SMUDGE live review

Aussie cult heroes Smudge are often mentioned as influences by other musicians. I checked them out at the Annandale a couple of years back and this was my assessment...

This was a night where Australia's musical past collided with its musical future. And the future won hands down.

The small crowd of punters who arrived early were served up the rare treat of a solo acoustic performance by Robert F Cranny. The quality of his songs was evident throughout, despite the humble surroundings and instrumentation. But then you would expect no less from Sarah Blasko's musical co-pilot. It was also clear that this man is brimming with ideas, as songs often took unexpected turns in structure and tempo. Hearing those ideas fleshed out in future, with a full band, will be fascinating.

While Mr Cranny only had to travel down the road to be here, I Heart Hiroshima had come all the way from Brisneyland. Visibly nervous to begin with, the youngsters soon grew in confidence and won the audience over with slab after slab of short, fiery punk tunes.

On 'Teef' the trio barked in unison, "I've got teeth, you've got none", before tearing into an awesome guitar assault. On 'Lungs' Susie Patten gleefully banged the shit out of her drumkit with such force that she later complained of blisters on her fingers (Ringo Starr would be proud). Meanwhile, a speeded up version of 'Punks' sounded thrilling, thanks to the call and response vocals between Matthew Somers and the irrepressible Susie.

And the Queenslanders also offered a glimpse of their new, as-yet-unreleased songs. All carried the same sharpness of their predecessors, but with a newfound artiness that makes the prospect of their next album positively enticing.

Unfortunately, when elder statesmen Smudge took to the stage, they suffered by comparison. Their more considered, melodic form of indie rock felt lacklustre after the raw energy of I Heart Hiroshima. Only occasionally did the songs seem to live up to their brilliant titles ('Mike Love, Not War' was a highlight).

Their cover of 'Berlin Chair' was the most telling moment of the set. Musically, the trio stuck faithfully to the original, making Tom Morgan's voice stand out like a drummer's sore thumb. Quite simply, his vocal was less expressive than Tim Rogers', and it showed. And it was noteworthy that they chose to cover a 1990s anthem, because even the new songs sounded dated, stuck in thrall to bands like Dinosaur Junior.

Dwelling on the past is often counter-productive, and so it proved tonight. But hey, the future looks bright and it's a New Year, so here's to 2009!

By Andy McLean. Copyright held by author.
First published in The Brag, Sydney, 2008.