No matter how interesting your sound is, you’re not going to stick in anyone’s mind too long if there isn’t a tune underneath it all. The lineup for NOISE, a two-stage event showcasing some of Perth’s best experimental acts, pulled together bands aware of this concept, bands that have rejected it and bands who perhaps need to come to that realisation.

A Decade Today drew the short straw and played the opening slot to a modest crowd. They took the bull by the horns though, and unveiled their new lineup, new songs and new direction to a gradually growing crowd. Though their short set was a little rough around the edges, their new sound put their previous material to shame and hinted at bigger things to come.

Pahlemik opened proceedings on the main stage and stood out like a sore thumb. At a show billed as a showcase of experimental music, their raucous punk left most of the early punters scratching their heads and heading to the bar for a drink. Kudos to the guys for sticking to their Australian accents but if we wanted to hear stories about a party in the hills, we could just ask our annoying workmates how they spent their weekends.

When Cease began their performance back on the second stage, few people knew quite what to expect. They were greeted to some spine-shaking frequencies from the throat of vocalist Tom, whose microphone runs through countless effects pedals and guitar sounds coming off almost like a didgeridoo. Unlike most of the other bands playing, Cease didn’t let the melody get lost in amongst all the effects and made their half-hour pass by in the blink of an eye.

Approaching the business end of the night, the next two acts did little to justify their place on the lineup. Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, who have abandoned the concept of the song, need to look back on their previous material and consider how far they have come. Backed by an impressive lighting setup, their first song was the ideal curtain-raiser with obvious Muse influnces – as though keys man Polly’s tshirt hadn’t already made that statement. But as it became apparent that the three vocal mics were only for show, the performance bordered on tedious, with painful preset piano voices and pseudo-jazz embarrassment ruining the atmosphere the band had created early on. Abe Sada followed and, with four bass guitars, no drummer, no guitar and no vocals, it was never going to be pretty. While Cease had managed to mold their experimental sounds into compositions, Abe Sada dragged one tedious moment of feedback out to fill their entire set. With no hooks or melody, little stage presence and without any of the four bassists assuming the role of lead, the noise quartet’s performance was one to forget.

Noise Etiquette were next on the main stage, and sounded incredible in comparison. The hooks were there and, despite being overpowered by twin vocalists Wes and Lee at times, they managed to balance things out with riffs and licks that had just as much meat. But it was Radarmaker who really showed our four-stringed tormentors how to do things. Named after a Mogwai song, it’s not hard to figure out what sort of music Radarmaker play. Though their relatively short performance fell desperately short in the screwdriver department (much of their guitar sounds come from the trusty Phillips) they provide the perfect remedy for all those perturbed by the regular exorcisms taking place on the main stage next door.

The pendulum swung once more as Sleeper X charged themselves up with a theremin-heavy intro before putting on the most intense performance of the night. Frontman James Crossland threw ricocheted around the stage as the band raced through a quickfire set of tracks from last year’s Migrations and Mnemonics EP as well as a couple of new ones. Though the members all nailed the stop-start hooks and tempo changes with precision, it’s Crossland’s antics that make Sleeper X one of the most reputable metal acts to come out of Perth in recent years, and there was no exception as he saluted the front row, megaphone in hand, from prime position atop the foldback speakers.

Drawing the more reserved punter indoors, Hooper’s Store gave a performance that showed how far they had come since raising a few eyebrows last year. Compared to the Hooper’s Store that took third place in 2006’s Next Big Thing competition, the trio that followed Sleeper X appeared far more comfortable on stage and had no trouble dictating the mood over the next half-hour or so. Like Radarmaker, Hooper’s Store draw much of their sound from ambient and experimental instrumental acts but have a lively side, which comes out for brief cameo appearances when they play live.

Deserved headliners Schvendes took to the stage just before 1am for what was billed as their homecoming performance. After successful visits to Canada and New York, the five-piece were making their first appearance back in home territory and consequently drew the largest crowd of the night. Despite promising not to bore the punters with stories, vocalist Rachel Dease couldn’t resists the opportunity for a quick dig at New York sound techs before continuing on with their set. Looking and sounding like a band that has the goods to do well overseas, Schvendes offered little in the way of banter and got on with what they do best: making music. As has been the trend at recent gigs for the band, they performed a healthy amount of new material, teasing their fans ahead of their album release, due later this year. At the same time though, Schvendes show they’re not going to forget where they’ve come from, with the inclusion of recent single Small Mercies, Sweet Graves and the moody Turn Out Your Lights, the latter of which came in the closing stages and capped off a diverse and eclectic night.