Amyl and the Sniffers @ Rock Rover
w/ Surfbort, Hussy
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Wednesday night at Rock Rover in Fremantle was a lesson in the durability of punk rock music, and a wonderful thrash of a party fronted by a collection of wildly talented women of the genre.
Rock Rover, Fremantle’s latest venue, sits within the South Fremantle Football Club and overlooks Freo Oval. The large venue is incredibly difficult to fill out, leaving the impression of a thin crowd. None of this mattered to the hundred or so faithful who trekked out on a school night to sink some pints and let off some steam.
The cool-headed, calm-collected ladies of Hussy kicked off the night. Lead singer Shinead Ruby slinked around the stage in a denim jacket and red tube-top, barking through songs about standing up and hollering back to the folks who offer unsolicited advice on how to be you. Everyone’s got an opinion, but Hussy responds back with a confident, “This is me doing me, babe.” Hackers, a head bopping essay on revenge porn, was a standout favourite from an energetic opening set.
Surfbort took to the stage and whipped the crowd into a frenzy of consensual shoving with set opener Pretty Little Fucker. Lead singer Dani Miller growls through songs about emotional pain (High Anxiety), selfies, modern romance (Les Be In Love), and the calamity of waking up from an insane night of partying (Hippie Vomit Inhaler).
Amyl and the Sniffers drew the crowd back in from the bleachers outside of the football club. For a band that started as a reason to do something after the bullshit of work, they’ve really become a force to reckon with. Lead singer Amy Taylor bounced around the stage in denim short shorts and a bright yellow top while the band punched through their homage to 70s and 80s fast paced pub thrashers. Amy woofed through the set with two hands on the mic held steady in front of her lips. The attitude is exceptionally face melting in the group’s latest track Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled).
We exited the venue with ear splitting noise rattling inside of our heads. I walked home reflecting on what makes punk music so accessible: if you have something to say but don’t know how, learn three chords, and shout it out loud.
KAVI GUPPTA
Photos by Zev Weinstein
