There were a limited number of people at the Oxford Art Factory early on Thursday night. This is a massive shame, almost an insult, because Alex Cameron was killing it on stage – the ‘it’ being the audience’s previous conceptions of amazing music.
Cameron is a musician, better known as the frontman for electronic darlings, Seekae. However, whilst Seekae are a more smooth, ambient fixture, in solo mode, the singer brought the 80s to the forefront of the crowd’s collective conscience.
The singer-songwriter played songs from his debut album, a concept LP entitled Jumping The Shark. Whilst on record the music sounds glorious, in a live setting, the tunes take on a slithering, powerful life of their own. Tracks like ‘The Comeback’ and ‘The Internet’ hold an aesthetic that is powerfully 80s, fuelled by the commonplace concept of corporate greed and entrepreneurialism, but Cameron’s voice dictates the modern view that it’s all a hopeless cause. So many emotions and ideas packed into such a small amount of time. Woah.
After wowing the few, Seekae, who personified ‘Murica (sunglasses, an American Flag bandana and a YouTube singlet) were replaced by Retiree. Instead of the expected 65 year olds that are synonymous with the name, the punters were greeted by the slow-moving electronic rock from the five-piece from Sydney, and there wasn’t a grey hair between them.
Although fantastic when performing songs off their debut EP, including the gloriously Hot Chip-ish ‘Together’, the instrument changes that accompanied most of their songs meant the performance was unnecessarily hindered, and momentum slowed.
But that can be expected from a young band. World’s End Press, on the other hand, have been honing their craft since 2010. They’ve graced all sorts of stages, from the festival boards of Falls, to international mazes of SXSW. But, in the small, nicely packed venue of Oxford Art Factory, World’s End Press were more at home than Darth Vader chilling in the Death Star.
The songs the band played were on fire and electric, zapping the audience into moments of ecstasy aided by a sizeable amount of purple and blue lights.
However, the best thing about the Melbourne four-piece is how diverse and exciting they manage to be throughout their set. Not once was the energy dropped below Kanye-West-delivering-a-rant level. On top of this, all the songs they performed showcased a different and unique side of the band.
There was sappy banger ‘Drag Me Home’ and the space-jazz of ‘Someone’s Daddy’, and you couldn’t go past the breathy, rave anthem ‘To Send Out Love’, and the simultaneously dry and wet ‘Deadbeat Sweetheart’.
Because it’s impossible to resist a band that can drop such succulent music and effortlessly look like they just got ripped from a modern Pet Shop Boys video clip, the audience was hypnotised. Nowhere else in Sydney that night could you find such a large group of people so completely enthralled with a stage of good-looking people playing indie-electronica in a shroud of purple smoke.
It felt as though the headliner’s set whirled past way too quickly. They were on stage, captivating all in earshot, and then next minute they were off. Because of this, the band received one of the most genuine sounding encores that’s ever been heard (surely) at the Oxford Art Factory. People even pulled their eyes away from the 80s Weight-Workout video/Godzilla mash-up that was screening on the walls.
A thankful go of ‘Second Day Uptown’ and the sighing adoration from all in attendance was complete. World’s End Press have got to be one of the best local acts going around right now.
