The Howling Bells yet again proved on Wednesday night that their dark sound is like no other and that their live presence is something to behold. Their debut self-titled album gained great press when it was released last year and since then the group has toured Australia supporting the likes of massive names: Placebo and The Killers. Their Melbourne show was cancelled due to sickness last year so fans finally got a chance to see the transformed Waikiki is all their haunting glory (except for those actually lucky enough to get into Triple J’s Home and Hosed show featuring the Bells earlier this year).
Whiskey Go Go’s warmed up the room first up. The Alaskan four-piece produced a heavy and raw southern rock sound that blasted early comers. Their image was bizarre, each member looking so comparatively different to the next, one wearing a tie and leather jacket, another in a polka dot shirt with a surly yet frightened look about him and another with a giant curly fro and nasty handlebar moustache. Their lyrics, the like of stories about hitchhiking, true love and “Kentucky Blues”, were fun and whilst initial impressions may have been offsetting, the group produced a strong, heavy and humorous set.
Melbourne’s own, The Temper Trap, came next and immediately gathered a good response from the filling band room. Beginning their set with the heavy rock instrumental titled simply ‘Go’ the group dominated the stage straight away. Singer, Dougy, produced solid vocals throughout their set, highlighted in tracks from their EP, Sirens and My Sun. For a band fairly new to the live circuit, The Temper Trap have built up a major stage presence in a relatively short time. Dougy and bassist Jonny moved rampantly around the stage, flinging their instruments and chanting at the crowd as though they were headliners. Apologising for “going all deep on your ass” the group finished their set with ‘Science of Fear’, which sounded incredible, and quite frankly, it completely through all their other material into another place; the wallowing vocal, lack of percussion and amazing guitar was a chilling representation of what awesome potential this band has.
The Corner stage was covered in fairy lights as the Howling Bells walked into the darkness to the introduction of ‘The City’s Burning Down’. The b-side has become a live staple for the band and delivered a great start to the set, Juanita Stein’s vocal sounding as strong and captivating as always. Loudly, Stein’s broke into the introductory ‘Bell Hit’ riff that seemed to really excite the crowd. The lighting added to the dark sound of the group, making transition between deep blues and reds. The group’s image was appropriately very haunting, and they all wore appropriate subtle, dark clothes. Drummer Glen Moule sported his cowboy hat as always as he moved back and forth from beating casually to smashing rampantly on his kit.
The Bells seemed relaxed and in complete control as they drew solely from their album, playing songs such as ‘Wishing Stone’, ‘Velvet Girl’ and ‘Across the Avenue’. It was hard to tell if excessive feedback in sections was intentional, as the band did not seem fazed, whilst the audience tried to shield the high pitch. Apart from that, the sound of Joel Stein’s lead guitar and Brendan Picchio’s bass were almost flawless. Picchio’s effects board added a lot of substance to the music. Effects that rendered Stein’s voice to echo, for instance, really represented the chilling effect their music seeks to produce.
The anger of heartbreak in ‘The Night Is Young’ contrasted with the slow and passionate epic, ‘A Ballad For The Bleeding Hearts’. Stein introduced the former song as her way of getting revenge at a partner who walked out and never came back, and it was obvious she felt strongly about her words, “When I needed you to stay you drove the car the other way … Don’t you worry about me, I’ve got a pocket full of wisdom up my sleeve”. Acquainting herself with the lighting tech whilst on stage, Stein asked for a red spotlight for ‘A Ballad…’ which really gave the song an eerily deep feel.
The remainder of the set was made up of pop friendly tunes ‘Setting Sun’, ‘Blessed Night’ and ‘Broken Bones, as well as the ghostly ‘In The Wild’ where Joel Stein lent his vocal. The bands first single, ‘Low Happening’, finished the set in a rather heavy fashion, somewhat breaking the hold the Howling Bells had made on the audience.
The Howling Bells sound could very well be described as the soundtrack to twilight in a haunted desert. Their sound, whilst often pop rock, manages to have a very dark, eerie feel about it. One thing is for sure, they are as unique as they come and put on a fantastic and solid set.
