Pikelet @ Amplifier, Perth(23/04/10)

Tue 27th Apr, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Melbourne based pop princess Evelyn Morris of Pikelet spent most of the summer criss-crossing Australia in one form or another, but last Friday was Perth’s first chance to catch her with her full band for the launch of her new album Stem.

Support came first in the form of three-piece prog band Wind Waker. Playing prog with a minimalist flavour, Wind Waker is an agreeable balancing act between erudite and simpler more accessible sounds. The sparsity of vocals, subtle rhythm shifts, and rolling repetition mean that at times they are not the most ‘live-friendly’ of acts, but the music is refreshingly loud and original, especially with the addition of front woman Clancey Williams’ voice, which resonates loud and sharp above the echoes and repetition below.

Succeeding this was Melbourne solo artist Guy Blackman, his piano, and a barrage of fragile and vulnerable lyrics. Blackman’s music is simple and unadorned and provides a no-frills backdrop to his lyrics, which are the driving force behind his work, and the divisive pivot of his performance.

Whether you will really enjoy Blackman or not is mostly dependent on your own romantic inclinations. Blackman pours out conflicted and bitter-sweet love songs, mixing his own individual feelings and experiences with other wider, universal romantic sentiments that everyone can relate to. At times Blackman hits the nail on the head with lines like “I know you love me, but try to act like you don’t,” but at other times his fragilities come off seeming rushed and a little thin. At these moments Blackman’s music can easily be as lame as it is endearing, but if you’re not much of a sucker for love songs, there’s still enjoyment to be found in his charmingly honest pop music.

On a completely different note came Pond, channelling old 60s psychedelica and playing true to their extrovert reputation. Whilst it was a deliciously tight, loud, and danceable flavour of prog rock, it is not so much the music but its delivery that is the attraction of the outfit. They are most definitely a live band, with performance being their most entertaining and interesting aspect, and one driven almost entirely by their charismatic front man. Acting like a man possessed, he leapt, contorted, and screeched across and off the stage, dancing, and miming flute solos, and generally putting on one heck of a performance.

And then there was Pikelet. After seeing Morris completely comfortable and at home in her solo incarnation, the most interesting thing about Friday’s gig was always going to be watching how she dealt with three extra members on stage.

Pikelet’s songs often feature quite complex configurations, and so the addition of more band members seems like quite a natural decision, and for the most part it works well, with Morris still being able to front the band without fading into obscurity. The switch from her solo work, which relied heavily on a loop pedal, to the full band arrangement has resulted in her performance loosing some of its intimacy, but what is lost in this department is gained in the creation of a fuller, louder, and brighter sound. The loop pedal isn’t completely gone either, with Morris still using it on her voice at times.

Pikelet’s newer material is a natural progression, and not so different to what came before. This congruency meant that older favourites like Bug in Mouth could be seamlessly worked into the set whilst still being able to draw heavily from the new material, which was at its best in the brooding pop of Red Pleather.

Last time Pikelet was in Perth she had a packed crowd sitting cross-legged on the dance floor, and on the weekend she had a packed crowd dancing and bopping. Each of her Perth performances have been new and absorbing experiences, fluid and unpredictable like the music, and Friday was no different.