Flavours of Skuzz @ Woodland,Brisbane (09/07/2011)

Fri 15th Jul, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The inaugural Flavours of Skuzz boasts 11 hours of garage fun over 3 stages with twenty five of the best local and abroad bands. Despite having a venue change and loss of a few bands, (namely my personal local favourite Los Huevos) the day/night promises to impress as Woodland fills up with homemade jackets and the bar sells out.
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‪Starting off on the floor stage is Gravel Samwidge. Within their blend of garage/alternative rock musings, a lot of influences can be heard, from the Dinosaur Jr. type sludge guitar work to the Sonic Youth noise and breakdowns. A good little introduction to start the festival off with. ‬
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‪Then just off to the left on the main stage, ‬Lobster Prophet ‪kick off a blend of fast paced punk rawk. Guitar solos fly out of the speakers all over the venue. Even though it’s not reinventing the wheel kind of tunes and I don’t care for flying V guitars, the band are definitely worth a good watch for their onstage antics and all out rockin’. ‬
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‪Making my way over to the third stage which is located through a back door into the Mustang bar function room, Brisbane’s Feathers have just begun. With their all girl blend of psychedelic, lo-fi and surf, it is a change of pace from the offerings so far, speed and rock being replaced with soundscapes and reverb. Lead singer/guitarist Michelle Brown abandons her guitar in favour of being frontwoman, the band end with a cover of Wreckless Erics Whole Wide World. A highlight of the afternoon so far. ‬
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‪Back at the main stage I am able to catch the end of the punk rock stylings of Dick Nasty. The band have earned themselves quite the reputation over the ten years of their existence with their energetic performances and heavy punk sounds. They have a strong fanbase with the crowd loving everything and anything they do. ‬
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‪I have not heard of Brisbane surf instrumentalists ‬The Narwhals ‪before tonight but I was damn impressed. The technical proficiency of the band is through the roof with 60’s guitar riffage over the typical surf organ and drum beat is out and out captivating. It’s not all surf and sand as the band also touch on psychedelica and work up some impressive walls of sound that intrigue the audience circling around the floor stage. ‬

‪Due to everyones watch not being synchronised, I am fortunate enough that over on the function room stage ‬The Boondall Boys ‪are still playing. Upon entering it is clear the bar is working overtime as lead vocalist ‘Mad Macka’ has cigarette, microphone and beer in hand. Their sound is similar to the dirtier side of Guided By Voices mixed with a bit of Cosmic Psychos. Even though I only saw a bit of their set it was enough to know these guys are on true form. ‬
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‪Following The Boondall Boys, A projection screen of some sporting telecast goes up and it is apparent that the staff want people to leave the function room during the event’s scheduled two hour break. ‬
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‪I make the mistake of running five mins late for HITS and it costs me. Due to the massively packed function room, the only time I could see the impossibly short band over the insanely tall crowd was when frontman ‘Evil Dick’ elevates himself with microphone stand in tow. The band take all their stooges comparisons and delivered it in spades with the whole venue enjoying every note of the two femme guitar attack courtesy of Stacy Coleman and Tamara Bell.
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‪An influx of folk from HITS flow into the main stage where Adelaide’s ‬The Meat Beaters ‪are gearing to go. They are another band that clearly wears their influences out in the open with a similar sound and look to bands like Cosmic Psychos and Motorhead. But hey, that is a tried and true formula and the band sound great. ‬
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‪*Velociraptor* are a band who never disappoint, so their billing on the much smaller floor stage seems odd. After they begin though it is clear this is a good idea as the eleven piece including spill from the floor onto the main stage in a slew of garage pop. Their set is like a scene from a Where’s Wally book with the band and crowd merging into one. Songs like Hey Suzanne are impossible not to groove to and the band constantly challenge the crowd as to who likes it more.

‪With the destruction from Velociraptor phasing into more order. the crowd manoeuvre themselves out from nooks and crannies back to the designated area for Melbourne’s Hoss. Featuring Dirty Three collaborator Joel Silbersher as head honcho and Cosmic Psychos drummer Dean Muller looking after the back, the group are unstoppable with their blend of unbeatable straight up rock n’ roll with hints of good old fashioned 70’s boogie. Despite rarely venturing to Brisbane, the band have a lot of fans in the crowd with singalongs and drunken moshing being the ode of respect. They fill their hour set quite easily and it was a pleasure to see such talented musicians with extensive legacies within Australian music shine. ‬
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‪Their self described term of glitter punk, proves to be accurate for Brisbane lasses Pastel Blaze. Their David Bowie facial glitter is at odds with the high spirited angst of the group. It’s a colourful yet feedback ridden, musically dingy affair which reminds me of early Blonde Redhead mixed with Boredoms with a bit of MC5 thrown into the mix. ‬
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‪Another band that don’t disappoint is‬ Slug Guts, Their (quite literally) deafening dark garage shoegaze mix is unique. Sporting a Mick Jones hat, open leather jackets exposing chest hair and tattoos, slicked back hair, sunglasses, the band are just too damn cool. Playing tracks off their debut album, Howlin’ Gang tracks like Down in the Mornin and Howlin’ build a wall around your head and try their best to melt your brain.

‪Closing the function room stage, ‬Keep on Dancin’s ‪aren’t doing anything wrong but elevated blood alcohol levels after a solid 9 hours already leave a diminshed crowd with little energy. The slowed down surf tracks are good but predictable and don’t get the crowd fired up.
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Boyfriend/girlfriend duo‬ Gooch Palms ‪take their name quite literal with frontman Leroy MacQueen exposing the inner depths of his rectum within seconds of beginning the show. The band work off a mixing desk, organ, hot pants, guitar, a mean theremin and just unleash fun chaos. They have more energy than the whole room combined, and manpower peep show aside, they are actually quite talented musicians and bust out a mean guitar solo. Keyboardist/theremin artist Kat is the ying to Leroy’s yang, acting as a proud mother figure to Leroy even with his lower abdomen acting as a third member on stage. Finishing with a ball sack on a microphone, they are an excellent way to close the show and with no doubt have lead the boys and girls in the crowd to question their sexual orientation. ‬
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‪With the bar out of booze and glass, blood, sweat etc slathered all over Woodland. Flavours of Skuzz is an incredible success. No band on the line up was unworthy of playing and what the festival is doing for the dirtier side of music is more than commendable. ‬
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‪Hopefully we will be tasting Flavours of Skuzz again very soon.