In what is quickly becoming an annual event (well, at least for this year), PEG and Front End Loader hit the stage at The Fuse Box in Marrickville to assault the masses. Tonight they were supported by Spiderling.

Spiderling

Spiderling are four Sydney fellows with a love for baritone guitar and atmos.

Without a word, mainly cause they don’t have any mics to speak through, this industrial, doom-laden, electronica fest started the nights proceedings, capturing the mood of what seemed like a post-apocalyptic week in Sydney.

Two baritone Danelectro guitars bristling with effects, drums and synths – lots of synths, fill the stage. The set is instrumental, epically atmospheric and trance inducing, one song weaving into the next. Early in the set, an almost disaster was averted when one amp, obviously suffering a little more apocalypse than it could handle, fluttered, sputtered and then died. A little bit of fiddling & after a quick amp change, we were thrust back into a spiral of cyclic, chunky, bottom end guitar riffs and wafting synth.

Find your way through the atmos to sample their wares here.

PEG

From the first note coming through the PA, those familiar strains from PEG tickled the neurons and started synapses firing in the room. Sounding as if they had been playing regular gigs all year, these four seasoned lads were tight as. A couple of hiccups with the mics having a bit of a stutter, but like the professionals they are they just played through while it was soon fixed.

The rest of the set was a journey through the quirky, melodic riffs and off beat timing changes that provided that bit of musical panacea to the ears. From softly spoken ballads to lung busting power plays, front man Dave Archer was putting in the passion; almost daring you to challenge the front of the stage.

The set was full of infectiously melodic tunes from their back catalogue; as well as newer numbers that just oozed with a yearning that seemed to come straight from the gut. And to top it all off there was the enticing promise of newer stuff to come in 2020. Hold breath.

Check out their offerings here or on Spotify – but clear the decks to catch them live in the year to come.

Front End Loader

An outing with Front End Loader will always guarantee a room full of contradictions – take a random collection of stalkers, lurkers and extroverted 90’s music fans – usually all one and the same (??). Mix in beer, and then more beer, and you have the makings of a Front End Loader gig.

Rock was there, a bit of a pop edge, but always a little underlying menace – like an 80s schoolmasters cane just sitting on the desk – you’re not sure if it’s just for show or action. To back this up, there was plenty of lip from front men Bow and Davis. Maybe to keep the crowd in line. Or maybe just for their own amusement.

It all seemed to fit in with the cranking set that did not disappoint. And while the crowd was a touch older than back in the day, there was always the undercurrent of a mosh, ready and waiting to break out….. but not quite.

Sample them on Spotify.

What about a Brown Note? – definitely sitting the spluttery, baritone amp, blown to buggery.