Posts Tagged ‘ nikko ’

Nikko @ Woodland

November 12th, 2011

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Date: November 5, 2011
Venue: Woodland, Brisbane
Acts: Nikko, Carsick Cars, Keep on Dancin’s

It’s a little bit the case of playing one-of-these-things-is-not-like-the-others tonight at Woodland.

Jacinta Walker’s Keep On Dancin’s (that errant apostrophe is no typo) and Nikko vie for most maudlin act with equally gloomy aesthetics. Keep on Dancin’s embrace dark, shifting surf tones that smoulder rather than shimmer while Nikko’s approach pitches percussion, guitar and violin into a series of despairing crescendos of sound.

Nikko probably edges the contest — taking honours with an affecting reinvention of the PJ Harvey classic Horses In My Dreams and a “shredfest” conclusion to The Warm Side that leaves nothing in the tank.

The odd bird in the middle of these two acts is Carsick Cars. There’s nothing gloomy about this Chinese three-piece. It’s simply frenetic guitar pop with a strong drumbeat and infectious riffs that’s concerned with nothing except having a lot of fun. Read more

Nikko @ The Powerhouse

October 2nd, 2011

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Date: September 25, 2011
Venue: The Powerhouse, Brisbane
Acts: Nikko, Dune Rats

Today’s Live Spark proves an inadvertent study of musical contrasts — “support” Dune Rats as brash and carefree as “headliner” Nikko is sombre and serious.

Dune Rats play with a seat-of-the-pants fervour and fun attitude that, in many ways, reminds me of I Heart Hiroshima. There’s a raggedness to their punk-pop racket, yet it’s that selfsame lack of polish that makes their songs all the more enjoyable. How’s that for a contradiction?

By design or by chance, Nikko’s recent support of …And You Shall Know Us By the Trail of the Dead was confronting in its eeriness — most of all in the form of Ryan Potter’s cracked monotone.

That effect is less prominent today, but their assured mastery of their instruments still generates a blissful melancholy as they work through songs both old and new. The set peaks when they take  The Wedding Song and start blending it with a Neil Young cover. The cascades of competing guitar lines as they weave through and around the bass and guitar are simply entrancing.

…And You Shall Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead @ The Hi-Fi

September 26th, 2011

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Date: September 9, 2011
Venue: The Hi-Fi, Brisbane
Acts: …And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of the Dead, Nikko, To The North

Trail of the Dead may have shed almost half their members since their last visit, but an evening at the Hi-Fi with this leaner line-up remains a punishingly loud experience.

Five back-to-back cuts from latest release Tao of The Dead give the feeling that the band is rushing to get the new material out of the way. Still Ebb Away and The Fairlight Pendant, in particular, are anything but second-rate.

The pay-off is a pulverising second half. Caterwaul, How Near How Far, Another Morning Stoner and A Perfect Teenhood are all immense, infused with breath-taking intensity. However, the highlight is surely Will You Smile Again? Keely’s drawl plays delightfully against the measured thump and abrupt crunch-stop of Reece’s toms and crash cymbals — the whole glued together by an ebbing, flowing wall of guitar noise.

As Keely and co lay into their instruments, fans’ arms flail. Their fierce chopping motions match the beat — and the shared madness is surely off the richter scale.

Nikko @ Woodland Bar

April 30th, 2011

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Date: April 29, 2011
Venue: Woodland Bar
Acts: Nikko, Founds, Dreamtime

A circuitous route to the Woodland Bar tonight via the Queensland Council of Unions’ Labour Day dinner means missing the fine sounds of Dreamtime. This is a pity, as I was looking forward to another installment of their lush rock-psychedelia after their excellent Beetle Bar set supporting The Smokestack Orchestra. I  manage to catch the conclusion of indie sextet Founds‘ last song, and it’s great — a shimmering blend of multiple guitars and piano-synths.

Tonight is Nikko’s final fling before heading back into the studio to record a follow-up to their 2010 release The Warm Side. It’s also the first time I’ve caught them sans their occasional violinist. The lack doesn’t diminish the songs in the slightest — in fact the band fashions a toffee-thickness to their sound that seems to exceed any previous occasion I’ve seen them. Read more

SixFtHick @ The Zoo

October 10th, 2010

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Event: Beyond The Banana Curtain 35th CD Launch
Date: August 14, 2010
Venue: The Zoo, Brisbane
Acts: SixFtHick, Monster Zoku Onsomb!, Turnpike, Nikko

The irresistible lure of novelty. Something fresh. Different. Unspoiled. Tonight, that something is Brisbane electro-weird outfit Monster Zoku Onsomb!

It’s the outre skeleton leotards of vocalist Miss P Leisure and keyboardist Sharkie Bubb. It’s the wrestler/gimp mask, gold bling and red cape of Senor Tasty Taste and his ever-so-angular guitar. It’s the incongruous moose-helm of knob-twirler Kiki ILL!

It’s the camp antics: the cutely choreographed bunny hops and exaggerated retro poses delivered with a knowing smirk.

Most of all, it’s the beats. Heavy, rapid-fire synth throbbing infused with fuzzing guitar and paradoxically attractive robotic vocals.

Together, it spells a riduclous amount of fun: the party-hard attitude acts on the crowd like a mania, and when Tasty Taste pulls out a bottle of tequila for the grand finale, people can’t get to the front fast enough for a free sample.

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