The Twoks, Tom Budge @ TheToff in Town, Melbourne(07/10/2009)

Fri 9th Oct, 2009 in Gig Reviews

The Toff in Town hosted The Twoks album launch on Wednesday night, with an appreciative crowd ignoring the mid-week slump for the band’s great performance. With plenty of guests in tow, the launch was certainly a strong sales pitch for the debut album, It Won’t End That Way.

Support for the evening was provided by Tom Budge, who performed solo with only his acoustic guitar. Standing before a nice turnout of seated early comers, the first few numbers of Budge’s set saw the man singing perfectly, but performing awkwardly – his fuzzy hair and green sweater giving him the look of the eccentric singer songwriter he is, but his stillness on stage reflecting quite oddly. After warming to the stage though, Budge’s performance became a lot more than just a “man with guitar show”.

Befuddled facial expressions, twisting head jerks and all kinds of emotion began to spew from the man’s face as he reacted to the characters he sung about. Moving constantly between an almost spoken style and taking on the more impressive notes, his songs about drinking, paying for having a good time, and tales of supposed love that turn out to be quite the opposite cropped up in Budge’s repertoire, each giving the addition of dark humour and delight in Budge’s expressive delivery. What started out quite strange turned into a fantastic set.

It’s been said before but it’s worth bringing up again – the Toff is such a great venue. Granted, Tom Budge has an notable vocal ability to begin with, the quality of the acoustics in the venue suited his style perfectly, and the performance of the Twoks that followed could not have been better complemented by the theatre-esque venue as well.

Xani Kolac had already begun playing as the curtains were drawn on the Twoks. Seated on the left of stage, she began a series of effects on her violin, which looped together to form the tender introduction of She’ll Be Right. Accompaniment by Stewart Taylor (bass) and Mark Leahy (drums) did come eventually, but the fancy crafting of Kolac made it no surprise that she was to be the star of the show.

The faster and darker Here Come the Sharks was next, followed by the Twoks’ song about the drought, in which they repeated the lyric, “Where did all the snails go to?” Repetitive lyrics might be an issue for some, but the Twoks are a dominantly instrumental act so they can be forgiven for it. In the latter track, there was more impressive looping from Kolac, along with some fancy bass work from Taylor, making for a rather long number in all.

There were plenty of additions to the trio as well, with Kolac inviting members from Yohosie (her other band) to the stage. Ed Harcourt joined in on vocals for the rockier Fix It (with the best violin intro of the night), and little sister Meg Kolac appeared on double bass for a piece named Cuba – an upbeat musical jaunt inspired by the sisters’ travels together. Martin Martini appeared on stage (interrupted on his way to the toilet, no less) for a performance of Merry-Go-Round, a suitably dark and pessimistic number for the man to appear in. Martini’s vocals were harsh and intrusive, the complete opposite of Kolac’s, which made from some interesting sounds when the pair sang together. Finally, a pair of extra violins and a cello were added to the stage for the rousing Falling Sky.

Guests out of the picture, and the band too, Kolac performed a couple of numbers all on her lonesome. One, No Matter What, saw a completely stripped back number transforming into what sounded like a rich string section along with plenty of vocal harmonies, all care of Kolac’s loops. She again performed solo with a cover of Prince’s Little Red Corvette, a quirky rendition she made her own.

Sweet finished off the night, the piece’s title being the best way to sum it all up. Like the instrumental tracks played previously in the night, the concluding number showed the trio in their element, moving through it both professionally and joyously.