The Newtown Workers club is my kind of bar. Smallish but with a style of its own, walking through the front bar we enter the band room, which is like a converted warehouse with its concrete floor wood veneer covers the walls and roof and the whole scene is lit by candlelight.

The first and only support of the night The Ocean Party open poorly making me cringe at the meandering pop that has become the garage rock recently with every band and their dog having a crack at it. Fortunately this is quickly rectified in St Kilda Beach when lilting guitar licks that reminiscent of the Go Betweens melt into the sort of nerdy pop rock we haven’t seen the likes of since the first Weezer album. The band works best when the keyboardist leaves the stage he doesn’t add anything to the uptempo songs and the slow tracks are mostly like dreary Paul Kelly imitations. Lead singer Lachlan’s vocals are extremely similar to those of Panics vocalist Jae Laffer which is probably a big part of why the down tempo stuff like Winter tend not to work, it just sounds like poor mimicry. However mixing this vocal style with a more summery musical style works beautifully. I would suggest that in the future The Ocean Party pick and choose their influences a bit more, diversify a bit, lose the Dylan, Shins and Paul Kelly, keep the Go-Betweens, Panics and throw in some Weezer, Pixies or Beatles.

We a re left waiting for over an hour before Ghostwood finally take the stage in which the play, admittedly good, music from their Ipod. When they do finally begin they open with a pleasant backdrop of ambient feedback, which permeates the set, before launching into the groove laden Stargazer. Like the Stone Roses and Primal Scream before them the key to Ghostwoods brilliance is taking a seemingly outdated style of music and placing it to a dance rhythm. However unlike those bands Ghostwood does it with a shoegaze sound similar to that of Ride. This results in the strange feeling of being in an introspective dark mood whilst not being able to stop your feet from picking up on the beat. Many in the room seem to have the same trouble as they struggle to decide whether to stand still or dance. Not that this is a bad thing it just takes some getting used to, what would help is if the band interacted with the audience the ambient noise between songs is fine at the beginning and end but stales in the middle.

The backdrop of video images from clouds to supernovas and fish eyes lens shots of driving accompany the moods perfectly on songs like Untie My Shoelaces. Gabby Navidzadeh’s vocals and the intricate guitar patterns of both Paddy Harrowsmith and Navidzadeh leave a layered sonic montage on the mind. All the while the rhythm section maintains the impenetrable rhythm the drives the set. Tom Crandles fuzzy psychedelic bass lines proving the go between for the guitars and James West’s drumming. Closing with the amazing Rest my Soul means that everyone is left wanting more. Gabby shows his influences, by kneeling down and playing percussion ala Ian Brown in a psychedelic wig out. We are left as we began in a haze of feedback.