Live Review: Foam, Doctopus

Earlier in the night the room was treated to some thrashing shows from a trio of local talents in The Kramers, Regular Boys and Puck, so seeing Doctopus crank into their set with a largely open floor didn't quite add up.

As the '60s pop rhythm and slacker-rock style waved around the room, the crowd reemerged to join a hell of a party, including a special 'guest' who climbed onstage, glassy-eyed, grasped the mic then fell down. Vocalist Stephen Bellair bounced up to the microphone with a wild stare like an ADHD child who just downed a bag of caps, which is hardly a bad thing. The three clearly enjoyed the fuck out of their own set and the crowd happily went along for the ride. Chronic Fatigue, Mettam's Pool, Social Anxiety and Man I Think You're Cool all set a house-party vibe and beamed stupid-fun not to be forgotten.

It didn't take long for a gear changeover. Foam immediately bathed Mojo's in sweeping distortion and angst-driven pedal stomps. The band have never been backwards in their love for the grunge-era sound, namely because they do it so damn well. Along with I Could Milk Myself, the featured single for this launch, a number of other new cuts get a showing and they drip with fierce vocals and bone-rattling bass lines that would seem at home on the aggressively energetic '89 Bleach Recordings. The crowd's response to the newer sound was instant and overwhelming with heightened levels of anticipation for the upcoming record release. Their set quickly turned into an demonstration as to why they've filled this room on a Saturday night. Blending new tracks with favourites like Run Kon Koma, beaming energy and hard-hitting chorus punches proved this band should be noticed. With the night well and truly theirs, Foam ensured the set ended with a bang as the volume was pushed to beyond-ear-splitting, approaching 'you can hear this song with your spine' levels for the grinding riff of Four Men Enter A Room.