A record launch is the chance for a band to shine as all eyes and ears are focused on their wares. The teeming throng at Howler paid homage to Black Cab in just this way. Once everything was just right, the band were reverentially welcomed and their loud, pulsating, electro-frenzy drone was eagerly consumed.
The new album was given a solid airing with songs such as Victorious, Combat Boots and Go Slow, clicking over the beats per minute and raising the pulse rate. Then Sexy Polizei boomed as a gentle sway enveloped the audience. Various images flickered as a backdrop to the band and there were athletes, scientists, tablets and the Olympic rings. The incessant barrage of visuals combined with a gargantuan intent and commentary on substance abuse and sport. Stronger, faster, longer indeed. As images of swimmers gave way to flesh being pierced by needles it all made sense.
Black Cab could easily have been content with the appreciation they received by these elements of the show. But in true Batman KAPOW! BANG! style, they increased the satisfaction quota by covering Dream Baby Dream by Suicide and 586 by New Order. Influences were worn on the sleeve but a distinct Black Cab flavour was added to these songs. In a live context, Black Cab are more brutal than their latest release suggests. They’re also thoroughly composed and stir intrigue into all their music. They deliver this with an otherworldly approach that manages to sound both as old and comforting as the cacophonous cadence of the first Kraftwerk recordings as new as 2015. They seem hermetically sealed from accepting wistful convention and bubble away in their own creative pool lending it both currency and timelessness with equal measure.
Defying the stereotypical clunking electronic band, Black Cab present eccentricity, innovation and weirdness that was eye opening for many music lovers who’ve grown up expecting more from their aural pleasures than has been actually delivered. On a night as usually mundane as the State election, this was one for the ages.
BY BRONIUS ZUMERIS
Loved: Any chance to hear a Suicide song live.
Hated: A full venue but punters failing to appreciate the concept of personal space.
Drank: A little Melbourne, a little China.
