The Spitfires @ Mojos Bar,Fremantle (28/04/11)

Sat 30th Apr, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Its 10.47pm on a mildly cool Wednesday night at the Mojo’s Bar Fremantle Sessions. The mood is similar to the weather and the drunken mob of patrons are entertaining themselves between acts. They are casually awaiting the headlining band on the bill, The Spitfires. The noise from the audience ceases long enough to hear Sean Regan’s voice murmur through the microphone. “Oh, fuck off Paul”

Tonight is the last gig The Spitfires will play in Australia before they fly out to the UK for their first international tour. This is a giant and somewhat risky leap for an independent Perth based act, but the trio, consisting of Alex Hay on drums, Paul Bovenkerk on Bass and Vocalist/guitarist Sean Reagan, have been working hard at making a name for themselves for quite some time. In true punk style, they have done so without much concern for consequences. Recently they launched their latest single “Radio Control” without a front cover, after Nova radio Australia issued a ‘cease and desist’ letter threatening a legal battle after they turned the Nova boy logo into Hitler on their promotional material. Their latest stunt involves a forged NME magazine cover printed on merchandise that contains slanderous headlines. “Doherty tosses off chimp” “The Strokes, still crap”.

Earlier, two new WA acts Fieldtrip and Wash opened the night strongly. Fieldtrip is Daniel Byfield on drums/vocals and Shaun Martin on Piano/Vocals. They have a sound like Ben Folds mixed with Smashing Pumpkins and combine that with a hint of New York influence. They finished their set with a haunting rendition of Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana. Wash’s tight, fast British Punk sound followed. This was their first show with a new drummer and their growing popularity showed as they filled the room before Sidewalk Diamonds came on.

Sidewalk Diamonds are another Perth band tying folk and punk rock influences together. With 12 string guitar in hand, Damien Goerke dedicated the entire set to the weather but he was quickly corrected by bass player Ed Smith who dedicated their set to Alec Baldwin. The audience were captivated before the first chorus; Damien Goerke has an impressive vocal range and his strong Australian accent is reminiscent of Rolf Harris in Tie Me Kangaroo Down. James Luscombe on drums and Anthony Pugliese on lead guitar complete the picture of a well-rehearsed four piece and the songs are dramatically structured. They follow in the footsteps of acts like The National, Mewithoutyou and The Decemberists, combining folk song writing into tense and powerful build-ups, dropping back volume and tempo, toying with our ears before exploding into heavier interludes. The stand out track “I Don’t Get It” is being released as a single in May.

It wasn’t long before the well-dressed Dr. Green (Jake) England from The Caballeros made his way to the stage to introduce the headline act and joke about the upcoming royal wedding. The Spitfires briskly opened their set with crowd favourites Camden Town, Shallow Grave and Skeletons. If you haven’t seen The Spitfires live yet you are missing an experience. Eccentric front man Sean Regan, born in England and now living in Perth, has a cheeky, awkward persona and has never lost the British accent. Alex Hay is a brilliant addition, his fast paced drumming is superb and he hits his kit harder than anyone else in WA. Paul Bovenkerk complements the rest of the band perfectly as the quirky bass player. He confidently struts around stage looking just like a dog with its head out the car window, tongue lolling to one side, jubilantly plucking at his bass strings. The Spitfires are the in your face punk version of the Arctic Monkeys and they attempt to finish the set short due to Sean’s fading voice. After some polite persuasion from the crowd; “Come on you bums!”, The Spitfires finish the night off with their latest single Radio Control and new song Suffocate.

The Fremantle Sessions are a great way to spend any week night, good luck to the Spitfires in the UK. They will probably get arrested.