Rosemount Hotel
Sunday, June 5, 2016
There’s a real 90s resurgence going on in Australia in the last few years. With bands like Violent Soho repping a hard rockin’ grungey sound, and acts like DMA’s bringing back memories of Oasis and The Stone Roses’ heyday, the glory days of guitar rock are back.
Perhaps it’s a reaction to the increasingly synthetic, manufactured studio sounds of much pop music these days, or maybe it’s just because good songwriting never goes out of fashion. And good songs is something DMA’s have in spades.
The lads from Newtown have come a long way in a short time. Just two years ago this here reviewer saw them play the Circo Festival at the Claremont Showgrounds. Only just breaking through at that point, they were billed first, really early and hence played to a small crowd in a big warehouse – though those there to witness their set, were blown away by the tight, finely honed, world class performance of the six piece (based around the core trio of Matt Mason, Tommy O’Dell, and Johnny Took) and it was obvious these lads would be going places.
Skip forwards a couple years, a small national tour and Laneway spot later, and the boys have toured Europe and the US, playing Reading, Coachella and even The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And on the weekend they returned to Perth, triumphant with two sell-out shows at The Rosemount.
There was a great vibe in the room from the start of the night – it was easy to see the crowd were excited and well up for it and when the DMA’s finally appeared onstage they got a raucous reception. And for the rest of the night the energy remained high, as each big song drew screams from the crowd, and incited moshing, fist pumping and finger pointing.
It’s not hard to see why though – their debut album Hill’s End is refreshingly upfront rock release, packed full of catchy, singalong tunes in the great tradition of 90s Britpop (which in itself drew a lot from 70s British rock ‘n’ roll). While they wear their influences on their sleeves, these Sydney boys put their own spin on the sound with a bit of Aussie swagger.
They stormed through their setlist with the air of a band that’s come into its own and has polished their show from months of touring. With one album and an EP under their belt, they pretty much played it all, kicking off with album opener Timeless, that sounds like what you wish the new Stone Roses song sounded like.
It was a well-paced set, with a few lulls for the acoustic ballady numbers. They belted out the rifftastic Feels Like 37 early on – Matt Mason’s lead guitar really shines throughout their sets – really lifting the songs, which seem to have more energy live. Though Sunday night suffered a bit from a rough mix that was at times too loud, muddy and distorted, losing some of the definition in sound and balance between guitars, with their three guitar + bass attack occasionally culminating in a wall of distorted, white noise. But hey, it’s only rock ‘n’ roll and the crowd liked it.
Lead singer Tommy O’Dell’s voice is a real asset of the band. Just a solid vocal, he has that classic tone that rides the melody, never missing the mark. Quite an unassuming guy, not really one for showmanship or banter, he just gets down to business and belts it out with an impressive set of pipes that makes sure he’s not lost in the mix.
Other highlights were the awesome Lay Down, the Blur-esque Your Low, the epic Play It Out and of course the song that started it all for them, the majestic Delete, which they’ve developed further now into a real massive anthem. When the drums and second vocal kick in, it’s just magic – and the crowd were absolutely loving it – singing along arm in arm, and even on each other’s shoulders, beers raised in hands in a rock ‘n’ roll salute.
It’s good to see the band are still a humble, down to earth lot too – hanging out in the crowd early on, checking out the support band – I OH YOU labelmates, Green Buzzard who showed a lot of potential with their melodic, guitar rock and some good tunes. Afterwards the boys mingled in the courtyard, having a drink and a chat with stoked fans. It’s so great to see a talented, young Aussie band inciting such reactions and taking it to the world stage.
ALFRED GORMAN
