Live Review
I Heart Hiroshima @ The Zoo
"I used to travel down from the Sunshine Coast to see I Heart Hiroshima play," my friend told me as we ran into each other at The Zoo. "I used to watch them when they would travel down to Sydney!" I replied. The reason for our nostalgia is that I Heart Hiroshima are all in the one city and playing a rare show, with new recorded music apparently on the way soon too.
It was a full bill though before we got to them. I missed opening act Teva, but got there in time for The Goon Sax. It seems like lazy journalism to compare singer Louis Forster to his dad Robert and the band to The Go-Betweens, but it's pretty tempting - both he and co-singer James Harrison have that familiar way of talk-singing that coupled with the simple acoustic arrangements do kinda recall the tree from which this apple fell. Considering the age of the trio they have put together a good set of songs and a good stage presence - I'm impressed by how comfortable they handled playing a big venue with well-known bands.
Babaganouj were next up. They have become 4ZZZ staples with their high energy pop, and live it is very fun too. There's occasional lead guitar heroics from Charles Sale, and some shoegaze style whammy bar effects, but mostly the strength of Babaganouj is in the melodies and harmonies of the three singers. Songs like Blush and Would You Like Me? show a lyrical vulnerability too that sits somewhat at odds with the happy and shiny pop music. I really like Babaganouj, and they are certainly developing a pretty killer array of singles to fill up their sets.
I Heart Hiroshima took to the stage and The Zoo was looking more full. Their new song Fifty Three has been getting a bit of rotation at zed, and it was a set that from the very beginning contained a bunch of new material. Naturally they interspersed those songs with a few old classics like Punks and Captain To Captain to keep the old fans happy. It seems the new songs are a bit less jerky and sparse with more of a full sound. Another element of their sound has changed - drummer Sullivan Patten expressed doubt at one point whether they could sing some of the old songs as they transition from female to male identifying. Not something every band has to deal with. Those old songs still sound fantastic though (I know I wasn't alone in hanging out on the fringes of the crowd for more dancing room) and the new songs sounded pretty good too. Hopefully I Heart Hiroshima shows will be a more regular occurrence.
- Andy Paine