Live Review: Off The Rails Festival, Marrickville

The heat is staggering. Slipping down Saywell St in Marrickville – usually reserved for industrial activities – you find a smattering of people braving the unseasonably oppressive weather. They’re here mainly for Amyl & The Sniffers, the Melbourne/Naarm-based outfit headlining this year’s Off The Rails Festival, which has toured two sites across the King’s Birthday long weekend: Newcastle and Marrickville in Sydney.

Firstly, a bunch of bands take to two stages, including the most isolated metal band in the world: Southeast Desert Metal. The band hails from the Aboriginal community of Santa Teresa, in Eastern Arrernte country in central Australia. Paying homage to classic thrash metal, their bassist slayed with some awesome gallops, bringing the desert heat with them in a captivating live performance.

Itchy And The Nits – like a punk Josie and the Pussycats – display their signature high-octane, fun-filled performance with the call and response from the drummer and the singer, a point of difference that makes this band stand out in such an eclectic lineup. They rip into tracks from their recent EP S/T, among others, to draw in early crowds, notably the saccharine Dreamboat.

Brisbane/Meanjin-based band Full Flower Moon Band perfectly captures the day's sweat-soaked atmosphere, jumping between genres including metal, rock and grunge with some reminiscence of Smashing Pumpkins, Hole and early No Doubt. The five-piece arrangement adds diversity to their sound, while the dual vocals create a dynamic drone. Highlights included the wandering and headbangable Hurt Nobody and the grungy Trainspotting.

Meanwhile, Illawarra-based two-piece Chimers tore up the second stage, bringing the sound and ferocity of a five-piece distilled into a guitar and drums duo. Tracks like their debut single off their 2021 album Surrounds showcase an ability to fabricate a wall of sound with just two bandmates. This is nuanced yet hard-hitting music. Well worth a listen.

Later, RVG succumbed to the heat with a slow and dreamy set, which led many to search for respite under trees. Even though their music is endearing and complex in its storytelling, the slowness of the pub-rock, alt-folk sound is difficult to receive in that late afternoon lull. There’s something Ezra Furman-esque in their sound and something of Lou Reed and Patti Smith, but they are also distinct in their sound – better for a slightly cooler clime.

The Neptune Power Federation wow with their theatrics, including the lead singer’s gothic goddess garb, infusing their trademark psychedelic rock and roll occultism into a cover of Screaming Jay Hawkins’ I Put A Spell On You.

Private Function are a high-energy breath of fresh air with plenty of antics to go along with their Aussie kitsch-infused tracks. Jusavinageez and the incendiary I Wish Australia Had Its Guns Again are a few highlights in a set that sees a half-arsed attempt at crowd-surfing and frontman Chris Penney climb the scaffold and shout out to Amy Taylor with a rendition of her ABBA parody: “Portaloo, couldn’t piss if I wanted to.”

Dust and Shady Nasty also take to the secondary stage before the headliners, Amyl & The Sniffers draw everyone in. They dive into favourites such as Security and Guided By Angels, sparking a fun and furious mosh at the front, heaving and sweating as a mass of bodies converge. Then, sadly, just as the set kicks into its last few songs and the joy is at its highest, the wind changes, someone is injured, and the festival is closed down prematurely.

The southerly brings respite for many and pain for an unfortunate reveller. Hopefully, they’re alright. Overall, this festival shows just what can be achieved in our streets when we take cars away and let people congregate with a shared purpose: to enjoy life and one of its most essential elements: music.