Wednesday

Mist and Sea with Sir @ The Toff in Town



Mist and Sea have an open relationship. Vince, after all, used to get around as Underground Lovers, the defunct dreampop pioneers; and is now also with an interesting project called Raining Ropes. Jason and Cailan are Pretty Boy Crossover, sometimes even with Vince; but are non-exclusive, as they also gad about in places like School of Two and Mystery Twin. Spreading the love, I guess.

Good for us, though, regardless of the health implications. We get a good little album like Unless, and a strange three-week residency at The Toff; the first time they've done this since opening six months ago. It's a nice venue (despite the booze prices), with a gorgeous sound system well suited to trio's sound; layered, dreamy, but with Vince's soaring vocals indie-popping the folktronic swirl. Have a listen to Gestapo, at their myspace. Track of the month, at least.

And then there's Sir (Jesse Shepherd). Possibly the funniest man in Melbourne music, or the most heartbroken. Or both? On new record The Brando Room his dour, funereal and sleazy Lynchian chants charter the territory of a middle aged divorcee with the dry wit of a seasoned comic. Shephered delivers some killer lines but like any good black comedy, at its heart the material is so goddam depressing you have to question yourself whether it is really that funny.

Friday

Baseball with Kes + Bang! Bang! Aids! @ Northcote Social Club



I’ll be upfront at the start. I’m not a fan of anything that could be described as hardcore. Not that I despise it or anything. Just never felt the need to attend a gig, or wouldn’t really know when I would listen to it. Maybe when I’m really pissed off...? (Am I stereotyping too much here???)

But I am a big fan of the new Pikelet record, and as you probably know, the woman behind Pikelet, Evelyn Morris drums in some hardcore bands. One of which is Baseball, who have just returned to Melbourne after a couple of months in Europe and the USA.

I’m unlikely to start becoming a Baseball fan because of Evelyn Morris. Clearly that would taking fandom into the realm of obsessive. But, the contrast in styles between her musical projects is so significant it’s almost enough to get me along to this gig. Is she as placid as she is in her Pikelet persona, or does Baseball transform her into an angry and ferocious snare smasher?

Loopy and fracturured avant-garde psych from Kes and screamy art-rock from Bang! Bang! Aids! as support.



The Double Agents with The Ukeladies + Schvendes (WA) + Mike Noga and his Gentlemen of Fortune @ The Tote

If you're not into that other weak indie rubbish, rock it up at The Tote with this one. Bring your mates, your girl, your ole man, your hick cousins from the bush. If they like their Friday night tunes raw and dirty they'll all love it. A bit country, a bit soul, a bit punk, a bit garage, but at its heart The Double Agents just play cranking and rollicking Stonesy rock n roll. Tonight they'l be launching a single of their new album Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time.



The Lovetones (NSW) + Belles Will Ring (NSW) with Jarvis @ East Brunswick Club

One of my favourite live performances from an Aussie band this year has been Belles Will Ring @ The Toff just over a month ago. Prior to this gig I enjoyed their smooth jangly yet earnest psychedelically coolness both on their consistent debut Mood Patterns and also as a support act in a gig in Sydney, but neither the record or their live performance got me abnormally excitable.

But, their show at the Toff far exceeded my prior expectations. Their shimmering and swirling acidic tunes had an extra oomph and groove which I failed to hear before. I actually even felt like dancing.

At this week’s gig, Belles Will Ring make the trip down South again, this time as a double headline act with The Lovetones. I don’t know much about them, but from an initial listen they sound a little like BWR. If their performance is half as good as the Belles, this will be a great gig.

The first support is Melbourne's Garage to V entrants, barely post-adolescent stoner rockers Jarvis.



Portable Film Festival Party with Little Red + Tic Toc Tokyo @ Roxanne

Both Little Red and Tic Toc Tokyo have been written about before on ATR so to prevent us sounding like a broken record follow the links on this site and read what we’ve said in the past if you want something of a preview here.

If you’re up for a Friday drink and a dance then this gig should be great. But even though both these bands are good (especially Little Red of course), this gig will inevitably be more about the atmosphere and the party rater than the music so probably of interest to some more than others.

