Yves Klein Blue, CloudControl, Last Dinosaurs @ TheCorner Hotel, Melbourne(19/03/2010)

Tue 23rd Mar, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Opening act Last Dinosaurs came onstage with fake Tom Selleck moustaches; vocalist/guitarist Sean Caskey also sporting a swashbuckling pirate hat much to the enjoyment of the punters who made it there early. Perhaps the mo’s were to make them look older, because as soon as the glue wore off from gig-induced sweat the entire band had baby-bottom-smooth faces. But don’t let young ages fool you – Last Dinosaur’s music make girls swoon with delight with their dreamy melodies and charming indie rock.

Their set included gems like Alps, the ever-charming Honolulu and Saturn. Older track As Far As You’re Concerned was played as well, showcasing the simpler melodies and garage punk band feel of their early work. It’s nice to hear a band progress and mature for once. They may be the Last Dinosaurs, but they’re far from extinct.

Second band on the bill, Cloud Control, hail from the Blue Mountains. Images of souvenir tea towels, eucalyptus trees and camping come to mind, but the four-piece band are perhaps one of the more interesting of exports to come from the world heritage listed region.

They had that slowly satisfying feel of the Dodos, with The Beach Boys’ pop song sensibilities and a teensy weensy bit of Fleetwood Mac thrown in for good measure. Plodding glittery drums provided by Ulrich Lenffer made the crowd bob their heads from side to side like they were at a high school disco, while Heidi Lenffer and Al Wright’s vocal harmonies had all the Cloud Cadets (apparently that’s what their fans are called) singing along. One particular track that had all their cadets cheering along to was Deathcloud, which is actually quite a sunny track despite bizarre nonsensical lyrics: “Do as I say, as I say. Drive, drive into the desert. You don’t know why. With his pretty wife and the garden gnomes, in the park at home he saw a UFO.” Top points for originality by rhyming “gnomes” and “UFO”.

Yves Klein Blue’s growing success has seemingly seen their target audience shift more and more towards the mainstream. They started their career tagged as an “indie punk” band who covered Iggy Pop and the Stooges’ Search and Destroy and went into local shops handing out their CDs. But as time goes on and they get more attention from the media, their target audience is slowly changing. The punters at the Corner Hotel were largely conventional, Just Jeans wearing girls and their uninterested boyfriends who were dragged along. The YKB boys are now at that awkward stage when they have to be super careful about choosing support acts and singles which could turn them into the next musical powerhouse… or one of those embarrassing bands that girls listen to just for the singles (through no fault of their own).

Either way, they proved one thing: they write choice indie songs, and they put on a hell of a show. The house lights were dimmed as the band strutted onstage to the sounds of I Put a Spell On You. It was a fitting choice considering everyone at the fully sold-out venue was completely mesmerised by the four-piece. As they opened with Dinosaur, coloured lights and moving projector images made the YKB lads look like they were lifted directly off the cover of Ragged & Ecstatic . Songs given the live treatment by Michael Tomlinson and his crew were Walk On the Wild Side, Ghost Song, Digital Love, Polka, Queeny and a couple of new tracks that slotted in perfectly with their back catalogue.

Before launching into a heavier, brass-less version of Summer Sheets, Tomlinson drawled to the crowd, “This next number is about fantastic sex… Has anyone here had fantastic sex?” The girls pretty much melted, which is unsurprising because Tomlinson resembles a modern day Elvis. Summer Sheets was followed by another new song with a Nirvana-esque intro. “This one is also about great sex. Fuck, I’m a Scorpio,” Tomlinson said unabashedly. For their big closing number Getting Wise, it all got a bit too much for the crowd and about thirty or so stage invaders joined YKB onstage. No matter who they’re fans are – teenage girls who heard them on Triple J or hardcore music lovers who’ve been there since the start – one thing’s for sure: YKB are still absolutely amazing.