Funeral Party, Boy In A Box @ The Metro, Sydney (05/08/2011)
It’s a somewhat worrying sight of only several dozen punters inside The Metro not long after doors had opened. My guess is that Los Angeles band Funeral Party aren’t that well known here, and I’ll freely admit that I wasn’t overly familiar with their material either. Regardless I still ventured along and for those that made the effort I believe we were well rewarded.
Boy In A Box were an unusual choice for openers, mainly because they came across as younger fresh indie rock darlings rather than erring on the side of alternative or punk. I guess what they did share with the headliners though was an energy and spark that coursed through their songs. For me they were the band that when they churned out ‘Glitter, Gold, Ruin’ it suddenly dawned on me who they were. I quite like that song, it’s fast, hooky and catchy as hell. The small crowd that had started mingling down at the barrier were all bopping along and enjoying it too. Boy In A Box put on a strong solid set and seemed genuinely pleased that at least some people were in the room to witness their performance.
Thankfully once Funeral Party came onstage the room had a larger portion of patrons now inside ready to witness them. From opening track ‘Golden Age’ to ‘I Came,’ almost the entire performance was unrelenting. Front-man Chad Elliott has an almost bottomless pit of energy spilling forth and a rawness and urgency in his delivery. ‘New York City Moves To The Sound Of L.A’ is probably one of their signature tunes and tends to encompass their alternative-nu-punk hardcore sound.
‘Postcards of Persuasion’ was a slight curveball of a song, a bit on the dark ambient side, it was like the Los Angeles West Coast version of ‘Antics’ era Interpol courtesy of Kimo Kauhola’s pulsating bass lines. Whilst ‘Finale’ had dabbling of electro and dance layered through the post-punk crashing guitars and drums. We had a slight respite in all the feverish and chaotic songs with ‘Relics To Ruins’ where Elliott’s vocals almost seemed quite soothing and yearning. We were once again thrust forward though with the momentum of ‘Where Did It Go Wrong’ and before we knew it the show was all over. Not even another round of cheering for a second encore by the small and enthusiastic crowd could bring the band back onstage.
Carina Nilma
Boy In A Box were an unusual choice for openers, mainly because they came across as younger fresh indie rock darlings rather than erring on the side of alternative or punk. I guess what they did share with the headliners though was an energy and spark that coursed through their songs. For me they were the band that when they churned out ‘Glitter, Gold, Ruin’ it suddenly dawned on me who they were. I quite like that song, it’s fast, hooky and catchy as hell. The small crowd that had started mingling down at the barrier were all bopping along and enjoying it too. Boy In A Box put on a strong solid set and seemed genuinely pleased that at least some people were in the room to witness their performance.
Thankfully once Funeral Party came onstage the room had a larger portion of patrons now inside ready to witness them. From opening track ‘Golden Age’ to ‘I Came,’ almost the entire performance was unrelenting. Front-man Chad Elliott has an almost bottomless pit of energy spilling forth and a rawness and urgency in his delivery. ‘New York City Moves To The Sound Of L.A’ is probably one of their signature tunes and tends to encompass their alternative-nu-punk hardcore sound.
‘Postcards of Persuasion’ was a slight curveball of a song, a bit on the dark ambient side, it was like the Los Angeles West Coast version of ‘Antics’ era Interpol courtesy of Kimo Kauhola’s pulsating bass lines. Whilst ‘Finale’ had dabbling of electro and dance layered through the post-punk crashing guitars and drums. We had a slight respite in all the feverish and chaotic songs with ‘Relics To Ruins’ where Elliott’s vocals almost seemed quite soothing and yearning. We were once again thrust forward though with the momentum of ‘Where Did It Go Wrong’ and before we knew it the show was all over. Not even another round of cheering for a second encore by the small and enthusiastic crowd could bring the band back onstage.
Carina Nilma