By Jase Walker
By this point I am convinced that there’s something in the water (or the beer – Ed) in Australia. The sheer amount of incredible bands that are just on the unusual side of things seem to be popping out of there like hot cakes and the aptly bizarrely named band, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, is another good example. And finally after the rescheduling of the show earlier this year, I get to see them at the rather lovely Paradiso venue supported by an equally oddball named band, FEET. It’s all going to be a bit of an odd one tonight by the looks.
FEET get things started and their singer is really oozing some Mick Jagger energy with his singing style and slightly jerky sliding around while grabbing the mic stand. Their sound is very resoundingly the kind of Brit indie rock that was super popular throughout the early 2000s, with feelings of The Kooks, Libertines, but still paying homage to the bigger Brit rock bands of the 70s and 80s like The Rolling Stones, The Smiths and the like. As I thought, trying to post a quick snippet of their set on Instagram and tag them correctly led to some.. uh.. interesting results. They’ve got a real solid stage presence though and are pretty fun to watch, not really something I’d specifically listen to myself in my own time but very good all the same.
The venue is already pretty rammed from the start of their set so it’s good to see them getting a great turnout as support. I can only imagine how bloody warm their bass player must be wearing a full suit though, I’ve tried that myself in the past and its way too warm to tolerate for me!
FEET really are treading the well worn Brit rock path but definitely making it their own, the almost effortless brash energy they exudes makes them really easy to listen to and bop along with. A fun, energetic and enjoyable performance, very self assured with their appearance and movement on stage.
A quietly confident bunch of lads that know they’re onto something good with what they’ve created and how to get it across to people, great start.
I spot the telltale signs of the show starting with the flashlight before the room lights up with blinding white light that eventually settles on a cabinet in the middle of the stage while Pavarotti plays, we’re off to a pretty unusual start. And finally the band takes the stage before using the peak of the song to start their real introduction, it’s riffing time!
A huge projection of deep dream AI imagery flashes along the back of the wall as opposed to using a screen and this feels very similar to the King Gizzard show that I was at earlier, the trippy imagery, intense lighting and epic soaring music have similar vibes but sounding extremely different. The singer and guitarist seems to be having some slight difficulties with his guitar but each time is deftly resolved without looking flustered by it.
These guys’ sound is already massive right from the start, getting everything so right so soon is absolutely fantastic. Some elements of stoner rock such as Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age bleed through now and then with the guitars going straight for an outrageous miss focused sound.
Admittedly I didn’t really expect a mosh pit for these but the front and centre sees the crowd going absolutely nuts to “Surfs Up”. I knew these predictably had a psychedelic streak to their music but I didn’t account for how bluesy a lot of their stuff is and how hard it goes. People are losing their minds down in the front and the pit just keeps swirling around, a writhing mass of people with the addition of a few crowd surfers, this only continues to get bigger and more fierce as the show goes on!
The further we get through the set the more the imagery on the background of the show reminds me of a moving Salvador Dali painting, slightly horrifying yet brilliantly fantastical. At times, PPC stray into post-rock territory with extended instrumental sections that build to a grand peak and I’m actually a bit puzzled that I don’t think these have ever played Arctangent.
The crowd for this show are feral but noticeably they’re doing the kind of crowd jumping thing that the Dutch are pretty famous for, if you’ve seen the large orange crowds at a national football or Kingsday event, you’ll know exactly what I’m on about. There’s been so many people who’ve crowd surfed to the stage and jumped back onto the audience that it’d put your average hardcore show to shame.
This marks two shows within the space of a week at this venue where people have fully lost themselves in the show and how privileged I am to witness it. Psychedelic Porn Crumpets knock out song after song filled with infectious hooks and catchy riffs and have honestly really surprised me. This show has exactly the right sort of rock n roll energy I wanted out of tonight, they’re definitely that little bit ‘out there’ with some interesting rhythmic approaches and use of melody. What I really didn’t expect though was how utterly mental their crowd would be, absolutely nuts in the extreme and put many crowds I’ve been part of in far heavier shows to shame.
Don’t let the somewhat goofy name fool you, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets are an incredible band with a fearsome fanbase. These will be doing what King Gizzard are doing before long, they’ll be playing huge shows after you blink a couple of times.
- The tour continues:
- PHOTO CREDIT: Photograph courtesy of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.
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