SPOZ'S RANT

(Gig Review, Video & Live Photos)
Ed Castle @ Adelaide - gig review, video and live photos.

http://spoz.blogspot.com/

TOM UGLY (****1/2) myspace ::

Whenever I go see a live band I've never heard of before I preferably like to go in cold. No press release, blogger buzz, word-of-mouth, magazine article, or whatever-the-fuck; not even a cheat sheet sneak of their myspace just to see if they blow a goat. For me the live gig is where it's truly at. I mean why else would I write all this shit? for all the free alcohol, the door entry, fans, stalkers, groupies, the endless infamy and the notoriety!? (YEAAAS!! I'm an Adelaide scene celebrity *cough* wait.. isn't that just an oxymoron? aarrr fuckit!). No it's all about discovering new shit first hand. As such I knew very little about Tom Ugly prior to tonight: short of the occassional mention on Triple J as winners of "Unearthed High", maybe a half heard song I never knew was theirs, and a one word description claiming they were "electronica" (which pretty much tells me nothing). As for the rest? I discovered that the minute they walked on stage. For one they look surprisingly little like a highschool band. You actually have to keep reminding yourself of that fact throughout their set. I mean sure they look the part, all kinds of gangly and a little bit goofy; but in a world where Tame Impala exists; these freaks look like grizzled war "veterans" by comparison (it also helps you can hardly see them lurking about in the shadows either). Weirder still they absolutely KILL on a live stage (so much so I initially suspected they were miming, the real band were hiding elsewhere, and I was watching the music video to New Order's "Crystal" instead). And that's not where the weirdness ends either. Unlike every other buzz band attempting to rip their schtick from the eighties, they're the goth electronic aesthetic of the late nineties. Yup, the late nineties. In their songs "Roll Again" and "Bad With Love" you can hear everything from Placebo, Suede, The Mavis's, Stabbing Westward, U2's "Pop" and Smashing Pumpkin's "Adore". They remind you of shit you'd see in Buffy The Vampire Slayer playing at The Bronze, or a band you'd see opening for Barcode and Circle Clan at The Proscenium back in 2003 (hmmm I wonder if anyone will get THAT obscure reference!?). In the flailing antics of their lead singer Tom Parisi (pulling all the cheesy crucifixion moves) you're reminded of everyone from Dave Gahan from Depeche Mode, Brandon Boyd from Incubus to Jim Morrison from The Doors (which either means he's a genius waaay before his time, or he'll be a drug addled pincushion by the time he hits his early twenties). From beginning to end they pound out brooding dancefloor grooves that are as infectious as they are wildly anachronistic. They have the crowd going apeshit, they own this room and they're still in highschool!? sheeiiit!! Tonight's the first leg of their nationwide tour with Fire! Santa Rosa Fire! and as much I was itching to give this band hell (I mean c'mon!? how hard is it to win Triple J Unearthed!?) something tells me this shit'll be well worth catching.. whodathunkit!?

Fri 10 Jul 2009

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