It’s been five years between albums for Melbourne-based psychedelic rock quintet Beaches. Saturday’s sold out show, the first of two at Northcote Social Club proved that they’ve kept what made them so hypnotic in the first place, and also gained some new fans.
Guitarists Antonia Sellbach, Ali McCann, and Alison Bolger, bassist Gill Tucker, and drummer Karla Way, are good friends, who originally formed Beaches as a side project, just to spend more time hanging out.
Their predominately instrumental self-titled debut ended up being shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize. There were always plans for a follow up, but life got in the way (study; other creative projects; the birth of twin daughters for Bolger).
Opening three-piece Bushwalking revved up the crowd with their jangly, art-rock. The dual vocals between bassist and drummer were a treat to watch. When it came time for Beaches, the stage curtains were drawn back to reveal five excited, but slightly nervous musicians. There’s a bit of a buzz surrounding their new album She Beats, so any anxiety was certainly warranted.
Beaches sophomore effort is crisper than their debut and the production more accomplished and textured. This time around there are more vocals (shared between the girls), but they’re still kept low in the mix, which adds a mysterious, dream-like quality to the sound.
After a few songs, and some claps and whistles from the crowd, the band relaxed and smiled as they played their shoe-gazing lead single “Distance”, with its repetitive, pulsating chant ‘a little bit faster’ lulling the crowd into their own personal happy place.
Cheery follow-up single “Send Them Away” came next, sounding like the gleeful pop abandon you’d expect to hear from The Go Go’s, but with a dash of fuzzy guitar work.
The success of Beaches can be attributed to their unique camaraderie, which creates incredible chemistry and trust. This gives the band an intense dynamic, allowing the girls freedom to experiment and layer their sound. The result: sweet melodies that build up to crescendos of crashing waves, and then merge into sonic meditation.
The band are so mesmerising live, and produce such an incredible wall of all-encompassing sound, that sometimes, at the end of a song, the punters needed to pause for a moment to collect their thoughts before showing their appreciation.
This otherworldly effect is in full-force when Sellbach takes the vocal lead; her white-blonde hair catching the stage lights as she sings and stares off into the distance. She looks like the ‘mother of dragons’ (that’s Daenerys from Game Of Thrones for the uninitiated), except in jeans and a shirt, and with a guitar instead of fire-breathing creatures.
There were a few technical hiccups during the night, and Sellbach and Way joked that they’d whizzed through the songs too quickly. At times, it felt like they were concentrating too hard. But, as Beaches perform their new material live more often, they’ll only get more comfortable.
Ultimately, the music of Beaches perfectly encapsulates the halcyon days of never wanting summer to end; when you travel to the seaside with your best mates, and everything is idyllic: romances, ice-cream, floating in the sea on your back while looking up at the perfect blue sky.
The punters left the band room at the end of the show to head out into a cold and rainy Melbourne night, but at least Beaches left us feeling a bit warmer.
