Supported by Sures and Atolls, Bleeding Knees Club ripped up Melbourne’s Ding Dong Lounge for the latest leg of their Feel national tour.
Hailing from Melbourne, and featuring King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard’s Lucas Skinner, Atolls channel Kurt Vile and Dinosaur Jr into a cheerful blend of fuzzy, melodic pop.
Surviving a broken string and guitar change, the three-piece moseyed through a well-constructed set, building from cruisy to lively, with frequent instrumental interludes.
They even inspired some enthusiastic, if questionable dancing from some loose and lonely punters in the pit.
Building on Atolls’ work, Sures kept the good feeling going, with their jangling, upbeat tunes .
The eclectic Sydney four-piece mix elements of punk and guitar-pop to form a jaunty, retro-soaked sound, and their set included old favorites like “Poseidon” as well as tracks off their 2012 EP Stars.
Having made a name for themselves with their unique, cheekily adolescent style, new single “Feel” represents a significant change of direction for Bleeding Knees Club.
It’s more 90s pop-punk than beachy garage, and a similar influence was evident throughout their set, with singer Alex Wall cutting back on his previously trademark squeaky-voiced jokes to deliver an assured and relatively mature performance.
There were still plenty of shenanigans though, as Wall bantered with the crowd and his bandmates, and managed to tear the venue’s disco ball from the roof while crowdsurfing.
Kicking off with catchy live staple “Camp Out”, the band then rolled out some more new material, “Can You Remember?” and “California Eyes”, both of which look set to feature on their upcoming second album.
In the crowd, things were getting weirdly intense, with smashed glass littering the floor, and many fans sporting injuries and blood-stained clothing.
The cheery slacker vibes of “Problem Child” and popular single “Nothing To Do” off last year’s breakout album kept the mood high, before an impressive cover of “Bohemian Like You” took it to another level entirely.
For the run home, it was clear the band’s old nervous rebellion shtick has grown into a more adult fuck-you swagger as hit “Teenage Girls” and wildly inappropriate fan favourite “Rachel” were delivered with a minimum of fuss.
Bleeding Knees Club, it seems, may have given up trying to draw attention to how naughty they’re being, and for a band previously synonymous with pseudo-teenage rebellion, their new, focused, confidently cocky persona is surprisingly endearing.
It seemed strangely appropriate then that those fans who hadn’t yet bled out were treated to a finale featuring two of the band’s oldest tracks. The blurry, busy guitars and laidback vocals of “Have Fun” make it the stereotypical Bleeding Knees Club song, while the rougher “Bad Guys” provided a raucously energetic ending to the night.
