Live Review: Seahorse Divorce, Big Dead, Raw Sugar

The line to upstairs' Japanese Wallpaper show is snaking out the door and down the street, but the Woolly Mammoth's Alehouse is filled out nicely in its own right for tonight's bittersweet final showing from Seahorse Divorce, who have spent the past four years earning a reputation as one of the city's finest, most frenetic and downright fun bands.

Opening the proceedings for the evening are the enchanting tones of Raw Sugar, who expertly straddle the realm between elegant, restrained sweetness and rough-hewn Aussie-chanteuse lyrical indie-rock - the kind most notably polished and peddled by Courtney Barnett, Camp Cope, Alex Lahey and their ilk. The instrumental set-up features the usual dual guitars and kit, but forgoes the typical four-string bass in favour of a synth-driven bottom end instead. The quartet unleash a finely tuned and capably delivered set of introspection that hits a real sweet spot with Hurricane, dedicated to one of the members' mothers, who has made a rare appearance at her daughter's show tonight. It's a confident and captivating performance, and leaves the crowd palpably buzzed about the prospect of future dalliances with these talented up-and-comers.

Big Dead are looking a bit depleted tonight — downsized from their usually larger line-up, just three members grace the stage to provide an experimental, electronic interlude on the way to the night's headliners. Coming off the strength of their absolutely sublime EP Shell, it's a little jarring to be greeted with a half-hour of aimless, glitchy cacophony in place of their usual degree of eclectic excellence, especially since none of it is particularly abrasive or otherwise attention-grabbing. Nearby conversations continue apace, leading one punter to comment that this could pass for a performance from "the world's politest noise band" on account of all the timid pseudo-intrusions. To be fair, a later re-reading of the gig poster does indeed advertise an "electronic set" from Big Dead, the whole thing coming off more ill-advised than actually bad, but that doesn't help it land.

Fortunately, Seahorse Divorce follow not long after, doing more than enough to course-correct the evening's energy. The band provide an explosive and wonderfully erratic set that draws predominantly from their just-released new full-length, Now. The meticulousness of the band's performance —  its stop-start sonic spasms and on-a-dime change-ups, the boundless ebullience and angular dance moves from frontman Josh Coxon — all of it conspires to create an unforgettable send-off that reads like one big highlight. From the driving shifts of Existence Is Enough to the velvety smoothness of No Dialectic, the unbridled joy of mid-set throwback and fan-favourite Long Term Loan and beyond.

Watching the set, the notion is reinforced that it's often the most challenging bands that burn the brightest and fastest through their careers together. It's exhausting enough simply trying to keep up with it all as a punter, much less a performer. It makes it no less painful an acknowledgment for us in the crowd when the final notes of Nostalgia Creeps ring out.

Thank you for the memories, Seahorse Divorce. You were too beautiful to remain for long.