The Powerhouse - Sat 21 Jun

A bomb set off in the Powerhouse tonight would demolish almost the entire Queensland readership of McSweeney’s magazine. It would be a tragedy Mel Ralph, a.k.a. librarian-songwriter Jane Woody, would appreciate. She kicks things off with fragile and charming pop songs to warm the heart on a cold night. She’s followed by Angelo Spencer, a one-man band whose floppy-haired Gallic charm and blues riffs endear him to the crowd, singing naif songs about Jacques Cousteau and riding bikes like a French Daniel Johnston.

Kimya Dawson’s appearance is treated with appreciative laughter. Partly it’s due to her tiny guitar and what she calls substitute art-teacher chic, “Wearing a long skirt but still not a lady.” Partly it’s anticipation for the fun that’s to come. A heaping dose comes when she previews songs off her forthcoming album of kid’s music, Alphabutt. The children’s songs prove a perfect match for her fractured sing-alongs. They’re followed by a song by her brother, the awesomely named Akida Junglefoot Dawson, which we’re only too happy to oblige her by singing along with for the inevitable YouTube video. It’s a song about world-famous wrestler, Macho Man Randy Savage, and how enjoyable it would be to be pinned on the mat by him. We’re rewarded for our participation with a song from the Juno soundtrack. In the middle of the giggles her songs elicit Dawson can slap you in the face with the beauty of ordinary life and leave you staggered, which she does over and over again tonight, including her finale of Loose Lips. It’s the lines, Fuck Bush / and fuck this war, that get the best response though, a ragged Woo! dragged out of several throats at once.

JODY MACGREGOR

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