ROOT!
w/ The Bedroom Philosopher, Clinkerfield
» Root! - Curtin Bandroom, The, VIC - July 10, 2009
» ROOT! - Melbourne Uni, VIC - February 24, 2009
» ROOT!: Never Out of the Question, Part Deux - February 6, 2009
» ROOT!: Never Out of the Question, Part One - February 5, 2009
» ROOT! - Workers club, VIC - November 14, 2009
» ROOT! - Esplanade Hotel, The, Vic - September 4, 2009
» Reel Big Fish - February 25, 2010
» ROOT! - September 4, 2009
Me again. I know ninety percent of the ROOT! material on the Dwarf is by yours truly, and that is no coincidence. ROOT! are the thinking man's (or, in this case, laydee) rock band and I do so adore them. ROOT! aren’t what you think; their appearance (five o'clock shadow, cowboy hats, Route 66 attire) dictates that they would be a country band.
Their music, should one care to delve past the façade and listen, is actually a pastiche of alt. country (think more new rockabilly than Ryan Adams), garage punk and the odd Ronettes riff. DC Root fronts the band, spinning wordy spiels of mordacious social critique and pop culture satire. I mean, considering his past, would you expect anything less?
Tonight, ROOT! headline the Espy with support from Clinkerfield and The Bedroom Philosopher. I know, I was taken aback by the line-up too. Not your average night in Melbourne be this. The Bedroom Philosopher kicked off proceedings with his Awkwardstra. The sparse crowd [for this was only 9.30pm, friends] only fuelling his sarcasm valve and hits from both his Brown and Orange album and Comedy Festival hit show Songs from the 86 Tram came flooding in, dressed in kitsch brown trousers and horn-rimmed specs. Philosopher treads that difficult line of safety and Curb Your Enthusiasm awkwardness, but I guess he likes to keep the punters on their toes. Glad to see him poke fun at the bizarre Melbournian convention of forming an intimidating semi-circle around the stage, too.
If I am gonna be honest, and I have every intention of doing so, Clinkerfield are not my cup of Lady Grey. If I’m gonna listen to moody, sometimes sea-shanty, folk rock, I generally go for something like this. But I was pretty impressed with the Clinkerfield team tonight.
Braving the asperity of some punters- and the worn out effortlessness of others- CF sent out all sorts of folksy sanguinity through the air of the dim Gershwin Room. Vocalist Jimmy had the kind of hearty drawl that one imagines might fit perfectly in the America of the movies, with elk heads on the walls and double-barrelled shotguns on the bar stool.
Though the midnight start had put off some more weary punters, ROOT! bounded to the stage with the moxy we love them for. With a new drummer in tow (Spinal Tap, anyone?), the lads burned through your favourite tracks. Henri Root in particular is often a sound for sore ears; his seemingly endless flair for music really comes to a rock and roll apex on the axe; between Henri and DC, one doesn’t know who to maintain attention on. DC, of course, commands it.
He wanders through the crowd, in your face, his Aussie burr vibrating in one’s corpus collusum. DC doesn’t pander: there’s no “oh, baby, I love your way” or “yeah, gonna rock you tonight” in a ROOT! setlist. There is, however, all manner of pop culture satire, celebrity piss-taking (well, let's face it, everyone gets a jab in that department) and beat poetry-style monologues.
All I can say is, if you're tired of the samey indie on Triple J, and the Mariah-Beyonces on Nova and the TV, and pretentious prog wankers, and gangsta rap and punk-crunk and "rock comedy" with elements of neither....than saddle up, get yourself a ROOT! rekkid, and feel ten times better about the world. Honest Injun.
