Live Review: Mallrat, Kinder, Eilish Gilligan

Stick figures are drawn onto our wrists upon entry to the band room.

Eilish Gilligan proudly wears a Harry Styles T-shirt purchased at his recent Melbourne show. Her powerful voice commands our attention from the very start and it soars above twinkling '80s synths with experimental pulsating sounds. "I feel like everybody has a place where they put significant things people have given them and when you break up you just want to repress it all," Gilligan shares. She opens up her drawer of emotional memories and pours her heart out on a deep and dreamy pop tune with melancholic ambience. As a recent finalist for triple j's Lorde Remix competition, Gilligan shares her own interpretation of Homemade Dynamite that's been turned into a heavenly piano-driven ballad that particularly enhances the melody from the line, "Now you know it's really gonna blow". She also shares a new song for the first time. "I think it's good, though," she adds with a nervous giggle and this upbeat track is definitely another winner with a catchy beat that makes us want to dance within seconds of hearing the chorus.

Kinder know how to get the party started. The sister duo do something a bit different and play a set of dance-party tunes to get us warmed up before the main act. Once they cue up a few house bangers, they move to the front of stage for a high-energy choreographed dance routine that really gets the room pumped-up. Their long pink-and-blonde dreadlocks swing around and, in no time at all, the crowd turns wild.

DJ Denim drops some serious trap beats for Mallrat to make a big entrance as she arrives onstage in her red oversized NFL puffer jacket. This show is sold-out, so the intimate venue is packed. "It feels like we should all be celebrating same-sex marriage!" Mallrat says, after yesterday's news that the bill officially passed in Parliament. She continues with the first song she ever wrote and released called Suicide Blonde, and throws in an unexpected-yet-delightful cover of Lily Allen's Who'd Have Known.

Following a recent Japanese holiday, Mallrat shares a new song, mostly in Japanese language, that's inspired by Okunoshima (bunny island). She shows off her Japanese language skills and we pretend to understand the words. "Who saw Drake at Rod Laver recently? Is anyone a Kanye fan?" Mallrat asks. The pocket-rocket then dives into a cover of Drake's Pop Style (the version featuring The Throne) and impressively raps every single part.

For Real is such a crowd-pleaser that she plays it twice. But tonight we're all here to help Mallrat launch her latest single Better, which is loaded with sweet hooks and a soaring chorus to draw us in. "What's the nearest Westfield? she asks. "Well for me it's about Westfield Chermside in Brisbane, but you pick one and think about that..." — the shopping centre-inspired track Inside Voices is undeniably relatable. The crowd dances and sing-screams in unison to the anti-social anthem Uninvited to close. This is one party we're glad to be on the list for tonight.