Messrs, The Jungle Giants, SanCisco @ Jive Bar, Adelaide(04/02/12)

Tue 7th Feb, 2012 in Gig Reviews

Walking into a room filled with patterned dresses, statement tees and an unhealthy number of paisley and checked capped shirts, you couldn’t half tell that two of the hottest up-and-coming Australian indie-pop outfits were in town. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that many sombre faces rocking back and forth in unison, each blatantly happier than a fat kid with cake, but dedicated to maintaining the façade of cool, calm and collected – but let’s be honest, mostly cool.

Sounding like the nurtured lovechild of Cut Copy and Friendly Fires (and nephew of Miami Horror), Adelaide outfit Messrs were first on the bill for the night and certainly did their part in energising the crowd. I must admit, I was hesitant to see these boys again after they changed names and dropped such tracks as Blocks and Shot from their catalogue – I was a big fan of their work under their former title, The Touch. However, this handsome quintet are notorious for putting on one hell of an entertaining performance and the knowledge of this, teamed with my parents only being able to take me into the city at 8:30pm meant that I would be attending my first Messrs gig.
Energetic and engaging as ever, these guys know how to put on a show – they are irresistibly infectious. From lead Josh Moore thrashing about on stage with his bare chest out, to the catchy hooks and multi layered washes of synth, “everyone knows that you can’t fight the feeling”, you just have to dance. Messrs were a delicious taste of things to come.

With entrée over, and the venue starting to fill, it was time to move on to the mains.

Coming off the back of their recent support for fellow Brisbane-based indie outfit, Ball Park Music, The Jungle Giants wasted no time in showcasing their vibrant and energetic take on indie pop. Without a hint of a hello, the quartet launched straight into their latest track to get a nod from Triple J of late, No One Needs to Know. The crowd cheered and whooped as the familiar guitar riffs and bubbly drum beat filled the small venue. The pleasant shock of the abrupt set starter soon wore off though, as if became apparent that lead Sam Hales was having troubles with his guitar. Nice guys San Cisco took the poorly behaved instrument off stage to restring and the Jungle Giants continued in their otherwise faultless set. After being unearthed on Triple J and chosen as a feature artist to launch Triple J’s Unearthed digital station, The Jungle Giants rhythmic layering and catchy riffs from their debut single Mr Polite have been heard on airwaves around the country. Aside from an absolutely fantastic rendition of their hit single, Mr Polite, with the help of fellow-headliners San Cisco, other highlights of the set came in the form of No One Needs to Know and new tracks You’ve Got Something and Way Back When from their latest EP. You’ve Got Something, in particular, has everything you want in a pop song – it’s catchy, vibrant and clever – winner, winner, chicken dinner.

From frontman Sam Hales’ wolf tee, the stunningly beautiful lead guitarist Cesira Aitken, infectious drum beats by Keelan Bijke or contagious enthusiasm for life in general by bassist Andrew Dooris, there is something hugely likeable about these guys. You can’t help but smile, throw out your inhibitions and dance. Play on, Jungle Giants.

I mentioned earlier that two of the hottest Australian indie-pop outfits were in town, but boy, oh boy, do Fremantle-based San Cisco bring the heat. With the majority of the band members barely of legal age, the cute-as-a-button quartet have burst onto the Australian music scene – burning up the radio of late with their latest EP, Awkward. Adding to their growing number of accolades, the young whippersnappers took out number 7 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 of 2011, was named as one of Triple J’s ‘2012 Next Crop Artists’, and was also nominated for a Triple J Unearthed Award. Not a bad year for them really.

Back to the gig and the venue was well and truly packed by 10:30pm. During the break I made my way upstairs and slyly stalked the bar stools lined up along the railing. One foolish punter made a dash to the bar and I jumped at the opportunity to score one of the coveted stools. Luxury. As much as it was not a sit-down-invoking performance in any way, and as much as I would have loved to have been downstairs dancing with the other hipsters/indie mashups, I attempted to go for my first run in a long time the day before and as a result had increasingly aching muscles. Give a girl a break.

The Freo foursome showcased tracks off of their latest EP – freshly released the day before – as well as some “old” (hardly) favourites from their debut EP Golden Revolver. All in all, it was a lot of fun – the youngsters ticked all the boxes – they are good-looking, incredibly talented, young, indie, and complimentary to the audience. Frontman and wordsmith Jordie Davieson commented at one point, “wow, Adelaide has some great singing voices,” and the crowd absolutely ate it up.

The tight bond between the co-headliners was also on show, not only were San Cisco invited on the stage for The Jungle Giants set, but they then returned the favour, bringing the Brisbane quartet out not once, but twice for celebrations, sing-alongs and dancing/body pulses – Jungle Giants’ Andrew Dooris even tried his hand at folk dancing at one point, before turning on his counterparts and ruthlessly throwing Jordie Davieson and Sam Hales into the crowd, before joining them shortly after.

As expected, Awkward – a song “about a creepy stalker and a nice girl” (Davieson) was a standout for best of the set, however Rocket Ship gave it a good run for its money and will be one to watch, or listen out for rather, in the near future. San Cisco’s eclectic mix of sing-a-long, super catchy tunes have earned them a title as one of Triple J’s 2012 ‘Next Crop Artists’ and from the looks of their latest EP, that title is right on cue. These youngsters have a big career ahead of them, so strap yourself in, practise your harmonising and get excited!

Messrs, The Jungle Giants and San Cisco – proof that good things do come in threes – nothing awkward about it.