How to Dress Well
Oscar and Martin
Wintercoats
Phoenix Public House, Melbourne
Saturday 3rd December
The irony of the headline acts name is not lost tonight when the Phoenix Public House is crammed with what looks like models for fashion label Rittenhouse. The audience is fashionable, young and enthusiastic. And, it appears, in thrall to it.
The Phoenix makes for a more intimate venue than the Forum, where James Wallace aka Wintercoats played recently with Japanese instrumentalists Mono as part of the Melbourne Festival. Even still he cuts a lone figure on stage. Essentially a modern era one man band, Wallace uses violin, keyboard, vocals and a loop pedal to build musical layers. Playing the loop pedal like its an instrument, he creates percussion by tapping or knocking the body and strings of his violin, layering the drawn and plucked melodies until they build in volume. Impressive.
By the time Oscar Slorach-Thorn and Martin King take the stage the show has sold out and a sizeable crowd is waiting to hear the pairs tape loops, drum machines, synthesisers, floor toms and vocal harmonies. They dont disappoint. To be honest this isnt my thing maybe Im just over floor toms but I appreciate how Oscar and Martins synergy work the room. At first its just the two on stage sharing vocal and playful percussion duties over their forward thinking indie pop, but theyre later they are joined by a full band. Despite the curious beginning, towards the end of their set things begin to get a little too whimsical/half baked and, well, by the time they start singing a song about a dragon or something I head to the bar.
An air of mystery has shrouded Tom Krell (How to Dress Well) since he posted a free EP online a few years ago. Despite his murky and blown out Ramp;B made ethereal with layered vocals, falsetto and tons of reverb it made no mystery of the fact that the Cologne-by-way-of-Brooklyn-ite had a voice that was on point — imagine a more Pitchforked Timberlake who can hold a falsetto like no other. But what of his live show?
Krell takes the stage as the smoke machine blows and colourful visuals play on a projector behind him. He performs, just his singing over a backing track. In front of a quiet but appreciative audience, he starts off a little nervously but builds in confidence after a few songs. In between tunes he takes large swigs from a Jack Daniels bottle (and I find out later that before the show hes been taking codeine cough syrup). He has continuous problems with the monitors and almost berates the sound guy. But when he performs Suicide Dream 2 off last years Just Once EP all is forgiven — the song and his voice sound incredible.
Still, I cant help but feel Krells performance and songs are lacking something. Live instrumentation for one. Not that instruments are always needed, but at times despite the dudes amazing pipes and emotional songs parts of the show seem soulless, like the visual projections are holding up the songs rather than the music. The music is pretty but theres not a great deal of substance to it. Though, perhaps the headliners schtick is apt tonight; without going as far as saying vapid, theres definitely a self-conscious thread that permeates all performers tonight.
Tim Scott
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