Review: mclusky at Milk Bar

mclusky at Milk Bar
w/ Spacerhead, Zerodent 
Tuesday, January 10, 2024

Sweaty, liberating, and a barrel of laughs, mclusky said hello to 2024 while also giving it a series of kicks to the groin, with a blistering set of tongue-in-cheek punkish alt-rock at Milk Bar. Returning down under, in what has become a nearly annual occurrence for mclusky (and Future of the Left) frontman Andrew “Falco” Falkous, the mclusky trio were here to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their astoundingly brilliant breakthrough LP, mclusky do dallas.

First up on the night was Zerodent, who were a suitably rowdy and boisterous opening act. Fresh off the release of their Human Races LP in late 2023, guitarist Predrag Delibasich’s punkish and jangly guitar tones fused with the post-punk vocals of singer Lee Jenkins to great effect. Standout tracks included the uber-fast Boredom Antidote and the multi-part Headshot with its empathetic repeated chorus of “There's no time for revolution.”

Next up were Spacerhead, who, ahead of this month’s national tour, delighted in showing off their brand of esoteric noise-rock angst. The standout of the night was On Disco, which is characteristic of the trio's sound. On the track, the rhythm section of Jordan and Tyson Helliwell (receipient of an impromptu crowdwide regaling of Happy Birthday mid-set) built an infectiously tight groove while frontman Lindsey Claridge induced noise from his overdriven guitar while scream-singing lines such as “scared of talking, don't look at me.” Sonically alike to prominent local experimental rock greats such as Injured Ninja and Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, the future looks bright for these heads.

It was now time for mclusky, who began by teasing the expectant audience with the deliberately slow musing of Fuck This Band before frontman Andrew 'Falco' Falkous donned his newly prescribed work-issued ear defenders, due to a recent battle with tinnitus and hyperacusis, and led the band into hard hitters like What We've Learned, the hypnotic Without MSG I Am Nothing, and the sardonic Pixies-esque Collagen Rock.

Falco's distinctive voice, ranging from a snarl to a scream, was in fine form, as was his oft self-flagellating razor-sharp wit. In response to bassist Damien Sayell dedicating a song to local friends (as well as declaring Perth inhospitable due to its January heat), Falco stepped into the mic to “retract that dedication,” explaining that “mclusky songs are difficult to dedicate to anyone; they all sound like death threats.” Elsewhere, ahead of crowd favourite Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues, Flaco played down the song’s brilliance by stating, “It’s just Whole Lotta Rosie sped up” and that “even the guy from Placebo likes this song.”

Drummer Jack Egglestone was magnamious on drums throughout, guiding each and every song to their appropriate junctions with tender loving care, while bassist and occasional second guitarist Sayell's playing and attitude were every bit the equal measure of Falco, giving the trio a perfect balance and poise.

She Will Only Bring You Happiness had the night's loudest singalong, with the audience joining in on the track's bridge of “Our old singer is a sex criminal,” while the frenetic To Hell With Good Intentions took out the award for the song that most made an audience move like a broken washing machine stuck on spin.

Pausing for a moment of seriousness, Falco introduced the band and thanked the punters before getting the audience to vote on the set’s final songs. With the winning metric of the vote not disclosed, That Man Will Not Hang, was played before, in what was perhaps Mclusky's way of saying Western Australian people are simply superior to absolutely everyone on the East Coast in a way that they could never verbally bring themselves to say out loud for fear of retribution, Perth fans were also treated to the losing song, No Covers.

After taking a brief respite from the stage and Inglewood's January heat turning Falco into “a shrunken Kelly Jones from the Stereophonics,” the band ended the show with a blistering rendition of whoyouknow, and the audience responded in kind, showering the sweaty trio in rapturous applause.

The joy in mclusky is in their refinement, namely that they do what they say on the tin, “rock.” Their music has not lost its edge or relevance in the past two decades, and with live shows that continue to be raw and powerful, the world is the better for their existence. mclusky did dallas again, and they did it well.

MICHAEL HOLLICK

Photos by Stu McKay