O!; Panelbeater; Bluetile Lounge; Tucker Bs
Grosvenor Hotel
May 24, 1996

Sprinting down Hay Street to the ever-closer sound of the Tucker Bs, greeted at the door by WAM's James Nagy saying that they were one of his favourite bands, then getting settled to catch a snippet of their snappy timing and joyous riffing ... hey, isn't this what the WAMIs are all about?

The Tucker Bs still cling to the marvellously creative side of the guitar beast - loping drum patterns, distorted and yet melodious guitars and powerhouse yelps - they are something extra special, though they seem to be doing everything they can to dodge the limelight. Playing too well for their early spot and far too infrequently for this black duck, ask for more Tucker!

After a long, detailed description of their mixing needs to the knob twiddler, Bluetile Lounge dragged out their sonic couch and pouffe for a huggable five song set. Even with seven false starts due to one note or drumbeat being out in their first song, their new offering both lifted and caressed the gathering, the end coming way too soon although forty-odd minutes had passed in real time.

Straight up though, c. Neat, crafted with jackhammers in mind, chorus-verse-chorus ... everybody in the building was mouthing 'wow' as their fillings quaked.

And as O! returned to the stage, fresh and shaven from a hiatus, the ring of power was complete. Dishevelled dischordance is the O! thing, deconstruction of all that went before wrapped in a somehow-sweet package. In tune, in time, dragging their mates up for singalongs and re-writing Kraftwork's Pocket Calculator (with guitars!), t'was the O! of old.

No, better.

Adam Connors

The West Australian is W.A.'s state newspaper. The versions appearing here are the unedited versions which were subsequently edited for space, clarity and reality for publication by editors Sue Yeap and Ara Jansen. Italicised comments in the body of the reviews/interviews - if present - are the notes I sent to the editors to clarify certain situations such as missed deadlines, personal disasters or simple non sequitur, which always makes for good reading.

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