Deloris, Tucker B's andPitching Woo @ The HopetounHotel, (11/08/06)

Sun 13th Aug, 2006 in Gig Reviews

Conjuring up a sound that it is comfortingly familiar without ever feeling second-hand is quite a feat and one that tonight’s opening band, Pitching Woo, pull off with aplomb. The quietly yearning ‘If I Don’t Sleep’ opens proceedings, followed by ‘The Colder Front’, a good representation of the Woo’s layered sound, pairing as it does lush keyboards and gentle instrumentation with atmospheric, evocative lyrics. Front man Hugh Counsell promises to “keep the chatter to a minimum” and keeps his word, focusing instead on the windswept beauty of their tunes. By their own admission, they “fucked up” ‘Message from the Chairman’, another track from their EP Yours, etc, but all present found themselves well and truly wooed nonetheless. Possessed of a likeable and tuneful edge, Pitching Woo show ample promise to suggest their ambitions of musical greatness and, perhaps more importantly, the expansion of their merchandise to include Pitching Woo ten-pin bowling pins, could well be realised.

The sweat-drenched, screaming, cathartic rock that is Tucker B’s are up next and tonight finds them in fine, typically free-wheeling form. Much louder and with a more pronounced feral edge than on record, the four-piece rip through the likes of ‘Good Bits Trip and Fall’, a jerky, screaming blast described as “our fantasy rock song” that’s over before it begins, and ‘Undisciplined’, the latter a standout with its buried lyrics of violence and confusion. ‘Bullets’ and ‘Yes No Authority’, both from their 2005 release ‘Chubby’ also make appearances, combing post-rock fragility with sheer fury. After more hair-pulling, the kind of face massages rarely seen outside of a 1970s rugby league game and some truly righteous pounding of the drums, they leave the stage to ringing ears and requests for an encore.

Rewind a few years and the indie-rock community was abuzz with talk about two amazing, arty new Melbourne bands: Augie March and Deloris. Alas, the vagaries of fate and the philistinism of the record industry have meant Deloris have largely remained an undiscovered gem while their contemporaries have met with unexpected success, filling the Enmore tonight and seeing their album crash into the top 10 in a rare outburst of good taste by the record-buying public. To those in the know however, Marcus Teague remains one of Melbourne’s greatest songwriters: his songs intricate and enduring, dramatic but infinitely subtle.

Tonight catches the Melbournians at a slightly awkward stage in their cycle, mainly playing new songs from their forthcoming album Ten Lives, due to be launched in a couple of months. Deloris songs are always growers, so it doesn’t help that most of what they play is unfamiliar, and their songs are always dense and wordy, with many of the lyrics getting lost in the mix tonight. Still, in their controlled passion, Deloris are still several narrow Melbourne streets ahead of most bands, and this show heightened anticipation surrounding the new record to a veritable fever pitch.

Amongst the fresh material is ‘Down The Mountain’, described as the band’s “foray into country-rock”, the punchy, melodic ‘X’s for Eyes’ and the blinding new single ‘Loup Garou’ – all urgency and grace, it’s like Built to Spill without the guitar solos or Buffalo Tom if Tom Janowitz had grown up in suburban Melbourne. With new guitarist Anthony Petrucci (Souls on Board) settling in nicely, Deloris’ heart-on-sleeve artistry shows no signs of abating.

When a worse-for-weather fan yells “Sad songs say so much!”, Teague quips “Good point, nice segue” and launches into another song, his arm soon becoming a blur across his guitar. Some things are best said in a song, and as ever, Deloris say them more eloquently than most.