Brown Paper Bag # 3:JonathanBoulet, Rat Vs Possum @ DingDong, Melbourne (16/07/2010)

Sun 18th Jul, 2010 in Gig Reviews

The kids from Northeast Party House really appear to be kids from a north-east party house. The look is uber-hip opp shop deluxe (ironically ugly oversized jumpers, and chunky Nike sneakers favoured by Robert Smith back in the day), and the sound is sort of what a Bloc Party take on seventies disco might end up as. There was lots of awesomely cheesy synth action, backed up by disco-funk beats, cow bells and jangly guitars, and their non-musical equipment included a wind-up toy dog and epileptic-seizure-inducing, blinding strobe lights that were set to the highest possible candescence. Since their relatively recent conception in April, Northeast Party House seems to have exploded on the live scene and it seems that this party is far from over.

Even before the second band East Brunswick All Girls Choir started setting up, there were a few animated whispers around Ding Dong: “Oh wow, look, it’s the drummer from Children Collide!” Much to the excitement of punters, Children Collide’s Ryan Caesar was indeed on skins duty for the underground Melbourne alternative band. Lead singer Marcus Hobbs adorably found the idea of having a famous drummer absolutely hilarious, opening the set by saying, “This is our new song Jelly Legs,” before breaking out into one of EBAGC’s signature brooding shoegaze tunes and not the new Children Collide single. “What else do we have? Farewell Rocketship. That was pretty good as well. [The joke is] not even funny anymore.” Hobbs quickly added, “Well, it is for me.” The local four-piece have become well known for their dark, Radiohead-esque songs, and their performance at Ding Dong did not disappoint. A soundtrack for aching loneliness, they played through excellently soul-crushingly melancholic songs from their Dead Air EP like _ Thanks for the Fucking Job_, The Watertower Waltz and Ocean Noose.

By the time The Parking Lot Experiments came on, there were so many photographers flashing away at the local band that it was almost like they had borrowed Northeast Party House’s strobe lights. It was fully deserved as well – The Parking Lot Experiments are one of the most amazingly unique and talented bands to come out of Melbourne in recent years and have a refreshingly innocent quality about them. It’s difficult to not fall in love with a band of musicians who almost seem like children with stubble (evidenced by comments like, “We’re going to crank things up with a song about PUPPIES!!!”, wearing backward baseball caps and really wacky dancing).

They created their brand of upbeat, tropical experimental pop with a standing percussionist, a guitar, a bass, multiple synths and samples that referenced eighties video game music so much that a happy punter commented, “I feel like I’m playing Sega!” Perhaps the highlight of the set was a song with The Parking Lot Experiments’ usual retro keyboard sound and random video game bleeps completely juxtaposed against hardcore rap beats, while the entire band jumped and jived around their respective instruments in the dorkiest but cutest fashion possible.

Continuing on with the trend of excellent local bands, Rat Vs Possum commandeered the Ding Dong stage with their slew of magnificent synths, keyboards, samplers and drums. The five Melburnians filled the venue with their layers of synths, floor tom smashes, voodoo vocals and queer noise samples. The focus of their epic, witchy instrumental pieces always centred on their insane tribal rhythms, but the crowd also seemed incredibly impressed by singer Daphne Shum’s Dadawa-esque shaman warbling.

By the time headlining act Jonathan Boulet got on stage, the night was already massively behind schedule for its midnight finish. “Hello everyone! How’s it going? We haven’t got much time, so let’s make this quick,” the singer hastily greeted the crowd while the rest of his band were tuning up. It’s not surprising that this Sydneysider has been labelled as the next Gotye. His early musical days saw him banging away at the drums, but his creative talents saw him eventually writing, performing, recording and mixing his critically acclaimed self-titled debut album. Boulet may be on guitar and vocals tonight, but it’s clear in the music that he’s always a drummer at heart. While there’s a percussionist and a drummer filling in for him, the subtly frantic rhythms are reminiscent of The Dodos, and are what truly propels his cheerful indie melodies forward.

But even with his incredible talent, the humble Boulet seemed overwhelmed by the local bands on the bill. “Did anyone catch East Brunswick All Girls Choir?” Boulet piped. “Holy crap. Where are you guys hiding these bands? Did anyone catch The Parking Lot Experiments? Holy crap. Where are you guys hiding these bands??? Did anyone catch Rat Vs Possum? Holy crap! Why are we playing last? We should be supporting these bands!”

The blonde singer’s sadly short set included gems like crowd favourite A Community Service Announcement, Ones Who Fly Twos Who Die, 3 2 1 Ready Or Not and a positively charming new track. If anyone wants to lose weight without trying, they should definitely pick up his LP because they’re guaranteed to jump around like maniacs in time to his lovely indie pop.

CHECK OUT PHOTOS FROM THE NIGHT HERE