The Goodgod Small club
has been recently renovated and now it looks like a tropical paradise with palm
trees, expensive cocktails and white Tuscan villa walls. Just a little further
down from the main bar is the venue that has rapidly become one of Sydney’s
best-kept secrets over the past two years. Tonight was one of the best line ups
in months and what better place to get a heavy dosage of exotic and varied
experimental Australian music than the hidden underground bunker of Goodgod.
Starting the show was Melbourne’s Superstar, made up of a girl-boy duo
featuring erratic lead guitar, synth and occasional sweet vocals subtly
appearing every now and then.  With
cassette releases on local label Near Tapes, the band have changed their once
pure-noise based sound into a more song based format. Using beats from a tiny
ipod and a bucket load of delay and flange on both the guitar and vocals made
Superstar sound like early nineties dream pop. Think Slowdive or a more
synth-driven Mazzy Star for some kind of vague idea behind it. They were a
relaxing and well-picked opening to the night and left most people hypnotised
and tired (in a good way). 

It would be lazy to describe Bum Creek as a river of
shit running along side a mental asylum, but not exactly far fetched. Once
based in Canberra and now relocated to Melbourne, there aren’t many more bands
in Australia that divide the crowd more than they do. People were either
leaving the room or moving to the front when they played. No set is ever the
same and everything is unpredictable – something that you don’t usually get now
days unless your listening to an old King Crimson improvisation boxset. Brief
moments of the set get locked into catchy and enjoyable grooves but then
suddenly stop and random tribal yells, clarinet and trumpet solos of smacking
the overhead vents for percussion replace it –destroying any chance they have
of a memorable melody. This is what’s good about their latest album, its all
the catchy parts of their live performance combined into one. Seeing them in
the flesh is an entirely different experience, its like watching that Lars Von
Trier film “The Idiots”. At least when people say experimental music is boring,
you can just take them to a Bum Creek show and call it comedy. 

Next up were
Sydney’s mighty Naked On The Vague, more or less the torch bearers of the outsider
scene. Having just returned from a successful European tour, the grim sounds
and imagery couldn’t have fitted those Berlin squats any better. Ever since I
saw them as a four piece at last years Flip Out Festival I’ve declared them the
best band in Sydney. Tonight didn’t change a thing – tearing into songs off
“The Bloodpressure Sessions”, “Heaps Of Nothing” and even one or two new ones.
The tour has done nothing but train band up even more than ever. It’s hard to
remember what is what like when they were just two members. It would be like being
really hungry and having a six-inch sub instead of a foot long.

Holy Balm
arrived on
stage around one o’clock in the morning to rowdy applause and soccer chants.
Some one needs to hire HB as a New Year’s countdown band, because over the past
few years they’ve gotten more dancier than ever. Ever since seeing them at
Hibernian house in 2008 and in places like Oxford Arts, Locksmith, Friend In
Hand its always an enjoyable band to debate and talk about how they keep
getting increasingly better each show. In the past few months they’ve been
mighty productive supporting Sun Araw, The Boredoms and even a stint at the
Opera House. Songs about a sweater, something about a phone and the notorious
HB theme, none of it mattered individually – the whole thing was a riot with
smoke machines and reflecting disco balls included. They are accessible whilst
still paying homage to the sweet challenging sounds of vintage krautrock or early
nineties house. It was a shame the long over-due 7” didn’t arrive in time for
the show. No real loss there as I’m sure when it does get released the crowd
will be bigger and just as enthusiastic for the charismatic three piece.