Mary Trembles, Grand Fatal,Fickle Beasts, No Anchor @ TheTroubadour, Brisbane(04/07/08)

Sun 13th Jul, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Tonight is an offering of strange fruit and those at The Troubadour are presented a sumptuous musical smorgasbord from which to indulge in old favourites or sample new delights.

No Anchor provided a fuzzed out introductory soundscape in a night showcasing four very different bands. A newly-floated local duo featuring drummer Alex Gillies and bassist Ian Rogers, No Anchor turned the distortion to 11 and slowed the metronome to a snail’s pace. They seemed to be here to present a meditation in rock. The pace picked up for standout track You’re All Gonna Pay For The Music That You Made and somehow struck me as a study of what a collaboration between Bloc Party and Trent Reznor would sound like. Advance copies of their Lawrence English-mastered debut Fire, Flood & Acid Mud were available for sale ahead of the August launch date. If hypnotic noise-rock isn’t quite your thing, at least their poster and album artwork is something to behold.

Fickle Beasts continue the duo theme but swap bass for guitar, and down-tempo for up-tempo. Pat Elliott manned his guitar, Cameron Smith his drums and both sang a little. Dennis, Are There Swords? is a great track by name and nature and reminds this reviewer of Broken Social Scene. The local pair don’t take themselves too seriously and delivered a succinct set, showing off tracks they are in the midst of recording as part of Smith’s DIY setup Incremental Records.

A phoenix risen from the ashes of Seconds Away, Grand Fatal have layed dormant in the Brisbane live scene for much of 2008. The Sydney four-piece played with much more energy and optimism than their stage chatter, which consisted of whinges about the long drive from Sydney amongst myriad other things. Their punkish stylings sway between the heavy side of pop-punk and post-hardcore, the tunes jammed with melodies reminiscent of Goldfinger and Bodyjar. Despite being the wildcard of the night in terms of genre, Grand Fatal eventually dragged the barflies closer to the stage to witness their tight and brilliantly-mixed set. Highlights were Decoder from their acclaimed 2005 album Allies, Tightrope Walker from their “upcoming, not finished album” and closer Gravity’s A Bitch.

It’s a small hiccup that most are gathered here tonight in the name of Mary Trembles’ Borrowed Ears, Borrowed Eyes album launch, only to learn the anticipated follow up to the Ps… Situation EP is nowhere to be found. All is forgiven when it is revealed Mike Major (At The Drive-In) – who has been mixing tracks in Florida – is responsible for the hold up. Good things come to those who wait, but drummer Damon Cox (of Intercooler noteriety), frontman Skritch (Gota Cola) and relatively new addition Matt ‘Tanzie’ Tanner (Mexico City) on bass dish out a sizable chunk of rock n roll to appease the impatient. The local trio played intense brooding songs that reached energetic climaxes, conjuring thoughts of Ian Curtis if he were fronting Nirvana in their formative years. Scene From Below had more punch live than on JJJ rotation and provided familiarity amongst a smattering of new tracks. An eclectic night of music that could only have been enhanced by more punters.
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Mary Trembles’ Borrowed Ears, Borrowed Eyes out soon through Plus One Records.*