Intercooler, Mary Trembles,The Little Lovers @ Gighouse,QPAC, 26/01/2007

Sun 4th Feb, 2007 in Gig Reviews

QPAC’s Gighouse series has drawn in some of Brisbane’s best local acts, although the crowd size hasn’t always matched the calibre of the artists on display. With a new album due in less than a month, Intercooler returned to the live stage for the first time in a few months, and blew away the paltry crowd with an excellent set.

The Little Lovers opened the Australia Day gig. They play quirky pop-rock songs, with a breezy natural charm, the kind that has to be known, and can’t be taught. Frontman Winter Thompson has impressive musical cred (his father is ex-Custard member Glenn Thompson) and it’s clear that Winter draws some influence from this, but these bright songs have none of Custard’s cynicism or bitter self-deprecation. This show isn’t just about Winter, either; David Hannah on bass and Ben Whittaker on drums do their fair share to keep the audiences toes tapping. They play some songs from their Little Lovers EP, and when they conclude a country-western song about highwaymen with a pretend shootout against one another, only the most cynical of audience members has anything but a smile on their face. Little Lovers surely have big things ahead of them.

Mary Trembles, on the other hand, play very serious, quite epic rock. Frontman Skritch has a solid reputation of his own (Tex Perkins’ Dark Horses, Gota Cola), and his strong vocals and impressive guitar work provide a lot of the drive behind these songs. Mary Trembles are a three piece, but there’s a lot of noise going on down there, and the grandiose nature of these songs is carried well by the three men. Intercooler drummer Damon Cox does excellent work here, and bass player Duey carries his own as well. They thrash through songs from their Ps…Situation EP, including Emotional Calligraphy and high-rotation radio hit Scene From Below, which is a definite highlight. Mary Trembles may seem like a side project, but with the quality of rock songs they are putting out, and high quality performances like tonights, they should soon be appearing on everyone’s radar.

It’s never been quite clear why Intercooler aren’t more popular than they are. Well written songs with occasional sing along choruses, hooky-but-not-too-poppy guitar riffs, and an undeniably powerful stage presence all contribute to a live act which is one of the best in Brisbane. Tonight they’re returning to live stage after an extended break, during which time they’ve recorded a second album, due out in February, but their live show definitely hasn’t lost any of it’s magic. They’re pretty proud of their new songs too; the first two-thirds of the set consists almost entirely of new songs. But this lack of familiarity doesn’t bother the crowd in the least, there’s a raucous cheer for every song. Damon Cox backs up for a second set of thrashing the drums, while frontman Phil Ballantyne shows his unique vocal style is still as effective as ever. And, as usual, Darek Mudge adds his brilliant guitar playing to the mix, and almost steals the show without uttering a word. These new songs show some diversity which will hopefully translate well on the album.

In the second half of the set, we see some older tracks, but mostly from their Dance Of A Thousand Promises EP, including If I Try and Sugarplum. The only song from their first album is Leaflet, which is easily the best song on that album, and rocks out even harder when played live. Intercooler leave the stage, but the crowd are obviously not rock show veterans, because people are leaving, so much so that the band has to race back out on stage to stem the flow. They rip through Loving And Leaving and Goodness Of The Girl at breakneck speed, and now the show is over. It’s been another excellent Gighouse show, and the new Intercooler’s tracks that have been played tonight are as good on the album as they are live, the band have found themselves another winner.