It comes as no surprise that Pluto Jonze – otherwise known as the ever-enigmatic Lachlan Nicolson – is an admirer of Beck.
His debut album, Eject, boils with sonic experiments and genre-bending tracks that skip across influences. Alongside this shared trait , Jonze appears to have based his appearance on the American singer-songwriter – sporting a similar haircut and attire.
At his Adelaide show, Jonze was supported by Brisbane indie act Hey Geronimo. Although currently making a name for themselves nationwide with their catchy ‘60s pop and ‘90s alt-rock-inspired tunes, their Rocket Bar set suffered from a muted opening.
The majority of tracks seemed slightly untidy, with the players out of sync with each other for the first half of the show. And while no fault of theirs, a thick, opaque barrier of smoke divided the band and the dancing fans; an illusion of venue professionalism that went awry.
Fortunately the five band members began to appear more comfortable on stage as the show neared its end. Exhibiting a genuine youthful energy, frontman Pete Kilroy and lead guitarist Ross Pearson jumped in time to the rhythmic undertones of their upbeat tracks.
“Dreamboat Jack” saw Kilroy acting as the perfect wingman, singing the choral hook of “girls shake your hands / if you wanna go out with the drummer of the band,” – his efforts seemingly winning over eager takers of both genders.
“Carbon Affair”, “Why Don’t We Do Something” and “Lazer Gun Show” triggered a fervent response from the crowd, with one punter running frantically through the audience in a desperate attempt to find someone with equal enthusiasm for the music.
Bounding on stage at 1am, Pluto Jonze raced straight into the Theremin solo that begins the rhythmically disjointed Brit-pop single “Plastic Bag In A Hurricane”.
As the screen behind the Sydney musician flashed incoherently with TV static and electric green wavelengths, Jonze raced through his set with jumping energy.
Momentarily succumbing to a convulsive shaking during both the virtually unpronounceable “Hispedangongonajelanguiro (Capiche?)” and ___ “Eject”, Jonze’s flirtation with mixed methods saw him passing out small percussion instruments to front-row fans.
Using a playfully experimentalist approach, Jonze incorporated Mac Speech in his tunes and rummaged expertly over the copious instruments and musical tools at his disposal. Introducing his computer vocoder as Alex, the synth-pop gems of Eject bloomed out to animated praise.
Pluto Jonze’s cathartic blend of escapism and romanticised defeat resonated with the drunken crowd, who danced without constraint to the versatile musician’s spacey tunes.
His impressive performance was a confirmation of his mult-faceted musical abilities. And with so few limitations to what he produces, Pluto Jonze seems well on his way to becoming an alternative cult idol.
