Mr Maps, The Understudy,Headphone Home and more @ TheTroubadour (10/12/2008)

Mon 15th Dec, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Unusually for a Wednesday night, the Troub is packed with indie kids eager to witness the Brisbane vs. Newcastle musical standoff – in fact, there are so many cool people in the venue that I’m freezing despite the punishing humidity outside. The intricately-named Novocastrians A Disappointing Fireworks Display definitely don’t disappoint with their dramatic, piano and violin-assisted oeuvre; the diminutive, barefoot lead singer Georgie leads the quintet’s melacholy-laden songs with her keening voice. Covering a wide musical ground and throwing in stylistic touches ranging from dub reggae on the bass-heavy This High Is Mine to the 2-step country rhythms of Autumn and indie-prog on the swooning, Stars-recalling ballad Architecture, ADFD take the first biscuit of the bill, the crowd sending the band off with loud cheers.

Taking the reins in their older musical hands, Brisbane’s A Headphone Home deliver a tight, spirited performance dominated by interlocking minimalist guitars, emotive vocals and Krautrock-reminiscent beats. The quiet-loud dynamics, subtle guitar figures and solid rhythm section are all employed to great effect, coming to the boil on the initally subdued, then progressively epic closing number. Brisbane 1 Newcastle 1.

It’s round two for Newie and indie chanteuse Lucy Hearn – aka The Understudy – leads her four-piece backing band (featuring ADFD’s bass player) into the attack. Juxtaposing New York (where Lucy lived in 2007) anti-folk with more traditional whimsical indie-pop, Lucy’s exemplary vocal range is the true star of the show, with both full-on Kate Miller-Heidke shrieks and delicate sighs used to glorious effect. The instrument-switching, bawdy joke-inserting band members intermittenly take to and leave the stage; the last song features just Lucy, her keyboard and the rhythm section. Biscuit taken – Brissy 1 Newie 2.

Having missed their previous show at The Hangar (where both ADFD and The Understudy are set to play this Friday, I am reminded that Mr Maps are, quite simply, the best post-rock band in this city. Their music is… beautiful, beautiful noise including everything from sampled feedback, rolling electric piano, intricate guitar interplay to powerhouse, fuzz-laden basslines, while the drummer… what can I say… is fucking unbelievable. Often employing several different rhythms within the same song, the instrumental quintet’s musical maelstrom is one to savour. Virtuoso clean fingerpicking/tapping? TInkling, music-box figures? Slide mayhem? The script is you and me, boy, as David Bowie said back in the Ziggy/Alladin Sane days. And again, what a fucking unreal drummer. The end tally is unnecessary as real music and mateship win.