Live Review: Habits, Lossless, Black Cab, Beaches, Crepes, Loose Tooth

There is a delay as ABABCd's filming crew gets set up and presenter Nick Clarke interviews some of the night's bands. The venue has been turned into Melbourne's very own underground Countdown show.

Once the interviews are done, Loose Tooth open the night with a bang. The trio gets the crowd moving with their drum'n'bass-driven garage-pop. They open with their single Everything Changes, during which the vocal is broken down into each individual word to match the beat; this makes sense given that singer Etta Curry is also the band's drummer.

Crepes change the vibe of the night with their whimsical, slacker-pop sound. This five-piece outfit looks cramped on the small stage, but don't seem to mind, happy to play and sway in their allotted space. Hidden Star is a haunting synth serenade, a melting pot of The Beatles' psychedelic phase, '80s new romantic and modern Britpop such as Catfish & The Bottlemen.  

Headlining the guitar portion of the night are pillars of shoegaze, Beaches. The venue is packed and the crowd sways along to the fuzzy, garage-rock guitar. The band's first few tracks have limited vocals, which really allows those guitar tones to shine. Eternal Sphere blends their signature guitar sound with a drone-like vocal. You can't help but be dragged into their world.

There's another break as more interviews take place. On stage the amps are being moved out and replaced with synths and drum machines.

First up for the second half of the night is indie-electronic trio Black Cab. The band keep a relentless beat and weave each track together seamlessly so that the audience can keep dancing. Black Cab meld an electronic sound with an indie-style vocal and it works. Uniforms is a standout track.

The night moves from dreamy to hip hop with Lossless, is a new collaboration between Oscar Key Sung and HTMLflowers. Key Sung jumps around the stage and never misses a word during fast rap phrases. The beats match the aggression of Key Sung's raps, but backs off just enough to provide space for HTMLflowers' melodic bridges and synth.

Melbourne thump duo Habits take the final set of the night. The pair look striking with their matching, slicked-back, neon-orange hair. From the very first track the crowd is mesmerised watching the pair weave harmonies and melodies, with only the equipment laid out before them and their own voices, which blend together beautifully. Gerger is a mix of industrial, dance and goth-pop that keeps the crowd on their feet dancing.