Live Review: Grouplove

It's been over a year since LA-based indie darlings Grouplove cancelled an Australian national tour in support of their third album Big Mess, due to "strict doctor's orders" to allow singer-keyboardist Hannah Hooper to heal her voice. As such, back in Brisbane for the first time in 18 months and whispers of new music being included in their setlist has The Triffid full of excited chatter before the quintet takes to the stage. 

Suitably, the sweet refrain of Welcome To Your Life's, "We're back in business/You're such a big mess/And I love you," kicks off the set with joyous swagger, and Itchin' On A Photograph evokes an early singalong that inspires guitarist Andrew Wessen to add some extra spice to the song's outro.

With Hooper and her husband Christian Zucconi performing with almost too much energy and enthusiasm, I'm With You is as vocally unstable as it is fun. However, they immediately tighten up with pulsating renditions of Shark Attack and Do You Love Someone that make The Triffid erupt and feel more like the Splendour In The Grass amphitheatre. 

Introduced by Hooper as "a song we wrote in Australia, really drunk and smoking a joint", Raspberry is capped off by some eye-catching tremolo picking by Wessen and a spirited singalong with their seasoned fans. Zucconi then takes us somewhere warm and sunny with one of their first-ever songs, Naked Kids, serenading the swaying mosh with glorious dual harmonies with his wife.

A Tongue Tied medley with Bowie's Space Oddity receives a raucous singalong, complete with a deafening crowd a cappella chorus before Wessen unleashes a grungy monster during their cover of Sabotage by Beastie Boys. Showing possible signs of wear from their recent US tour, Hooper battles an increasingly hoarse voice for a powerful performance of Remember That Night.

Between two shoeys skulled by bassist Daniel Gleason and several guitar changes, the generous encore delivers more heart-warming harmonies in their triple j Like A Version cover of Cage The Elephant's Spiderhead and euphoric moshing to Ways To Go before triumphantly concluding with the yell-filled, fan-favourite Colours.

Grouplove may say you can never trust a happy song, but their blend of infectious indie-rock that's fit for stadiums and saccharine, scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs choruses leave you feeling damn bloody happy well after they've left the stage.