Saturday

Icecream Hands with Abby Dobson + The Wellingtons @ East Brunswick Club



We've written about these Melbourne lads before; speaking of this year's album,The Good China - it was about the guitars, the stories, the hooks, the harmonies. Then there was a sweet-rockin' everyone-on-form Northcote Social Club show which left me all warm and gooey inside on a cold night.

And now it's best part of three months later - winter's almost over - a melbourne-gorgeous power-pop spring stretches ahead - and that's where these boys fit in. See them if you like indie guitars played well, if you like old-school harmonies joining classic old-school hooks behind some magic lyrics, mostly from the pen of Mr Chuck Jenkins. See them if you like an assured yet endearing performance or if you like to rock. But most of all see them for that crescendo - In the Back Seat of a Stolen Car - it's still right up the top of my songs of the year.

(And you gotta get there in time for The Wellingtons; they'll kick off your power-pop spring like nothin' else; just the catchiest and best pop songs out there right now; Goodbye Heartbreaker; I'll be the embarrassing fanboy up the front singing all the words and air-guitaring all the hooks.)



The Lucksmiths with The Smallgoods + Hand Hell (duo) @ The Corner

The Lucksmiths have a new record out, Spring Leak, a double CD collection of B-sides, live recordings, remixes covers and alternate versions and anything else which isn’t available on an album. Amazingly, there is no crossover between either of their other compilation releases, Happy Secret and Where Were We? !!!

Thanks to the songwriting of Marty Donald – tuneful, literate and insightful about relationships, Melbourne life, and of course, the weather – The Lucksmiths always deliver a suburb’s worth of hummable witty and melodic gems. I’m sure that a big chunk of the massive 45 tracks here will be no different. Having said that, with 45 tracks I reckon there'll be a fair chunk of filler as well.

Live, The Lucksmiths rarely disappoint also, usually minus the additional horns, stings and backing voices which pop up on record, but still sounding as sweet as pickles, and full of impromptu gags. But, a plea to you if you are going. Please don’t sing along to T-Shirt Weather. Tali sounds much, much better than you.



Oliver Mann @ The Afterdark

An Ollie Mann gig is an experience like none other on the Melbourne music scene. Ollie - the brother of Grand Salvo's Paddy - is the proud possessor of what he calls an operatically-trained bass voice - but which to me sounds more like about five octaves of whisky-smooth tones and curly intonation - one of Melbourne's natural wonders right there.

And without his brother's beard to hide behind, Ollie has to resort to old-fashioned charisma to hold a room. And the voice. It can fill a room, end to end, without a mike; and Ollie can hold the stage, side to side, without any other performers. He drags you into his whimsical world of baroque tales, half-speaking, then hits you with a note so big and pure it dislodges all air from your lungs, all thoughts from your brain, all tension from your muscles. The Afterdark is the perfect little space for this man to stalk, majestically.

Interesting support, too, from Extreme Wheeze and the Nasty Coughs and E-Wah Lady.

Sunday

Adam Said Galore (WA) + Bum Creek + Extreme Wheeze + Josh Armistead @ East Brunswick Club

Veteran indie rock band from Perth make it over here prior to the release of their debut single of their new album. I haven't seen many promos for this gig and it is a Sunday night so it could be a bit empty but there's a reasonable lineup here so it also could be the highlight of your weekend. I have to admit I don't know much about the headline act, but I like what I've heard so far so it's a bit of a smoky for me.

Batrider + Pikelet + Alex Jarvis @ Manchester Lane



The week before last New-Zealand cum Melbourne art-grungers, Batrider, launched their new album Tara at Gertrudes. On Sunday night, it is their turn to launch the second disc on the CD, the acoustic, Pink Guitars Yellow Stars.

Similar to Magic Dirt with the release of their noise album Roky’s Room a few months back, no one can doubt that Batrider have challenged themselves by releasing material that lays outside the boundaries of their typically volatile sound. While ‘having a go’ may not actually translate into successful results, it is an interesting enough diversion, and one that may help them to find a new batch of fans.