Short and Sweet: Having gone from strength
to strength to super human strength in the space of 3 albums, Melbourne’s
Eddy Current Suppression Ring delivered the best local show of the year.

Eddy
Current Suppression Ring need no introduction. But they deserve one.
This is a band who have done it all for themselves, showing complete
humility in the face of their resounding success. A band of four mates
who just play for the love of the music, and probably think it’s completely
unreasonable that they have sold out the Palace for the launch of their
third LP, Rush To Relax. To them, this is just a super sized version
of the pubs they played when they began. The band members cruise around
while their friends supply the support, and the atmosphere is like any
night they played at the Tote, just with 2000 fans instead of 20. Their
amazement at the response they receive is obvious in Brendan Suppression’s unshakable smile.

A
shuffle of the support acts means Super Wild Horses are first
to play, the duo keeping themselves closely packed on stage, playing to
a slowly filling venue. The sound is stomping, fuzzed, stripped back
garage rock, and the songs are concise and sharp, without being polished,
but never sounding underdone. The early airing of ‘On The Corner’
gives Bonds fans a heart flutter, but too many of their songs seem to
crescendo and end that little bit too soon, leaving me wanting more.

The UV Race
assemble onstage and immediately one noticeable component is missing.
Marcus. As the rest of the band gradually build a beautiful back beat, they are trumped by the appearance of said lead singer, wearing
the least part of a gimp outfit and leaving nothing to the imagination.
Building into the set with a burner about his side of town, Marcus rattles
off a call to arms, the audience lucky to decipher mentions of the Tote
and the Birmingham between bursts of saxophone and guitar. A quick mention
is made of his sister’s embarrassment, but the highlight of the set
is the sight of Marcus, on all fours, barking like a dog as the set
comes to an end. Regardless of what was happening visually, the band
is tight, and would have won fans through their great combination of
humour and musicality. The now capacity crowd was either:

A. completely into it
B. thoroughly amused
C. slightly disturbed

All in all, one of the best
support slots I’ve even seen.

As
the final soundchecks were made, video screens rolled footage of ECSR’s
‘Rush To Relax’ covershoot, a small plane flying by dragging
the calm inducing banner. The band appear from backstage, all dressed
in suits with the exception of guitarist Mikey Young, who has opted
for another of the album’s features, the full length dressing gown.
As they gather onstage ready to perform there is one thing that
stands out. The entire crowd is waiting with baited breath, everyone
present knows what they are about to witness. With the floor section on a hair trigger, as Danny Young counts quickly into their
first song, the instant crescendo of Anxiety takes hold: the crowd
is at the band’s mercy, an endlessly rolling sea of waves and surfers.

The
set is almost a roll call of the definitive Melbourne punk songs of
the last 5 years. Current single Anxiety leads into previous
album opener Memory Lane, straight into their debuts demented
love song Pitch A Tent. There is no pretense as one song runs
into the next, save for some bass troubles that are quickly rectified,
which allow Brad Barry to get back to the task at hand, bouncing around
the stage as the happiest bass player you’ve ever seen. Tuning
Out gives us the first of Mikey’s major ‘wank solos’, before
the heavy bass of Sunday’s Coming delivers yet another
crowd pleaser from their AMP winning sophomore album. Unfortunately,
it was during some of these dominant guitar moments that the volume
go that little bit too loud, a dense wash of noise enveloping all present,
and even forcing some backwards to look for respite.

Halfway
through the set, Mikey is displaced and heads to the keyboard, the familiar
intro of Insufficient Funds cementing the songs place as one
of the greatest ever keyboard punk songs. This is the beginning of a
five song rampage. Funds has the crowd flying as the support
bands take their turn to get a ‘real punk band stage dive’ in.
The driving rhythm of Second Guessing follows, the only issue
being that Brendan’s delivery is quieter, and struggles to cut through
the pounding of bass and keys. As the song closes, a wealth of mic lead
is gathered onstage, and it’s time for the inevitable battle of Brendan
Suppression vs the crowd.

Ending up on the third tier of the Palace,
he lays down his Precious Rose, leading straight into their underrated
anthem of Colour Television, arguably the most engaging song
of the set and one most deserving of a single release. The guaranteed
winner of Which Way To Go is next, before everyone calms down
a little, Brendan’s girlfriend even giving him a hug and a kiss as
he sings Gentleman to her. This is probably the softest moment
in the set, but definitely does not sacrifice any interest, as the almost
child like, honest to god lyrics, spell out his true feelings.

As
always, Get Up Morning brings mayhem to the venue, the last frenetic
final seconds pushing the heaving crowd to a point where they need the
break usually afforded by an encore, but ECSR push on, sans encore,
before finishing with their latest albums title track Rush To Relax,
leaving the stage as looping footage of crashing waves played out on
the video screens.

The
band took a prolonged (and deserved) theatre farewell, as chants for
an encore fell on deaf ears Slowly ,the long line of similarly hearing
damaged punters filed their way onto Bourke St, looking for that next
chance to rush to relax.

ECSR Setlist

1. Anxiety
2. Memory Lane
3. Pitch A Tent
4. Isn't It Nice
5. Tuning Out
6. Sunday’s Coming
7. You Let Me Be Honest With You
8. Walked Into A Corner
9. Insufficient Funds
10. Second Guessing
11. Precious Rose
12. Colour Television
13. Which Way To Go
14. Gentleman
15. Wrapped Up
16. It’s All Square
17. Get Up Morning
18. I Admit My Faults
19. Rush To Relax