Reviewed onWednesday July 20
A pre-Splendour showcase was had at the Oxford Art Factory on Wednesday night. The triple bill featured two debut Australian appearances and three differing levels of buzz.
Aside from an amp dying two songs in, Sydney’s Food Court opened the show strong with their brand of catchy, rough-hewn fuzz-pop. Previewing songs from what will be their debut LP, they retain their ‘ones to watch’ tag.
Philadelphia’s Beach Slang have earned countless comparisons to The Replacements in their short lifespan for a variety of just reasons – same musical vein, same themes of wasting youth – but mainly the two bands share a feeling that at any point things could collapse in a heap, and their fight to not make that happen is what makes them thrilling. Sydney got one of their infamous threats of disbanding in the same breath that frontman James Alex used to convey how grateful he was to be playing their first Australian show.
Kim Gordon’s adage “People pay to see others believe in themselves” is very apt here. Alex made reference to Beach Slang’s own lack of professionalism mid-set, yet they deliver bite-sized calls to arms with immeasurable conviction and pile on so much rock star posturing – synchronised stage moves made up on the spot, redoing the ends of songs to get the rehearsed segue correct, windmilling and high-jumping to start a song before realising the capo is on the wrong fret – that you feel they have perfection almost in their grasp, if they’d only sort their shit out.
Drawing the short straw by having to follow Beach Slang – who, judging by the thinned out crowd were the main attraction – Manchester’s Spring King nevertheless were chuffed to be playing their first show on the other side of the world, their boundless enthusiasm matched by the remaining audience. Their brand of indie dance is indebted to a bygone era when bands like Kaiser Chiefs and Razorlight somehow held people’s attention. Meaning they’re about ten years too late. Still, their shouted four-part choruses and having lead singer Tarek Musa do double duty as drummer means they could still hone a unique sound – they just need songs good enough for people to take notice.
