Credit: The Handsome Young Strangers

My First week in Melbourne has felt like a fortnight, aside from job hunting, house hunting and attempting to learn city orientation I’ve managed to fit in numerous and eclectic musical exploits. Starting at the cool and hip end of the musical spectrum Group Seizure (www.groupseizure.com) and their seizure inducing website remind me of several of the Welsh noise merchants plying their drum machine driven fuzz a few years ago. The band posses an interesting, brooding sense of melody, most noticeably with their bass lines, so in a way it’s shame that the singer / guitarist adds so much discordant noise over the top, but that’s the style, and I can’t help liking a tune!

Now, what would be better than to listen to some ‘traditional’ music during your first week in a new country? Well, The Handsome Young Strangers (www.myspace.com/thehandsomeyoungstrangers) are as close to ‘Traditional’ as Australia will get without, well, venturing into the Outback. Imagine rocked up Irish folk music (Take the Levellers as a good starting point…) with lyrics about sheep shearing and Ned Kelly instead of ‘Irish’ subject matter, not as horrendous as my description may imply, in fact quite cheery and very danceable. Oh, and they also have a homemade ‘Lagerphone’ which is stick of wood with bottle tops on whacked by a Cricket bat, if that doesn’t sell the band to you, nothing will.

Melbourne and the Victoria State government are infamously liberal with their music licenses which goes some way to explaining why Melbourne is such a vibrant city, however Australian authorities are also notoriously strict on Liquor licensing, so spotting a gap in the market, Cloud City Warehouse(www.myspace.com/cloudcitywarehouse)
stage all age, alcohol and smoke free gigs at a warehouse in an area of the city that reminds me of South London (which in my mind, is only a good thing, you may not agree). I tried to make it for The Evens, a band featuring ex members of Fugazi (www.dischord.com/band/theevens), but underestimated the enthusiasm of underage gig goers as the night had sold out within half an hour of opening, however another forthcoming event planned with Camera Obscura (www.camera-obscura.net) shows not only enthusiasm, but a talent and ability of grabbing international touring bands as they pass through the city.