Denzel promise one thing from their shows, that a good percentage of the audience will have their faces melted off by the power of their riffing and from the moment they take the stage, it’s evident they’re interested in putting on a show. It’s a nice departure from the shoegazing experience that seeing some young bands can be, with Simon, one of the two frontmen, jumping off his amp within moments of the opening blasts of distortion. For a
bunch of barely 18 year olds they’re remarkably confident, if not particularly spatially
aware, as Simon falls ass-backward down between the stage and doors and Ric’s. The music
sounds like Kyuss and Nirvana jamming, and sounds pretty strong for a three piece. Their
stage show in a way overshadows their music a little, with lights flashing under the drumkit,
a smoke machine and, in what must surely have been a first for Ric’s, a mid-set laser show.
They’re obviously ambitious, and want to give the punters a good experience, which leaves
most people with a smile on their face, even if they’ve been blinded (or had their face
melted off).
Next up came Roman History, a five-piece who give a fair departure from the fast
and
furious pace set by the openers. It’s kind of Pixies-esque pop, mixed with a bit of
Architecture in Helsinki. It’s, well, nice. But they might have been better served with a
different billing. They’ve only been around for a matter of months, so there’s always time
for them to develop a bit more of a stage presence. Probably next time they should avoid
being sandwiched between a thrashing grunge-rock three piece and Spod.
Holy shit. This is a pared back version of Spod, with just himself (Spod) and Andy Clockwise,
who worked guitar and drums. The Spod show, though somewhat diminished by the absence
of its usual ensemble of dancers and band members, had plenty of energy. Spod himself is
some sort of electro deviant, sitting somewhere between Peaches and Har Mar Superstar in
terms of overt sexuality and sleaze factor (a million), mixed in with a bit of cheeky
Regurgitator. Apparently Spod and Quan from the Gurge are in side project together at the
moment. Figures.
It’s about as intense as you can get with two guys and a computer onstage, with Spod
throwing everything into the act, including bulk amounts of rock star hubris – “Fuck! That
song is so awesome!” He’s loose as, with more than a few glitches from his laptop, but he
carries it off well. After being pressured into playing 2131 Ride wit’ me, (“I can’t do it, I’ll
totally fuck it!”), he continues on to forget the verses, continually repeat the chorus, while
searching the audience for someone who can help with lyrics. When he can’t find anyone,
he winds the song up with “I told you I’d fuck it, and I totally did, but it was still awesome
hey?!” His computer failed at the end of one track, eliciting a tirade of abuse from him,
which he caps with a smile, before lifting a battered iPod – “I should totally put that beat
on my hard drive instead of this hey?”.
He winds up running through the audience with Andy Clockwise, before they both dive on
an unsuspecting girl on one of the couches. She may be carrying his child now.
Spod’s heading across to SXSW in Texas to represent Australia, so God knows how that’ll go,
but at least he’ll put on a show for them.
