Brisbane trio I Heart Hiroshima continued their Australian tour of their recently released second album, The Rip, with an explosive show at The Workers Club. Their new album continues on its predecessor’s path of melodic, fast-paced rock ‘n’ roll. Their setlist included a mix of songs from The Rip and 2007’s Tuff Teef, as well as a few surprises.

The Workers Club has recently been rebadged – it used to be the Rob Roy – and wonderfully refurbished. The bare walls of the bandroom, showing only the skeleton of he building’s foundation, give the intimate warehouse-like space a unique feel.

A reasonably sized crowd was warmed up by Melbourne bands Love Connection and Gold Tango. The latter are an interesting three-piece made up of organ, guitar and drums. In unison they created a dense and eerie sound, with robotic, chanting vocals from the drummer and organist.

The mood changed dramatically with the next act, Yama Boy. His one-man show of sedate, atmospheric electro saw much of the audience seated on the floor as the Workers Club became soaked in synth, beats and echoed, effect-tinged vocals. Armed with a keyboard, sampler, mixer and laptop, Yama Boy created a trippy wall-of-sound. ideal for his early Sunday evening set.

I Heart Hiroshima’s first few songs were not particularly strong, mainly due to poor sound. The vocals were drowned out by the instruments, which didn’t do their early songs any justice at all. However, the problem seemed to sort itself out by the time they ripped through new song, River.

Drummer and vocalist Susie Patten has a remarkable ability to maintain the backbone of the band’s frenetic songs, while sharing vocal duties with lead guitarist Mathew Somers. Patten’s passionate performance is worth the price of admission alone.

The sound had improved and the set turned the corner at this stage, and River was followed by an excellent rendition of another new song, aptly titled The Corner. For this melodic tune, which is reminiscent of Arcade Fire, rhythm guitarist Cameron Hawes provided a driving riff, accompanied by melodic licks from Somers. This was the best song so far and perfectly captured the band’s on-stage energy, which is their most captivating feature.

Lackluster and lame performances are all-too common from many bands, but I Heart Hiroshima certainly give their audience value for money. They possess compelling electricity that leaves punters with no doubt that the band has given their all and left nothing in reserve.

There is an agitated energy in their sound and performance that really sucks you in. This is enhanced by the fact that the band doesn’t bother with bass. Their dueling guitars, thumping drums and impassioned male and female vocals combine to give their songs an urgent and dynamic tone.

While the crowd was quite passive – as seems to be the case at most Melbourne gigs – the packed Workers Club seemed to appreciate the Brisbane band’s relentless performance.

The energetic tone continued as they performed London in Love, the first song they wrote and released back in 2006, which probably attracted many fans. Their rousing version of this minimalist, punky song shook the bandroom’s rickety foundations and, like many of their tunes on the night, sounded a lot meatier live than on record.

I Heart Hiroshima closed their set with a thundering rendition of Teef, from their debut album. Patten’s venomous drumming peaked during this powerful conclusion, which featured a number of teasing and ultimately climactic breakdowns.

It was a fitting end to an intense performance. While the band from BrisVegas didn’t sound at their best during the first part of the show, they very much made up for it with a scintillating back-end to their set and proved why they are considered such a good live band.