UV Race
The Tote, Melbourne

Opening a big line up, following a few hours' work on the Tote BBQ grills, these youngsters made a real impression. Although it's barely six months since they started playing live they've already landed a real record deal, with an actual old-school style vinyl single due any day now. But it would need to be pretty special to capture the essence of these guys on stage, and jam it into the grooves.

Fronted by a resolutely unstylish character called Marcus - resplendent in a porn star moustache and with a gold lamé jacket flapping over his shirtless belly - they set up a frantic racket from the start. The bass player looks barely old enough to be in a pub, for him it's a case of head down, eyes on frets through most of the set, while the keyboard player is cut from an 80s new wave mould. She's milk skinned, deep fringed, op-shop dressed throwback with a minimalist playing style.

Unlike some who clumsily spell out their influences by aping sounds or copying riffs, UV Race play in the spirit of myriad small bands of the past- fast, energetic and no frills, without one overriding influence. They manage to summon up the feel of the obscure small timers of the ‘Killed By Death' scene of the late 70s, though I'd doubt that term means much to them.

There are no song titles offered, and no casual chat or banter, though they are clearly enjoying the attention of the crowd. They just play, a fierce buzzy noise, for 17 minutes by my watch, at which point things come to a halt and synth girl pipes up with a simple “Thanks, that's it.” And off they go, still grinning and a whole lot sweatier than they were 20 minutes or so earlier.

by Trevor Block