The Chemist, The Polites,Royston Vasie @ The GraceDarling, Melbourne(13/11/2010)

Fri 19th Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

As Melbourne decided to serve up one of it’s token wet and blustery nights, the Grace Darling Hotel filled up with people eager to get warm and fill their bellies. Only a handful though, headed upstairs to the bandroom early on to check out the openers for the night, Royston Vasie. And what a good decision it was.

With an odd name, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a one-man act. However, this little known four-piece were a pleasant surprise. The timid looking guys, all in full ‘movember’ swing (bar Dave, the manager/drummer for the night, perched up in the corner) played a set of high-energy, funk-tinged songs including Pop Boutique, Lucky Tonight and Give. It was an unusually long set for an opening band, but the polished sound of their beats, vocals and instrumental bridges were just what was needed to start the night. There’s only so much you can put into your show when you’re on such a small stage, with such a big sound. But they did what they could, and these guys are worth keeping an eye on.

Second up for the night was a riff-raff band of musicians that, together, are The Polites. Opening with the song that scored them the Triple J Unearthed Top Song award in 2008, Someone Else’s Rum, they pleased the crowd early on. From there, it was a cruisey mix of laid-back beats with subtle western themes, and slow and steady vocals on tracks like The Words You Never Say and If It Tastes Right. It’s good for a band to have a distinct sound, but the songs did start to sound ‘samey’ after a while. Admittedly though, the boys got a lot of cheers and already had a few fans (or perhaps just friends?) in the crowd. With chatter between songs kept to a minimum, and a rather abrupt ending to the set, the band didn’t really show their personality though (which, if you’ve read their blogs, is actually quite eccentric and funny). But let’s face it – most people just care about the music. They happily delivered, so we’ll leave it at that.

It’s fair to say that Western Australia has undoubtedly bred some of the best talent in this country’s history, and The Chemist are no exception.

Originally hailing from Western Australia, a state that has undoubtedly bred some of the best talent in this country’s history, the four boys from The Chemist recently made the move to Melbourne. This was their first home-town show and, with a truly refreshing sound, I think a good impression has been firmly made from the start. Although clearly still quite shy and humble, the guys played with a hefty amount of heart and energy. In this case though, being so completely wrapped up in their music unfortunately left bassist Hamish looking like he was constantly dry-humping his guitar, Elliot the drummer with an almost permanent O-face, and James frantically smashing and tinkling away at his keys. Only the leader of the pack, Ben Witt, kept relatively calm until the end. This is no slight on the band, but rather something worth noting as it genuinely added colour and character to the set, and gave you a sense of how much these guys love doing what they do.

Appearing early in the set Heaven’s Got a Dress Code featured some odd breathy vocals by Hamish, while a plodding saloon-style beat and subtle accordion drove Things Have Changed. And then, as if suddenly remembering they were there to launch an EP, the band played three tracks from Lullabies. Far from a lullaby though, the eerie, nightmarish sounds of Sweet Dreams, struggled somewhat to find it’s place in the room. The ridiculously catchy Lullaby #1 was next, however, and it sounded just as good live as on record. With its playful keys and funky beat, it filled the room with a happy, comfortable energy. So comfortable in fact that afterwards, Witt let us know that his pants had nearly fallen down mid-song, and he’d been tossing up in his head whether he was going to stop and pull them up, or leave them (For the record, he would’ve left them).

Next up was the soft and sweetly mellow tune of When Morning Comes, followed by an impressive cover of John Lennon’s How Do You Sleep?. A heavy drum beat then descended into the popular Stars, a song reminiscent of 60s pop. With its vocal effects and bouncy crescendo towards the end, it provoked some rather amusing synchronised head-bobbing by several crowd members close to the stage.

Finishing off the set on an absolute high, The Chemist pushed through End Of July, the song that has received a fairly heavy rotation on Triple J. As the song peaked, so too did the band members, with frenzied guitar shredding, stage-rolling and key-mashing, it was a sight to behold. So much so that it made you just want to break loose and join them. Instead, they joined us. Well, three of the band did. As Witt was left alone on stage with his five pedals, he kept the song looping around and hushed down the vocals, finally allowing them to fade into loud, static distortion before fading out altogether. It was an impressive end to an impressive set that left you feeling like you’d discovered something new, something big.