Thee Oh Sees @ AnnandaleHotel, Sydney (15/01/2011)

Wed 19th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It’s a Saturday night. Annandale hotel. Five solid rock n’ roll bands. What could possibly go wrong?

Not much, if the openers are anything to go by. Sydney trio Dead Farmers play loud, propulsive garage rock that doesn’t bother too much with subtlety, instead opting for big riffs and bombastic drums. And unlike some of their peers, they’re pretty good technically too, with frontman Dave embellishing many of the songs with big, dirty solos.

Fellow Sydney group Songs follow, marking a somewhat low-key return to the stage for a group that spent much of last year building a solid fanbase around town with their Flying-Nun-meets-noise-pop sound. Since their last show they’ve replaced half of their lineup, keeping the great songwriting half of Max and Ela but losing their rather inventive backbone of Steve and Jeff. They’ve been replaced with new members who hold their own, but can’t match the natural chemistry that Jeff and Steve had, particularly in the longer, jammier numbers. It still sounds good though, and it’s perhaps unfair to compare a new lineup debut to a well-seasoned band. It’ll be exciting to watch this phase of Songs develop.

Marking their (official) Sydney live debut, Melbourne group Total Control have a fair bit of buzz around them, based on a handful of great 7” releases and some glowing live reports from their hometown. Featuring members of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The UV Race and Straightjacket Nation, they play frenetic garage rock that evokes the aforementioned groups, but with a new-wave sensibility that sets it apart. The result is a great middle ground that’s familiar yet unique, and an absolute blast live.

Straight Arrows are main support tonight, bringing their sunny garage pop to the stage in a nice contrast to the previous group. With their debut record finally out and gaining some well-deserved attention, they seem to have a solid following throughout the Annandale. And they deliver, blasting through a set of concise, 60s-influenced guitar pop.

San Francisco group Thee Oh Sees last toured Australia a little over a year ago with Eddy Current Suppression Ring, building themselves quite a following with great live shows around the country. So it only makes sense for them to return to the same venue as headliners, drawing a big crowd in their own right.

Kicking off at around midnight, they show why they’re one of the world’s better known garage bands with a loud, but catchy and perhaps even danceable set. Despite their relatively recent rise in popularity, Thee Oh Sees have been around in differing forms for over five years now, and frontman John Dwyer had previous history in a number of other bands such as Coachwhips. So he definitely knows how to put on a great live show, and his great songwriting is held down well by bandmates Petey and Mike. And the cherry on top is keyboardist and vocalist Brigid Dawson, who adds a feminine side to the group that balances out the more muscular rock and roll elements. The combination of her vocals and John’s, both put through effects, makes all of the group’s elements sound like one cohesive whole, with the vocals still being clear, but also melting into the band’s wall of sound. It sounds great, and despite it being after midnight (uncharacteristically for a Sydney pub show) they get the crowd moving, ending a rather long bill of great bands on a high note.