LIVE: COSMIC PSYCHOS & LONESOME DOVE – Perth, 27 Nov 2025

LIVE: COSMIC PSYCHOS & LONESOME DOVE – Perth, 27 Nov 2025
The Rosemount Hotel, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by Damien Crocker

Hot on the heels of what may be the most signature song of their career, I Like Beer, The Cosmic Psychos are back out West necking amber fluid and damaging eardrums.

Local talent Lonesome Dove open the show, revealing a real melting pot of indie rock, power pop, punky-post-grunge influences – too many to delve into here. Waifish singer/guitarist Nici Ward is a scion of local rock royalty – daughter of Boyd Wilson and Denise DeMarchi – has a dreamlike vocal style reminiscent of the glory days of 90’s indie rock (think Liz Phair, Juliana Hatfield, et al) whilst singer/guitarist Ben Protasiewicz injects a bit of grit into the mix.

Their songs are all catchy, infectious, well played and enjoyable, and if there is an ever-so-slightly generic quality to them, it’s generic of a vibe rather than any specific artist. With a third album in the can the new songs played tonight warrant keeping an eye out for that release when it hits the stores.

Cosmic Psychos are so down to earth they’re practically made of dirt. Ross Knight wears his farm work clobber as always, despite being on the other side of the country playing a gig, a shabby and faded baseball cap and his sunnies on his head. Mad Macka is equally casually dressed and sports enough grey facial hair for us to wonder if he’s ready for a casual job as Santa during December. In fact only drummer Dan Peters of Mudhoney fame appears to have made an effort to dress up, sporting a fine hat atop his head.

Starting with subject matter close to their hearts, these blokes you can trust let rip into Pub, Nice Day To Go To The Pub and Rip n’ Dig, already a considerably louder proposition than their support act.

New tracks 10 Can Trip and Don’t Feed Me Jelly stand proudly next to old faves Custom Credit, Dead Roo and Go The Hack, whilst I Like Beer features Macka’s relentless Accadacca riffs and simple-yet-effective soloing over Knighty’s hypnotically bludgeoning fuzz drone bass. You may think this stuff is pretty basic, but there’s real talent in crafting a song this simple, this catchy, this enjoyable, this intoxicating. Talent enough to see where The Chats, Amyl & The Sniffers and the like picked up a few ideas, that’s for sure. It’s the catchiest dirge you’re likely to hear, an alco’s nightmare and a mantra of piss-loving intensity. A monolith of amber-fuelled pub-celebrating rock.

Macka’s Fuckwit City gets everyone singing along, which they continue to do right through the mighty Lost Cause (covered by both L7 and The Prodigy) and the hilarious closer David Lee Roth.

We can’t help but grumble at the short set – a scant hour from top to tail – but at the same time nobody would claim it was anything other than full on from start to finish. Maybe it is better to leave ‘em wanting more, but a couple more tunes wouldn’t have hurt, if only to prolong the good, good times and share another round with these hard-arsed rock legends.

Set List:

Pub
Nice Day to Go to the Pub
Rip ‘n’ Dig
I’m Up You’re Out
Dead in a Ditch
10 Can Trip
Custom Credit
Toothbrush
Dead Roo
Don’t Feed Me Jelly
Go the Hack
I Like Beer
Fuckwit City
Lost Cause
David Lee Roth

Category: Live Reviews, Photo Galleries