fucktheradio

Collingwood’s Gasometer Hotel is another punk rock fortress in the midst of Melbourne’s north-eastern inner suburbs…Lots of distortion-riddled power-chords and highly energetic performances can often be heard radiating from the top floor as you enter the venue or duck out with your mates for a smoke.

Downstairs however, there’s an intimate back-room there behind a ubiquitous closed door which has been playing host to the opposite; punks of a different breed… the downtempo/electronica/beat scene in Melbourne has it’s many branches, and climbing their way to the top of the tree one killer set at a time are Fuck the Radio faves, Squarehead. Also on the bill this particular night was The Black Galaxy Experience who were fresh off of the launch of their 3-track EP, an atmospheric and moody work of prog-rock/jazz sounds. The music in this room may not have been punk rock- but it certainly dared to be different.

Squarehead (above) create their songs in-front of you, live. And you can tell they love doing it. Tobi (on the right) fronts with a bass guitar hooked up to a pedal board bigger than Kanye West‘s ego. They opened their set with a new song which expanded dramatically into a room-filling climax of cymbal crashes and reverberation; and while there’s a subtle hint of underlying melancholy present in their music, it’s masked with a dash of velvety mystique. Tobi knows his way around the bass fret board, and as the tracks build in passion, his ability to rip out some pretty killer solos really comes to the fore-front. Playing through the rest of their ZZ Tunes  catalogue also made for a great show, King of Birds  absolutely rocks it live, there’s a-lot of energy in that breakdown section that translates to stage very well, as well as serving as a device for breaking up the more downtempo pieces.

Also I want to stress that when I say ‘down-tempo’ I do not want you to think I mean ‘boring’. There’s enough intricacies and rhythmic patterns that lie throughout all of Squarehead‘s music to keep you listening intently from start to finish. I Dream At Night, (the second last track of the set), is reminiscent of Ratatat‘s relaxing-yet-stimulating sound, and when translated to the live stage, it takes on another special element you miss out on if you just listen at home with your iTunes. I think perhaps the most fitting description I have for Squarehead‘s live-sets are ‘perfect for taking a girl to’.

After Squarehead; The Black Galaxy Experience set up all manner of synths and instruments that would make any music-geek drool. The drummer Andrew writes all the music and is quite adept at what he does; there’s an interesting prog-rock/psychedelic feel to the jazzy electronica he performs which fills the entire room and envelops you whole like a sonic cushion. It’s clear that as a musician, Andrew is a skilled artist- the dynamic levels and expressive drumming was a stand-out. With tunes that can fall close to the 10-minute mark in length, the constant evolution and flow of the music kept the room totally fixated. Whats’s Going On in-particular built and built with fluid smoothness into a swirling crescendo of drumming prowess which was just out of this world.

Definitely some of the most musically impressive bands in the underground electronica scene at the moment, if you live in Melbourne, check them out next time you see their name on a poster.

Squarehead:

The Black Galaxy Experience: