Songs, the Twerps @ the Empress
When you’re new in town and the first time you walk into the video shop and the dude’s are playing Christmas Steps loud on the stereo and then you see them at pretty much every gig you go to and you wonder: do these guys have a band of their own? And it turns out, a few years down the track, that they do and they’re really good but the first time you saw them they were way more lo-fi than you expected. But then you saw them again and it gelled beautifully and started to make sense and you realised the guitar player is the woman from Batrider whom you also loved. Then you catch them on a Sunday night at the Empress and the fire’s going and the food’s great and the front half of their set makes you want to curl up on the floor and cuddle yourself. Then the back end of the list thickens up and makes you want to run underpanted through the streets and shout: I think I’ve found the recipe for the perfect Sunday night out! And they are just that, The Twerps—a bloody good reason to get your arse out of the house.

Besides one of the best band names in the business, Songs create gentle, thoughtful, graceful, intelligent and inclusive tunes that make you feel good. It feels as though they’ve crept onto the scene, like they’ve come from nowhere (read: Sydney), but catching them live reveals that there’s been a hell of a lot of time at the drawing board for this four-piece—enough forethought and planning to make it all seem seamless. Songs’ sound is effortless and suave (think metaphors of rain falling on the ocean’s surface or a cool drink on a hot day—barf!). There is a composed quiet about them, yet something in drummer Steve Uren’s facial grimace suggests this is a veneer of composure over some beautifully complex arrangements.

Guy Blackman’s presence on keys for a couple proves a real highlight of a superbly crafted set. I’m not sure that this breed of rock is evolving in Melbourne—not to say there’s not great things happening here but this is the second time I’ve been wowed by Sydneysiders in recent weeks and it’s starting to make me wonder. Songs pull it all off with an air of refrain that’s engrossing. The industry appears to be paying attention and I reckon the public won’t be far behind.

Sam McDougall