CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE PARTY HERE.

You know you’ve stepped onto a boat full of hipsters when Sydney’s Twitter-verse is suddenly flooded with Lonely Island lyrics. With the afternoon sun still hovering over the harbour, several hundred of the city’s more nautically-inclined indie kids poured onto The Fusion for an eclectic evening of live music with Popfrenzy Afloat!

Now in its third iteration, Popfrenzy Afloat! puts both local and international artists on a boat, adds DJs, a bar and pizza, and sets sail across Sydney Harbour for one of the more interesting gig concepts going around. On the back of the two previous editions (2005 and 2007), it’s gained a great reputation for both its atmosphere and its stunning roster: previous years have included Jens Lekman, Les Savy Fav, The Gossip, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Thunderbirds Are Now!, among others. This year the lineup was a little more locally oriented, with Sydney acts Spod and Traps joined by Melbourne’s The Meanies and New York duo Matt & Kim.

Traps are an unmistakably Sydney band. Shuffling onto the stage to kick off proceedings, they played a tight set of up-tempo indie-dance that, while well-played, was hard to get excited about. Traps’ problem isn’t that they don’t play well, but more so that they struggle to distinguish themselves among a myriad of like-minded contemporaries. Traps’ musical path is already well-worn, with bands such as Tennis, Flying Foxes and early Lost Valentinos already having done similar things, and Traps struggle to bring anything particularly fresh to this already overcrowded table.

Spod’s music suffers from no such problems. A one-man party machine, Spod is pretty much tailor-made for a party on a boat. He proved it with a set that involved backing dancers, streamers, crowd participation and wonderful use of a Gameboy. Spod’s music mixes electro-pop with a hilariously exaggerated raunchiness, resulting in a hyperactive set that’s hard to not enjoy. Playing tracks from both of his records, the set’s highlights came with his collaborations – Popfrenzy/Rice Is Nice’s Julia Wilson on guitar for Makin’ Party, and Kaity Fox joining Spod to sing the hook to 2131 – Ride Wit’ Me. While a party on a boat doesn’t particularly need to be pushed into action, it had well and truly started by the time Spod left the stage to the opening strains of Biggie’s Mo’ Money, Mo Problems.

There was plenty of fun to be had elsewhere too. On the second floor, Popfrenzy’s DJs were holding down the decks all night with plenty of indie, electro and hip-hop. After a short stop the pizza arrived. The boat suddenly felt like one big house party, with everyone scrambling for pizza slices, drinking, and enjoying plenty of party jams courtesy of DJ Get Well Mary-Kate.

Meanwhile, New York’s Matt & Kim were downstairs setting up for their set. Infectiously enthusiastic, they instantly clicked with the crowd and kept the house party vibe going with a short set of punchy electro-pop. Their two-piece pop songs could have become a little repetitive if played for too long, but a fast-approaching curfew forced them to keep it short and sweet, resulting in a delightfully fun and sharp set.

The Meanies were a curious choice to end the evening. Icons of Australian punk during the early-mid 90s, they seemed conspicuously out-of-place on what was otherwise a very indie-pop affair. Variety is always fun though, and The Meanies played a rousing set of Australian punk rock that excited many in the room – particularly the handful of longtime fans at the front who seemed to he having the time of their life.

While the reaction was pretty divided, with some opting for the party happening upstairs with the Popfrenzy DJs instead, The Meanies’ straightforward rock and roll proved a welcome change of pace for those with more diverse tastes. As their set concluded, The Fusion pulled into the dock, drawing to a close an edition of Popfrenzy Afloat! that, while not quite reaching the heights of previous years, proved its reputation as one of Sydney’s best parties.