Tantrum, Grand Central, SavingRushmore, December 14th, HopeHere Gone @ HQ Skate Park,Leederville, 18/06/04

Wed 23rd Jun, 2004 in Gig Reviews

Tantrum has been performing on the live music scene of Perth for two years now and has already performed with bands such as Bodyjar, Gyroscope, Antiskeptic, Best Kept Secret, Sans Chevelle and Silent Corporation.

Also in that time, they’ve released locally an EP Four Reasons Why, helping to define the sound that they have today and are continually working on to improve and just recently releasing a national EP The Colour Grey. Although there was two dates originally set to release The Colour Grey, one venue cancelled and left the band with the all ages event at HQ in Leederville. So this reviewer headed up to HQ straight after work in her suit to see Tantrum and others help make this launch an awesome one.

Opening up the event was a fairly new band Hope Here Gone. If you’ve heard Atreyu or Down.To.Size before, you might be able to find some resemblances in this band. If you haven’t, it’s really quite hard to describe what type of genre this band fits into. The only genre, although broad, would be Alternative and although none of the members have heard either of the abovementioned bands before, there is a definite similarity with vocals and music respectively. Vocally, there is a fair amount of diversity ranging from melodic vocal lines to raspy scream-like parts that add extra depth to the songs. Musically, the drumming is dynamic giving extra texture, the bass-line is also dynamic adding to the sound giving it some groove and the guitar riffs give the music feel, soul and tension. Hope Here Gone surely are a band to look out for in future times.

Up next was December 4th. Musically, these guys are quite good with some punching guitar riffs and bass lines. However, depending on which song they’re playing depends on whether or not the vocals suit. The American guitarist can scream awesomely and he can even sing, but the bassist/vocalist has some more work to do. His voice is carries the punk type tunes but when he sings in a deep tone it amalgamates with the bass line and is hard to hear what he is singing. Overall, they’re not too bad.

Saving Rushmore is a band who knows how to write those pop tunes suitable for commercial radio. How a man can have such a sweet and melodic voice is beyond me but the vocalist for this band surely does have one. Reminding me of a few of the American punk bands that have some notoriety such as Blink 182, musically Saving Rushmore has got something good. Their performance tonight was thought provoking and made this reviewer wonder if the reviewer is living a sheltered life – it’s probable that they are.

Grand Central are a band that can produce good music and get a person dancing no matter what mood they’re in. With a punk rock nature filled in with a mixture of electronic drums and “normal” drums, four separate lots of harmonies and some rocking guitar action (bass included), Grand Central certainly aren’t of the norm. If anything, they certainly know how to impress, not only with their music, but their good manners too. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really much of a crowd for the beginning of their set, however, it started to fill out toward the end and the reception was warm and welcoming.

Finally, Tantrum – Tantrum aren’t your typical punk band, in fact, they’re probably not even punk. They’re more kind of rock, no, naked-rock. Naked, hinting at it being not quite dirty, yet not quite clean in texture, and rock being the general term. The energy presented on stage bounced throughout the room that was full from tip to toe and it was most exciting. I reiterate that this band produces no faulty tunes and that the music created by them really is something to be awed. The guitars give a feeling of passion, soul and are vibrant in tone. The bass caresses the ear with its lines and the drums are upbeat so that even though there’s a feeling of peace and sincerity within the music, there’s also solid pace that adds character. The vocal lines bring about a sense of mood and in certain songs, pain. Over all, the night was a huge success and the energy and vibe was buzzing. Fun was had and the music that was presented showed that Perth really does have some talent lying under the floorboards. If you want to find out more about Tantrum check out their website.