Little Birdy + One Horse Town+ Something With Numbers @ TheGaelic Club, Sydney (30/08/06)

Fri 1st Sep, 2006 in Gig Reviews

After two months spent in the company of producer John King (Dust Brothers) in sultry, sleazy LA, Little Birdy have returned home to tout their new material (primarily new single ‘Come On Come On’ from their second album, Hollywood).  The ten date national tour kicks off tonight at The Gaelic Club with local upstarts, Something With Numbers.  Giving much maligned Emo the electric shock treatment, the Central Coast five piece howl through a riotous set where speed and noise keep melody sidelined.   Lead singer Jake Grigg:  an explosion of wiry hair and quirky, jerky stage moves, applies his Robert Smith style vocals with genuine passion, but overall it feels as if the band are hemmed in by  what they think they should sound like rather than what they want to sound like.  If what they want to sound like is new single ‘Apple Of The Eye’ (Lay Me Down) this will certainly be a space worth watching.

One Horse Town have secured themselves the permanent support slot on this tour, and if it wasn’t for the fact that their ideas tend to be overstretched by the long set, Little Birdy could be nervous about being upstaged by their Perth comrades.  Eschewing bass guitar, Sascha Ion’s uses the depths of her baritone guitar to add meat to the bones of One Horse Town’s edgy pop, while Ronan Charles seduces ears with the gorgeous tones that emanate from his vintage Rhodes piano.  New single ‘Six Feet Of Snow’ is marked by a hint of the Beatles, Ion’s staccato inflection and interjected with hunks of rumbling breaks.  It’s lovely inventive pop music that, given a bit more time, should give Australian music something to shout about in 2007.    

Despite One Horse Town’s undeniable charms, it’s Little Birdy that has an expectant throng chattering excitedly about the arrival of the band that is epitomised by their idol; the jet haired, elastic voiced Katy Steele. And as an idol she doesn’t disappoint. Resplendent in a gold lame jacket, black skirt with a shock of white ruffles at the back hem and red patent heels that look more like weapons than footwear, Ms Steele is dressed for…well, it’s probably impolite to speculate.

At their best Little Birdy allow a love of Motown to run amok, and none more so than on the grinning pop of ‘Tonight’s The Night’ that starts the show and pays homage to the Isley Brother’s ‘This Old Heart of Mine’.  Next up is the latest single ‘Come On, Come On’, which signifies that Hollywood will deliver more ‘Big Big Love’ but with a liberal dose of electronic tweaks, bleeps and blips to give the band’s sound a cooler, more sophisticated finish.   

Although we’re treated to a couple of additional new tracks, it’s familiar material that dominates.  The band  ignite the loudest cheer so far with Relapse and its melancholic pop chorus.  Set highlight is actually a cover of Gyroscope’s ‘Beware Wolf’.  Steele flexes those famous vocal chords to proclaim that “I’ll kill for you” against the eccentric workings of Feargus Deasey’s keyboard and straight-down-the-line rock chords from Simon Leach. Predictably the band work the country tipped ‘You’re Beautiful To Me” into the encore, much to the delight of the audience who link, or wave arms en masse for a sentimental finish. 

Although it’s clear that the band have embraced new ideas there’s still a tendency to keep everything but Steele out of the limelight.  Consciously or not, Little Birdy seem more like the Katy Steele Show (with backing band).  While it would be churlish to suggest that Steele isn’t the main draw card, you do expect a degree of cohesion and interaction amongst band members.  That’s not to say there’s any discord here, but while Steele rolls around the stage high-kicking and head shaking for all she’s worth, the rest of the band appear to play on with resigned diligence. As Steele sings “baby if you and me ain’t tryin’ I can’t see the point” during ‘Come On Come On’ you hope that’s not a direct plea to the guys around her.

It is  the first time they’ve played live in six months and they have no doubt just spent two months in each others pockets whilst recording the new album, so lets put any apparent disconnect to one side.  Tonight has been a fine start to the tour: Steele’s whip-lash voice and little girl banter charms; the band are professional and the crowd is delighted to see their return.  Hopefully Homebake’s summer sun will bring Little Birdy the band back to Sydney – not just Katy Steele and her one woman show.