The Louisiana was sold out and had a buzz about it, this was a great evening. Early autumn “gig going season”! (This was our third gig in five days). We’ll use the fact it was busy as the excuse for the not so great photo above!
We don’t often give a call out to more than one act when we do a gig review. But there’s always an exception, and the wonderful Mallory Hawk did a fantastic supporting set as well as joining Mhaol for several songs during their set. Check out the recent single ‘Felicity’.
Serious and some fun? How can that be possible? Visually we are seeing an interesting mix. Stylings of an underground 60s band; heavy sunglasses, dark corners, musicians facing away from the audience. But also, something very post punk too. Something very confident and assured.
There is heaps of stage presence with this band (apart from the guitarist who faced the wall all evening!). Plenty of good natured and quick-witted banter in between songs; stories about previous gigs, pets and talking about the pitfalls of taking a musical tour in 2025 (“Buy a record at the merch stand and we can buy petrol”).
Musically there’s a mix of great guitar pop and some jarring and distracting modern day noise like the Null Club. Lyrically they range from some serious matters like male misogynist violence in a relationship to the travails of dog ownership. Maybe it’s this mix of contradictions that makes it so compelling. Having revisited the LP since the gig, it’s full of wonderful moments. We all know ‘1 800-Call-Me-Back’ got a lot of airplay earlier in 2025. but tracks like ‘IBS’ and ‘E8/N16’ are excellent as well.
We left the Louisiana thinking it was one of the best gigs of the year. A truly great and entertaining band, performing with some swagger and confidence. A fine set of songs on a range of topics that offer variety in their sound and noise levels. Definitely recommended!
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