Review: Milk! Records presents the Good For You Tour. Courtney Barnett, Fraser A. Gorman, Jen Cloher, Ouch My Face, East Brunswick All Girls Choir and The Finks @ The Triffid, Brisbane. March 18, 2016
Courtney Barnett had a stellar 2015. She released the hugely successful Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit garnering almost universal acclaim from the discerning likes of Pitchfork Media and the hype machine that is NME, before being nominated for a slew of awards and only last week taking out the Australian Music Prize. Tonight though, she’s sharing some of that spotlight with her talented label mates from Milk! Records.
This sold out show at The Triffid works within the confines of very loose set-times with the stage acting like a revolving door as band members leave and return for different tracks. Collaborations form, evolve and reform as the night progresses all the while giving the impression that Milk! is not so much a traditional record label as it is a creative community of musicians and friends.
Comprising of singer-songwriter Oliver Mestitz on guitar and Sarah Farquharson on cello, The Finks probably aren’t the band you’d usually pick to kick-start your Friday night.
Beginning the set with a well-received reading of Sarah’s prose over a dreamy guitar, the set slowly evolves (with the addition of drums, bass and more guitars) from a pop-folk event to a three guitar squalling rock show that it is by the end.
The Finks depart and those remaining on stage turn out to be The East Brunswick All Girls Choir and by the second track in their set have already added a second drummer and a massive dose of feedback shattering ear drums from the front to the back of the room.
Singer Marcus Hobbs has a unique but powerful voice and with guitar in hand becomes the focal point of the room as rhythm guitarist Rie Nakayama coaxes ever more feedback from the amp stack.
From the get-go Ouch My Face had six people on stage but they really only looked comfortable when it was stripped back to the usual trio of experimental punks.
Scratchy distorted guitar, vocal effects and high pitched wailing are their modus operandi and the set produced certainly isn’t an easy listen but demonstrated the diversity on Milk!’s roster.
Having appeared earlier with The Finks, Jen Cloher begins her set proper in heartfelt duet with Courtney Barnett for a cover of Jerry Garcia‘s ‘Shady Grove’. The rest of the band is then welcomed to the stage for 30 minutes of sombre country-tinged indie-pop before the set culminates as the band expands to include two drummers and a third guitarist for a rock freak-out on ‘Famously Monogamous’.
Fraser A Gorman needs to get used the Bob Dylan comparisons. From his hair, to his harmonica to his vocal phrasing, Fraser looks the part completely. The difference between him and everyone else who gets compared to Dylan daily is he backs it up with solid song-writer and musical chops.
His country influenced, indie pop was captivating for the late-night crowd and was punctuated by an off-beat story about an obnoxious child washing windscreens for money.
He remained on stage as Barnett finally took up residence to the left of centre stage for her headlining set kicking off with ‘Dead Fox’. The ode to Mi Goreng noodles ‘Three Packs A Day’ followed with and kept the momentum going with upbeat album opener ‘Elevator Operator’ inspiring a sing-along chorus.
The rapid-fire delivery of prose about daily life, mundane evenings at home and unaffordable house-prices are leant a more pertinent urgency and immediacy in the live setting and in no other song was it more apparent than during ‘Depreston’ when Barnett found each melancholy word of the track sung back at her by the adoring crowd.
The set finishes with the entire cast on stage for enthusiastic covers of Bowie’s ‘Suffragette City’, Dragon’s ‘Rain’ and Neil Young’s ‘Cinnamon Girl’. The crowded stage, littered with half a dozen guitars, several basses, a cello, two drumkits, a keyboard and a gang of inspiring independent artists has tonight received the workout of its life.
Tonight feels like a snapshot of a moment in music on the Australian scene and it’s a pretty decent picture.
Photos taken from Melbourne gallery.
