A Lion Island gig is as much a study in songmanship as it is in pure logistics. Never was this more true than their shambolic attempt at fitting their nine members and equipment onto what must surely be Brisbane’s tiniest stage at Ric’s. In the end, the stage was three-quarters equipment and one quarter human bodies, but it could in no way accommodate this instrument-swapping indie-folk collective, with three of the members forced to perform on the floor amongst the squashed punters.

First in the evening (after Lion Island’s Ramones-eque soundcheck which was, sadly, not repeated in the set proper), was fellow collective Epithet. Led by Lion Island (and ex- Mr Maps) guitarist Nick Smethurst, this debut set seemed a few rehearsals short of tight. While most of the songs started out great, they seemed to fizzle into a whimper as one or more of the members lost their way through the mess. The songs themselves were a solid mellow indie-ness and set a decent framework for hopefully something a bit more developed in future.

One of the positive side effects of having a nine piece band is the sheer weight of numbers each member can bring to the audience. Everyone’s girlfriend, boyfriend, sister, cousin, neighbour and workmate seemed to be out in force and crammed into the tiny space which is Ric’s on a Friday night. Of course, the major downfall of a nine piece band is the appropriate mixing of the sound – and in a small room such this was an impossibility and led to the intricacies of what makes this band being lost within the wall of noise. Their shambolic drunken sea shanty vibe comes across well in I’ll Take You Down and the rousing After All, but the cute interplay between ukulele and vocal in Fear Not is hopelessly lost in the delivery. The sound fills out with a constantly changing line up of instruments which sees the likes of bouzouki, banjo, violin and uke compete with the guitar, bass, keys and percussion and the occassional unmiked trumpet, which tends to drown out everything.

Enigmatic frontman Matthew Vale tries hard to lead his troops through the inspired “gang vocal” deliveries, but no doubt suffering from the same sound problems as the audience, this often falls flat and all we’re left with is tuneless yelling which overrides the intentions of the songs. A short set officially launches their first EP, closing with easily the song of the night (and EP title track) Berlin – its solid melody and rousing intensity leaving the crowd genuinely enthralled. Tonight’s gig, while far from great, showed the amazing depth of this young band and will keep even non-related audience members coming back for more – if only they promise to find gigs with decent PAs to handle their concept.