Live Review: Verge Collection

With their child-like scrappiness one would expect the feel-good punk band Verge Collection to have more of a comedic presence on stage, but ultimately it was the stripped-back honesty and laughable relatability of their song writing that had fans giggling and cheering as punters swooned and sang along to the sounds of the quartet.

Adopting the band persona of the 'suburbanite slackers' of Perth, they seemed right at home as they stepped out on stage at Jack Rabbit Slim's for the penultimate stop on their first national tour. "HEY!" screamed the lead vocalist Ben Arnold right into the microphone the moment they graced the stage, and without wasting a second they kicked off their set with For The Story, the first song taken from their forthcoming debut album.

With few audience interactions (except for a slurred, tongue-in-cheek, "Bro, fuck off man, I'm tired of seeing you at all my shows!" to a heckler and a, "Thank you for being awesome!" to a screaming girl who gave Arnold a fist bump at the front), the impression was given that the band purposely chose to take a step back from the spotlight this time, to talk less for a hot minute and allow their music to take centre stage - and grace centre stage it did.

They ripped through their Aussie jangle of a set, featuring well-known hits Feel Bad Songs and Our Place, which had all four corners of the room singing the familiar lyrics along in a jolly old fashion - "It's getting late… and you're still on your P plates!". The band members fed off each other's musical vigour while staying engaged with the crowd through soothing lyrics that are relatable to anyone who grew up in Perth suburbia. Although the band didn't speak much everyone seemed well-pleased, bobbing their heads along to the nostalgic-sounding music, especially when Postcodes was played. The catchy tune gave the crowd a trip down memory lane with its gentle indie-rock touches and soothing vocal performance, the song pressing all the nostalgic buttons and giving off the vibes of a sweltering summer afternoon.

Their shyness was made up for with their hilarious classics, which had the whole house singing along cheerily and chants of "one more song! One more song!" filling the room at the end of their set. But their 40-minute set flew by too fast, and before fans knew it they'd have to wait for the release of the band's debut album to have their cravings for more Verge Collection satisfied.