Having never been in to the Birmingham, but having passed by several times on the 86 tram en route to The Tote or some other Smith/Johnston Street destination, its nondescript brick exterior doesn’t reveal much about its shady past. The only obvious nod to this, is a cute sign inside declaring “The Birmingham – it’s not shit any more.” If nothing else, the October residency of St Helens reiterates this maxim, a firm welcome to the era of the New Birmingham.

Who would have thought that one man on a stage twiddling knowbs and manipulating sonics and landscapes could be so darned interesting. For the few of us standing around to witness the minimalist act of Penguins, the first artist on the billing, it was an intriguing blipped out performance that made you want to rush home and look up anything he had ever done. Managing to squeeze lush sonics out of a couple of boxes, it gave you the feeling that this is the beginning of something quite interesting.

If Penguins was the perfect amoeba of an experimental one-man soundscape, then Marc Regueiro-Mckelvie’s Popolice has sprouted a spine and legs and is walking across the water and over that vast fuzzed-out terra nullius. Having only seen Popolice once before at Old Bar, his songs seem to sound even slighter better live this time around. The beautiful guitar-to-amp feedback goodness at the start of the set gave most of the audience blissful grins. It was reminiciscent of early Sonic Youth, which is always a great thing, or for a point of reference closer to home, hints of My Disco. When the vocals of jittery pop gem “Middle Ground” started, it was a definite crowd favourite, meaning an increase of shuffling and head nodding, and in my case more stupid grinning. The live one man experience may not give you the immediate buzz of a traditional band setup, but you have to keep reminding yourself this is one man creating all of this incredible distorted layered pop, that may convince even a die-hard purist to fire the band and go it alone.

St Helens has the most conventional band setup of the night, but is anything but conventional. It could be considered a mini-supergroup of Melbourne bands, with members from Spider Vomit, Bird Blobs and Kes all featuring. Tonight the Birmingham band room has started to fill slowly for a band that has built its reputation the old-fashioned way, gigging and word of mouth.

Jarrod Quarrell is the epicentre of the group, pinning together the songs with their world-weary melodies, with a slight menace ever present in the background. It is a delight to hear the dual vocal interplay of Jarrod and Hannah Brooks. Their harmonies translate better live, where you can actually feel the full impact of their voices, which somehow never cancel each other out, instead working together to create brooding perfection. How to Choose Your Guru epitomises the intensity of St Helens as a band, with the characteristic harmonising vocals, dual guitar work, with guitarist Lewis Boyes and bassist Ian Wadley creating a sense of foreboding that is gripping live. A personal favourite is the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds-esque Pharaoh’s Tomb, which would take a proud place on any western movie soundtrack.

With an album release due in 2009, St Helens will only continue to grow as a band and in audience numbers. The Birmingham is the venue to tell everyone where you saw them before they got big.