LIVE: Kim Salmon: Surreal Science – Perth | Boorloo, 18 April 2026

Shane | 21 April 2026 | Reply

LIVE: Kim Salmon: Surreal Science – Perth | Boorloo, 18 April 2026
Rosemount Hotel, Perth, Western Australia
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
Photography by De Williams

Kim Salmon has always pushed boundaries – pushed art uphill, at times. His work with Beasts of Bourbon, The Darling Downs, Antenna, solo and more recently Smoked Salmon is all exemplary, but it’s his formative grunge-inspiring forays into deep garage rock with The Scientists and The Surrealists which laid the foundations of his career, and that’s what he’s exploring with this ambitious show, titled Surreal Science.

The show was reportedly stressful for Salmon to pull together – he’s long been loosey goosey with setlists, but here he is ring-master to a revolving cast of bandmates who come and go (largely unheralded) as songs from both bands stand side-by-side, and that takes some co-ordination and planning.

But first, Salmon offers respect with both a sincere Welcome to Country and an acknowledgement of the fallen members of the bands we’re celebrating tonight: James Baker, Tony Pola, Brian Henry Hooper, Leanne Cowie, bless ‘em, one and all.

As we await the action images flash across the screens behind the stage in a grainy history lesson of times long ago and places both local and far, far away: press photos of various lineups of the bands, gig flyers and posters including Australian and London shows supporting the likes of Siouxsie Sioux, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Alan Vega of Suicide, The Fleshtones and more.

[Show picture list]

When the music starts it’s immediately clear that age has not mellowed them: the sound remains a swampy psych-out blend of raucous and dirty riffs, primal howls and otherworldly groove.

Bad Birth is feral, Keeping You Alive’s refrain of “I declare myself a God” is testament to the religion of Salmon’s music. His harmonica punctuates When Worlds Collide, Fire Escape is raw and bludgeoning. Through it all guitarist Tony Thewlis rips and tears, bassists Boris Sujdovic and Stu Thomas lower the tone to subterranean levels, drummers Clare Moore, Greg Bainbridge and Phil Collings ensure that the beat goes on, while sound man Andrew Hepburn holds it all together, allowing Salmon to be his individual and essential self.

Another highlight is Le Party Girl, its disco-adjacent rhythms perfectly tongue in cheek, while Atom Bomb Baby is caustic.

Some might suggest there is little surreal about music so abrasive (to them) it might strip paint from the walls, but to those of us who relate, these limit-pushers celebrate their past in spades. It’s not even that revolutionary a noise by today’s standards – but only because these guys and their ilk blazed that wild, uncharted trail first.

The second set follows the path of the first: whacked out, fuzzed out noise of the very best kind as they run through a barrage of deep cuts including the likes of Human Jukebox, I Fell and much, much more.

What’s most obvious is that Salmon is a man totally committed to his art. For all the feral rage and noise, Salmon is a consummate songwriter dancing to the beat of his own drum – and guitars – who has ploughed a furrow which may not be as ubiquitous as U2 (a band The Surrealists supported some years ago) or the like, but who are equally important to some.