Jack Ladder, Ghoul, Teeth andTongue @ The Manning Bar,Syndey (1/10/11)

Wed 5th Oct, 2011 in Gig Reviews

The long and slender figure of Jack Ladder cut serpentine shapes on stage as he contorted to the sounds of his own deep and melancholy-filled voice at the Manning Bar. The Sydney crooner, whose real name is Tim Rogers, sang mostly from his third album Hurtsville: both the album and performance were a celebration of sorrowful blues.

Ladder’s set was in stark contrast to his opening support band Teeth and Tongue.
The Melbourne band’s singer and songwriter Jess Cornelius moves about the stage with sleek and sexy rhythm. With a raw and soulful voice, Cornelius reaches unexpected range on tracks like the opening song Walls. Stylistically, the continually climbing tempo of the band’s set and the pop-electro element that their drum machine and keys creates places the music somewhere between The Gossip and Warpaint, or The Divinyls perhaps. The band’s final song was Vaseline on the Lens, a haunting jangle of guitar reverb.

Sydney five-piece Ghoul, immediately captured everyone’s attention when they took the stage and demanded the dispersed audience crowd to the front of stage. They opened with Milkily and its odd, fractured rhythm. Ghoul play a style of experimental rock that combines guitars, bass, drums and synthesisers over pre-recorded tracks that add an up-tempo beat. Singer Ivan Vizintin croons in drawn-out guttural notes.

Songs like Lodum and Dream Beat have post-punk and electro pop elements that could be compared to some of English band Foals’ more challenging songs. The rest of the set was more atmospheric and psychedelic. By mid-set Ghoul had much of the dance floor writhing in time to their off-beat time signatures.

It was a distinct change of pace when Jack Ladder imposed his large self on stage and began with the melancholic but aptly-named Beautiful Sound. As Jack Ladder, Rogers has played with various incarnations of bands since his 2005 debut album Not Worth Waiting For but was joined at the Manning Bar by guitars bass and drums. The opener was an honest account of the first song on Hurtsville.

The second song from the album, Cold Feet followed Ladder was now flirting openly with his audience and twisting around his microphone and keyboard in unselfconscious moves. The next few songs built in tempo but it was hardly music to dance to. True to the name of the album from which they were playing, Ladder and band wallowed in deep, emotive sounds.

Ladder played the album’s title track earnestly and without a hint of irony. Considering some of the lyrics, like “I want to make like a tree/ and leave” and the music’s lament for a return to ‘80s balladry, it is a confusing track to grasp and almost cringe-worthy. Ladder then slid into the country twang of Dumb Love , and its equally-squeamish lyrics. The mounting of clichés took its toll on the audience and people dissipated by the latter half of the set.

The majority who stayed were thrown an unexpected a treat when Ladder played a song that didn’t make it on to his last album. The song he called Three Stomachs upped the pulse-rate and was less mournful compared to the rest of Hurtsville, so it was easy to see why it wouldn’t have fit on the album. It was infused with more traditional blues rock sounds than the previous languorous efforts and Ladder’s fans will hope it finds its way to a future release.

The energy of the set tapered again though, and chatter in the crowd threatened to drown the frontman’s vocals. Not even an offering from Ladder’s more much-loved second album Love Is Gone could recapture the crowd’s attention. The deliberate mournfulness of Ladder’s Hurtsville album has its moments and can create a mood when the time is right. But it was hard to stay focused and follow the down mood throughout an entire set, especially when surrounded by a slightly indifferent audience.