Live Review: Self Defense Family

Punk, post-punk, rock, post-hardcore, "Your favourite band's favourite band" — all of these and many more have been used to describe Self Defense Family. Whatever label you wish to use or however you choose to describe the band, what remains is their strong fan base and their prolific releases. At the time of writing this review Self Defense Family have 16 current members and seven past members listed on their Wikipedia page, and brought five over for their Australian tour. Regularly making waves within the punk community for their music and opinions (already sparking controversy in their brief visit to Australia), Self Defense Family are a band who know what they are, what they're about and will continue what they're doing regardless.

Self Defense Family came on stage one member down. Vocalist Patrick Kindlon picked up the microphone, saying, "We're Self Defense Family," as the guitarist played the opening jangly riff of It's Not Good For The Man To Be Alone. Playing strong and sounding fantastic, all of the instruments were clear and the vocalist's voice carried through the Crown & Anchor. Finishing their first song, Kindlon explained that their already sick third guitarist had become too ill to perform minutes before they came, so their song selection would be limited. With their sheer number of available songs though, this didn't detract from their performance in any way.

as they launched into Indoor Wind Chimes, the crowd seemed to be enjoying every moment of the show. Kindlon moved in a lively manner, throwing his arms and body around as he sang. The band played Self Immolation Family with quite an extended ending, before some more between-song banter.

Finishing with two tracks off their 2014 album, Try Me, Kindlon told the crowd "We're going to finish with two songs, but make them obnoxiously long so you feel like you've got your money's worth." Turn The Fan On came first and they finished with the extra long version of Tithe Pig they'd threatened. Although all of the songs over their five-song set were extended and the moments between songs were filled with extensive conversation from Kindlon, not once did Self Defense Family become boring. Self Defense Family are one of the more interesting bands in today's music, and with talk of them already coming back next year, they're a band not to be missed.