The Volcanics album launch – Perth, 1 July, 2017

Shane | 5 July 2017 | Reply

The Volcanics album launch – Perth, 1 July, 2017
With Datura4, The Floors & The Killer Hipsters
Amplifier Bar, Saturday, 1 July, 2017
Reviewed by Brian Dunne

Due to a case of shockingly bad time management, I missed The Killer Hipsters, but according to witnesses they cracked out a tight set of their trademark good time rock. Next time.

Around 9pm numbers quickly started to build at the Amplifier Bar, just in time to catch the phenomenon that is The Floors. It’s almost impossible to adequately describe the bad-assed, deeply heavy swamp rock of The Floors. They are a band you feel throbbing through your soul as much as hear via your ears. Probably the most fun in the world would be to jam with The Floors in their rehearsal room. Watching them romp through this set was almost as good as that and as close as most of us are going to get. The Floors closed their set with the epic Follow Me Down: I, for one, would follow them anywhere.

For fans of Domenic Mariani’s old band The Stems I should first point out that Datura4 are far, far, far away from those power pop days. Datura4’s two albums of dirty boogie have been widely and wisely acclaimed. Live, the band plays like a looser and somehow groovier tribute to their recorded output. Datura4 are a cool band to dance to but, sadly for them, coming on after The Floors, Datura 4’s laid back tunage tended to sound a little samey song after song. Maybe that’s just me, YMMV. Certainly according to punter Keleigh, Datura4 are, “sexy as fuck!”

First thing you notice about The Volcanics, even before the band starts playing, while they are on stage doing a line check, is that they are wearing a uniform black t-shirt and black jeans, all except frontman John Phatouris, though, in a grey shirt, he didn’t stray far from the uniform of his bandmates. This conscious decision to stand out as a working band very much sums up their attitude. I like it.

Like returning heroes, battle-hardened after their recent European tour, The Volcanics hit the Amplifier Bar stage with all cylinders firing to launch their latest album, Oh Crash. Starting with Doubt, from the Rob Younger produced new album, The Volcanics smashed out another two songs before allowing the almost full house of moving punters a breath. This set was naturally heavy on songs from the latest album but favourites from their previous records Transmission and Get A Move On also received an airing. Deftly selected covers of The Rolling Stones Bitch and The Easybeats Sorry showed the band’s reference points to great advantage.

Overall, this gig proved what most folk in Perth who understand rock already know; The Volcanics are head and shoulders above any other band in this town in terms of swagger and style. Love your work, boys.

More about The Volcanics here – https://www.facebook.com/thevolcanicsrock/

Guest reviewer Brian Dunne is lead singer and Wrangler-in-chief of Perth band The Potato Stars

https://www.facebook.com/potstars1/