It was my last day in Perth, and before flying on home, I headed over the Festival Wrap Party at Mojos in North Fremantle. I arrived just in time for young rockers, King George (Pictured Below).
Tonight, the four piece – all of whom are still in High School to my understanding – were three. Drummer Scarlett Stevens was over in New York City. But the bone chilling bass made up for it – and then some. These are truly talented young musicians, already owners of a wide array of awards and industry praise.
Taking on lead vocals, guitar and main songwriting duties, baby faced Jordi James won the WAM Song of the Year (lower secondary category) competition in 2007, winning recording time to produce his self-titled EP, “Jordi James”. Then in 2009, the four piece won the WAM Song of the Year Competition (Upper School category) for their song “Rocket Ship”. Nice!
Today the band showed off experience and song writing talents well beyond their years. An impressive rendition of “Going To Acapulco” was included, and would have made Bob Dylan proud. And with that in mind, there’s no telling how far this band will go. And as for the sound? Aside from the Dylan cover, they definitely wear their indie rock influences on their sleeves – Vampire Weekend and The Kooks being two that immediately spring to mind. If they’re two bands that take your fancy, then King George are certainly up your alley, too!
Next were Selk and the Bone Singers (pictured above), featuring WAMi festival director Sarah Norton on the bass guitar and backing vocals.
Led by namesake Selk Hastings, the five piece are of the alternative folk rock variety – that’s if you have to place them into a category at all. The set, which featured keyboards and guitars primarily, was stripped back at first. Nothing too in your face, the band eased you into their sound nicely. Then, about half way through, just when you thought you were going to hear much of the same, they kicked it up a notch, steadily increasing their on stage energy and sound. By the end of the set, they had entered into an impressed jam, one that I was disappointed to hear end. A set that took me by surprise, Selk and the Bone Singers are a true talent.
The Floors (pictured above) must be named that because they can only see the floor due to their ridiculous hair! Not that I can talk – it’s just a theory! In any case, the local three piece pulled out all the stops with some LOUD blues inspired pub rock. The bass was definitely cranked up to 11, the band bringing their own amps to add to the effect, shaking the floors of Mojos. Wait! Maybe that’s why they’re called The Floors!
The band may not have been anything you haven’t seen before, but they were impressive all the same. And while their loud guitars may have been a predominant feature, the lyrics were just as in your face: “You can slice me open and feed me to the pigs” being just one example. Although this was the title of a song about love – so you can take that as you’d like! If you want to see pub rock done right, this is the band to check out. They’re definitely up there with other Australian artists such as The Vasco Era in terms of what they can pull off with that sort of blues inspired sound – adding in a hint of Elvis inspired rock and roll, too.
The final band I caught were the Sneaky Weasel Gang (pictured above and below), who released their six track EP, Bodyslide Blues, at the end of last year. One of the few local bands whose names I’d heard mentioned back in Sydney, the three piece from south western WA also brought a dose of blues rock for our listening pleasure – and were almost as loud as their predecessors. But their twist on this classic taste of guitar pleasure was the inclusion of reggae and funk inspired riffs and melodies. While I couldn’t quite stay until the very end, it was a memorable, energetic set, from yet another band to watch from the Western state!
Unfortunately this meant that I missed the remainder of the evening, which included Schvendes, Harlequin League, Felicity Groom and the Black Black Smoke and Capital City. But I definitely left the festival on a high note. And what a festival it was! I must have caught about 20 bands in the 4 days of the festival, and all of them were of high standard, each with their own unique styles and sounds. Impressive to say the least.
Perth, you have set the bar quite high for what should be expected of a local music scene.
