Rat Vs. Possum, SPOD @GoodGod, Sydney (17/2/11)

Mon 21st Feb, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Rat vs. Possum scurried into Sydney for their second appearance in two weeks. Their first courtesy of the Laneway Festival where they played to a sparse crowd in the blistering midday heat. This time they were playing their own show at Good God Small Club with one thing a constant, still sweltering …

Joining the Melbournian tribe were Sydney’s very own guitar hypnotists No Art and the ever eclectic SPOD. First off rank and warming up the crowd, No Art’s rhythmic guitar patterns were reverberating around an empty room, dotted only by friends of the band or those revelling in the chance at getting into the first ciders of the evening. The trio weren’t far into their set when they requested the air conditioning be switched off because of sound interference. As the heat from earlier in the day seeped in through the walls, it wasn’t just the swirling sound that was sending me into the odd head spin. Those familiar with No Art will know their sound flirts equally with 80s new wave, 90s shoegaze and a foreboding lo-fi haze: something that seems to be the signature sound of 2010-11. No Art are a great local band but something tells me tonight is not their night. Their enchanting three part harmonies had those in the room under their spell but playing to an empty room has its limits.

One man who isn’t bothered by entertaining himself is SPOD. His self-produced beats were the entrée to a show that most of the crowd seemed to be familiar with. Openly declaring this was his last Sydney appearance before he moves overseas, I was expecting the usual throng of backup dancers etc. but most of them were in the crowd cheering him on.

”Awe shit I think the song’s about to start”, yelped SPOD as his first backing track begins to thud. “This mic canister is fucked, it won’t let go of my mic, it’s maximum security ya’ll!” Giving my English buddy his first taste of local music, you could forgive me for thinking he was watching something out of his wildest dreams. “How can this dude make a song about cats so awesome?!” he shouts to me. SPOD’s signature party breakdown Cats, a concoction of Gameboy trills and oddball beeps gets the whole crowd bouncing. If you can’t get into SPOD there is something seriously defective with your ‘fun gene’. The guy is so likeable, for me it’s his ability to extract so much from so little and in the age of one man set ups like El Guincho, Four Tet and team there are few that don’t take themselves too seriously (Dan Deacon and Andrew WK being the exceptions).

There is a lot of hype surrounding the guys who are next on stage. Melbourne crowds will know what I’m talking about, I myself have been personally ear bashed with all things Rat Vs Possum by one or two southern brothers and sisters. It’s understandable, there is reason to believe this band will be big. The band enter into a woozy chant “I think I love you/But it might just be the pills” is repeated over and over for Pills a tumultuous druggy racket of floor-toms and tropical incantation. There’s a sense that the band are building up to something big, with each new song, there’s more loops and more space to lose yourself in. Listening to these guys is purely psychotropic. I hear myself thinking, “Hell I don’t care if these guys have slipped something into my drink and I’m about to get attacked by gorillas, this is too much fun!”_

By the Binti Jua comes around there are floor-toms a glistening under red lights, with three out of the five band members pounding away, even the recently switched on air conditioning duct cops a battering. Guitarist Matt Kulesza sheepishly murmurs something about merch, “You can find our album on any good Bit Torrent site, cause all our t-shirts and CDs went missing at Laneway”.

Finishing with Animals, the band turn up their amps and unleash what seems like a tribute to The Lion King, a salute to the African plains. “All the animals calling, calling/While the rain is falling, falling.” I have well and truly jumped on the Rat Vs Possum bandwagon and although Sydney crowds can be standoffish with up and coming bands, I think they’ll jump on as soon as they realise this wagon’s going places!