The Hungry Kids of Hungary are touring around Australia with The Holidays and Artisan Guns this month and on Friday night at the Oxford Art Factory it was Sydney’s turn to experience this hipster indie pop threesome. The Holidays immediately sounded like a well chosen support for Brisbane’s Hungry Kids of Hungary and their brand of indie pop and the OAF seemed to be the perfect choice in size for this gig.

Unsure what to expect from the Artisan Guns it wasn’t long before something slightly unique stood out to me. The strumming rhythm and speed wasn’t your usual southern hemisphere indie pop sound. This I was later informed kindly by their vocalist/guitarist Matthew Hope, was a bluegrass sound he gathered from time spent in southern USA.

Their performance on a whole was enjoyable, generally tight and it was an overall smooth night for them. The songs themselves contain a mellow aspect, a soft vocal and cruisier tempo than expected for the rest of the night. A pleasant start to the evening which is all I hoped for from this opening act and they provided this with ease.

This was The Holidays sixth showing at the OAF this year so one might be unsurprised if they felt a little too at home. Thankfully they still retained some energy for tonight. Their percussionist perhaps may not have been with them for those prior shows because he really stood out with his energy and vibrancy. This was far from a bad set, and many would have found it rather enjoyable – they could have given more.

They rolled through their songs in a positive fashion and did sound well together as a unit. The highlight of the set easily being Moonlight Hours. The band showed their real live potential during this songs interpretation and they really seemed to be enjoying it as much as the audience; really selling the song which is easily their best known. If they could play their entire set similar to that they could impress many.

A full venue immediately cheered with excitement as the Hungry Kids of Hungary hit the first few chords of Set it Right. Two new songs followed which seemed to drop the crowds energy to a level that it struggled to regain the starting hype for most of the show. Not that is was the bands fault. – they were effortless in presentation and precision of execution. The band had the bounce but it wasn’t coming through the speakers. Thankfully Wristwatch and the bands energy pulled this show onwards and upwards.

A well played set. They had fun, and involved the crowd. And their bouncing in Wristwatch was stage antics at its best. Expect this band to flourish at other future venues along this your.

Check out the photos from the gig