The crowd were loud, the lights were bright. Walking towards the Corner Hotel it was impossible not to get drawn in by all the action happening over at the MCG. No matter, brilliant New Zealand act Cut Off Your Hands were playing at the Swan Street venue, previewing some new cuts off their forthcoming album. Along with them was an impressive array of Aussie acts going back and forth between the main and side stages providing excellent bang for your buck.
Melbourne punks Reptiles opened things on the side stage but were an odd choice compared to the rest of the night’s line-up. Not heavy enough to be metal, but too heavy to be garage; Reptiles played a set that only had a few crowd members interested. Guitarist Joel thrashed his guitar to the point of broken strings and a bled finger while frontman Em yelled and head-banged but the majority of their set ran together filled full of short, loud, slow rock tunes with amateurish lyrics.
Imagine Billy Corgan with an Australian accent singing over Nirvana style grunge and you get Violent Soho. Representing the 4122 of Mansfield, Queensland; the band played a solid performance on the main stage impressing a fair few people who rocked up early to the Corner. Violent Soho play early 90s style grunge and they play it well, taking in pain, Son Of Sam, and humour. Jesus Stole My Girlfriend, with high impact. No-one member outshines each other either; Michael dominates the drums, James and Luke help out with backing vocals while putting in imposing efforts on guitars, and frontman Luke spits down the microphone like he is buttering toast – it’s just that easy to him. Quite impressive.
While Spun Rivals Scottish vocalist Rich Davies made it clear that he was a tad nervous going on before Cut Off Your Hands, it really didn’t matter. The Melbourne based three piece delivered powerful indie-rock made up of killer hooks, interesting storytelling, and talented performing. Despite those nerves, Davis really got into being indie-rock frontman, having his glasses fly straight into the crowd as he slammed down on his guitar, barely missing a lone supporter dancing from the left side of the stage to the right side of the stage. An Ordinary Man and We Fixed Headaches with Chemicals stood out but it was Nineteen Eighty Eight making the most impact with its catchy chorus. This is one band you will hear more about in days to come.
After months of touring Europe and North America, Cut Off Your Hands took on the main stage with full force. Nick Johnson wasted no time, launching himself into the crowd during You and I. While the crowd ate up previous EP tracks such as Still Fond, Oh Girl and Expectations, dancing with joy; they went quieter when the band revealed newer tracks such as Happy As Can Be, perhaps due to these songs not having the instant catchiness that previous songs exhibited. Despite having a forthcoming album and a number of tracks to play, the boys still had time to pack in a cover of the Split Enz song Shark Attack. While Cut Off Your Hands performance was great, it just didn’t contain the same amount of passion that the band has previously displayed when touring the festival circuit earlier this year. Given that the band’s forthcoming album contains a majority of tunes from previous EPs, here’s hoping that the Auckland act isn’t getting lazy in their quest to take over the world, one city at a time.
