There is something about The Gin Club that screams tortured inner northern Melbourne artistes. It came as a genuine shock then that they are more Brunswick St Fortitude Valley in Brisbane, than Fitzroy. The East Brunswick Club was the perfect venue for their unique indie, blues, folk, acoustic, rock sound. Last Friday they were joined by fellow Brisvegans, country crooners Texas Tea, before they heading back to the sunshine state to support Ben Kweller.

Texas Tea are a punchy guitar-driven, alt-country duo blessed with incredible vocals. Their set featured Billy and Macey and Me, as well as an unexpected reworking of Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved a Man (The Way I’m Loving You). The sight of two musos with their guitars and a tambourine provided a noticeable contrast to the six-piece indulgence brought to the dingy East Brunswick room by TGC.

The Gin Club chose the evening’s gig to introduce an appealing set of new songs, as well as showcase some of their back catalogue. Playing two full sets separated by a cheeky ‘ciggy break’, a nearby punter was heard to utter that they couldn’t help feeling like they were ‘at a musical, but without have a seat’.

They opened with 10 Paces Away from their third, and most recent album, Junk, with Ben Salter showering the audience with a mixture of passion and spittle. Throughout the sets, band members regularly flitted between guitars, cello, drums, organ, piano accordion, tambourine, bass, a little stick with little bells and lead vocals. Some may insinuate that this is all rather pretentious and unnecessary, but is perhaps more the result of a band bursting with exceptionally talented musicians.

Each song, in one way or another, showcased one of the band members. Adrian Stoyles stole the ladies’ hearts with the charming and witty Already Gone. Next, Dan Mansfield (aka Magic Fingers – keep your mind out of the gutter) took to the keys in Brother helping create a warm and rich atmosphere, and Bridget Lewis took charge in Fear of the Sea (the title track from the second record).

Regan dredged the back of his throat and the depths of his soul to generate an enchanting fervour in Days. And, following on, Conor Macdonald aligned his Will Oldham style vocals with some serious rock in new song Deathwish.

In round 2, TGC started with a bang re-capturing the audience with Drugflowers. I saw people jump, promise! The song memorably faded to Lemonhead’s Into My Arms. Stoyles then stood up straight to present two newies, Chopping Wood and Shake Hands: think a Neil young song performed by Kurt Cobain. Regan brought us back to a place where drinking cheap red wine seems like a very good idea with I Was A Young Boy. To change things up, a moving rendition of You, Me and The Sea was next before TT joined to add a country twang to Whiskey and Wine and Winner Makes the Graves.

The evening was bought to an end with Wylde Bitch. The awkward mum-dancing that so many women around me felt they needed to display, was initially a little distracting. However, it wasn’t long before I was channelling Shane MacGowan myself. All in all, the night confirmed many fans’ loyalty to the talented and charming Gin Club.

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