I can’t help thinking the whole time, I want to be outside. I want it to be summer.
Go Dog Go
The Fillmores
Meraki Minds
Northcote Social is great, but there’s something about this line-up that feels like this music should be cascading over a festival crowd. For now, we’re huddled inside against winter, but dreamy/psych/genre-busting-groovy pop stylings from Meraki Minds, The Fillmores and Go Dog Go just open up like a sunburst in my head and I’m carried away.
The Hometown Tour Extravaganza through June has taken them through each of the hometowns: Shepparton (Go Dog Go), Ballarat (Meraki Minds), Apollo Bay (The Fillmores) and finally the finisher in Melbourne. The goal was to highlight some of the absolutely stellar talent from regional Vic, and give them a chance to play on their home turf.
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From the first notes of Meraki Minds’ sway pop, I want to reach for my sunglasses. Plucky funk and surfy reverb sends me straight to hot days and clear skies. There’s something in the rhythm and jangly guitar that’s, dare I say Brazilian? There’s Capitao Fausto energy here. Peggy’s fluttering vocals perfectly lend themselves to playful storytelling in songs like Strawberry Jam (about being passive aggressive towards your sibling). Basslines bounce like an optimistic heartbeat against the cruisy, rolling melodies and it’s the most charming, uplifting, lush pop from a young ensemble group. Their whole tour finishes on a clappy, bouncy surf-lounge high with Precipice, all bright guitar, groovy rhythm and chorus calls of “a-woo-hooo!”
If Meraki Minds were bringing dreamy touches of Latin pop and lounge-surf, The Fillmore’s pull us firmly into Aus. It’s still summer in these coastal-as-heck 80s-inflected stylings, led by brothers Jack and Seamus. Heard the theory about that unique magic in sibling harmonies? Right here. Brash, bold and genuinely funny, unabashed Australian charisma of the band goes a long way in whipping up a crowd.
The Fillmores are both polished and roguishly anti-professional. Their lo-fi edge extends to the subject matter: ‘Heart-Shaped Orange’ is about falling in love at a fruit and veg aisle, ‘Death Boogie’, about murdering your landlord, and we’re treated to a very vibrant maraca breakdown in their “half-arsed funk”/”bargain bin boogie” ‘Discount Doll Rock Disco’. Look, I can’t just compare any Australian band with punk energy to The Chats so I’ll say Dead Kennedys too and split the difference. It’s the swagger.
Melodies of guitar, violin, synth electro flourishes, repetitive riffs and seamless sax are layered over that simple, tight pop base. They damn sure make the most of the multi-instrumentalist outfit. Tonight is not only the end of the hometown tour, it’s the last ever gig with James Lynch, their bassist of three years. And it’s a helluva farewell.
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What streaming their self-titled EP had not prepared me for, is how proggy the four-piece Go Dog Go are in the flesh. Known for their blending of genres, you spend the whole time on your toes catching the various influences as they come flying in. Psych pop, yes, but prog, funk and even cosmic jazz.
There’s an irrepressible lounge groove heightened by energetic funk bass and pulled together with rhythmic guitar loops. (A note on the bass: Tobi Oladele absolutely steals the show in live performances). The effortless, almost lazy crooning of Charlie Bowmaker with synth (sweeping here, arpeggiated there) overlays a soft focus 80s retro vibe, blending all these parts in a sweet rolling wash of reverb.
Their cover of Joy Division’s ‘Isolation’ that first got them noticed (a pretty relatable topic during lockdown) goes down a treat with the crowd, but isn’t indicative of the, well, real joy at the heart of their sound. I’d be remiss if I didn’t drop in King Gizz circa Sketches of Brunswick East, and a touch of Midlake, but any attempt to define Go Dog Go via other artists feels like a cop-out that doesn’t do justice to this utterly inimitable cosy niche of weird, groovy nostalgia. It’s captivating.
And then it’s done, like waking from a dream. End of the tour. Go Dog Go were headlining this gig, but each band took turns throughout the tour, and honestly, it’s not often I’m lucky enough to get to a gig that has three lead acts in one go. See you in the summer next time, guys
Listen to Go Dog Go here.
