Review: Jack Ladder at Mojos Bar

Jack Ladder at Mojos Bar
w/ Billy Charles, Arthington Stack
Saturday, August 26, 2023

Is there a figure in Australian music that is more dedicated to their craft than Jack Ladder? The Australian singer songwriter (real name Tim Rogers) has been plying his trades ince the mid 2000s and has amassed fans among a slew of high-profile contributors.

He opened for Weyes Blood in Sydney, and Brandon Flowers is a massive fan which explained Ladder’s inclusion as opener for The Killers on their Australia and New Zealand tour in the latter half of 2022. Jack Ladder’s forte in dark, largely synth-driven Australiana plays like a cross-pollination of the romanticism of The Triffids, the darkness of early synth acts like Suicide, and the absurdist yet genius hobo lyricism of Tom Waits.

All three were in evidence at Mojos on Saturday night as Jack Ladder played an intimate set whose looseness matched the ragged barfly mystique that the man cultivates, knowingly or not. The band was a tad late to start, with Jack later explaining that their flight had been delayed and the opener had to kick into gear a mere 30 minutes after leaving airport arrivals.

First off the block was Billy Charles and he more than lived up to the task. A young singer-songwriter sporting a tartan cap and guitar in hand, Charles had a natural charisma. His slew of tunes, equal parts romantic with schlocky, certainly helped his case. Princess was a Phil Collins esque slice of pop rock, while the knowingly silly Sauna saw him take his shirt off. Closer It’s Not My Fault I Can’t Stop Looking At You was a rollicking ersatz show tune. With material this strong out the gate, Charles looks to slot in nicely amongst the established masters of Australian absurdism like Kirin J Callinan and Alex Cameron.

The same could be said for his follow-up in the fresh-faced Arthington Stack. With spare guitar as the instrument of choice and less reliance on keys, Stack had a more traditional yet cynical vibe, echoing a young David Byrne at times. His somewhat abrasive comments to the crowd, coupled against Charles’ deference to “Mojo” as a patron saint rather than a venue, made light of the intimate nature of the evening in farflung Perth. 

50 Daggers dropped the silliness in favour of chiming guitar beauty however, and single Golden Orbe was a standout which sounded anthemic live compared to its pared-back studio version. His cover of LDR’s Video Games was an accomplished surprise, and the inclusion of Guided By Voices deep cut Canteen Plums gave some insight into his well-rounded influences.

Jack Ladder came on shortly thereafter decked out in a pinstripe suit. Startingly tall with his upright shock of hair and pale complexion, Ladder does not need much else to strike an impression. Thankfully he also happens to boast one of the best voices in Australian rock, a croon that draws from the well of Nick Cave but is unmistakably Ladder’s own. Live it was once again on point, with Ladder never missing a beat in renditions that sounded startingly close in polish to the studio originals. 

He laid out the agenda by opening with Hurtsville and Come on Back This Way, the latter arguably his biggest tune. The majority of the rest was reserved for choice cuts from his latest, this year’s Tall Pop Syndrome. After the string-laden grandeur of 2021’s Hijack, Tall Pop Syndrome is an intentional turn back to synth-driven dance tunes, produced with another Australian musical heavyweight in The Presets’ Kim Moyles.

These tunes were a pleasure to listen to live, with Ladder mainly playing off a backing track but also supported by the guitar of Billy Charles. Album opener Home Alone set the standard, the energy level high as Ladder ticked off a series of famous names being ‘in the house’ for the song’s coda. Lovers Loved Me saw Ladder’s voice in pitch-perfect form, his timing impeccable. Game Over was another high-paced rocker and a great slice of fun as Ladder contorted his gangly limbs to the tune, while Lombard Street saw a return to more introspective territory as he crooned against the track’s beautiful repeating piano figure.

To Keep and Be Kept was an older tune played on guitar only and it came off as anthemic. The show remained light however, thanks largely to some hilarious stage banter courtesy of some rowdy patrons and Ladder’s droll repartee, at one point threatening to end the show when he was asked if he was from Queensland. Instead he transitioned to the final leg, with dramatic and doomy renditions of “Electronic Body Music” bangers Melting and In Hell followed by his 2018 classic Susan. Co-Dependency Blues ended proceedings on a suitable note, a laidback track whose sequencers gave plenty of room for Jack Ladder’s voice and oblique lyrics.

It was a down to earth end to a night of top notch Australian rock. Punters should consider them lucky to witness Jack Ladder in such intimate surrounds, as opposed to an arena stage which he so readily could command.

MATIJA ZIVKOVIC