_Faker, The Paper Scissors, Rockets @ The Standard, Darlinghurst (11/10/2011)
_
Following Faker’s
new EP release ‘How did we not get loved?’ the band launched into a 14 date
tour, starting in Byron and ending with their last show at The Standard in
Sydney. That’s where I found myself, standing in front of the low lit stage on
a Friday night, drink in hand, waiting for the supports to kick things off.
Rockets are four lads that hail from Sydney and have released their first EP (self-titled) a few months ago. I was pleasantly surprised by how polished their sound was, they sounded quite smooth and well rehearsed. Their track ‘Toad’ was a favourite, it was loud and brash and punchy with a Strokes feel to it, and a lot of drummer Dave Steven’s intros were really catchy. I also appreciated some of the reverb and echo effects that resonated at the end of some of their tracks. They ended up playing quite a few songs including ‘McBird’, ‘Madeline’, ‘San Francisco’ and ‘With Thanks’.
Their sound and look is undeniably close to that of a younger Kings of Leon, the lead singer Hewett Cook even has a distinctive tone in his voice that sounds a lot like Caleb Followill’s. I found this a positive and negative, whilst their music was quite atmospheric it seemed to sound too familiar to me. Rockets are very talented and they have a lot to offer, especially as their sound develops.
Next on stage The Paper Scissors just owned it, egged on by the crowd they did a great set, some of the highlights being ‘Lung Sum’ which was a fun crazy electro, rocky indie number that got the crowd dancing, ‘Soft Pig’ a slow melancholic song with brilliantly deep lyrics ‘I see you with my young eyes, breaking down’ and of course my favourite ‘We don’t walk’ which has a really cool boppy sample in the drum beat along with a funky bass line and some great guitar effects, some may have heard it played in an ad for Unwired Australia. Jai Payne’s voice matches the music beautifully as they perform ‘Taller than You Then’ and ‘Disco Connect’.
A lot of the structure of the bands music is built from sampling, especially in the song beats. The band’s set was hindered by technical issues with trying to get the sampler going through the instruments, which meant that the music sometimes lacked in its full dynamic. I don’t think this had any impact on the quality in how it sounded or came across. Watching the band you get a sense of a certain raw edginess that only comes from life experience and reflects so well in their music. They won me over with their live performance, definitely a band I would see again.
Of course any final show on a tour needs some theatrics and Faker definitely delivered. As the lights dimmed, intro dialogue was fed through the speakers, a small child’s voice, Mikey from the Goonies giving a rousing speech ‘Don't you guys see? Don't you realize? He was a pro. He never made it this far. Look how far we've come. We've got a chance… Goonies never say Die!’
Faker bounced out on stage and ripped into their first track ‘Heaven can Wait’ which set off the crowd and just made the atmosphere electric. By the time Faker had gotten through ‘Love For Sale’, ‘Are you Magnetic’ and ‘Quarter to Three’ the crowd was up and dancing along with big cheeky grins. Lead singer Nathan Hudson took a brief break to tell us some crazy story about how he broke his collarbone at a birthday party a couple of years ago, and then we we’re off again. By the time they got to ‘Back to Solvents’ and ‘Love Survival Guide’ everyone was amped and Nathan was now expressing himself through his signature drunken stumbling dance moves.
Once Faker have hit ‘Hurricane’, a definite crowd pleaser, there are many antics on stage, drum kits and speaker boxes are being climbed and jumped off, there is some sprinting from one side of the stage to another and springy mid air jumps at every accent in the song. At one point Nathan lies dead on the stage with his legs in the air, resembling a dead cockroach.
There was a generous use of echo effect in the mike, which just amplified Nathan’s booming voice in ‘Graffiti on the Skyline’. I thought ‘Sleepwalking’ was one of the best tracks performed with the crowd gleefully singing along ‘You said you were sleepwalking, but what the fuck is that anyway’ as Nathan ambles along zombie like, arms outstretched. ‘Long Forgotten Town’ was just euphoric, Faker’s combination of rocky electro riffs, pumping drum beats and soaring vocals add such vibrancy to their music.
Now I wasn’t sure of the best way to say this, but during most of the gig the sound had slowly started to deteriorate. The band had to stop a few times whilst attempts were made to fix it, but there wasn’t much that could be done. By the time they got to the last two songs in the set, the sound had completely died. The band was midway through ‘This is Heart Attack’ when the mike and the keyboard cut out. You can imagine the sound technician’s face as he tried frantically to bring everything back. You can also imagine the band’s faces as time passed with no success.
The crowd put their two cents in, some booing the sound technician, some unsure of what to do, up and left. Finally, a decision was made for the band to call it a night and start packing up while the lights were still down, something that caused great upset and marred what should have been the end to a great tour.
I think Faker are a brilliant band, the singles off their new EP show them moving in a new direction, the sound has a fresh sound and most of the lyrics are quite deep and raw. They were really professional with how they handled an unfortunate and uncontrollable situation, and were still really gracious and appreciative towards their fans. It just goes to show, in this business where things can go belly up at anytime, its how you deal with the things that get thrown at you that matters most.
