Serving deep waves of sensory experimentation laden with hypnotic undertones was the forte of Perth’s answer to the acid revolution, French Rockets.
Albeit nearing on four decades late to the draw, the Rockets’ spiraling marriage of music and visualization had the lure of psychedelic proportions, creating inquisition and intrigue in every punter in the room – then overwhelming them in a journey of mind over matter.

The trio’s ploy relies on one base factor – their musical ability to draw each eye and ear into a transient spell -bound only by the length of their set. Despite being the fruit of what is sure to be their mighty uprising, the need to contain the crowd in this self-made bubble also acted as a fatal flaw on the night. While getting into the trance of their second tune Scopin’ The Radar with every soul utterly captivated by the throbbing light and sound combination, their bassist encountered some technical fuck-up which broke the momentum in a matter of seconds. It was pretty hard to master the connection again with only two more songs in their set following, but they still got most in the hue for something different.

Melbourne’s My Disco only do one sound but they do it to absolute perfection. Dissonant, tight and minimalist – they work with a form of rock that is almost devoid of warmth and emotion but really lets ears coin on to a deep, grinding sensual groove. The perpetual churning of motion, sound and booming rhythm succeeded in reinventing a modern tribalistic beat, revealing harsh and beautiful tones without alienating the pit.

When You Came To Me Like A Cancer Laid Dormant Until It Blossomed Like Rose squealed into gear, the lads even had to masking tape the Marshall makeshift stack together because the throbbing pulse threatened to pull everything to an abrupt halt. The almost militaristic stance lets punters’ perception morph to suit the mood, shutting them off from their surroundings, while each musical metaphor is heard in a new light and favour. Every tiny movement in tone rang starkly through the rafters for the epic An Even Sun leaving the room swaying and pulsating while vocalist and bassist Liam Andrews’ metronome thump set the cue for guitarist Ben Andrews’ eccentric wailings where, at times, even his teeth were involved in the noise spree. A basic, and well constructed, lesson for sound purists.

Sydney’s post-rockers Pivot were a rare proposition. Heavily influenced by waves of electronica but with a delicious meld of live bass, guitar, drums and sporadic vocal calls – it was easy to see that their unique niche lay in their ability to make something almost completely instrumental into a burst of intense, danceable lust and titillating excitement. And the whole set worked in tides of spatial prog-ish backbeats to forefront techno nerd trends.

Drawing through influences from their latest offering O Soundtrack My Heart, the band of like-minded amigos delved into a well-earned introduction with the album’s first single In The Blood. Warbling and filled with retro respite, a freefall plunge began on the release’s more inconspicuous delights with Fools In The Rain surrounding all in its gentle melodies and Love Like I conjuring the impending onset of dread and malice.

Tripping through their artificially flung sounds of psych-guitar and soaring sample fetishes, the expressive percussion stylings from the Pike Brothers really added a base rawness to make the crowd drip.

Somewhere in the middle though, their edginess fell away to a completely so-so and banal banter of instrumental grandstanding. Pity that they could not keep the par above the boundary, but they did regain some love lost with the cutting My Heart Like Marching Band.

Full of intrigue, this three-piece really does offer inklings of great things on the horizon.

Gallery by timdavis