Young Heretics, Gatherer,Alpine @ Workers Club,Melbourne (4/11/09)

Tue 8th Dec, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Having parted ways from his increasingly successful band of five years, The Getaway Plan, Matthew Wright has taken a leap into the unknown with new venture Young Heretics. With an opportunity to start over after apparent ‘musical differences’ saw his former band dissolve, it’s not surprising that his new outfit is worlds apart from the melodic, juvenile rock mould of TGP. Appropriately on this night, the results were on display at the also relatively new Workers Club venue on Brunswick Street.

Having recently changed their name from Swiss (assumedly due to the clash it created with Modular’s The Swiss), Alpine crammed all six members onto the Workers stage for their supporting slot. After a hiccup with some microphone levels, focus immediately turns to the two leading ladies in Lou and Phoebe, whose breezy interjecting vocals make for very easy listening. They also make for entertaining viewing as glitter was thrown and dance moves dropped to the beat of their seemingly Phoenix inspired tracks. With a very brief set allotted, Alpine were fleeting, but made a good and memorable impression. Be sure to include them in your gig going ways soon.

In a stark change of pace for the evening, Gatherer warmed the crowd further, moving away from the electro pop charms of the previous act and providing us with an onslaught of heavy prog-rock. Guitarist and vocalist Alex had 2003 memories flooding back with his Justin Hawkins style pipes, which actually complemented the band’s sound perhaps best of all. While the sudden burst of rock energy was a bit of an ambush, the crowd had filled out to perhaps it’s greatest figure for the entire evening, suggesting a few had come in anticipation for the Gatherer trio.

Had you assumed the ending of Gatherer’s set would mean them packing up their gear quickly and hustling off to make way for the headline act, you would be mistaken. As it turns out they formed the backing band for the Young Heretics, and as such simply parted their gear to the wings slightly as the aforementioned Wright and co-vocalist Kitty Hart prepared themselves front and centre.

From the first drumbeats of opener The Lost Loves, Hart had a shimmy going on that didn’t cease for the entirety of the set. She proved to be a slightly daunting yet engaging front woman, regularly staring down the crowd very wide eyed behind her mass of dark red hair. It would appear that Wright has found his calling, looking very much at home with the change to the melodramatic tones of Young Heretics.

The megaphone came out mid-set as Hart suddenly appeared, and sounded, every inch like Alice Glass of Crystal Castles fame. But unlike their Canadian counterparts, the show went on and no one got hurt, instead further entrancing the crowd with each tune. From the fronting couple to the band backing them, the performance was a very passionate one which was perfectly suited to the music they’ve made together.

As many bands tend to do the best was saved for last, with Bones of a Rabbit building from a tinkering piano/keys tune into a frenzy of drums with Hart thrashing out the final bars of the set on a lone cymbal. Keeping things consistent for the evening, the set was short but sweet and undoubtedly left this reviewer longing to see Young Heretics again soon.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE