Being new to Sydney, it was my first visit to the Annandale Hotel on Friday night. Not knowing what size audience to expect, I was pleased to see people flocking in steadily and it was already more than half full waiting for Daughterboy Jao to start the evening off. 

The three-piece from Melbourne had my attention immediately with their brand of melodic garage-rock; jangly guitar sounds reminiscent of the Stones vying for attention by the Strokes, fused with darkly unhinged lyrics, all expertly reigned in by drummer Dave’s insistent beats.

Bassist Emma had me mesmerised; her slight figure, thrashing away at a seemingly larger than life guitar displaying almost a cartoonish eccentricity, which expertly blended with singer/guitarist Oliver’s super-cool measured vocals. They had me sucked in from start to finish by their slick and darkly unsettling performance. 

Faker rocked onto stage with bundles of excess testosterone-laced energy.  Singer Nathan threw himself on our mercy with total abandon, pushing all the right buttons.  The eager audience, enthralled by this talented Sydney 5-piece, flocked into the room immediately surged to the front. 

Raw pop-indie sounds, a smattering of fast and catchy Smiths-style guitar riffs (yes that guitarist bore more than a striking resemblance to a young Johnny Marr), fused with powerful vocals. Plenty of thrashing drums stapled their sound together and tore through the pub’s vibrating sound system, leaving my heart playing ping pong with my throat.  It was a tight set with the music almost pushed into the backseat by their overwhelming performance; for me, the appeal was in their total unfettered enthusiasm for playing together.   

Finally the long-awaited headliners, Perth band End of Fashion, took to the stage with their heavy guitar-based brand of pop rock complete with wailing vocals, simple and catchy lyrics and thumping drum beats in a MusefusedStereophonics style.

The boys, just back from the USA (having recorded their first album due out later in the year) seemed a slightly mismatched bunch tonight though. Maybe this was due to the arrival of their new bass player, who appeared nervous and unsettled; though he cheered up considerably at the mention that it was his birthday.

It certainly was an energetic performance all round but the togetherness they emitted when I last saw them play had diluted somewhat.  What happened to all that aggressive and triumphantly raw energy displayed at the Homebake Festival 04? Perhaps it was left somewhere between here and Mississippi?

The performance was held fervently together, by pretty-boy singer Justin. With his coy smiles and constant banter, he certainly kept the crowd engaged but I was left wanting more than their over-polished eager to please sound. Their set petered out with no crescendo to a conclusion. More grit please!