School Of Seven Bells

The night was opened by Geoffrey O’connor who normally fronts the band Crayon Fields but has already made an impressive debut solo album in 2007, Sly Hats. His sound is a little hard to define as saying things like guitar driven pop generally make you think of the 60’s nostalgic bands like Even or Hourly Daily era You Am I, which this is not. Or if I say adult contemporary pop, in Australia at least that generally conjures up images of acoustic, slightly country tinged acts like Josh Pyke and Bob Evans which this also isn’t. Then if I say 80’s pop you think of indie kids with tight pants and fluoro shirts which this certainly isn’t. However, all those descriptions apply. Just don’t think of the images that are usually associated with them. He’s actually very close to old shoegazer, a genre from about 10 years ago that I’ve noticed is making a bit of a resurgence. It came a little out of oblivion when Radiohead and Melbourne bands like Delores epitomised the genre at dimly lighted venues like the empress. It’s music of a very low volume that after about about 6 minutes of a single guitar note with some delay effects suddenly builds up to something. And when that happens it's kind of like a musical orgasm.

Geoffrey was great. The first few songs were very much from the shoegazer genre with a pop edge (has a melody that is easy to like) and with his pop sensibility made sure the songs stayed within the 3 minute mark so didn’t make us suffer the way those shoegazers used to. When the band came in though, it certainly kicked up a notch for the better and moved into that adult contemporary pop (not acoustic country). Best way to think about it is if you were living in the 70s or 80s when all music was made by men in their 30s which today is generally only heard on Time Life Soft Rock Classic CDs. Bit like bands like Air Supply. Just hold back the thousands of backing vocals and make it a bit more upbeat. The last song was by far the standout, which sounded like a hint from the 80’s because of the chorus effect on the guitar but was very contemporary in its delivery and had all the right hooks and melodies to make a great single.

School of seven bells were a completely other kettle of fish. Between bands the soundguy was playing a lot of that alternative electronica similar to artists like Aphex Twin which I guess is kinda shoegazer in electronica form. I wasn’t sure why, but it made perfect sense when the band came on.
They started with some heavily controlled guitar feedback noise before kicking in some volume and power in order to creat the sound of a jet plane taking off. For a band that has two female vocals fronting it, I certainly wasn’t expecting that. Their sound had hard programmed beats, backing it was a massive guitar sound I haven’t heard the likes of since nu metal. The guitarist looked like he could totally play any Smashing Pumpkins song if you asked him to and the drummer was robotic perfection- the precise drumming matched only by his hair which didn’t move the entire show. With the heavy programmed beats and his pagan bashing of the drums it made an extremely heavy rhythmic backing to the music which was a cross between industrial and disco. I had a headache after the show because I hadn’t realised I was clenching my teeth at the pure energy being pulsated by him and the band. However, it’s the girls out front who really made this band shine. Their angelic voices that lift above the heavy noise behind them give the music a delicate gentle edge making it sound like an Evanescence or any goth, nu metal band. There was a drama that they portrayed in their voices that didn’t make you want to cry but moved you none the less.

Despite all the pagan industrial beats and heavy guitars, there was a certain pop element to it all. I couldn’t help but dance the entire time I was watching them. Like if disco went badass or something. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, imagine a mash up of Smashing Pumpkins Adore, any Garbage album an Interpols Antics album. Industrial beats with a dance techno electronica edge, with girl vocals with a pop edge but with drama. It was by far the most amazing music I had heard in a long time! I think a lot of old Pumpkins and Garbage fans were crushed when nu metal came in and destroyed any chance of a heavy guitar and beats pop music resurgence. And as such it’s very hard for bands to pull that sound off without sounding derivative of either of those bands or worse like nu metal! But School of Seven Bells stepped over those giants and kept walking. It didn’t surprise me a bit to see members from old Melbourne band, Love Outside Andromeda, who dished out a similar kind of rock. However, I was surprised to see some older guys there who looked like they were Infected Mushroom fans who would normally be at a rave somewhere in Gippsland. They were having the most fun, dancing up a storm.

Though there was a lack of communication from the band, I don’t think anyone cared too much. We were all so grateful that there were bands that could pull off this forgotten sound so well and bring a new spin on it. They had such a polished lean show, with all the fat trimmed and it is no wonder why they are considered a world class act. I’m glad I got to see them this time around as I’m sure if I had waited till next time, the rest of the world would have caught up and we’d be seeing them at arenas instead of intimate shows like this one.

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