Lou Barlow’s solo performance at The Brightside on the eve of Australia Day 2016 was a minimalist introduction to his “Brace the Wave” album for new listeners.

Barlow was supported by Bryce Schneider, a 28 year-old Brisbane-based singer-songwriter, who recently returned from a productive year in Berlin. From Schneider’s acoustic set of original songs, it was obvious that here was a competent guitarist with good timing and an impressive vocal range, capable of following strong melodic lines over smooth chord progressions.

Schneider’s lyrics were about 95 per cent comprehensible to the sober listener, and seemed quite poetic. To single out one song from Schneider’s set of originals for comment in terms of song-writing and performance, “I Ain’t Coming Home” is an indicative example. Arguably, the use of the word ain’t in lyrics by Australian performing and recording artists is more credible in some genres than others, but Schneider seems to have the vocal qualities required to support such use of poetic licence within his oeuvre. 

Appropriately enough, considering the impending approach of Australia Day, Lou Barlow raised questions about what it means to be Australian, in a brief cross-cultural exchange of ideas with fans during his set. While Barlow’s songs are overwhelmingly personal and it could be argued that most of his lyrics for Sebadoh, his solo work and other projects are not political, clearly he is politically aware.

Playing a tongue-in-cheek devil’s advocate in a micro-debate on a republic, Barlow suggested that the “pretend Olympics” of the Commonwealth Games, and the curiosity of netball as played in Commonwealth competitions, were legacies of Australia’s colonial status that might hold some continuing appeal today. He also reflected on the American experience of colonialism, particularly in his home state of Massachusetts.

If, Australians have, in turn, been subject to American cultural imperialism in music since at least the 1960s, then it might be argued that Barlow’s brand of post-rock song-writing is about as good as it gets. But it is not everyone’s cup of tea.

In an age of digital downloads and handheld playback devices, one might wonder whether the consumption of Barlow’s very personal, introspective music is less of a social experience for his fans than is the case with other styles of music. Nevertheless, it must be rewarding for recording artists to hear members of their audiences singing along with acoustic versions of their songs in tune together. In Barlow’s case, hits from Sebadoh and The Folk Implosion, inevitably bring the backup vocalists among the audience out of their respective shells.

For some of the classics, and for many of the songs from “Brace the Wave” that Barlow performed, he switched between acoustic guitar and analogue synth, the sound of which was reminiscent of some Boards of Canada tracks (which, in turn, remind the listener of certain instrumental electronic records produced in Europe in the 1970s). Between passages of Barlow’s acoustic guitar and voice, those plaintive, monophonic analogue synth lines reverberating through venue’s interior made for quite a poignant musical experience.

The studio recording of “Brace the Wave” is less minimalist than the live performance just described, but it is, nonetheless, easy on the ears, and good value.

- Nathan Renault