Frankly! It's A Pop Festival @Brisbane Powerhouse TurbinePlatform, Brisbane (10/09/11)

Thu 15th Sep, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Frankly! It’s a Pop Festival Is back for its third year running, seemingly a showcase of adventurous underground LA label, Not Not Fun’s roster. Around the Powerhouse’s several venues are acrobats, Katie Noonan, a play and a wedding. Frankly!’s musical talent really does shine through with strong glimmers of originality and is in its purest form, a nod to real pop music.

Kicking things off is Japanese experimentalist Ytamo, who performs electronic based pop which draws inspiration from noise, ambient and classic pop and is delivered in a truly unique way. The only problem being that this small little Japanese girl was subject to some of the major problems that Frankly experienced this year. The sound was so quiet that anyone could hold a comfortable conversation whilst standing next to the PA and there were extremely short set lengths. Starting at 6:15, she is rushed off stage by 6:30 and with the style of building upon atmosphere and laying sound does not allow any room for experimentation.

The majority of attendees sitt on the floor at the front of the stage so everyone can see, it is rather respectful and something that happens at Frankly every year. Japan pop continues with Tokyo-based Folktronica artist, Miko. Backed by counterpart Celer, she was very shy on stage and completely inaudible when she addressed the crowd or the constant requests for more foldback level. Still, her guitar playing did the talking, with loops and processing manipulating the original signal sent to Celer, who reigned supreme over a large mixing desk. The harmonies and sonic width could be heard throughout her set but more notably on tracks like Seahouse, which when coupled with the extreme colours of the lighting rack make it an overall enjoyable experience, albeit brief.

Locals and Not Not Fun label signees Blank Realm took to the stage as the first ‘band’ of the evening. The four piece were in their regular fine form despite further sound issues as they launder through their mix of Ambient art/kraut rock. Their music is a mix between the traditional method of guitar playing mixed with huge effects and manipulations as tracks like the reverb drenched Full Moon Door proved to be a highlight in a set that rivalled the length of the set up time

Coming out of Melbourne, The Twerps were a stand out with their blend of alternative rock takes elements from fifties diner music, run though reverb with good song writing. Marking their first trip to Brisbane, the four piece played off each other and provided an appropriate atmosphere for their tunes to flourish on stage. Dance Alone has that typical blues ‘woman running off with another man’ tale behind its lyrics and vocalist Marty exuded a slacker / Roy Orbison type of cool. This was another great set that got cut short and it was a shame the short sharp burst of She Didn’t Know was unable to fit on a crammed set list.

Fellow Melbournian Evelyn Morris aka Pikelet took to the stage next sporting a Twerps t-shirt and full band in tow as they launched into her blend of psychedelic pop. While once again another band suffering from technical issues, Pikelet’s set felt a little limited in comparison to the earlier bands, in some ways playing it safe with their song choices and limited amount of improvisation. Morris’ voice however sounded as wonderful as on record with the long reverb and delay extensions working perfectly on pop nuggets such as Weakest Link.

Iowa’s Wet Hair had the stage covered in mixing desks, various synths and effects as they brought their electronic reverb laden tape music show to one of the largest crowds of the night. Shawn Reid’s vocals were buried within the mix as on the recordings as his lower register reverb musings acted more as an instrument or a sonic extension of their music and performance. Wet Hair’s simple looped synth lines at times got too similar between tracks but their experimentation with effects and noise under and over each song’s hook were the real attraction, and the duo help bring Frankly! back from mediocrity.

One of the big draw cards among the crowd to this year’s festival was Not Not Fun stars LA Vampires and unfortunately their set does not live up to the hype as the group seemed tired and uninspired on stage and once again, sound issues plagued their set. Vocalist Amanda Brown was the only member on stage with any enthusiasm but still fell short of the magic they deliver on record. The dark atmosphere of the set does work well with the lighting and created a mood, but due to the lack of interest from the crowd and the band, the set winds up being a fairly average affair.

With most of the other functions in the building coming to a close, the sound dramatically increased for Japanese experimentalist Oorutaichi which also led to the best set of the night. With only a few synths and mixing desks on stage Oorutaichi had the crowd captivated to the levels that equalled the whole festival combined as he bounded about the stage and won everyone over with general charm and likeability. His voice was dramatically altered through vocoders and octave pedals and the crowd really just sat back and watched in amazement at his high level of experimentation. Sans ‘real’ instruments, the experience feels unique and the overall fun of tracks like Futurelina proved this Japanese talent is worthy of praise received from Boredoms front man Yamantaka Eye among others. Truly a highlight set and one that should have lasted much longer.

Closing the night is Angel Eyes. In comparison to Oorutaichi, the one man electronic project saw over the half the audience culled off and the other half dull and listless as he got through a set of reverb drenched synth pop reminiscent of John Maus and a voice almost identical to the man. Finishing very awkwardly to one intoxicated patron’s “woo”, it was rather a shame that he was billed so late and could have benefited from an earlier set.

With Frankly! having fewer draw cards than previous years, ticket sales and the overall quality of the this year’s festival suffered somewhat Most of the bands involved tonight tried their best and while some succeeded, others didn’t. With major sound issues throughout the night, it is hard to believe that only last year the ear blistering Fabulous Diamonds and Xiu Xiu near-deafened their eager crowds. Frankly! is the best showcase of experimental and fringe bands, but they need to sit down and merge the new and exciting elements of this year’s festival had and merge them with the successful elements of years gone by.

You can download this year’s Frankly! sampler here