Live Review: Grouplove

Painted cut-outs of hands resembling the cover art from Grouplove's latest album Big Mess hang as the band's backdrop and illuminate in neon colours. Welcome To Your Life strikes up as Grouplove emerge in matching black trench coats with "1-900-976-LOVE" printed on the back. Vocalist Christian Zucconi has a freshly shaved head from this morning and he's already sweating profusely. "His hair usually catches all the sweat!" jokes co-vocalist (and wife) Hannah Hooper.

They waste no time before quickly launching into Itchin' On A Photograph and the moshpit comes alive with a very rowdy crowd for a Tuesday night. "It feels so fucking good to be back in Australia," Hooper says. The next song is one that Hooper suggests could be a scary title considering people in our country spend a lot of time in the ocean, so she quickly shouts out, "Shark Attack!" and they dive right in.

"We're writing our fourth album," says Zucconi. They try out a new song on us, explaining it's currently titled 'This Is The End' and it has a grungy Nirvana vibe. They joke about the song's morbid name, adding it's also fitting considering the current state of their home country. "It's so nice to be outside of America," Hooper shares. The singalong chorus reassures us that in the end we'll all be together, so it's all going to be ok.

One of the first songs Grouplove ever wrote was Naked Kids, but they haven't played it in a while and Hooper reveals they tend to only play it for their Australian fans because we love it so much. They've got a huge fanbase Down Under and give a shoutout to triple j for making people love bands like them. Hooper prepares a commemorative shoey for one of her bandmates to scull as the audience chants. Remember That Night is their most recent song and one that Hooper admits was released at a weird time, but added to Big Mess. "America is all about the singles at the moment, but we still believe in making beautiful albums," she states.

"Is anyone in the audience an artist?" Hooper asks. "If you make stuff, get your hand up!" she encourages. "If you don't, then do it! It's a way to connect with friends, yourself, culture and creativity... It's what life's about and we get to do it with our best friends every night!" she yells, before continuing with Tongue Tied to encapsulate all of the feels. On a slightly darker note, they chuck in Sabotage (Beastie Boys cover) to let out any pent-up anger we may have inside. The heavy-rock anthem is accompanied by crashing guitar solos and raging screams, while Zucconi and Hooper play tug of war with the microphone lead.

They get emotional on a raw acoustic cover of Cage The Elephant's Spiderhead before bringing the show to an end with crowd favourites Ways To Go and Colours. "We look forward to trips to Australia and we can't wait to release our new album so we can come back and play it for you as soon as we can!" concludes Zucconi.