Live Review: Holy Holy, The Walking Who, Yoke

Sydney trio, Yoke, warmed up the early arrivals to the Newtown Social Club on Saturday night with their easy listening ‘80s-inspired alt-pop.

Sporting a cropped haircut, muscle top and baseball cap, singer Kyle Linahan’s theatrical movement and voice were not what you’d expect from his appearance, revealing beautiful, deeply emotive vocals that harmonised perfectly with guitarist Julian Boswell and keyboard player Corin Ileto. Tracks from new EP, Jabiluka, including the title track and the addictively catchy Pink Crystal Heart, were well received before first single, Burden, finished the set.

In stark contrast, psychedelic rock group The Walking Who sauntered onto the stage next and nonchalantly took up position. Singer Rohin Brown’s gravelly voice was joined by hair swaying and head nodding from the rest of the band through hits With Roses and Rita. A great cover of Dolly Parton’s Jolene got a great sultry, trippy overhaul, which unfortunately seemed a bit lost on the young crowd, but the epic instrumental outro of Moon Landing was a real hit.

Despite a quick power-outage issue, pastoral rock/country outfit Holy Holy took to the stage as the sold-out venue finally filled to capacity, looking very cool, calm and collected. Joined by a full band including drummer Ryan Strathie (Hungry Kids Of Hungary), the Brisbane/Melbourne duo hit things off with new single, History.

New track, Sentimental And Monday went down well before If I Were You showcased singer Timothy Carroll’s lush, husky voice and Oscar Dawson’s great guitar breakdowns, for which this was the first of many.

House Of Cards was welcomed with a big cheer before a cover of Neil Young’s Southern Man was played in a nod to Carroll’s dad. New track, A Heroine, from their upcoming album, got a trial outing and went down a treat, as did their triple j Like A Version cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart, although it could have done with a bit more of their own twist on the classic.

Debut single, Impossible Like You’s catchy melody and impressive noodling got everyone dancing along before Pretty Strays finished the set. All up a great performance that left us looking forward to their upcoming album release to see what’s next from these talented chaps.