The Schvendes album launch has been a long-awaited, much-anticipated event. Their new album, Sweet Talk Your Enemies, is the brooding five-piece band’s first album, and one desperately hopes not their last. Cold doesn’t remotely describe the outside temperature, but it was with dedication and a love of good music that their humble fans flocked to the Bakery on Saturday night.

The supporting bands on offer were a diverse bunch, to say the least, which meant that musically, there was something for everyone. These Ship Wrecks kicked off the night and it has to be said, these guys use feedback like a DJ uses a deck. Pushing the boundaries of the sound, making it whine, growl, scream and cry its way into your unconsciousness. This band is a mind-altering substance all on it’s own… man.

Next on the agenda was The Slim Pickins, who have been support act for most Perth bands on the local and not so local scene. Melodic rock, awesome guitar riffs and a charismatic stage presence has these self-described ‘chaps’ flagged as a band-to-watch. From taunting the sound guy, to flying cigarettes, the Slim Pickins had the majority of the crowd grinning stupidly at their dialogue and antics. A special mention goes out to lead guitarist, Mr Bobby Burgess, for playing guitar as it should be played.

Sugar Army were fantastic, which is more than likely the reason that Gyroscope will be stealing them soon for a 36 date national tour. It’s not a stretch of the imagination to see why. Vocalist Patrick McLaughlin’s crooning, Pied Piper-ed the crowd in from the cold to gather around the stage and truly appreciate their sweet-and-violent brand of rock. Warming the crowd and being, well, just generally entertaining, it’s not hard to see why these boys are touted as the next big thing.

But finally, it was time for Schvendes to take the stage. It had been a long, cold night and as Tara John, bathed in eerie blue light, began to glide her fingers over the keyboard, the crowd’s excitement escalated. The thing about Schvendes is that they can’t be defined, but hold great allure for everybody. They play to your bad side, your broken and vengeance-hunting side. To the angry-inner-child-with-an-ice-pick deep within all of us. Watching them onstage is truly hypnotising.

Joined by a string section to accompany their dark sound, they played favourites like, Oh Marlon, Small Mercies, Sweet Graves and Bring Out Your Dead, which made it to the album, as well as a couple of not yet recorded ones, to the delight of the people listening. Dressed like murderous porcelain dolls, complete with hair ribbons and Mary Janes you can’t help but give them your undivided attention when they’re singing words like: I’m true and I’m lovely, I’m bitter, but right; So rest your head on my lap, dear, while I turn out your lights.

Schvendes are fascinating and yet terrifying; Bards of the sinister everyday. This album will see Schvendes irrevocably entangle hearts and minds, drawing devotees willingly to their web of weirdness. Embracing the stories they weave might even free us from our own tendrils of woe. Or they might just get stuck in our heads, haunting us with snippets of melody for weeks on end, reminding us of what a great band they are, and hoping that if we haven’t seen them playing lately, it is because they are finally getting to where they deserve to be nationally.