Palm Springs, a Melbourne act renowned for dark, sombre country music, dusky vocals and lyrical honesty were represented as a single act on Saturday night. Erica Dunn represented the band, bringing a set reminisce of Chelsea Wolfe; doom folk meets the blues. One woman, armed with a guitar, held The Tote’s audience hostage, with no restraint.
Formerly known as Gold Tango, Melbourne duo Stina Tester | Cinta Masters continued the female stage domination. It’s a minimalist soundscape, just synth and drums; its pulsating, bass heavy, synth-laden goodness. There’s a buzzing, gothic, post-punk feel, delivering sounds that would put the 80s to shame – it’s a sometimes Depeche Mode feel, maybe Devo at times, but with vocal harmonies that wouldn’t be out of place in The B52s. Stina and Cinta were hypnotic – it’s great to have these guys back on the circuit.
Gold Class have to be one of the best Melbourne bands out there – there’s no denying that they’re leading the post-punk revival that we’re seeing. Their performance leaves you with no ambiguity regarding their place in the Melbourne scene – it was tight, tense, and flawless. Gold Class are known for stoic, Ian Curtis influenced vocals, driving bass and twanging guitar; confounding individual parts that combine to something dynamic and enigmatic.
The powerful vocals of Adam Curley were a new-wave deliverance, his contorted movements and imposition on the crowd cumulative to the omnipresent sound. The band treated us to new tracks, including “Kids On Fire” – if this is the sound of what’s to come, I’m excited.
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Now touring the UK and Europe, Gold Class are an experience, all desolate melancholia and sobering beauty, that isn’t to be missed.
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