I had a pleasant little surprise on Thursday night when I saw The Good China begin their residency at the deliciously dingy Empress Hotel. Like finding a ten dollar note on the ground; unexpected and sure to put you in a good mood.

It was one of those shitty spring nights. You know, where the pavement’s slippery and all the windows fog up. One of those crappy nights where you miss your tram and you have the sniffles. A dirty night where you just want to lie around in your underwear and not go out and see a band.

Basically I just wasn’t in the mood, but being the amazingly committed reporter that I am, I duly traded my futon and doona for sticky floors and the stale smell of beer. And I’m glad I did because as soon as I arrived my troubles, like an unlocked Ferrari in a Footscray shopping centre, instantly disappeared.

A lot of credit must go to Quang Goes Mangoes, who kicked off the night with a lilting, winsome set. A side project of Quang Dinh, one fifth of indie heroes Little Red, his gently strummed guitar and charming harmonies instantly won over a slightly tipsy crowd. It’s nothing too different to Little Red but hey, those guys seem to be doing alright for themselves so who can blame him.

An instantly forgettable set from other support act The Box Rockets (I can sum them up very quickly; snappily dressed, undemanding guitar hooks and shouted vocals) The Good China crowded onto the stage. They are a big band in every sense of the word. Three guitarists, two keyboardists, a bass, a drummer, a violinist and a shitload of singers add up to make one great band.

Inevitably there are comparisons with other chamber pop ensembles a la I’m From Barcelona, Architecture in Helsinki and The Arcade Fire. There’s the soaring violins and the glockenspiel. There’s the fey semi-meaningful song titles like A Million Little Pieces and Trick of the Light. And incidentally what is the deal with all these big bands having arbitrary geographical references in their names?

But don’t worry The Good China are great in their own right. From the swirling opening 39 Black to the rousing final song All Nothing, the local nine-piece were absolutely captivating. Nominally led by the utterly charming Mit and held together by the pitch perfect strings of violinist Quyen, every song is a great example of well executed indie pop.

For such a large band there is a lot of space between the sounds. The players do well not to musically and physically (the stage was very small) step on each other’s toes. Each part is discernable in the large sound they create, from the softly shaking maracas on Couch Song to the acoustic picking of We Found Three Whistles.

Basically if you have a musical sweet tooth this is the band for you. The euphoric choruses and saccharine four part harmonies go straight to your head, like a downing a bag of Wizz Fizz in one go. The energy of the band is really infectious too. Every last one of them had a goofy big grin smeared across their face for the entire set. It’s music that quite simply makes you feel good and with them playing every Thursday for the next month there really is no excuse not to check them out.