Live Review: Keep On Dancin's, Martyr Privates, Roku Music

Local shoegaze enthusiasts Roku Music are opening up this muggy night of dark sounds and limited stage banter, and they're doing it well. Guitarists Innez Tulloch and Donovan Miller know when to bring it heavy and when to step off the gas and let the songs breathe, and there's a real prettiness to their sound underneath the sheer distorted noise of the guitars. Miller and bassist Jody Gleeson share singing duties, and with sweetness and weight in their washed-out vocals it's like dreaming in reverb; you don't particularly need to know what they're saying.

The room is filling up nicely as Martyr Privates continue to cement their place as maybe the pinnacle of Solid Brisbane Bands that people love to endlessly lament should be much bigger than they are, with a set of sweaty, down-and-out mantras. Ashleigh Shipton's bass playing is particularly powerful, propelling and grounding these songs while some very tight up-front drumming adds drama. The band look bored, and they do gig constantly so maybe they were, but if anything this helps rather than detracts from the vibe of these sad-angry-guy songs.

Keep On Dancin's are launching a couple of new tracks tonight, but first up we get some older stuff like the wonderful Houston, off 2011's The End Of Everything LP. Initially, singer Jacinta Walker wants to skip this song, but thank God they don't because it's a total triumph of raw sadness that almost serves as the band's mission statement for their shows: hold on, 'cause you're about to feel some feelings. It seems like in the past few months Walker's voice, which has always been incredible, has taken on an even more beautiful resonance, and tonight she's in top knock-you-off-your-barstool form. Hewitt Eyes is also darkly powerful, and the one song where the band seem to really let loose with the anger that is simmering under the surface in most of their tracks. Guitarist Yuri Johnson's genius is that he can make his solos and riffs sound surprising and cool even if you've heard them 50 times before, and tonight he's doing just that with the confidence that only comes from drinking large glasses of fruity punch (highly recommended). They close up the set with the double of Baby and Grey Ghost, the singles they're launching tonight. Baby is melancholy and sweet, while Grey Ghost is fierce and sinister, bringing one last incredible vocal performance from Walker.  These songs have long been live favourites and capture two different sides of this excellent band, so it's both cool to see them get their own release, and exciting that this may be a sign of perhaps another long player on the horizon.