It’s a rather balmy Friday night in Sydney and it’s anything but slim pickings if you want to see live music tonight. Sweden’s favourite suit-wearers The Hives are in town, as are those quaint hillbilly rock-and-rollers, Hayseed Dixie. But if you are after some of the best of Australia’s genre-fusing acts, look no further than the Metro.
First up, The Pip Branson Corporation. The night is young and people are still filing through the doors, which would explain why the band is playing to just a handful of punters. The Pip Branson Corporation sound and look like that whole eighties revival: guys in skinny ties, big fringes and tight pants. Like The B52s without the style or The Cramps without the substance they bounce along, one poppy retro tune into the other. Just as I thought they might pull off this charade with credibility they burst into a song with the chorus: “All my friends are trashbags, always stealing my fags”. They eventually finish their set and it’s not a second too soon.
Next up is the always-brilliant Expatriate, complete with new bass player. They are the band hand-picked by Decoder Ring to warm up the crowds for their national tour. The room has gained a few hundred faces and they seem transfixed on frontman Ben King’s every move. The first song we get treated to is Heart Attack, off their forthcoming EP Lovers le Strange. The crowd wholeheartedly approves of this stunning melancholic anthem and it’s followed by the infectious, catchy Killer Cat.
Expatriate, who have signed recently to Dew Process Records, have only been playing shows for a few short months but there’s something electric as they perform. I might go out on a limb here by comparing Ben King to a modern-day Ian Curtis, but that’s what I am reminded of: the honest vocals with a hint of sadness are backed up perfectly by keyboard interludes and choppy drumbeats.
The band works their way through Times Like These, Blackbird, Sleazy, Get Out Give In and current single The Spaces Between. Considering they’ve been receiving minimal airplay it’s remarkable how many punters know the words to the songs.
The packed crowd rapturously applauds the end of their set and Ben lets us know their debut ep is out in a few days. The girls swoon, the guys cheer, everybody is content. Winning over fans is easy if your live performance is this good.
Whilst guitars are tuned and drumkits and synthesisers are set up, the venue suddenly becomes very crowded. It’s at this point that standing area in front of the stage becomes prime real estate. The lights dim and projectors are fired up, making the entire stage the backdrop for some truly beautiful images.
Decoder Ring are doing very well for themselves, first achieving critical acclaim for composing the soundtrack to Somersault, and more recently scoring many excellent reviews for their latest album Fractions, for which they are currently doing a national tour. Tonight, it’s Sydney’s turn.
After a few minutes of watching a blurry but captivating image on the screen the band members finally walk out much to the delight of everybody in the room and building up a crescendo they fire into Jets (so to speak), the opening track from Fractions. Singer Lenka has an angelic voice that mesmerises throughout the whole performance, sending shivers down the spine of everybody in the theatre (or was that just me that felt it?).
Seeing Decoder Ring live is more of an experience than just another live show. There’s some truly stunning imagery taking up all of the stage, even flowing off the sides and onto the front half of the theatre: a montage of outer space whilst astronauts are floating by, snow-covered mountain tops, underwater shots of tropical fish lazily swimming and three screens of cars racing through tunnels and over bridges sped up to go a million miles an hour.
Beautiful renditions of Somersault, Traffic and More Than Scarlet are performed, the six band members barely visible over the imagery behind them. For some tracks Lenka adds vocals, escalating into choruses, other tracks are instrumental. A lot of layers are used and the sound of guitar and bass mingling with synthesizers is breathtaking. Title-track Fractions is the last song to be performed before the encore. The last track of the evening is Welcome Shoppers, off their self-titled 2002 debut album.
If Australian music carries on like this then we are all very lucky indeed. I will go so far as to say that this was easily one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. At this point in their career Decoder Ring can do no wrong. My only complaint of the evening: certain members of the crowd… It is never okay to have a full-blown conversation whilst the main band is performing. Show some respect to the band, and the people who paid good money to see them.
