The Love Junkies Cough and Splutter EP Launch @ Badlands
w/ Peter Bibby’s Dog Act, Nerve Quakes, Mung Dahl, Oosterbanger
Friday, June 30, 2017
Considering it was a cold, wet Friday night, Badlands was clearly the place to be ahead of The Love Junkies’ Cough and Splutter EP launch as people navigated through the many bodies to get inside and enjoy the warmth that only good music can provide.
Solo act, Oosterbanger (Ellen Oosterbaan) was the first on stage with her beautifully dark songs that would not be out of place in the early days of punk. She sung Odysseus, Earnin’, Fuck Decorum and a new song, Don’t Help. While her music was thoroughly enjoyable, one couldn’t help but feel that with a backing band, it would transcend to even greater heights.
Next up was Mung Dahl with new bassist, Albert Pritchard in tow for his first show with them. They started with Two Steps Back and Borrowed State. Sam Rocchi has a strong, powerful voice and with backing vocals from Lana Rothnie, they complement each other perfectly. They finished their set with Where The Rain Goes, Tides and Happening.
Nerve Quakes continued the dark, gloomy theme that the night was providing with Honey Hive, The Uninvited, Rewind and Monarch. All that was missing for their set was the overly heavy use of smoke machines, the goth outfits and the dingy underground feel that places like The Loft and Sin Nightclub provided back in the day. They finished their utterly bewitching set with 1000 Years, Shirley and Celestial.
After watching the last few sublimely, melodic acts, Peter Bibby’s Dog Act was definitely a shock to the system with their loud, fast punk – a perfect way to bring up the tempo in preparation for the final act that night. Peter Bibby has a very versatile voice and knows how to work up a crowd. They played Oceans, Craigieburn, Long Baby and Quiver & Melt amongst others.
The last time The Love Junkies played at Badlands, they almost broke up so it made it even sweeter to see their first show in a bit on the very same stage. They started their frenetic set with new songs including EP title track Cough and Splutter, No 2 and recent single Past Intense – all sounding so, so good.
The Love Junkies are one of those bands where it’s almost impossible to just stand there watching from a distance and Friday night was no exception. The mosh pit was heaving and it was hard to move around to get to the bar (or indeed, onto the dance floor). “If you wanna jump up on stage and you wanna jump off, promise me that you won’t step on our stuff because we are poor,” Mitch McDonald told the audience – just before drummer, Elloise Walsh, ran off stage to the bathroom to have a cheeky spew.
They played their hits including Chemical Motivation, Mausoleum, Maybelline and Oxymoron. After walking off stage for a quick breather, they came back on and finished with Storm Troopers, Lonely Ride, Black Sheep Blues and Blowing on The Devil’s Strumpet.
There is always something so comforting about being at a Love Junkies gig and the vibe is always friendly, yet manic. The break did them a whole lot of good and it really shows in their new songs and their revived energy on stage.
KAREN LOWE
Photos by Tahlia Palmer
