The four-piece entered with a killer drum march straight through the crowd, and once on stage opened up Odd Soul. Meany screamed some of the high notes, and Todd Gummerman mirrored those wails on the guitar. Pyrtania gave us the first taste of the keytar, and at its conclusion the boys performed a short but intense drum solo, bassist Roy Mitchell-Cardenas accompanying drummer Darren King on this bass drum elevated on a keyboard stand.
Blood Pressure confirmed that the unison of this band is mega smart; every stop, start, fill, rise, is super tight. The huge vocal chord harmony before each chorus of the track was a heavenly thing, blowing your beard off and flinging it over a rainbow. You could see every tooth in Meany’s head as he busted his hump to create the harmonies. Tell Your Heart Heads Up featured some weird pointy ’80s synth stuff, with small extra chords in between the big ones of the chorus. Meany did some cute faux bossa nova moves and then a keys solo, with this clever improv that built and hit off-beat chords in time with King’s tom accents.
We got a few looks into the coming new album, and they were great. Sounding like some of David Holmes best funky stuff, they gave everyone a chance to show off. Mitchell-Cardenas did some little low runs up the bass like someone doing military runs through tyres, Meany did some plinking, spattered electric piano solos, Gummerman grated out some jagged chords with the speed of a chef behind schedule and King simply blew the roof off. It was heart-wrenching stuff, with slightly electro beats care of some triggers that King has set up. At the end the guitars went completely warped like the conclusion of Radiohead’s Everything in its Right Place.
Towards the end of the set the band played Startled, a track which they’d penned during this Australian tour for inclusion on the new album. Meany’s voice was still killing it after two hours, rivalling the legendary energy of Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist. After the blinking blow-up mattress came out and Meany surfed the crowd on it, the whole thing finished with a tribal space jam, and Gummerman doing bizarre things with his pedal board a la Jonny Greenwood. Mutemath are definitely growing their original sound and their fan base along with it.
BY ZOË RADAS
LOVED: The chandeliers which descended during certain moodier tracks.
HATED: When it ended (again).
DRANK: Lots of beer.
