The Priory Dolls have been on my radar for the most part of the last two years, and after an ongoing chopping and changing of band members I was pretty psyched to finally see the release of their long awaited EP, Heaven is a Dirty Place.

Opening the night was Dead Words, rolling through a set of nonchalant rock songs. Though the crowd numbers were dwindling at this point in time, there was something uninspiring about their lack-lustrous performance. Each song blended into the other, passion-less and boring, maybe there was something in their bluesy songs I was missing, but generally I found them to be a little dull.

The Fearless Vampire Killers were next with their own brand of upbeat, almost anthemic bluesy rock and roll songs. This band is always energetic and on-the-ball, tonight being no exception. Nothing short of uplifting and light-hearted, their set of surfy numbers got the crowd up and moving. Though their songs have this ‘blast from the past’ sound, there is this contemporary energy that radiates from the quartets performance, a highlight of this being the ‘Monkey Song’, an example of the fun-loving tunes this band churns out with such brilliant and ease. What is so appealing about this Melbourne bands live show is the genuine fun and excitement about it all. It was good to see the boys still in fine form, the songs still as captivating as they were when I heard them 12 months ago.

The Priory Dolls finally took to the stage. There is this intriguing simplicity to the Priory Dolls’ music. Light pop music with rock and roll undertones, Brian Jonestown Massacre-esque guitar and vocals singing lyrics wise and weathered far beyond their years. The Priory Dolls’ performance was quietly powerful. It had been almost 18 months since I last had the opportunity to catch this band live, and to hear the live renderings of the songs from their debut EP was exciting. A particular stand out was ‘The Devil You Know’, the lyrics, I understand that you want to make a stand, radiating through the intimate band room with such sincerity. ‘Not One Second’ with its biting words was matched with psychedelic guitar-work. Also a treat was ‘Riddles and Bones, an older song sounding just as sentimental as it used to, fitting in smoothly with the newer numbers. This EP is a step, finally, in the right direction. Hopefully with a more constant line up the band are bound to move forward and up, starting with their blistering live performances, continually blowing people away .