Here’s a left-of-centre musical pitch for you: two kids, barely escaping their teenage years, from two different Australian cities, begin an online collaboration of freethinking, glitchy experimental music. Impossible? Not even close - it happened right before our very eyes at the very snazzy new King’s Cross venue, Melt.

Meet Collarbones, an exciting new duo that have even whipped up the attention of Pitchfork in their brief time as a group. Persevering through an early onset of tech difficulties, the band marked their territory in spaced-out electronica which recalled acts like Seekae  and post- Feels  Animal Collective . Influences were clear. It’s a strong collaboration between Sydney’s Marcus Whale and Adelaide’s Travis Cook, and one that has a strong potential for its future. Collarbones might have only generated a small gathering at the beginning of the night, but rest assured that they generated an interest tenfold of those that were there.

Performing as a one man band, The Maple Trail frontman Aiden Roberts was up next. Roberts had quite an interesting set up for his performance, seated at the centre of the stage with a kick drum at his right foot, an electric guitar in his lap and a miniature keyboard by his side, all linked together with a loop pedal system. It was really cleverly done, with the building-up of various soundscapes quite interesting to watch unfurl onstage. That said, the main issue with using a loop station for entire songs is the fact that you’re literally basing your songs on repetition. It was for this reason that a lot of Roberts’ songs were lost in translation, lapsing into a sense of overt familiarity and subsequent boredom. The man didn’t play a bad song in his set, but it was relatively easy to lose interest once you heard the same guitar part twenty odd times.

With one show left before they take off for their first-ever tour of the U.S., things are looking up for Otouto. By the time the Melbourne trio began their set with their single “Sushi”, a sizable Sydney crowd had gathered to wish the group the best on their journey. As always, Otouto were a total charm live: sisters Martha and Hazel Brown shuffled around their sides of the stage as they weaved in their perfect harmonies that seemingly only siblings can achieve, while the ever-reliable Kishore Ryan (also of Seagull and Kid Sam ) drummed up a storm in the back, working his way across both his kit and his kitchenware, taking the pots-and-pans approach to drumming quite literally.

Given how intricate the band’s style of music is on record, a lot of it feels difficult to convey to a live setting. With this in mind, it’s exactly that which makes the group such an impressive live act. From measured glasses of water to create different tones to Martha’s MB Hugcase (a voice-sampling synthesizer), the group works cohesively in order to flesh out their performance, creating a unique live experience that perfectly suits the songs themselves. The setlist spanned the band’s past, present and future. Of course, the bulk of the set was lifted from their exceptional debut Pip , but it was tracks from either end of the band’s timeline that stood out in particular. Older tracks like the rarely-played “Walkie Talkie” got an airing, and even got the guys from Collarbones starting up a hilarious interpretive dance circle with their friends. Additionally, new material such as the delightful “A.B.C.” was peppered amongst the familiar tracks; ensuring their future was both exciting and in safe hands

The band wrapped up with a delightfully cheesy cover of Mariah Carey ’s “Touch My Body” blended into their own track, “Spot”. Just as they left an impression at the beginning of the year opening the Popfrenzy Records showcase, Otouto continue to leave their mark wherever they may go. Always with an awkward smirk of appreciation to go with it whenever a cheer arises from their audience, too - it’s as if they have no clue how good they actually are. 

Photo by Alice Glenn