The Priory Dolls @ The Curtin,Melbourne (7/08/09)

Mon 10th Aug, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Brimming with coolly-suppressed excitement, fans waited for The Priory Doll’s to take the stage for the launch of their debut EP, Heaven is a Dirty Place.

They began with the hiss and whine of the synthesizer as its operator Tyson Lindley stared into the audience with an – œI’ve-just created-Frankenstein’ sinister intensity. His psychedelic David Bowie stage presence with black-rimmed eyes and a healthy mop of tight curls meant he was a central focus, despite his stage left position, and his focused manipulation of the synthesisor glued The Priory Doll’s sound together in a lot of their tracks.

The way the lead guitar trickled in over the rising instrumental tide gave them a U2 feel at times, then they would drop back into the gentle simplicity of a vocals and guitar combination showing us that they have a hold on easy melodies too.

Ten Thousand Steps was a wash of soft echoing back up vocals and 70s-style relaxed rock riffs. Again Tyson was the centre of attention and a few larrikins yelled out requests for him to show us, er… something. Throughout the next few songs this jeering continued and lead guitarist Rory Lampitt mimicked them, cooing into the distorted echo of his microphone like a die-hard Tyson-fan, proving that there’s nothing like a bit of public mockery to keep your bandmate’s head from inflating beyond capacity. It did seem to egg on the inebriated revelers in the crowd though, and there was a particularly ardent guy at the back who really wanted Tyson to take it off.

Jovialities aside, The Devil You Know swept through in a parade full of organ-effects and floating guitar in a sea of sound. Drummer Mike gave us plenty of cymbal action that was as satisfying to hear in the mix of sounds as it must have been bang out on the drums. Not One Second had Tyson animatedly behaving as both a conductor and performing musician. Rory played a nice guitar solo and Mike finished it off tightly with his drums.

Riddles and Bones was a playful duet of vocals and guitar. New song We’ll Do The Talking had a Super Mario World-like keyboard intro. The blend of sounds was a bit over-processed on this one.

This was the point where Tyson bended to the requests of the crowd and showed us his, er, wig-hair medallion that he hung around his neck before stuffing it back into his pants. Obviously these boys have a quirky sense of humour that extends beyond the unique description of band influences on their myspace: these musos take their role as entertainers beyond the musical realm.

Leave The Light Off had Mike leave his drum kit to join in with back-up vocals for this romantic tune. Basist James Payne stood at the back with his arms folded for much of this softer song then weaved his way to a microphone to add his voice for the emphatic use of a swear-word in the lyrics. Obviously he wasn’t in much of a sentimental mood. Poison Arrows had a sexy, bluesy feel and James’s base line added to the funkiness of it by shadowing the melody like only a base guitar can.

Jeremy Mair’s vocals have a delicious lazy twang like he was just woken up by someone asking him a question and mumbled the answer before rolling back over to sleep. At times his words run into each other like the loosely woven knit of a welcome blanket. His unassuming style gives The Priory Dolls a mature, worn-in edge that would fool first-time-listeners into thinking these guys were in their late 20s when Jeremy looks young enough to be ID’d everywhere he goes.

Jack Of The Morning Sun was a marching drum-beat into life’s consequences that had people waving their lighters in the air. It was an impressive blend of resonating vocals and pacing drums during the verses and amplifiers whirring through a merciless spin cycle.

Morning Smoke was an equally strong track and was complimented by Cat on the violin. It was like being on a lucid drug: eyes and ears open, appreciating something beautiful and at the same time feeling torn about the imminent end of the moment. Sometimes a band will just get it right. Morning Smoke is a song you could listen to on repeat. Watch out for these boys they’ve got something worth paying attention to.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE