Hamjam/SpacemanAntics/Dream Rimmy/Electric Toad
The Rosemount Hotel
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Saturday saw local Perth punk rockers Fucking Teeth host a collection of rock bands with their own unique twists on late ‘60s – early ‘70s rock music.
First up was the SpaceManAntics side project Dream Rimmy. Ali Flintoff fronted a band with four of the six members through a series of Floydian influenced rock music with her angelic lead vocal sound and crystalline lead guitar playing. Backed ably with multiple vocal harmonies from drummer George Foster and keyboard player Vinny B with his modern take on vintage ‘80s synth sounds, their EP due out in July is something to watch out for.
Next up, the aforementioned SpaceManAntics. If there’s a space between early Pink Floyd and a Close To The Edge era Yes, these guys occupy it well. They ran through a very tight three song set, the bulk of which taken up with an extended live version of crowd favourite, The Man From Mars. The influences from Pink Floyd epics are very clear, right down the extended saxophone and Moog keyboard solos with bluesy lead guitar playing. It’s great to see a young band still being influenced by that style of music and not being derivative.
Electric Toad then took to the stage. My first impression was that they were some ironic hipster country band; but as the set went on I figured out that was a rather harsh assessment. The boisterous lead vocal lent itself to more of a grunge band, which when backed by something of a country-rock influenced sound, made for an interesting performance. They’re a very tight live act and the audience were right along with them but given the two bands before them and, with hindsight, the one to follow, frankly, they were a bit outclassed. Not that the music was unappealing to listen to: it just wasn’t very memorable.
Having not heard the music of Fucking Teeth before the gig, I could only guess from the name that I was for a treat of raw pounding heavy rock music. And that’s exactly what I got. What I wasn’t expecting was the idiosyncratic and at times, very funny, lyrics from singer/guitar player Peter Bibby backed with the shrieking vocal sound of drummer Anetta Nevin. The vocal and enthusiastic crowd were loving the music and it isn’t hard to see why they’ve built such a loyal fan following from gigging over the last three years.
After Fucking Teeth left the stage, two thirds of the audience left as well – which probably should have given me an inkling was about to hear next. Hamjam was up next, a loose collective of the night’s players with a few of their mates on stage thrashing out in a sort of garage band/jam fashion, which sounds exciting if done properly. Unfortunately, while a dozen guitar players, half a dozen percussionists, at least two keyboard players with half a dozen people singing along in a mass jam might be great fun for the musicians and their mates, for the majority of the remaining audience, it wasn’t.
But apart from that, it was a highly enjoyable night of modern interpretations of early ‘60s hard and space rock. Certainly a lot to look forward to in the coming months with the EP debut of Dream Rimmy and frequent live performances of SpaceManAntics, Electric Toad and Fucking Teeth. As long as they quietly shelve the Hamjam, I’ll happily continue to support local live music.
ALEX HOGG
Fucking Teeth – Photo by Rachael Barrett
