Judging from the staff outnumbering punters as support act The Murlocs took to the Palace Theatre stage on Friday night, the Geelong outfit might remain live music’s best-kept secret a little longer. While those intent on catching the Texan psych-rock headliners were probably downing pints pre-show, they missed a characteristically bawdy performance from five skinny dudes who take their name from a fantastical, bipedal, amphibious creature in World of Warcraft.
Like their namesake, The Murlocs have a swampy quality about them, their rollicking RnB led by the war cry of frontman Ambrose Kenny Smith’s harmonica, with the band left to uncoil a perfectly suited, snaky psychedelia in his wake. Reminiscent of the 13th Floor Elevators, Smith’s smoke-raw vocals, interspersed through breathless riffs on the harmonica, moor their sound in a bluesy, backwater bayou. Their onstage antics are energetic and frenetic (try not nodding your head), as if that bayou might be brimming with piranhas.
By the time the crowd had thickened up and started getting into it, the Murlocs had handed the baton to the Laurels. While the Murlocs are a little more blues than psych, the Laurels edged closer to the garage/psych bastard raised by The Black Angels. They’ve got a similar fuzziness, and likewise employ nervy bass lines to build atmosphere. The trade in vocals between Piers Cornelius and Luke O’Farrell also added an interesting texture, a soft, satiny overlay on the grinding guitars.
Speaking of interesting texture, The Black Angels brought their hallucinatory light show to the Palace. Projecting a geometric insanity perfectly suited to their 60s psychedelic riffs, the light show was a spectacle in itself. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that the capacity crowd humping the stage would’ve counted a few magic mushrooms munchers amongst it. And good for them – it would’ve been awesome.
The same can’t unfortunately be said for The Black Angels. I adore the band, from Passover up until this year’s Indigo Meadow, but there was something lacking in their performance, as if the only effort required was invested in the lightshow. It’s not that they were bad. The sound was crisp, vocals decent and the band were tight, album perfect.
But it was kind of boring. Alex Maas and co stood statuesque, even as the fuzz suffocated, the keys tinkled like claws scratching an exposed spine, and Maas was strangling out ‘Love is your drug, love is your evil’. In my mind, there should’ve been increased intensity from the band – not just the lights.
They did please the crowd in other ways though, who didn’t seem to share my sentiment, happily nodding along in the pit and throwing fists, probably because the band generously divided their time between their albums. While songs from the most recent Indigo Meadow were the main fare, with rousing performances that included ‘Don’t Play with Guns’, ‘Evil Things’ and ‘I Hear Colours’, the band also took a trip into the back catalogue.
‘You on the Run’ from Directions to See a Ghost was a highlight, while ‘Bloodhounds on My Trail’; the rollicking, bluesy religious lament scratched out of Texas freeway billboards was also a welcome inclusion.
Perhaps the thing about a Black Angels gig is that the music is enthralling enough without onstage antics, but if you’re going to make the effort to come to Australia, maybe put some into your live set.
Rating: 3 ½ stars out of 5
The Black Angels
Palace Theatre, Melbourne
4 June
