Mr Maps, Skinny Jean, DoomDoom, Grids/Units/Planes @ TheAlley, Brisbane (12/02/2011)

Mon 14th Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Mr Maps is an extraordinary band; consistently refusing to be classified as ‘ambience’ music and creating powerful roller coaster rides from strings, beats and keys, the group launched their new album at The Alley with help from three bands with startlingly similar feels and heavy natures.

Grids/Units/Planes is the lovechild of creator Andrew Foley and late 80s sci fi. Consisting of blips, bleeps and the creative splicing of sound pieces of sci fi philosophic musings this one man act takes you back to a different time. At times the heavy sound falls into just noise, and is slightly lacking in melody in certain tracks, but Foley shyly weaves a sound that is interesting, if not the sweeping grandeur of later acts.

Doom Doom is a bizarre act of electronica blended with 90s punk stylings, with clear, quick drums and vocals that melt into the instrumentals, adding rather than subtracting in their lack of intelligibility. The centre piece of this act is the peculiar fellow on keys. Wearing bright green pants that look like they were put on ten years ago and never taken off, he gives off a Peter Pan feel with his aggressively flamboyant dancing and refusing to give up the keys, even when the legs collapse under them multiple times. As far as sound goes, if you like a bit of punk with your electronica Doom Doom will be right up your alley.

On next was Skinny Jean, known for their signature work Dolce Doggerel. With a heavy, claustrophobic sound keeping with the night’s theme, the band are joined by guest Kirsty Tickle of Little Scout. Lifted by the vocals of both leadman Shem Allen and Tickle, the group played a mixture of older tracks along with newer offerings. The banter between members was a refreshing change of pace, and the presence of audible lyrics helped to bring the attention of the audience back from concentrating on instrumentals. Some of the older tracks were clearly designed for vocals of a different range, but the members stepped up and put on a show that suggests exciting things are to come once the band returns from a hinted-at upcoming recording bout.

I’ve never seen a more patient crowd wait the coming of the headlining act – patrons sat on the hard concrete or stood towards the back as the band set up for sound check, and watched as they took their places. Mr Maps is a band of journey and melody – totally without lyrics and reliant on the ability of the music to draw the audience in, and trap them in a created world of immersion.

And they did not disappoint. With complex and subtle melodies created from the often underlying strings and keys the rush of the music almost overwhelms, but lifts you along like a twig in the current. Many of the punters looked entranced, a good deal of them with eyes closed, letting the music be all that was important, which was helped by the band’s steady flow from track to track, only momentarily breaking to fix minor sound issues. There is something about a total absence of words that makes you imagine what the music is about, and the composition of the pieces tells a story individual to each listener.

With a standing ovation and cries for an encore, the band finished with a piece from their previous album called I See Them, They’re Like Mountains, which was clearly a crowd favourite. Their show was bittersweet, as the band announced that Chloe Cooper on keys was leaving the group to pursue fashion. Even in my dazed state, cartilage still vibrating from sitting too close, I felt privileged to have witnessed this event and time in the band’s life, and scored a great album to boot.