They’ve been coined “the next Tame Impala” and aside
from sharing a home city of Perth, Methyl
Ethyl are experiencing a similar
national hype with the former. The three-piece played to a packed room at
Sydney’s Newtown Social Club, following a performance at the weekend's Volumes Festival. Despite the crowd, they
remained humble and ran their seamless set like a support act, with no encore.
Methyl Ethyl may
not be the most charismatic Australian band on stage but their music does stand
on its own. The experimental instrumentation and soulful lyrics kept everyone
staring at the stage. Lead singer and lyricist Jake Webb counted down the songs
before he would “get out of our hair,” despite the fact that this was their
headline show. Most of the crowd was seeing the band for the first time and so
a lack of expectations made for honest interactions, whether it was Webb
shouting back a “G’day” at someone or thanking us for coming along.
In that style, Methyl
Ethyl played what are probably
their most well known singles ‘Rogues’ and ‘Twilight Driving’ early on. A few
crowd members were singing along but most were intrigued by their dedication,
staring focused down at their instruments and watching the rich sound we hear
on their new record come to life. Webb seems shy for a frontman but he still
has an Aussie sense of humour: “This set, I think, is dedicated to Annie Hall
and all of the people here wearing stripes.”
The intimacy (and darkness) of Newtown Social Club made
it feel like we’d stepped into a demo recording, for the elongated jams and
non-climactic sequence. The reverb on “Also Gesellschaft” sounded great and I’d
even go so far as to compare Webb’s vocal expression to something of an early
Jeff Buckley, with eyes shut and face scrunched up. In between tracks, the band
members tuned their equipment, took a sip of beer and casually shuffled around.
For a set celebrating their record Oh Inhumane Spectacle, ironically it was
at once both dreamy and very human.
Published on theAUReview.
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