Nazia Hafiz
Rockets are four lads that hail from Sydney and have released their first EP (self-titled) a few months ago. I was pleasantly surprised by how polished their sound was, they sounded quite smooth and well rehearsed. Their track ‘Toad’ was a favourite, it was loud and brash and punchy with a Strokes feel to it, and a lot of drummer Dave Steven’s intros were really catchy. I also appreciated some of the reverb and echo effects that resonated at the end of some of their tracks. They ended up playing quite a few songs including ‘McBird’, ‘Madeline’, ‘San Francisco’ and ‘With Thanks’.
Their sound and look is undeniably close to that of a younger Kings of Leon, the lead singer Hewett Cook even has a distinctive tone in his voice that sounds a lot like Caleb Followill’s. I found this a positive and negative, whilst their music was quite atmospheric it seemed to sound too familiar to me. Rockets are very talented and they have a lot to offer, especially as their sound develops.
Next on stage The Paper Scissors just owned it, egged on by the crowd they did a great set, some of the highlights being ‘Lung Sum’ which was a fun crazy electro, rocky indie number that got the crowd dancing, ‘Soft Pig’ a slow melancholic song with brilliantly deep lyrics ‘I see you with my young eyes, breaking down’ and of course my favourite ‘We don’t walk’ which has a really cool boppy sample in the drum beat along with a funky bass line and some great guitar effects, some may have heard it played in an ad for Unwired Australia. Jai Payne’s voice matches the music beautifully as they perform ‘Taller than You Then’ and ‘Disco Connect’.
A lot of the structure of the bands music is built from sampling, especially in the song beats. The band’s set was hindered by technical issues with trying to get the sampler going through the instruments, which meant that the music sometimes lacked in its full dynamic. I don’t think this had any impact on the quality in how it sounded or came across. Watching the band you get a sense of a certain raw edginess that only comes from life experience and reflects so well in their music. They won me over with their live performance, definitely a band I would see again.
Of course any final show on a tour needs some theatrics and Faker definitely delivered. As the lights dimmed, intro dialogue was fed through the speakers, a small child’s voice, Mikey from the Goonies giving a rousing speech ‘Don't you guys see? Don't you realize? He was a pro. He never made it this far. Look how far we've come. We've got a chance… Goonies never say Die!’
Faker bounced out on stage and ripped into their first track ‘Heaven can Wait’ which set off the crowd and just made the atmosphere electric. By the time Faker had gotten through ‘Love For Sale’, ‘Are you Magnetic’ and ‘Quarter to Three’ the crowd was up and dancing along with big cheeky grins. Lead singer Nathan Hudson took a brief break to tell us some crazy story about how he broke his collarbone at a birthday party a couple of years ago, and then we we’re off again. By the time they got to ‘Back to Solvents’ and ‘Love Survival Guide’ everyone was amped and Nathan was now expressing himself through his signature drunken stumbling dance moves.
Once Faker have hit ‘Hurricane’, a definite crowd pleaser, there are many antics on stage, drum kits and speaker boxes are being climbed and jumped off, there is some sprinting from one side of the stage to another and springy mid air jumps at every accent in the song. At one point Nathan lies dead on the stage with his legs in the air, resembling a dead cockroach.
There was a generous use of echo effect in the mike, which just amplified Nathan’s booming voice in ‘Graffiti on the Skyline’. I thought ‘Sleepwalking’ was one of the best tracks performed with the crowd gleefully singing along ‘You said you were sleepwalking, but what the fuck is that anyway’ as Nathan ambles along zombie like, arms outstretched. ‘Long Forgotten Town’ was just euphoric, Faker’s combination of rocky electro riffs, pumping drum beats and soaring vocals add such vibrancy to their music.
Now I wasn’t sure of the best way to say this, but during most of the gig the sound had slowly started to deteriorate. The band had to stop a few times whilst attempts were made to fix it, but there wasn’t much that could be done. By the time they got to the last two songs in the set, the sound had completely died. The band was midway through ‘This is Heart Attack’ when the mike and the keyboard cut out. You can imagine the sound technician’s face as he tried frantically to bring everything back. You can also imagine the band’s faces as time passed with no success.
The crowd put their two cents in, some booing the sound technician, some unsure of what to do, up and left. Finally, a decision was made for the band to call it a night and start packing up while the lights were still down, something that caused great upset and marred what should have been the end to a great tour.
I think Faker are a brilliant band, the singles off their new EP show them moving in a new direction, the sound has a fresh sound and most of the lyrics are quite deep and raw. They were really professional with how they handled an unfortunate and uncontrollable situation, and were still really gracious and appreciative towards their fans. It just goes to show, in this business where things can go belly up at anytime, its how you deal with the things that get thrown at you that matters most.
Nazia Hafiz