Injured Ninja @ The Bakery,Perth (07/05/11)

Wed 11th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The long awaited premiere of Injured Ninja’s latest video clip Fallopian Tube Screamer took place at the Bakery at the weekend and was for the most part, a raging success.

Opening the night was another one of those doomy jam bands in the vein of Pond and Tusk that keep springing from the psychedelic lovers in the Perth scene. Named Electric Toad, at least for the night, it featured members of Mile End, The Silents and Cease among the usual suspects. Listening to their front man belt out beat-poetry style lyrics (which may or may not have been direct quotes from an argument with a housemate) ahead of intricate drone melodies with far more going on beneath the surface than audibly recognisable seemed like a perfect way to open the night.

The irrepressible Mongrel Country growled amiably at the early crowd, drawing many inside – though not inspiring dancing so much as people steeling themselves against the force of the musical backwash. Musically, Mongrel Country had a touch of the Velvet Underground to them, playing with more drawn-out chords in this set. Joint highlights of the set were Dean Anthonisz’ ducky suspenders, and set closer, My Gun Shoots Out Love which inspired a sing along from fans in the crowd.

Fresh from their fake breakup, the Bible Bashers with the new addition of the guitar half of Frozen Ocean, unleashed a torrent of irreverent brimstone rock on the crowd with slightly less of the mad, lecherous, women’s underwear wearing preacher element than usual, but all of the style. Other antics included swallowing and other microphone abuse and convincing audience members to provide drinks for the performers.

Beginning with the Bible Bashers’ clip for Wine Haemorrhage was the video-watching portion of the evening. The clips for Tomas Ford’s I Feel Dirty and Injured Ninja’s Fallopian Tube Screamer were played following an introduction by Vis Productions. The audience were attentive and supportive, with many looking hard to catch a glimpse of themselves in either the Bashers or Ninjas’ videos.

Ford’s video was quintessential Tomas Ford. Narcissictic and multiple personality disorder in equal measure, the clip consists of multiple iterations of Ford, dancing/abusing himself whilst the lyrics “I want to go out with you I feel so fucking dirty” (and so on) play in the background. Supremely entertaining.

Fallopian Tube Screamer tells the story of the coming of the dread Skylazer and shows a terrified crowd running from the menace, all except for the four band members who stride confidently against the flow of the crowd towards, and presumably to battle, the threat. The rest of the Skylazer story can be found in a 12-page comic that comes with the album. Perhaps the hype leading up to the premiere did the viewing experience a disservice. The concept was good, the filming effective, but the much-hyped state of the art CGI ending was not so successful, and the storyline didn’t entirely seem to fit the song. At times, the main character appears to be trying to force people to flee from Skylazer, which slightly diminishes the sense that it is a terrible threat. These things aside, both Fallopian Tube Screamer and I Feel Dirty are clearly miles ahead of the game when compared with other clips produced by local bands of late, and compel multiple viewings.

Tomas Ford was up next, joined by the ineffable Ze! from Malaysia. The two met in the Belgian Beer Café during One Movement last year, and decided to release a duet, and go on a short tour together. They are a winning combination of the absurd and the kitsch, and their set probably resulted in an epidemic of face-ache judging from the wide grins plastered to the faces in the crowd.

You have to hand it to Injured Ninja, they know how to pack a lot of entertainment into a short space of time. In addition to the video launch and Ford’s tour launch, the gig was also the launch of the band’s latest single and 7” Chrysopoeia.

Touring the States and playing at SXSW has clearly been beneficial to the band, as this performance was one of the most cohesive we’ve seen from them. Ripping through what seemed like a short set, with slightly less demonic possession on Dom Pierce’s behalf, the crowd was passionately enthusiastic in its participation. Jake Steele’s synth skills were impressively prominent and added a greater sense of melody to the songs making them seem fresh and new. The new single offers a delicious taste of what’s to come, and promises bigger things in the band’s near future.

Browse the photos in the gallery from CandyGoldsmith, stuo and ashryn