Live Review: Albert Hammond Jr, Gabriella Cohen

Between-band music is still playing over the speakers when Gabriella Cohen begins strumming her electric guitar and singing, and it takes the crowd a couple of verses to realise she's begun. But when the rest of the band joins her on stage, they grab everyone's attention and hold it for the duration of their delightful performance. Adopting by turns a bluesy strut and a country lilt, always recalling the past but never directly derivative of anyone, Cohen's songs often take pleasingly unexpected turns. This band is the sum of its parts, so the more that's happening the better, especially when all five members sing in unison. Good stuff. More like this, please.

Albert Hammond Jr and his band of four are clearly determined to make the most of the final date of their Australian tour. Launching into Everyone Gets A Star, Hammond appears to be enjoying himself more sweating it out in smaller venues than he has playing with his other band in well over a decade. He clearly relishes the frontman role, often wearing his guitar on his back and leaving soloing duties to the two other guitarists onstage. All five musicians up there are clearly accomplished — the sort of band one cherry-picks after 15 years in the upper echelons of New York's indie rock scene.

Continuing with songs such as Losing Touch and Power Hungry from last year's Momentary Masters, it's apparent what a fundamental part of The Strokes' sound his angular riffs are. Some of the songs have poppier melodies than The Strokes would ever touch (see: Strange Tidings), but perhaps they just wouldn't sound as poppy filtered through Casablancas' grittier vocals. Tonight's show is a rather relentless assault of tight, upbeat pop-rock, which is either good or bad, depending on your stamina and capacity for excitement. The gentle ballad Blue Skies is clearly a fan favourite and offers a welcome change of pace. Then, energy levels are all the way back up again with Rocket and Holiday. For their final trick, the band take an unusually long break while the stage is in complete darkness.

Just as we begin to wonder if it's all over, the lights come up and the band play one last short burst of rock'n'roll excitement. It's a cool moment and a nice way to end, ensuring we all exit the Corner with a little pep in our step.