There are two things in the world that everyone loves: a good old fashioned raffle, and a super adorable kid. These two things aren’t typically found at a local indie band’s album launch, but Smile employed both to get everyone extra hyped-up for the celebration of their sophomore album, Rhythm Methods.
Tonight’s lineup was a fantastic testament to how bloody good Melbourne music is. There was something distinctly laid-back and humbling about this show, which resulted from the lineup being full of bands with an equally endearing and no-frills character.
Good Morning is the project of Stefan Blair and Liam Parsons, who dropped their second EP Glory back in January. Onstage, they’re a four-piece concoction of understated charisma. Hearing their track Give Me Something To Do instantly sparked a sense of warmth and excitement. While they were on pretty early, they’ve been receiving a lot of loving recently and had a stacked crowd keenly watching.
Tim Richmond Group took the stage for an eclectic set that stirred a lot of movement and engagement amongst the audience. The intricate guitar and bass grooves showed off some seriously impressive instrumental work, with grungy vocals from their frontman.
The Ocean Party arrived with their cruisey guitar pop soundscapes, reminiscent of summer just beginning. The outfit incited a lot of camaraderie in the crowd with mates swinging their arms around each others’ shoulders and singing along to Guess Work.
Smile finally graced the stage, a grainy projector light washing over the four-piece and giving their performance a dazzling nostalgic atmosphere. Videos of streets, cities and cars played out lazily throughout their set, mirroring themes of urban experience found in Smile’s repertoire. The group play a few oldies including the sweet, brash ditty, Sunni Hart, whichseamlessly led into the warm confessional Born Again. The slow collapse of Central Business Dickheads saw a synth cameo from a friend of the band. Despite trampling onstage with a whiskey bottle, he delivered stunning waves of oozy, spacey synth to add to the grand fade out.
Some lucky punter at last snapped up the illustrious raffle prize after crowd-favourite Boundless Plains To Share. The boys wandered off stage after guitarist Max Turner played their final track, whiskey bottle in hand. If you’ve listened to Rhythm Methods, you know it’s a record that just leaves you wanting more, and this night followed suit.
LOVED: Sui Zhen and The Harpoons on the wax.
HATED: Being the only fool without a raffle ticket.
DRANK: Jäger.
BY JESS ZANONI
