Sin City @ Newport Hotel08/02/09

Wed 11th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

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Starting warm up band was the progressive and aggressive Genghis, fronted by the Celebrity Skin channeling Zoe James on guitar/vocals, working the rock-chic look and sound like nobody’s business. With influences like The Cure and Sonic Youth, they pulled off a sparkling number. Worth highlighting is the bands first single Xanax Party.

Formed in 2007, this Perth band is definitely made for a bigger music scene. Their drummer Robbie Downsborough showed an energetic enthusiasm with his instrument, not unlike Dave Grohl. The man can work his drumsticks.

In between their songs, the dialogue they kept going indicated that these guys are friendly off stage, and they joked about things like forgetting their setlist and therefore winging the whole act.

Guitarists, Greg Sanders and Glen Adams were a bit inconsistent. While somewhat repetitive tunes were interrupted by some seductive highlights, the full image of Genghis is diminished, which is hugely irritating. Its obvious to the audience, this band has potential, but there is a sense of misplacement, of something essential lacking in their sound.

They have taken the name of the famous Mongol imperialist, but until they more thoroughly identify themselves and their place in the Perth music scene, they cannot expect to conquer China, or anything else except the occasional Sunday session audience.

After an intense set from Genghis, the floor was left to well-known Perth stoner rockers The Devil Rides Out. After their amazing video release in November, the band, fronted by the rough and harsh voiced Joe Kapiteyn have had plenty of local gigs. They opened with Shape of a Heart, and moved systematically through the highlights from their three EPs, humorously entitled Volume I, II and III.

Charmingly, Brendan Ewing holds his instrument like a lost fifth Beatle, while Andrew aka. The Riff Doctor stands perfectly still -in between his fits, where he shows off his potential as a hard-core rock and roll star. While Kapiteyn changes his act between songs, moving from stage clown to potential self proclaimed sex symbol, Drummer Royce delivers a fast beat, like nobody’s business.

The Devil Rides Out show a range that moves from the radio friendly Slow Gun, to the more hard core The World has Fangs and the humorous Action Figure. These guys have known each other for ages, and they show it by goofing around on stage, making the concert a fun experience for the audience, in addition to delivering a most wanted fix of whisky-dry and crisp, well executed rock and roll. These guys are anything but pretentious, and they are absolutely ready for a larger audience.

The few minions frequenting the mosh pit on Sunday also shows that they have dancing as well as headbanging potential, but doubtless they won’t find themselves playing cruiseships this time around.

There is nothing mysterious or surprising about The Devil Rides Out. They promise stoner rock, they deliver stoner rock. There is something extremely manly about their whole act, which is refreshing while the rest of the rock and roll business has been moving towards a more androgynous emo sound. Their reportoir is well worked in, as they have had a number of gigs playing them over the last few years.

Moving from the manly and unpretentious to the more conspicuous, Melbourne headliners Sin City fronted by Tash aka. Molotov Barbie, who is like a cross-over between Courtney Love and Brian Warner (Marilyn Manson), with her twitchy moves and rusty voice, was obviously the band the audience had waited for. These kids have about as long a time in the game as The Devil Rides Out, and it shows.

Though they have boldly given themselves stage names, with Devil Fingers on guitar, Tommy Gunn on drums and Miksie Tricks on the bass, and the names promise nothing the band cannot deliver.
Apart from the barbie-from-hell on vocals, the band had what Genghis lacked.

Solid background and rehearsal, placing themselves comfortably in the punknroll genre, where they do belong. It’s sassy, sexy, flamboyant and kind of cool, reminiscent of the swedish trash-rockers, also fronted by a hellish looking barbie – band called The Sounds.

They didn’t unconditionally take over the crowd, they had to play the old and well known songs like Sweet Lies before the roof lifted. Also worth mentioning is Devil in Me and Rest in Pieces.
For those from Perth, who did not recognise the familiar faces at the Newport Hotel yesterday – Sin City used to frequent the WA music scene under the name Local Pricks, and the name change could not be more suitable.

The concept of nightmarish horror punk is far from a local phenomenon. They are as good as anything on the Billboard, and its easy to predict the horror rockers a bright and shiny future in the business of music.

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