Photo: Justin Ma

If there was the slightest suggestion of a cold snap outside tonight, it certainly didn’t make it past the stairs of The Zoo. Some of Sydney’s newest young bundles of energy, Cabins, work the small crowd with sludgy guitars and sinister rhythms. Twin guitars screech and squeal out a dark, aromatic blend of brash punk snarl and more foreboding Americana gothic, with the intensity of the former condensed by the subtlety of the latter. Their slow-burning tracks are almost a shame to waste on so few people currently in attendance.

It’s difficult not to use words like provocative, sultry and vivacious when seeing the four young females and one dapper gent onstage that make up Bridezilla, and this review will be no different in falling into those traps. Another band where fiery passion battles for dominance against atmospheric melancholy, the merging of rock instruments with rarer saxophones and violins push it beyond being a set and becoming a performance.

You could assume that Jed and Cec of The Mess Hall might run out of ways to put on a decent show eventually. But not tonight. You don’t get a shot at the title as one of the country’s true powerhouse live acts without having access to a fountain of youth, energy and ideas to stave off mustiness. 2009’s For The Birds dove deeper than ever before into their raw primal power, so their dirty grooves never seem to run low (these grooves also seem to do well with the ladies, judging from the screams after every song). Somewhere between the open-ended raucous jam version of City Of Roses and an encore based on audience suggestions, you come to the conclusion that you’ve just seen a gig that will be difficult to top. The Mess Hall make difficult look easy, and easy look unforgettable.

MITCH ALEXANDER

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