HWLR, Brunswick VIC
BLACK CAB launched their single “Uniforms”
Supported by:
FRIENDSHIPS
Review by Clemmie Wetherall
Live photo by Sally Townsend
More here!
It’s a strangely (no, disturbingly!) warm Thursday night for this time of the year in Melbourne and about a couple of hundred people are milling around Howler in Brunswick waiting for a band who have a strange knack for bringing the sounds of the original 1970s Krautrock scene to contemporary Australia. It’s a long way from Shepparton, to Europe and back again, but over the last ten years Black Cab have slowly and surely evolved, explored and reinvented themselves, taking inspiration from social and political history as much as music.
This Thursday night show is an extra one to placate the fans who missed out on a ticket to the sold out Friday show for the launch of Black Cab’s new single ‘Uniforms’ – a strong indie-dance track, reminiscent of some of the best beats of New Order with synth lines hinting at Tangerine dream and thematically at home in 1980s Berlin. Tonight though they are supported by local Melbourne audio/visual duo Friendships.
The music muscle of the Friendships duo, Nic, stalks the stage in a sports guernsey and impressive 80’s mullet all the while programming some serious drum and bass and breaks mash-ups. Chaos (the good kind) reminiscent of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher soon gives way to a grimy stripped back techno beat with Nic’s strong Australian drawl cutting across the venue, the sort of track where you’re glued to the spot in that moment and the second you get home you desperately trawl the internet hoping it’s been recorded somewhere. Dark, responsive visuals borrowing from 90s pop-culture (this Fifth Element character anyone? – wow!) are deftly manipulated by Mischa, who reciprocates Nic’s energy visually and through stage presence.
While the beats are strong, interesting and well-executed, this Thursday crowd doesn’t seem partial to the actual dancing part of dance music, preferring the sometimes frustrating Melbourne habit of standing immobile facing the stage for the duration of the evening, only moving if it’s to the bar to refill their pint glass. This continues through Black Cabs set, who despite facing some fairly serious technical issues, (serious enough to warrant an apology on facebook) manage to hold it together and deliver a powerful set.
In their tool kit for delivering a great performance, no matter what the situation, is the wealth of experience that Black Cab bring to the stage. While Andrew Coates is a slightly stern, clean-cut figure in his corner of the stage, his warm and husky vocals are perfectly timed and articulated to cut across James Lee’s soaring synths and Wes Holland’s demanding dance beats. Black Cabs strong back catalogue of electronic tracks such as Combat Boots and Polizei also hold their own live, demonstrating a timeless elegance that holds up five or six years on alongside newer material such as ‘Uniforms’.
The release of ‘Uniforms’ signals an exciting change in energy and focus for the band, and these very popular local shows as well as their much lauded 2016 Golden Plains performance surely signal a move away from being just the ‘critically acclaimed’ Black Cab to a more commercially viable position. Even though current music industry and consumer habits don’t favour the release of a whole album these days (let alone a concept album), who knows what we might see from Black Cab in future, perhaps a follow up to 2014’s Games of the XXI Olympiad and a national tour.
