It was business as usual at Revolver Upstairs, with Under Lights, Sons of Messengers and Skye Harbour bringing in a decent crowd to celebrate Deja Entendu’s Skeletons EP launch.

Under Lights were so understated that they gave themselves no introduction, but let their music speak for itself. These Sydneysiders opened with Won’t Start Again, an indie-rock piece with rolling guitars reminiscent of the Smiths and completed with a harmonica. Overall, Under Lights gave off a really chilled, relaxed vibe. So chilled in fact, that the bassist only wandered onstage during their second song to join his bandmates play Road To Nowhere, matching the song’s minimalistic opening that became progressively more complex. Another highlight of their eight-song set was Home In The Wind, a rock piece that carried a slight country flavour. Under Lights ended their set with Disease, a track that showcased frantic guitar hooks and indie-rock vocals akin to Andrew Stockdale. This four-piece did a good job showing Melbourne that Sydney can indeed churn out some decent tunes.

Sons of Messengers were the second band of the night, and were vastly different to Under Lights. Whereas Under Lights were understated and relaxed, Sons of Messengers came onto stage with a smoke machine, ghostly keys and intense energy. Their sound is very difficult to describe, as it was an experimental mish mash of electro, prog-rock and the louder end of the alternative spectrum (which doesn’t really describe them at all). Their songs had ominous booming backing tracks, breakneck guitar rifts, processed electro beats, heaps of guitar effects and indie vocals. They did let up on the effects for I Remember the Day, ending up with a straighter rock sound that perhaps didn’t fit with the rest of their set. It would appear that this band imagines they sound like Bowie mixed with Muse and My Chemical Romance. However, they come off sounding a tad mixed up and left the crowd slightly confused and bemused, but perhaps with a little practice they could fine tune their sonic footing.

It was clear that Skye Harbour have garnered a nice collection of fans from the moment they stepped onstage. Unsurprising really, considering that the band received airplay on MTV last year and played at the red carpet for the ARIAs. From their dramatic piano opening to the last bars on their closing track, these Adelaide boys completely packed the floor at Revolver with dancing and cheering fans. While performing Berlin, frontman Josh Hardy looked like he was so full of energy that he would burst at any moment. Fortunately he didn’t, and Skye Harbour went on to perform Our Love, Houses and Paying Debts, as well as two new tracks. Their outro was also phenomonal despite the piece featuring the most annoying and repetitive doorbell-esque melody, but somehow Skye Harbour’s intricate music layers made the song work. Skye Harbour were definitely a treat, and certainly didn’t disappoint fans with their catchy rock melodies, pop sensibilities and dance-happy beats.

Even after Skye Harbour’s perfect performance, the night truly did belong to Deja Entendu who were promoting their Skeletons EP. Perhaps the first sign that this band is a little left of conventional was the fact that their EP launch night did not have a single physical EP in sight. Another clue was that the stage was cramped with not one, but three keyboards, a keytar, a guitar, a completely digital drumkit, a laptop, a saxophone and a trumpet. Unfortunately, their set was marred by several technical difficulties. During their entire opening song Adelaide the band were gesturing and making symbols to the sound engineer to make changes. In between songs Claire Rayner told the sound engineer to increase their fallback, to which the whole crowd started clapping and chanting “FOLDBACK! FOLDBACK!” Despite the sound issues at the start of their set, the crowd did not seem disappointed at all. One girl in the crowd yelled, ‘I love you Jack!’ (aimed at frontman Jack Arentz) which was immediately countered with another female fan shouting, ‘I love you more!’ Another of Deja Entendu’s quirks is the fact that it has two frontmen (or frontpeople) who are both excellent and have different, albeit completmentary, vocal styles. Jack has a quietly powerful, soulful voice that would be fantastic in an indie setting. Leading lady Claire’s singing style, super tight lycra pants and awesome hair made this reviewer think of Blondie, who she was definitely channelling in Fast Hard! where she left her keyboard and keytar aside to focus on dancing and vocals. The band of musicians closed the night with the title track of their EP, the uber-cool Skeletons. They invited even more people onto stage, and with eight enthusiastic kids on stage belting out the tune it almost seemed as if this reviewer had stumbled upon a private party of happy drunks having a spontaneous jam. Deja Entendu is definitely one of Melbourne’s newest and most unusual musical outfits, and have the potential to be electro-pop visionaries.

Photograph of Deja Entendu by Rowan Chase.