Live Review: DD Dumbo, Jonti

Sound checking a guitar, a flute and a trumpet in his dolphin T-shirt before cracking into a stellar set, we can sense a confidence in Oliver Perry, aka DD Dumbo, at the first of two sold-out Melbourne shows at The Croxton Band Room.

Perry is lauded for his precision solo sets, where his live samples create a sonic landscape for his blues guitar riffs and faultless vocal to inhabit. This time, the almost endless layers of instruments and vocals on DD Dumbo's album debut Utopia Defeated, recorded at 4AD studios in London, are being brought to life on stage with an impressive full band showcase.

One would be forgiven for thinking support act Jonti is the house music, and that is not meant to be half as offensive as it sounds. Hidden among the dormant instruments of DD Dumbo's set-up, Jonti is lost under the loudness of the samples playing out of his laptop. His is an interesting opening in contrast to the full band presentation of Perry's 2016 triple j awarded Album of the Year.

Jonti perhaps symbolises what would have been lost if, as had originally been the plan, Perry had toured solo. In late 2016 DD Dumbo cancelled a string of album release dates, perhaps realising that if Utopia Defeated was to be toured it would be with the full force of its separate but equal parts. His opening guitar hooks impress like any 'it' band of the moment, but quickly ascend to a different sound altogether, a psychedelic roam that brings a sincerely unique sound. At one stage, a bagpipe player comes on stage to offer a subtle addition - not the least bit ironic, just another welcome element. 

As a recording Utopia Defeated travels a visceral and otherworldly soundscape, opening musical doors to wonderfully engaged elements created by his signature multi-instrumentalisation. The backing band nail the crunchy elements of clarinet, meletron, drum and bass, giving power to Perry's formidable musical talent. In a writing and recording sense Utopia Defeated was a purely solo process for Perry, with the help of producer Fabian Prynn on the engineering end. However, his commitment to the album's sonic integrity has him presenting it as closely as possible to the recorded version. It's not a one-man job, and his band brought the awe-inspiring record to life, giving movement and dynamics to its complex and atmospheric compositions.

The songs are consistently serious - stories of brutality that illuminate dystopian images of the world as it could become, as is it almost is. In the opening track Walrus, "The duck screams out as it chokes on medicine, it's nature mocked then stuffed and murdered," and in Oyster, "You ignore the beauty and the miracle of life, and all your money drips with blood." But there's a joyfulness in Perry's eyes and a positive energy to the show. Toxic City is a highlight, and the whole show a testament to the hard work of the band and Perry's self-described "mania" in creating an incredible recording.

The Croxton's sound is big and loud and clear. The young crowd are excited, and that excitement, as it can often do, manifests in nervous chatter. It's annoying standing next to groups of people who believe what they have to say is important enough to continue though a young man's life work, but the power of the performance defeats the banal small talk.

There's no encore, which is cool. DD Dumbo continues his tour in Australia before heading to Europe where the concept of the album will surely not be lost.