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Review: Rebecca Jones
THURSDAY, May 20, 2004, and Winter has well and truly returned
to Perth. In the popular Paddington Alehouse, Mount Hawthorn,
the heaters are on and a busy venue bears witness to numerous
coats, hats and scarves after what has been a long Summer.
Tonight is Slam Satellite, a regular Thursday night fixture at
the Paddo, and fuelled by announcements that long-standing Perth
band, Team Jedi, are about to disband, there is an air of anticipation
about the place.
First up on the night were Institut Polaire,
a relatively new five-piece to the Perth scene and a great act
to add to any mix.
With a psychedelic backdrop, perhaps unintentionally by the organisers,
it was a perfect compliment to the band’s sound. As the
set started, so too did the layering of music over a solid rhythm
section by the keyboards, guitars and vocals.
This had the effect of creating an almost translucent feel to
their music, soothing the audience before taking them on a mystery
tour of sound; building and driving, happy and sad, but more often
than not, unexpected.
Naturally, this was much appreciated by the Paddo crowd that
simply warmed to Institut Polaire and applauded with gusto. Catch
them if you can!
Heathcliffe came next, a young band that has
been around for two years, and now has the promise of a debut
EP out in August this year.
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Their music is guitar-driven, dark
and fast-paced, but complimented by a great vocal range in their
haunting lead singer (Joni Hogan), who sings with an air of insanity
about her - a great look that she might well consider expanding
upon.
Unfortunately, it seemed that, although applauded, much of their
intensity was lost on an older and perhaps slightly conservative
Paddo crowd, and a more fringe or youthful audience would be far
more appreciative of their compositions.
They are a good and incredibly promising band all the same…
And last up were Team Jedi, bastions of the
Perth pop sound, who have been around the scene for the best part
of eight years.
With an album released just two months ago, and the unexpected
news that the band are now playing a last few shows before calling
it a day, it seemed that good old entertainment was anticipated
by all.
Unfortunately, this was not the case, although the band tried
to entertain between songs with humour and fun, the songs themselves
sounded lack-lustre, tired and poorly rehearsed, as timing problems
crept in.
Although some of the crowd obviously enjoyed the show, it seemed
that the problems were not lost on the majority with applause
being polite rather than enthused.
Perhaps Team Jedi have made the best decision in calling it a
day and, hopefully, Perth will be seeing the members refreshed
in new musical pastures.
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