Live Review: SMILE, The Ocean Party, Tim Richmond, Good Morning, The Great Outdoors

It's a chilly one tonight, but The Gasometer Hotel and its patrons don't care. The roof is open and many have assembled to celebrate the release of SMILE's new record, Rhythm Method.

The Great Outdoors provide a light opening to the evening, dreaming their way through a winding set of tracks that are awash with colourful licks. They've got a full-on glockenspiel, adding extra poppy flavour, which seems worth the effort it must take to move such a huge instrument around.

A bunch of sleepy looking dudes who call themselves Good Morning take the stage. Theirs is a serious, slacker-rock sound, but the band also have a tendency to get grungy. Good Morning hold back somewhat, gazing wide-eyed at the audience that's building in front of them. After shaking off an awkward dad joke, the group manage to fall into a heavy groove and rock the rest of their set, with smiles.

Slight, humble larrikin Tim Richmond seems like a man you can trust. Blending his flat, Aussie accent-driven voice into popping hooks, while his bass player cooks up some solid motorik lines, Richmond's new-wave blend is refreshing; his sound is genuinely unique.

The Ocean Party have a great time embodying everything that's so fun about the surf-pop revival. If Echo Beach reared up, gained consciousness and made a band, that band would be The Ocean Party. Their songs are slick and drenched in reverb. The six-piece gyrate through their set, building songs into solid walls of lush sound that often flourishes with a gritty lead break.

Frontman Pete Baxter is well aware of the dauntless nature of SMILE's music. He balls up the affirming Sunni Hart and whips it at the crowd. The upbeat nature of this tune leaves us bopping enthusiastically. Max Turner hangs back on psych-drenched guitar and the accompanying VHS visuals (which have been present for much of the night) result in a delicious combination. The group are heavily tongue-in-cheek, making quips about the raffle they've organised for the night (anticlimactically, it turns out the winner has gone home early). Central Business Dickheads is a grunting number, siphoning itself through a noisy dream space. The song's riff makes it impossible not to nod along, as if you're simply saying "yes" and you can't help but smile.

A change in pace leaves the moody boys channelling Sonic Youth, skewering their guitars and breaking out of the dream space with Cool. I Need Money. Boundless Plains To Share is an insane extended jam courtesy of Josh Delaney and Liam Gough rolling effortlessly through their respective lines. The group hardly look at each other as they fall into the track and graciously ride its waves before letting it all end with dignity. SMILE's closing track is sun-drenched and slack-stringed, a softer end to the set before The Harpoons DJs gear up some bangers to see us through the rest of the night.