Deep Sea Arcade, Surf City @OAF, Sydney (11/02/11)

Mon 14th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Step Panther had the early opening honours down at OAF and thankfully a few punters were there to catch a band really starting to get their sound in order. They’ve been playing live a lot lately which is paying off in terms of honing and balancing their mix of 60s surf and pop and grungy, stop-start blasts of bratty punk. They also possess a nice line in stage banter, mainly between the three of them, which adds an interesting angle of personality to their music. From the girl group via The Ramones lament of Jimmy to songs with manic structures they played a hyper-hummable and entertaining set. Apparently an album is happening soon.

Surf City are starting to get some traction in Australia via some stellar press for last year’s Kudos album which was described on FasterLouder as ‘continuing the legacy of skewed kiwi guitar pop that has been crawling out of the practice rooms of New Zealand for the last thirty years’. From start to finish the band thankfully did nothing to alter that perception, instead reinforcing how strong that brand of kiwi indie music is to a certain cross section of music listeners. As if to acknowledge those past heroes singer/guitarist Davin Stoddard was even wearing a 3Ds t-shirt in homage.

Sticking pretty closely to the album tracks from Kudos the band didn’t muck around with small talk or tuning breaks. Instead they softly hurtled from song to song building a textured wall of sound that seemed to move in melodic waves. Yes it was loud but not in an abrasive way. Vocally Surf City tend to lock onto hummable hooks and repeat them over and over or use chanting to add accents to the music. The end result was a room full of nodding heads all caught up in the hypnotic spell of what amounts to a fuzzy psychedelic meeting of The Velvet Underground and The Clean.

Kudos in particular stood out with its chorus of oohs over a guitar line reminiscent of The Cult’s Rain. Both elements of the song elevated the music and thinned the air wonderfully. Elsewhere Yakuza Park and Crazy Rulers of the World sounded magnificent through their soft glow of of fuzz and distortion. Come back soon lads.

Deep Sea Arcade are another band building their reputation with endless hooks and a more engaging live show. The immediate contrast with Surf City was the clarity of their sound. For the most part they embrace the spaces in their music instead of going for the dense and layered approach. It made for a much more immediate connection with their audience and allowed them to really hear what each member of the band was doing once the sound man got the mix right with the guitar levels.

Frontman Nic McKenzie is becoming the consummate performer, much improved from his detached persona of past shows. Chatting to the crowd, announcing songs and encouraging them to visit the bar were all part of the charm he exuded behind that strangely helium-charged voice he has. His ability to conjure up the many strands of British music from 60s backbeat to Madchester baggy and 90s britpop was impressive and they showed they have the songs to match their lofty aspirations. Keep On Walking deserves to be a hit, Don’t Be Sorry was woozy, melancholic psychedelia while Lonely In Your Arms confirmed why it is the masterpiece in their songbook.

All the bands seemed to play short sets but it seemed just right that all three left the audience wanting more. Three shades of pop made for a pretty great evening of music.