Review: Methyl Ethel – Northcote Social Club, Thursday 14th April 2016
Considering their debut album Oh Inhuman Spectacle was released midway through 2015, it has taken Methyl Ethel quite a while to embark on a proper headline tour.
However, the WA trio have hardly been idle. They were much hyped at last year’s Bigsound in Brisbane, as well as playing CMJ in New York, SXSW in Austin, shows in the US, as well as this year’s Laneway Festival. Back in March they were signed to 4AD, alongside The National, Grimes and Purity Ring. To top off all that, they were recently announced on the line-up for the 2016 Splendour in the Grass.
Considering the year they have had, it is no great surprise that their short tour completely sold out, including three nights at the Northcote Social Club. Front man Jake Webb is to Methyl Ethel what Kevin Parker is to Tame Impala.
A one man band unless touring, both of similar age from Perth, both with obvious similarities in influence as they each produce their own version of retro psychedelic pop. One point of difference however, this evening there was not a scarf in sight.
Whilst Methyl Ethel could have easily sold a bigger room, it is nice to see a band on an inevitable upwards trajectory in a smaller, more intimate venue. There is no need for festival level antics just yet, just the band on a small stage playing their music, and doing it very well.
Last years renovations to the NSC have given the room a more open feel, and better visibility, especially from the back. However it seems all expenses were spared when it came to lighting.
Taking to the stage with very little fanfare, ‘Shadowboxing’ begins the set with a nice extended introduction, giving the band, and audience, a chance to settle into a good groove. The three-piece band are unassuming, mostly in black, drummer Chris Wright has his head down, face hidden behind long curly blond hair.
The comparatively tall Thom Stewart on bass is mostly stationary, happily nodding his head along to the music. They sound great but simple, reproducing the sounds of the album easily, with the very occasional but barely noticeable help of a backing track. Triple J favourite ‘Rogues’ gets an enthusiastic response, showing that heavy rotation has really made a big difference to this band.
Album highlight ‘Obscura’ gets the crowd grooving, and is a song where the band truly shine, with great melodic effect laden guitar backed by a tight and driving rhythm section. Similarly ‘Also Gesellschaft’ and ‘Idée Fixe’ are Methyl Ethel at their most exciting, the songs propelled by a slow dirty groove. Album closer ‘Everything As It Should Be’, perhaps a nod towards their Radiohead influence, is played more upbeat than on the album, the band enjoying a little more freedom of interpretation.
Webb is subtly captivating, constantly moving even with his head glued to the microphone. Whilst early in the set he is quiet (we don’t get a hello until after the fourth song) he seems to warm up as the night goes on. After receiving a complementary comment from the crowd regarding his jacket, he responds without a trace of pretension, “I bought it in Paris, little bit fucking hot but its rock ‘n’ roll right?”
‘Twilight Driving’ is clearly a highlight for the sold out crowd, the band opening the song with the riff from ‘Dust in the Wind’ by ’70s rockers Kansas, a fact rather unsurprisingly lost on all but one person in the crowd.
Partway through the bands most well-known song steps out the unannounced sax player, appropriately so as he was also uncredited on the album, a mistake we are later told. In part thanks to the likes of M83 and Chet Faker, it seems the sax is back in vogue again, and the extended solo is warmly received.
They gentle groove of ‘Twilight Driving’ gets the crowd energetically swaying along, which seems to be the peak of audience activity for the night. Methyl Ethel is not a band that invokes too much movement from a crowd, the music never has traces of aggression or sharp edge, nor do they stray far from the recorded version.
Even in a darkened room in Northcote, the songs still have the feel of a lazy Perth summer day, especially in ‘Rogues’ when Webb sings “In the summer when it was 40 degrees, inside it was 43”.
Oh Inhuman Spectacle revealed a band still finding a definite sound, suggesting that musically their path could head in a few different directions. Whichever direction they take, Methyl Ethel will still produce something special. Seemingly destined for the larger rooms and festival stages, it will be interesting to see how well they make that transition.
