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From the anthemic strains of Dawn Of The Dead and the knowing tease of Let’s Make Out, through to the self-explanatory intentions of Epic Last Song, Does It Offend You, Yeah? (henceforth to be referred to as Does It) have emerged in 2009 as the virtual house-band choice of Adelaide’s ever-popular Transmission DJs. Their relationship with this town began with a decent-enough set during Parklife 2008, though its impact was muted by the broken leg that kept the group’s usually manic frontman James Rushent from doing much more than sit-down and sing. With that in mind, Rushent and the band had a bit of making up to do when they took to the stage around 10pm on a chilly Tuesday night at the Governor Hindmarsh, and they certainly set about the task with relish.

Thanks in equal parts to Transmission, Parklife and radio, the Gov was close to packed with a rowdy all-ages crowd, and the crush near the stage was palpable throughout the show. Rushent egged this all on with plenty of intent, backed ably by Rob Bloomfield (drums), Dan Coop (synths), Matt Durham (effects) and Chloe Duveaux (bass). There appeared to be the occasional technical hitch, and at least one false start to a tune, but that was nothing more than the band’s faintly chaotic sound demanded. While most in attendance were only familiar with Does It’s album debut You Have No Idea What You’re Getting Yourself Into, the group were taking the opportunity to road-test a wide selection of tracks from their unreleased sophomore effort. Most of the new tracks buzzed, squelched and beat-down with the appropriate level of intensity, they lacked the impact of the earlier work, suggesting that plenty of work will need to be done at the production and mixing desks to ensure a follow-up success.

Of course, such analytical thoughts were far from the minds of a crowd that was fighting for air as much as room on the floor and an unrestricted view, and for the most part the din was rhythmic enough to keep the masses entertained. Battle Royale and Let’s Make Out provided particular high points, while We Are Rockstars was received with real elation. Not so gratefully accepted was a wilfully lackadaisical rendition of Dawn Of The Dead, slowed down to a dirge and lacking much of the joyful percussion that made it such a stand-out in the studio. It is understandable, of course, that a band will grow tired of playing their tracks the same way, but this oh-so-contrary choice of reworking seemed a little hard to take. Some fans were also left questioning why Epic Last Song did not make it onto the set-list, but an earnest post-gig quizzing of band members made it clear that it has quite possibly never been played live.

After the show had ended – despite lengthy and insistent cries of “one more song” from the crowd – the floor was strewn with disused cups and bottles and security ushered out stragglers. A small segment of the gathering were allowed to stay back and party on into the night with the Reading collective, wending a path from the Gov to the city’s Hindley St underbelly, where the hijinks continued until a quite offensive hour indeed.

CHECK OUT ALL THE PHOTOS HERE.