Touring in support of their recently released album Gala Mill, The Drones got off to an inauspicious start here in Philadelphia. Plagued by equipment problems and time constraints, lead singer and guitarist Gareth Liddiard’s frustration was visible, and humor seemed his only recourse. Complaining about the sound, he remarked wryly, laughing, “We usually sound like Van Halen…right after David Lee Roth left.”
But for all the on stage frustration, The Drones delivered a cathartic set featuring songs from last year’s critically acclaimed Wait Long By The River & The Bodies Of Your Enemies Will Float By and their latest, a collection of stark, earnest songs as arid and bleak as the Australian countryside.
Attempting to record an “Australian” album sounds like an undertaking akin to writing The Great American Novel [see The Hold Steady’s recent attempts of same in re: America for comparison], yet it’s one that Liddiard’s full-throated, caustic vocals seem capable of grasping. From the tender “Dog-Eared” to the raucous “I Don’t Ever Want To Change”, to the tempest tos’t “Shark Fin Blues”, The Drones captured a range of moods that could well encompass something so daunting and so vast.
Fellow countrymen-turned-expats Devastations lived up to their name, offering more than the term “heartcore” might suggest. Not only was their set surprisingly loud, their songs were punctuated by an escalating violence that suited their sensual lyrics and distress that accompanies them. They were also far more abstract, urgent, and aggressive than their delicate, subtle and beautifully recorded sophomore album Coal sounds [which was co-produced with former Einstürzende Neubauten member Alexander Hacke.] Lead vocalist and bassist Conrad Standish proved a charismatic frontman, who, when joined by evocative and noisy guitarist Tom Carlyon, HTRK’s Nigel Yang on piano and Hugo Cran’s deft drumming, made Devastations a tough act to follow, so completely did they defy expectations.
[See also: Devastations & The Drones photos]