| CUT OFF YOUR HANDS + COLLAPSING CITIES + BIONIC PIXIE... |
| Written by Luke Oram |
| Wednesday, 29 July 2009 23:49 |
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I slink up to the young lady behind the faux-bar and I ask her for a couple of beers in my best Rhys Darby-esque deadpan. The resulting blank stare I garner only makes me feel more ancient and redundant, than I already am. This is an all-ages gig. I am 26 and there are no beers. Obviously. Still, you can’t shake a stick at two Red Bulls for $5. I get four. Savvy Promotions have made a good deal out of having the back of Auckland’s burgeoning under-18 crowd. Tonight is certainly no exception – a brilliant line-up of pop’s brightest and best, from CUT OFF YOUR HANDS, freshly boarded after a stint in the Big Wide World, through to touted indies COLLAPSING CITIES, one-lady electro-storm BIONIC PIXIE, BRAND NEW MATH and Aussie neighbours OH MERCY. I aimed to arrive fashionably late, which is what all the kids are doing these days. Turns out due to a 12PM curfew at Ellen Melville, the gig had been most punctual in starting, resulting in me showing up just in time to see Bionic Pixie and co. setting up their collection of delorians. What a prat. Still, one may call it fortuitous timing. Flying the flag for resident girl-power, Bionic Pixie makes one hell of a first impression. With the added luxury of a frenzied live drummer, the Pixie’s electro beats make for a sharp and violent version of future-pop, atop which glamour-girl Zoe Fleury spits cute and foreboding. For such a sprightly little chick, Fleury does a perfect job of channelling the aggression of a young Karen O with a positively more polite Peaches. With robo-pop costumes, the cut-and-paste programming, and some lovely showmanship from Zoe-Tron. It’s not hard to see why everyone’s going ga-ga over the Pixie. A couple of Red Bulls later, the night took a decidedly grown-up turn, as indie-rock men of the hour Collapsing Cities took to the stage. A product of the bFM ethic, Collapsing Cites have made waves with their nu-dance, indie-rock, post-punk sound. All hyphened genre-nyms aside though, the band are a bit morose, a bit ironic and pretty catchy – although, one couldn’t help but get the feeling that it was all a little depressing and intelligent for the party-hungry crowd. A little like Joy Division crashing your bar-mitzvah. Standout track ‘Seriously’ was a good ol’ sing-a-long though. The real stars of the show, by virtue of their extended stay overseas and this being their first gig back on home soil, was pop heroes Cut Off Your Hands. It’s been a long time between drinks for the lads, who were wearing a few scars from the road. First off, the boys lost their drummer on extended hiatus due to ear issues, which is a monumental stinker. In a bright PR move-slash-just fabulous idea, COYH have landed on their feet, securing the services of the youngest member of the Finn Family of Protégés, Elroy. The boys are also missing their guitarist, Mikey Ramirez, who left the crew this year. The result being a more hard-edged take on the band’s sound – without the trademark jangle-pop of Ramirez, the outfit are harder, faster and more aggressive – delivering almost violent punk versions of their hits and driving home the point with a revved-up, fevered version of Split Enz’s ‘Shark Attack'. The tunes though, by God, those boys know how to write a good hook, and as a cap to the evening, the band served as a great reminder of the D.I.Y. pop ethic that runs strong in New Zealand. Nick Johnson is a great frontman, groomed from a gruelling 6-month, 80-show stint on the road, coping well with his backers dialling up the RPM for the kids. And all this before midnight and sans-hangover. Ellen Melville; we should do this more often. |
