So way too long ago – about three weeks – I scored myself a ticket to a show I’d been wanting to see since the duelling-guitars poster graced the bathrooms of the Zoo: the Basics, a trio of good-old-60s-rock-and-rollers from Sydney, versus – not featuring, VERSUS! – the Bawdies, Tokyo’s answer to the Beatles but with way, way cooler hair. Couple this with supporters Hungry Kids of Hungary, who have been on every single gig poster around Brisbane for the last six months but who I had never seen, and I was gnashing at the bit.
Oh my gosh you guys, I was not disappointed.
Hungry Kids deserve all the hype they’ve been getting – including winning the Triple J Unearthed competition’s QLD Big Day Out spot, go see ‘em! I will be honest: they are not the prettiest band I have ever seen. But holy hell can they write a good tune. Cheerful sixties-influenced tunes, tight little hooks and honest lyrics are just the start. Brisbane’s full of good musos – good songs, on the other hand, are hard to come by. Pick up a copy of Hungry Kids’ self titled EP if you can get your hands on it, it’s only five tracks, and in the words of Our Kylie, I can’t get ‘em out of my head.
Next up were
the Bawdies. I knew next to nothing about these cats before they got on stage. I
will proceed to tell you everything I have learned:
1. Frontman Ryo Watanabe (Roy) is a fox
2. Also has an intensely awesome voice - screamin', anyone?
3. Guitarist’s stage-name is Taxman!
4. Scientifically proven to be impossible not to dance to this awesome carbon-copy of Everything Hip about the 60s
5. Japanese dudes: they know how to Rock.
Shit in that club was jumpin’ jumpin’, y’all. I had more fun than I’d had at a gig all year, probably (that includes you, Splendour!), despite getting sweated on by aforementioned Joel. Roy has about 10000000 watts of energy, all projected through his sparkly, sparkly smile and rough n’ raw vox, and the Bawdies’ unapologetic 60s rock and roll translates almost as well onto CD (or record, if you want one). Highly recommended for a Good Time and Dancing.
After the non-stop energy of the Bawdies,
the Basics were a welcome, if slight, deviation. Their kind of 60s-influenced sound is a sparser, more modern breed of Good Old Rock n’ Roll. Beautifully written homages to the greats of the early days of pop music, their songs are filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and gorgeous three-part harmonies executed to perfection. Lovely little in-jokey one-line riffs pepper their repertoire. Slow songs are elegantly paced and just heartfelt enough not to grate, and up-tempo songs like 'Rattle My Chain', with its doubled guitar/bass hook, echoey vocals and crisp percussion, get everyone dancing. The guys on stage seem completely in their element, responding effortlessly to some wanker (IT WAS JOEL) going, “Play Heart’s A Mess!” (Wally de Backer, aka Gotye, is the Basics’ drummer) and filling blessedly short gaps between songs with easy banter.
One of the reasons I really the Basics is that they are unashamedly Australian – and let me make myself very clear in saying this does not mean G’Day Mate Kangaroos You-Beaut True Blue Waltzing Matilda OR Barnsey OR Akka Dakka. I mean, their sound, demeanour, songwriting, on-stage vibe and tunes themselves are laid-back, self-deprecating, and well-done. They feel genuine, and people are picking up on it – I’ve heard tunes like ‘Three Cool Cats’, ‘Rattle My Chain’ and 'Just Hold On' played in Queen St mall, before other shows at the Zoo, and in boutiques.
Add to this the fact that bass player Kris Schroeder has something I call the Presence, meaning that he inexplicably looks famous, and you have a sharp little set-up there, boys. Complete with matchy-matchy – but relaxed! – slim trousers, shirt-sleeves and ties, the Basics are one to watch, In My Professional Opinion. Check ‘em out.
The Woodford Folk Festival is a six-day-long jewel of an event. For the final days of every year since 1987, thousands upon thousands descend on a glorious tract of land between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane Valley to suck in the luscious sounds of more than 2000 performers, soak up the sunshine and the perennial rain, and share the utopian peace and love that permeates the air, the people, the very mud beneath the stalls and gumboots.
