With this being my first foray into the ‘Nostra’ landscape, I am left with the initial impression of The Stooges going at it hammer and tongs with the Sex Pistols. Their garage punk delivery should be seen by all that maybe thinking about jamming with their mates or forming a band and having a go as the attitude they exude combined with just a touch of  “who gives a fuck” makes for an excellent opening tirade.

The Side Effects hose down the floor with their brand of dirty punk soiled pub rock. Re-animated from the rotting carcass that was Stag, the addition of holier than thou ‘JC’ on drums keeps stalwarts ‘Al Pacino’ on bass and ‘Dan-E Devito’ on vox and guitar well in order. Front man ‘Devito’ Baebler is resplendent with his ensemble of re-animated creepers that matched beautifully in tint with his Gibson. He made the small space on offer his own with moves straight out of the Elvis book of rock. Very cool! Set opener Cupid set a frantic pace and it didn’t let up from there. Suitably, they were awarded one of the larger shows of appreciation of the night.

The Money delivers a style that is timeless and has the attitude to go with it. These guys could make the Cosmic Psychos blush! They maintain the pace that has been set by the first two acts and then push a little more. Set closer Jewies On The Beach is an absolutely golden track, and while the Psychos again spring to mind, it is pointed out to me that the Cosmic men are more at home down on the farm rather than on the beach “with ya rod in ya hand”

The abattoir turned into a speed lab next with the amphetamine driven rock delivered straight from the microwave plate to you by Wulvs. These guys rock and rock, no rolling about it! They must surely have a full-length album on offer shortly, with a steadily building number of tunes in the kitbag. Old favourites For the Romantic, and Grandfather Hauley’s Gloves get a run and the quirkily titled If You Inject Speed Into Your Eyeball It’s Gonna Sting is unquestionably a Wulvs staple.

Unfortunately there wasn’t too much floor action happening for the energetic performance that they delivered. Comparisons lead me to witty, manic Welshmen, Mclusky but to stick with a local theme, if the now defunct Dollarbar managed to exchange bodily fluids of the worse kind with the Giants of Science the evil spawn would sound like Wulvs. Do not attempt a mental picture of this: you will go blind. Avoid them at your peril. It will be your loss.

Final bolt in the head for tonight were Melbourne’s Sin City. The few sketchy reports I’d heard had me anticipating a rather debauched affair and while it didn’t quite reach the grubby standards that I may have envisaged, there was enough on offer to indicate that there is some dirty potential in this sordid four piece. In a good way!

A small crowd greeted drummer Tom’s call to get our arses into gear and try as he might there just wasn’t a huge response. The few punks that were dispersed throughout the venue made the effort but not too many more. Everyone seemed happy to stay planted. Displaying enough energy to keep most punters happy though, Sin City delivered in a vein similar to the Distillers, combined with a couple of old school British punk, styled numbers with an almost ‘Oi’ feel about them.

Tales of nudity, and excessive consumption and spraying of alcohol by both band and patrons alike were descriptions that passed by me. The only alcohol that passed frontwoman Tash’s lips tonight stayed where it started and didn’t make it’s into the crowd. Nudity was afforded us by a young punk with a pink mohawk who decided to ‘trou’ down’ and give us his best kangaroo later in the set. It was not a pretty sight.

Tash showed that she has the ability to get crowd worked up with her stylish dance moves which sit some where between belly and pole dancing and she has enough presence and daring to make most sailors blush, should she chose to do so. Her crotch grinding microphone antics in concert with her autoasphixiation simulation certainly sparked my interest and kudos must go to the Japanese tourists who did not bat an eyelid when she straddled their table and continued to do her thing.

While Tom shouted it up for the last time, you knew it just was one of those nights tonight. The crowd just wasn’t as responsive as they may be in Melbourne, yet Sin City gave us enough of a glimpse of what has the potential to be an extremely entertaining show, if you are into that sort of thing.