Back in February, Oxford Art Factory launched a new band night – The Revenant Club – a celebration of local music curated by the folks behind Exquisite Corpse. Featuring Danimals, Dark Bells, Virgo Rising and more, it gave us a taste of what was “hot right now” in the underground Sydney scene – and most importantly, it was free!
After much anticipation, the Revenant Club returned last week for a second appearance; the line up proving to be one of the best the Sydney live scene has seen in quite some time!
First up were buzz band The Preachers. The five piece, led by Gideon Bensen and Isabella Manfredi, are just about to release their debut EP – and after tonight’s set, I couldn’t be more excited. I would even go as far to say as The Preachers will be the next big thing in Sydney. They play some beautiful thematic indie (often folk inspired) music. At once, you have the slide guitar giving the band a sense of the Blues and Roots – and at the end of the set, the keyboard becomes the backdrop of an old western saloon, the band shooting out musical perfection in a track which was nothing short of outstanding. Keep your ears and eyes open for this band!
The Whipped Cream Chargers followed, with The Whippettes by their side – two burlesque dancers with plenty of feathers, giving the WCC set that something extra. It’s not that they need the theatrics – their dirty rock and roll is one of the best examples of who makes up the current underground scene in Sydney. And alongside fellow Sydneyites The Laurels and The Holy Soul, we can see that this city isn’t doing too bad for itself. “Harp of Gold” rounded out the set, a track which is fast becoming a favourite of their ever growing fanbase.
Not to be outdone, Domeyko/Gonzalez proved that it only takes two, the room filling with smoke as we entered an ambient landscape full of Xylophones, light and Saxamaphones. They are definitely playing the sort of music that’s popular right now – dance inducing ambiance that Massive Attack helped popularise in recent years, and bands like Delphic have proceeded to come along and bastardise for the sake of popularity. That’s not to say that I don’t like Delphic, I just think in the context of what came before, it’s far from anything interesting.
But Domeyko/Gonzalez ARE interesting – their brew of instrumental electronica is some of the best I’ve seen in many years. And the best thing about the duo is that they’re not even close to reaching their potential yet. These are two incredibly gifted musicians who are just getting started, and with their music already getting my toes tapping, I can’t wait to see what they bring our way as time goes on.
One of the bands the AU review has been buzzing about for much of the year are quintet Wim, slowly but surely rising in the ranks as a “must see” local act. There is well-rehearsed precision to it, no doubt, but it all feels so effortless and carefree. Either they’ve done it a million times before, or they are putting it together for the first time, producing something instantly recognisable in the process. Either way you perceive it, it’s no less an impressive feat.
Carried along by Martin Soloman’s impressive vocals, comparisons with bands like The Antlers and Grizzly Bear are easy game, but I feel that Wim are in a class of their own. Their inspirations may be similar, but you almost can’t place their melodic tunes with any other band. Whatever it is they are doing, they are doing it right, and success should be a sure thing. Stay tuned!
Finally, Fashion Launches Rocket Launches took us well past our bed times, playing a killer set on the dance floor. Despite the odd placement, we were given a grand light show, as the smoke machine gave the room a sense of the foggy night. Something for which their music is truly appropriate. At first a fourth piece, they later brought on a fifth member – the ever changing lineup tonight comprised members from Wim and Lost Valentinos – and I’m not sure of the rest.
They pull together the best talent that Sydney has to offer, and they jam for an hour. As it says on their Myspace page, there are no set members, there are no set songs. Having now experienced them a few times, there are indeed some similarities between shows, but the overall experience is justified by whoever has shown up to play that day.
It’s rare to hear vocals in their set, but it does happen, and it’s psychedelic through and through. And with that comes a crowd mesmerised. It’s not easy to keep a crowd entranced at 1am on a Wednesday night, but if anyone can do it, it’s these guys. And what’s most exciting is that as long as the project continues, it will continue to evolve alongside the Sydney music scene. They bring us the best, and we all get to experience something pretty damn special as a result.
What an amazing night. It’s hard to fathom that this much talent is placed onto the stage for free. Why weren’t you there!? Well I’m sure we’ll see you at Revenant III. Bring it on!
Want to find out more about any of these bands? Check out their Myspace pages:
FASHION LAUNCHES ROCKET LAUNCHES http://www.myspace.com/fashionlaunchesrocketlaunches
WIM http://www.myspace.com/wimtheband
DOMEYKO/GONZALEZ http://www.myspace.com/domeykogonzalez
WHIPPED CREAM CHARGERS + WHIPPETTES http://www.myspace.com/whippedcreamchargers
THE PREACHERS http://www.myspace.com/thepreachers
Header photo by Lucy Parakhina from The Preacher’s Myspace Page.
