The Fearless Vampire Killers,Major Major, Majester @Revolver Upstairs, Melbourne(16/10/2008)

Sun 19th Oct, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Unfortunately, when Halloween comes around in Australia, Melbourne is getting brighter and warmer. The city isn’t an entirely appropriate setting for celebrating the sinister holiday, but Bootleg’s party at Revolver put a springtime twist on tradition, serving up some dirty, vintage rock and pop, with indie tracks spun by DJ Pinball Jones.

Newcomers Majester opened to a very keen and closely packed audience with The Rolling Stones’ Jumpin’ Jack Flash. They’re indebted to the golden era of rock, sampling from The Beatles, The Who and The Doors to compile their tight and energetic set. Majester are a little sexy, a lot dorky, and unquestionably cheesy (like most cover bands are) but thankfully consciously so. Their twangy, funky guitar riffs sometime sounded like they came straight from a 70s porn soundtrack, but this just added to their trashy charm and retro sound. Their one original song, written by guitarist Flynn, revealed that the band has a soul beyond their influences – it will be excellent if they continue to write and develop their borrowed sound into something more individual. For the moment, however, these highly charismatic boys know how to get a party started – - œIndulge! Indulge!’ shouted the Buddy Holly look-alike bassist to the dancing crowd, and happily indulge we did.

While I stood for Majester, I could now sit: sadly, the band room was almost empty by the time Major Major made it onto the stage. Their first show in awhile, the Melbourne band played a slightly disappointing set to an underwhelmed handful of people – the anecdotes from their holiday which were promised to the room were never related, replaced by technical problems. There were a few standout The Shins-esque melodies which heralded in the summertime, but the indie band need to find a little more personality because their boredom was infectious. Track The Beast, from their forthcoming EP Great Leagues, was extremely memorable, the refrain ‘The beast is coming for me…’ and the song’s driving rhythm conjuring up images of a ferociously friendly monster on a forest rampage. This fantastic song, coupled with a particularly post-punky number which I missed the name of, were the highlights of the set.

Headliners The Fearless Vampire Killers may or may not be named after bloody Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate film, but they certainly evoke 60s British pop, 70s rock, alt-country and Manson family macabre. They’re the sound of a grindhouse slasher movie set in the sepia Mid-West, of beautiful teenage hipsters wearing bloodstained clothes and swaggering in slow motion. Once they started playing, people slowly trickled back in from the bar, seduced by the slow, hypnotic swell of jangly guitars in For You and Me. The band are like a sunshiny Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, their songs would be at home on the soundtrack to DiG!, Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Big Lebowski. Their one dance number was an almost rockabilly, barn-stomping tune, but some of their extended instrumentals bordered on the self-indulgent and ruined the excitement and pace of the set. Track Alright Now Honey was a favourite, showing off diminutive front man Seán Ainsworth’s spot on vocals – he sounds like a cross between Liam Gallagher and a Beach Boy, gritty yet melodic. They may look young, but The Fearless Vampire Killers are fresh, seriously groovy and have a genuinely full sound. It’s a shame that most people had left the venue before these boys had a chance to impress.