Reviewed onThursday November 10
Death Bells present a maximal front – three guitarists, two keyboardists, three vocalists – yet execute relatively minimal arrangements of their hazy, sneaker-staring tracks. Taking equal cues from initial waves of post-punk and the icy gloom of ’90s noise rock, the septet are more about gradual builds from the depths of their cavernous ambience than an instant accessibility. This ends up working in their favour, allowing for the sparse early arrivals to draw themselves closer and even dance along when the tempo calls for it. If the idea of melancholia you can sway to appeals at all, give Death Bells a ring.
Endless Heights have fought tooth and nail to be recognised in their reinvention. The Sydney-based musicians have incorporated indie rock, post-hardcore and grunge in their later material, although it should be noted they still perform with the boisterous belligerence of their youth centre matinee days. Frontman Joel Martorana spins about the stage, attacking his vocal delivery with the utmost conviction and even throwing himself into the crowd during ‘Teach You How To Leave’. Two new tracks – ‘Drain’ and ‘Pray I Fade’ – also impress greatly on their debut outing. True to their name, Endless Heights are continuing their steady ascent.
It was April 2015 when Citizen arrived on Australian shores for the first time, in a state of limbo between the end of touring in support of their excellent 2013 LP, Youth, and the imminent release of its follow-up, the darker and more downtempo Everybody Is Going To Heaven. It’s a difficult balancing act between two very different stages of the band’s trajectory, and yet tonight’s setlist is comfortably able to appease fans of both.
Charging out of the gate with three tracks from Youth – ‘Roam The Room’, ‘The Summer’ and ‘Figure You Out’ – sets the audience in motion, pushing toward the front and atop one another in a flurry of crowd-surfing. It’s nicely complemented by material from Heaven: ‘Cement’, despite a false start due to a broken kick drum, earns an emphatic response, while a stripped-back ‘Yellow Love’ is resplendent in its solitary beauty.
Citizen end the evening by expressing gratitude at people coming out to fill “what feels like an arena” to them, while also staunchly expressing their opposition to the recent election results. To them, it’s being able to do things like the former that allows them to take their mind off the latter.
