Culture

Matinee Show at Re:Fuel, Sunday July 10.


This was the first matinee show I've been to at Re:Fuel since the all-age metal gigs they used to have back when I was in highschool. Kicking things off was Axe Handal, drummer Rory MacMurdo (TFF, Brüer Grinder) with his laptop bandmate. Carefully structured fruity-looped samples of Farfisa organ and all manner of other squinky Black Dice-y lo-fi noise provided the perfect foil for Rory to tightly showcase his versatile breakneck-speed Lightning Bolt-influenced drumming style, and it was also refreshing to hear Rory actually singing. The laptop was a bit too quiet though.
 
Two-piece band The Killmore Girls (best band name in Dunedin without a doubt) played next. Philip Van Zijl (The Communist Rainbow Relationship) was on bass and Hope Robertson (the Doyleys, Bad Sav) was on drums, with a hockey mask with a microphone taped inside for vocals. Sadly I missed most of their set but I’ve managed to get to most of the five or so gigs they've played since they formed and holy shit, are they good. Both Philip and Hope both have a strong stage presence and a atmospheric shoe-gazy driving force that brings to mind bands like Batrider, Sonic Youth and the finer moments of Deftones.
 
Full Moon Fiasco channelled their own delicious blend of psychedelia, not unlike Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, amidst projections of jellyfish and bright phosphorescent liquid. The ever-present  reverb on Will Rattray’s voice and guitar (also a member of Thought Creature), coupled with the spacey organ and driving rhythm section, ultimately culminated in an incredibly badass cover of legendary Dunedin psych-noise band Snapper's “Buddy”, and I gladly noted that a few people other than myself were also singing along.
 
Thought Creature were a completely different band than the one I saw a few years ago; gone were the bass and drums. Rattray's guitar and vocals played second fiddle to samplers, laptop, synth and effects that all seemed concentrated on dancebeats, which was cool but I prefered their former riff-tastic selves. Their songs all started with hilarious and immaculately placed samples of news footage and movies, notably Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
 
Really nice atmosphere, great bands. Be sure to check them out.