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Orogeny is a pearl in a ham sandwich; really, the last thing you’d expect when you take a bite of your Friday night (unless you’ve seen them before of course). Their music is so complex and evocative that you might wonder why you’d never heard of them before, and why they weren’t playing headline gigs every weekend. Once in a while, bands gel so well together and don’t start putting it out there till they can do it properly. It looks like this is the case for Orogeny.

Less surprisingly, it was at the Rocket Room on a Friday night that this little gem got a chance to shine. The venue seems to have a knack for booking a diverse array of bands giving everyone a chance much like the Hydey does, only the bands get to play on a real stage with decent lighting.

But back to the band. Like velvet and battered leather, the music invited us to touch it and let it envelop us with a fit that can only come from a lifetime of wear and untold tales. Lyrics appeared only as punctuation to those tales, the resulting soundscapes engrossing even after five minutes with no words. Orogeny seemed to have no concern for the niceties of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge, rather a concern for the mind’s aural journey. Actually, whilst on stage the band seemed to be swept up in their own music and forget they were performing for a room full of people. The glaring exception to this description was the cover of Great Southern Land which, while covered as brilliantly as is humanly possible, still remains an Icehouse song redolent with memories of bogans at the skyshow, Southern Cross tattoos and racist bumper stickers. But perhaps this is just one reviewer’s prejudice, certainly many of the crowd lapped up every second.

The reason for the gig, Scare City’s CD launch, fell flat by comparison, or perhaps that was just the singers. The music was full of hooks and beats that made those sitting on the barstools swing their legs and nod their heads, those standing grooved a bit, and there is no denying that these are skilled musicians with a knack of putting together songs that don’t sound formulaic. Their kick drum has some awesome artwork, which can also be found on their cd. - œSkinny’ O’Leary is undeniably beautiful to look at and fits perfectly front and centre stage. He would be even more beautiful without a mic. stand in front of him. Similarly, guitarist Alex Giles’ vocals were vastly improved when he was playing clarinet.

It is curious that this band has progressed so far through their career (EP Launch, national tour) without anyone ever telling them this, especially since conversations with several of the punters at the gig, a couple of people who weren’t there on the night but have heard them before as well as a listen to the EP confirms this criticism. It is entirely possible that the confusion resulting from wickedly executed music combined with awful vocals might appeal to some, but judging from the number of people outside smoking just past the halfway mark, they weren’t there on Friday night.

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