull off the delivery. But, the point of the night is to give artists a platform to perform and fans somewhere to enjoy it, in that the event was indeed a success and will no doubt continue to do so.