Live Review: Viet Cong, Twin Haus, Good Boy

Openers Good Boy seem worthy winners of the recent Triple J Unearthed Laneway comp which will see them lining up with some fine fine acts at the festival in a couple of weeks. Their intriguing blend of Real Estate and early Go-Bees along with a bit of Eddy Current Suppression Ring impresses even the lead singer of Viet Cong, who takes in a large portion of their set front and centre. Listening to these guys makes one think of I Am Kloot (a band few have thought of in ages, probably), and a great old album of theirs called Natural History, which also contains a yearning voice in amongst an innate sense of melody. Highly recommended.

In a night of high quality supports, Twin Haus turn out a nice, lysergic, swirling set of Foals-ish driving rhythms that get the mix between intensity and looseness just right. They are moody jam merchants that like to ratchet things up at unexpected moments to keep the journey fresh. At times the mix of vocals with the atmospherics can bring to mind Doves-esque earnestness, but then just as quickly breaks into an '80s jam, neither out of place or jarring. A thoroughly enjoyable set from these promising locals, like kissing a girl underwater in a sunny lake.

It's refreshing to see the soon-to-be-formerly-known-as Viet Cong members visibly checking out and enjoying the support acts before they start up. For anyone only familiar with the eponymous debut of last year, the band open with a couple of surprises. Firstly, they seem to have spent a portion of their past as a groove machine, as opener Throw It Away attests to. And secondly, with Unconscious Melody, they prove they also at home in the world of funk jams. These choices are clever ones as they instantly lift any preconceptions that a heavier, more nihilistic evening awaited tonight.

There are some epic moments littered in a brilliantly powerful set, like four-and-a-half minutes into March Of Progress when the song kicks into its amazing third act, sending the crowd into fits of spasmodic overdrive as the dry caustic wit of the monotone vocals launches into pure pop savagery. Or the initial kick into Bunker Buster, where the jagged Chinese-cymbal-sounding guitar meets drummer Mike Wallace's heavy walloping. Wallace commands a lot of attention tonight due to the brutal force with which he wields his instrument, but the whole band is super tight and just so interesting in their change-ups and fresh injection of life into post-punk that you can add another one to a summer of rapidly piling-up brilliant gigs. An astoundingly fun night.