Tonight I was able to catch some fresh faced bands at The Alley, in the basement of the Agincourt Hotel. Heading up the night was local Sydney band Something About Midnight, celebrating their release of their debut EP, Captain No Mates. Joining them tonight were Dream Lawn, Peripheral Vision and Salted Ham.

Peripheral Vision

I missed the first band (sorry Salted Ham – you sound rather tasty) and caught the last half of Peripheral Vision’s set, walking in to cop a rather blistering version of Radio Birdman’s Aloha Steve and Danno.

Playing with some borrowed musos tonight, the band flipped from a core of four, to six on stage for some extra vocals and guitars. With a varied set list, they bounced around from summery groove to downright amped up indie pop punk, winding up with a cracking version of WAAX’s FU, driving the growing crowd a little nuts.

I suspect we’ll be seeing these youngsters pop up at plenty more gigs.

Dream Lawn

Next up to the plate were Dream Lawn, four Sydney blokes with a passion for a bit of dreamy pop.

A cloudy day synth sound; and vocals sounding like a cross between Midge Ure and Johnny Hunter give these guys a signature sound. Its’ both dark and glassy, but also bouncy indie pop and dance at the same time – just have a listen – you’ll get it. The crowd certainly did, with plenty of bouncing around in the room.

Check them out here.

Something About Midnight

The room was buzzing by the time Something About Midnight hit the stage. They are another Sydney four piece that have been busy building up their set list and gigging their little hearts out as the live music scene gets back on its feet.

From the start of the set, you could tell there was a familiarity across the room. It was more of a party than a standard gig, with the crowd singing and dancing along to their bouncy, quirky songs.

While the set was full of breezy, melodic, beachy feel pop tunes, the live performance gave them a raw edge that added a little grungy dirt to the delivery that got a little more manic through the set, ending up with an absolutely raucous version of Captain No Mates and some mashed up covers that had the whole room bouncing.

Have a listen to Captain No Mates here, but catch them live for the in your face experience.