Solkyri
On Friday night a small, appreciative crowd, which included touring Japanese acts Yawning and Presence of Soul, saw the album launch of Are You My Brother from Sydney instrumental rock band Solkyri. Despite having got up at 5am and driven the 800km to Melbourne, the band gave it their all in the sort of performance that is helping cement the reputation of Australia's progressive music scene.
The Nest Itself
Although there is a growing number of progressive instrumental rock acts around the country it’s a sound that didn’t really explode in Australia. Instead there’s been a trickle of newcomers over the last ten or so years. Relative newbies and support act The Nest Itself are a band with as many similarities to indie rock and blues as they have with more traditional post-rock, and hearing them live with no preconceptions kept me guessing and constantly surprised.
Keys swung from straight piano to swirling Hammond, guitar from tremolo to fast strumming to Claptonesque riffing and noodling then to Ebow. Drums were smashed furiously one minute then conjuring up images of plate smashing the next as they led a post-rock Byzantine hasapiko dance. Bass was the cement that held the disparate elements together. Well if cement was both gooey and rock-hard, because the transitions were often smooth and often stark – more of those surprises.
The set started with Jason Hutchinson swinging aside his Rickenbacker, kneeling down, and demonstrating his skills on the pedals, soon joined by Jonathon Pittas on keys as the turbines of 'Here Lies The Deepest Of Dens' slowly picked up speed before propelling the whole ship into the first of many crescendos for the night. This was followed by 'Unfix', also off their debut album of last year, (In) Constant Search.
Other highlights included 'The Chill And The Dank Hollow' and 'Antisocial Smoker' before closing the set in suitably climactic fashion with 'These Filters Are Everywhere'.
Solkyri
Solkyri has been around a little longer than Nest and have worked for a while on recording Are You My Brother. The crowd for the launch was small but there for the music rather than a chat and absorbed themselves in every note even though the album had only just been released and would have been new to many. In fact the only chatter and laughing during the quiet moments came from the bar staff – that was just plain rude guys.
Opening with the chiming glock of 'His Ghosts Will Invade Puerto Rico', they slowly wound the springs up with gentle guitar from Adam Mostek, then Andrew Pearsall's flowing bass before Nick Hall joined in on drums to set up a wave that carried the crowd along a river before hitting some rapids and finally sending us crashing over a waterfall. Really good post-rock bands know how to transfer their records to the stage without missing the essence of the song. It's particularly hard with a three piece that has no keys or second guitar, and Solkyiri showed they had the goods.
Next up was 'Hunter', an upbeat and energetic groove with an awesome riff that bounced along with a huge smile on its face, but you could tell that Mostek on guitar was being restrained as if chained to the spot. By the time they hit the third song, 'This Can Wait' from their 2011 release No House, he had thrown caution to the wind and despite the small stage was hurling himself and guitar around during the volcanic eruptions, almost removing Pearsall's head a few times and I couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to see him on a stage with Dan Oreskovic from Meniscus. A bloodbath I would imagine.
Speaking of Meniscus there were some strong similarities in sound between the two bands although the bass lines were very different. Unlike Alison Kerjean, Pearsall uses a pick, his bass often taking on a guitar role, and not just rhythm, with some serious melody and fast tremolo work. But for now the set slowed right down and Hall abandoned his basic kit for keyboard and Pearsall took control of the glock for the wonderfully light 'Oklahundt'. At one point I swear I saw Hall half-yawn, half-sigh as he tickled the ivory, the long day seemingly starting to catch up, no doubt helped by the beautiful lullaby.
Andrew Pearsall - Solkyri
This led perfectly into what is quickly becoming the highlight of the new record; 'With Strawberries Like Dead Men', starting where the previous track left off aided by some string samples, but building to a pulsating din, by which time Hall had resumed control of the skins, and guitar and bass were left to continue their swordfight. 'I Am The Motherfucker' maintained the energy with an almighty crescendo before the lads brought the set home with 'Strangers', the only other song from No House on the night.
When you see a couple of bands playing as well as this and putting in every ounce of energy they have, it's easy to think they deserve a bigger crowd and wonder to yourself where the hell everyone is. But this is just how life is when you play underground experimental/progressive/instrumental rock in Australia and bands know and accept that it takes a lot of hard work and love of what you're doing to create and share music like this. And it's that love that everyone felt as they stood there absorbed in every single note.
