Little Lovers first rule of rock'n'roll
1. Always follow an artist described as 'Morricone’s spaghetti Westernisms'.
RAVE MAGAZINE REVIEW
I HEART HIROSHIMA / LITTLE LOVERS / SLEEPWALKS
Woodland - Sat Jan 29
It’s heartening to see so many people out tonight
at yet another flood relief show – Brisbane audiences
are clearly not yet feeling compassion fatigue, and
those who donate cash are given prizes from the Rave
lucky dip (the CD I unwrap is a dud, but the next person
along scores Robyn’s new album – win!)
Local garage-rockers Sleepwalks have imbibed
more than their fair share of Nirvana influences, right
down to vocalist Kevin Fincham’s gravelly Cobainesque
yelps. They bash out their grungy tunes with
aplomb, though, including a spirited cover of Mclusky’s
Collagen Rock.
Little Lovers left Brisbane for Sydney as purveyors of
light-hearted pop, but have returned tonight as something
a little darker – their songs still shimmy and bop,
but they now have overtones of post-rock and little
hints of Morricone’s spaghetti Westernisms.
It’s been just over six months since I Heart Hiroshima’s
last show, so it’s not hard to forgive the
newly-reformed group a little looseness in their
delivery. They’re obviously having a blast revisiting
their material, though, opening with a charmingly
scrappy rendition of early EP track London In Love.
Drummer Susie Patten begins Old Tree, from their recent
album The Rip, by observing that since she departed
for Berlin so soon after that album’s launch,
the group had better prove that they actually wrote
and performed all of those songs. Their set is therefore
filled with tracks from The Rip: the sweetly melancholic
Who I Was (with a tambourine courtesy of
one of Patten’s friends, who taxied to New Farm just
to get it), and singles River and Shakeytown. Older
favourites Punks and Captain To Captain get a lookin,
but rather than closing their set as anticipated
with live favourite Pink Frost, they close with Ocean,
one of The Rip’s most mature deep cuts. It’s a fitting
statement from a group who could have settled for
their own successful formula but who will, I hope,
continue to grow and develop.
CHAD PARKHILL
Snaps
Uploaded at the AU Review
© Andrew Wade 2011
Craig's weird hair that has taken on a life of it's own. Wintah's hair... no good.
That was the last time Paul saw that shirt.
Don't forget Mum tomorrow night 4/2/11 upstairs with the Faberegettes and Wontakke Ly-Ons. Join the
Facebook event for cheap entry. Also Frowning Clouds downstairs.
