One of the best enterprises of the music establishment in the past few years has been the all-ages WAM initiative, Act of Youth.
Saturday’s gig at PICA again displayed their continuing success in the project which saw lollies rather than lager on the bar and local music as the drawcard, a project which Natalie from Bloom succinctly pointed out “was not really an option when I was a kiddie”.
And out from the Blue Light Discos they crawled …
Humbug came to light in the Campus Band Competition last year wearing their Smashing Pumpkins colours in full glory, but a year’s development has seen a genuine devolving of their then-obvious allegiances.
With a majority of their music in a mid-paced wall’o’guitars frame, Humbug well utilised their drummer’s constant touring of the kit and Ben Clemson’s [Note: oops! Ryan Johnson is the vocalist. I wonder if this went through the Revue eds.] vocals to powerful, yet atmospheric, effect.
Furthermore, a lit Womble on the speaker stack and their maniacal Walk Like an Egyptian were huge hits for the young, uninhibited crowd who will no doubt be rooting for Humbug in years to come. Me too.
To label Bloom as ‘Most Promising’ is now seriously unjust. Every element of their stagecraft exuded confidence and cohesive talent. From Natalie D-N’s unwavering vox and gorgeous guitar sound to ‘Rex Horan Jun.’ on bass walking every conceivable scale to guitarist Anthony and his cornerstone subtle noises, Bloom hit all the right buttons.
Combining the perfect consistency of angsty pop bursts and lyrical reflection, like the closing track Merri-Go-Round from their Cable Thing demo, Bloom deserved their embarrassed grins when a lad did the cigarette lighter waving thing. Post-promising, ready to lead.
Sic are not from ’round theez perts. Definitively Fremantle, I could not get used to their use of acoustic guitar in what was best suited to the electric variety.
A dull clunk was all I heard belying the great musicianship that I saw, that inimitable port-town quirkiness again claiming a fashion victim while exposing a musical gem. Sic, fun to watch and bop inducing, somehow made me pine for those days of ra-ra skirts and Blondie records, and you should see me in a ra-ra skirt …
Adam Connors
