Sascha and the band balance understatement with intensity — an interesting juxtaposition that works well with Ion’s vocal stylings and the general vibe of the band. The main chorus hook is catchy and memorable, built around the line “bring me light / bring me thunder / all day long.” There’s a slight scowl in the delivery that gives her voice a real edge. Special mention to bassist Liam Coffey for some excellent lines that wrap around the guitar work.
The trio have found a nice groove pocket, and this is another example of the blues-influenced alt-rock that hits the spot.
Sascha Ion and The Elements launch Cross Your Bones (Bring Me Thunder) this Saturday arvo (May 2) at The Bird. Get down early.
Sascha Ion has picked up the acoustic guitar for her latest single Lilliana. The song explores the sense of displacement that can comes with making a big move.
Stripped back compared to previous single The Groove, the track allows the vocal performance and visual lyrics to take centre stage. Ion repeats the chorus hook “what does your heart ache for”, her voice almost breaking at times, it suits the pang perfectly. The harmonies when she sings “should I stop now, or is it too late” work wonderfully.
The song builds from acoustic guitar and shaker to a driving pop song that wouldn’t be out of place in ’60s Kinks era. Credit to the band for their restraint early on, letting the song breathe before expanding into its finale. Andrew Lippiatt’s drumming is tight and economical, opening up as bassist Liam Coffey joins Sascha with some lovely backing harmonies for the strong ending.
Sascha Ion and the band really bring it for this latest single from the Perth based three-piece. Grooving (sorry) hard around an insistent psych riff, they create quite a racket, and all the little nuances in the background just ice the cake.
Everything is done in quick bursts, and it works well. Ion’s vocal lines are short and sweet, with Liam Coffee harmonising alongside. Between these we get plenty of noisy guitar licks and even a little keys in the distance. The guitar solos are short but filthy and fantastic, getting dirtier as the song progresses.
For anyone into bluesy, psychy, dirty rock n roll and beyond, The Grooveis highly recommended.
You can’t beat live music at The Bird on a Friday night. Thank you team Bird for keeping this venue in the heart of the city going strong.
Launching their single Sink In, Lake Mammoth hosted a wonderful night of psych / post / bluesy rock (to name a few genres floating around), perfect for the Friday the 13th setting.
Kicking things off to a busy and enthusiastic room, Brides of Science brought the post punk sound with plenty of synth for everyone. For a debut gig the band were tight and confident, with Niki quite the presence up front. The dual synth setup works great and is complimented nicely by some serious guitaring. I say complimented but really, it’s making an already pumping sound distort and pump harder. If this is their first show, one can assume this is only going to get better.
Next up came some serious dirty, bluesy psych rock from Sascha Ion and the Elements. The power trio hit hard mixing jangly riff-laden tunes like Enigma, with heavier, groove driven stompers like set closer TheGroove (don’t mock me for describing a song called The Groove with the word groove, and now I have said groove way too many times, great journalism). Excellent guitar work, a solid rhythm section, and Ion’s vocals slink and curl around the music perfectly. When is the next show? I’ll be there.
With the crowd happy and having a blast, it was time for Lake Mammoth, and the band delivered some great soul influenced psych. They jammed through a stellar set consisting of plenty of reverby surf guitar, pulsating synth, and a solid rhythm section including Andrew S on the congas – nice to see an instrument you don’t see every day, being played well and genuinely enhancing the songs. The launched-single, Sink In, was a highlight, demonstrating the tightness and cool groove the band have clearly been developing for a while. Listen to the recording, highly recommended.
Overall a great night in probably the best venue in Perth for seeing original music.
Note to self: do not accept any offers of tequila shots when attempting to review a gig.
