Check out the photos from the show right here on FL.

Wow. To all other bands in Australia: watch out. Yves Klein Blue are at the top of their game, and arguably yours, and are coming to get you. They launched their first album, Ragged & Ecstatic, on Friday night and did so in a manner that gave one the feeling that they’ll be sticking around for a few more.

But first, the supports. Last Dinosaurs are a lot of fun. They’re bouncy, damn cool and good at making people develop man crushes on them. They’re turning heads (and tuning ears) around town and their tuneful pop went down a treat.

Assisted by a beguiling but ultimately pretty funny pre-recorded banter track between songs, Philadelphia Grand Jury popped (in a good way). Coming off like a grittier version of The Hives, the three piece threw themselves through a blistering set, their songs’ tightly wound, agitated energy spurring the audience to warm the hell up – drummer Dan played like a perpetually recoiling rubber band might, if it could hold drumsticks. Going To The Casino (a damn fine song) closed out what was both a support set and a thrown gauntlet.

Taking the stage to one hell of a warm welcome for arguably their biggest gig to date, Yves Klein Blue neither dillied nor dallied. I’ve seen them play a lot (and, for the sake of being a volunteer writer with integrity, am a friend), but never like this. Already a tight unit, they became a true force of rock n roll, playing to and for the crowd but never posturing, enjoying the party as much as the bouncing crowd at the front, and almost as much as bass player Sean Cook.

Digital Love was terrifyingly intense, with singer Michael Tomlinson’s trademark facial contortions matched by the strange and brooding guitar solo from Charles Sale. Make Up Your Mind, the new single and a beautiful song, was a chance for drummer Chris Banham to argue the merits of simplicity and directness in beat making, his driving tom line delivered with ardour.

Qute the chunk of modern rock music was covered during the set, YKB charging from restless punk to indie pop then rolling country like pros. About The Future, which is both an acoustic social polemic and a moment of aching vulnerability, sat with the ragtime ska of Summer Sheets and the urgent, creepy Queeny like the genres had always been meant for an unholy threesome.

Celebrity Death, which was a chance to both catch one’s breath and then lose it to the impact of the song, was dedicated to everyone’s favourite fallen pop monarch and gave Banham a chance to emerge from behind the kit and get near to a microphone, armed with a shaker and stompbox.

Another idol was given the nod shortly after, as the ridiculously anthemic opening strains of Springsteen rang out for a surprisingly apt cover of Born To Run – it’s usually the territory of a mammoth sounding (and sized) E Street Band but was delivered with aplomb by an adoring four. The big, big contingent of young ‘uns didn’t seem as excited as others, but that changed very quickly as lead single Getting Wise threatened to destroy the shuddering floorboards with the weight of hundreds of pairs of pounding feet, the chorus’ popularity confirmed by the crowd’s resounding takeover of vocal duties.