Live Review: This Will Destroy You, Hazard Of Swimming Naked, RPQ

It was a slow and somewhat self-conscious start, creating a struggle for the improvisational performance of RPQ, more commonly recognisable as one half of Perth locals Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, but slowly the duo caught the same beat and gathered the momentum they needed, feeding back and forth with teeth-rattling bass samples that quaked the stage as drummer Ben Stacy’s hard hits dominated, distracting somewhat from the sweeping keys and samples in a brief but interesting fifteen minute slot.

One of the true hidden gems of the Brisbane music scene, Hazards Of Swimming Naked made their western state debut with a take no prisoners approach. Their trio of six strings ensures a dense interweaving of melody and riffs, riding on a thought-provoking use of samples and a penetrating rhythm section, immersing themselves in the performance and riding the line between storytelling post-rock and the explosive delivery of songwriting that unleashed the jaw-dropping ride of …a whole assortment of uppers & downers, the expansive sound of new single, Waiting For 5120, and the mind-blowing mix of aggression and rapture in Don’t Cry For Me, Dario Argento. This short showing was enough for this support act to set the bar menacingly high for the headliners and guarantee their own return to the west.

The gradual rise of Dustism saw This Will Destroy You greet the room with exactly what the shoegaze fans hoped to hear. Guitarist Jeremy Galindo rocked back and forth gently on his stool at the side of stage leading the group into A Three-Legged Workhorse, with flickering synth samples crashing into a complex doom-rock soundscape that ground away into the dramatic blasting finish of fellow guitarist Chris King’s screaming Rickenbacker. Forgoing the evening’s niceties and focusing on track delivery, the group created a swirling ambience of rise and fall verses, droning samples and doom riffs in a seamless journey through Burial On The Presidio Banks, Invitation, Communal Blood and War Prayer, turning the small venue into something akin to a cinematic death sequence soundtrack. The grim isolated nature and vivid performance in the darkest shade of post-rock bursting through New Topia sealed the Texas outfit’s set with a frenzied finish.