Holy Fuck, Love of Diagrams,Mountains in the Sky @ TheCorner, Melbourne (10/12/2008)

Fri 12th Dec, 2008 in Gig Reviews

Meredith Music Festival always brings a great line up of acts through town and though this year’s festival was drowned in mud the smart punters took the chance to see one of the most impressive additions to the line-up – Holy Fuck – at their Melbourne sideshow. The Corner was busy, though not jammed (this was a Wednesday night, after all), but the punters cut loose with surprisingly energetic love for the band and the fine line up supplied by the fine Mistletone folk.

As – œThe’ was to 2001 and – œWolf’ was to ‘05, – œFuck’ is to – œ08 – with Fucked Up, Fuck Buttons and, of course, Holy Fuck leaping to attention. Unsurprisingly the 08 crop all bring an appropriately full on approach to their music, and the Holy Fuck live show certainly doesn’t compromise on that philosophy. Simply put Holy Fuck tear the place up.

Sharing the almost purely instrumental approach of the nights headliners, the opening act Mountains in the Sky deliver sweeping instrumentals that require no lyrics to carry their audience. Though unlike their near namesake Explosions in the Sky they don’t reach for lofty emotional heights, instead offering up a sound reminiscent of the gentle pyschedelia of the Avalanches and the organic elctronica of Caribou/Manitoba. Their set was the perfect beginning to the evening.
Next up were Love of Diagrams who opened with The Pyramid the most immediate, and Sleater-Kinney influenced, of the tracks from their last record. It’s a strong opening, but unfortunately stood out from the rest of their set, which suffered from a repetitiveness as the songs blurred together. While their waves of guitar distortion and flatly intoned lyrics fit the art rock template to perfection they were easily out classed on the night.

Like their first support act, Holy Fuck never need a lyric to deliver their thrilling live show. (Though the obliterated vocals on Royal Gregory and Milk Shake offered something in the way of a vocal, they’re under the same heavily distorted mic effects that left their introduction sounding something like – œWgghe’rgre Hgohly Fursck ftkom Torhsoneto, Canwaopda’.)

While similar acts such as Battles and Trans Am seem to focus heavily on the role of their drummer Holy Fuck centre on the electronics provided by the men out front – Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh. Not to diminish the importance of the band’s bass and drums, but the action centered on the frantic action of the duo at the front of the stage as they scrambled to plug in new keyboards and digital toys between each track. Their chaotic work also brought melodica, video game consoles and even a loop of tape dragged through an analogue sampler into the mix.

With suitably twisted visuals projected onto the screens on each side of the stage, the driving intensity of Holy Fuck’s music caused far more dancing, ear-to-ear grins and applause than could be expected of a Melbourne crowd on a Wednesday night. (The build up to Meredith seems to change this notoriously jaded city… maybe the hunt for cheap cans of beer and the anticipation for the Meredith weekend manages to melt some the city’s cynicism). The set closed with the gorgeously lofty Lovely Allen, but the crowd bayed for an encore – and got one. And though Holy Fuck couldn’t top their excellent set with the return to stage they hardly did themselves any damage. They delivered Melbourne’s punters two superb shows – one on a Wednesday night, one in the downpour at Meredith – let’s just hope that when they return things can align a little better and Melbourne can deliver a night worthy of the bands performances.

CHECK OUT THE PIX HERE