St Helens

Last night Doc Brown and his DeLorean DMC-12 were up to their old tricks again; whisking unsuspecting punters back to future. But Like Marty McFly, we had to go back to the past first: the early ’90s, a time where indie rock, grunge and shoegaze blasted from every speaker and giants like Kim and Thurston stalked the earth. And while most of the crowd and maybe some of the musicians were in utero in ’91, on Saturday night the spirit of lo-fi was high.

Delightfully discordant double vocals seemed to be the theme for the evening and both Circle Pit and Panel of Judges’ female vocalists – Angela Garrick and Alison Bolger, respectively – play a mean guitar as well. Sydney’s Circle Pit are a youthful looking group with a grunge-rock sensibility and an equally informed fashion sense. They channel the atonal vocals of their ’90s forebears and combine them with fuzzed-out, psychedelic licks. Panel, on the other hand, were the more “mature” of the two, both chronologically and musically. They did an interesting swapsie mid-set with guitars/bass and vocals, which confirmed – in my mind, at least – that three can really be a magic number. While these two acts did more than warm the crowd, I think they also distinguished what makes a good live band and a truly great one.

St Helens graced the stage like demure rock royalty – and quite rightly so. Their album launch was a sell-out and it was difficult to elbow the freakishly tall out of the way or even sneak past them to get a good look.

Put simply, St Helens dazzled. They were so damn glowing on stage they were nearly phosphorous. Being a five-piece, with some particularly fine musicians their live sound is multilayered and large, made all the more arresting by their immense physical presence. Although sex, drugs and other kinds of rock-related activities spring to mind while watching St Helens, the darkly comic lyrics add a cerebral element to the mix. However, it was the interplay between guitarist and sometime keyboardist Jarrod Quarrell and his vocal cohort Hannah Brooks (keyboards and occasional maracas) that really stole the show.

While Brooks sipped champagne and generally held court, the two seemed to feed off eachother’s energy. And when they intensely locked eyes at the height of ‘Summertime is Forever’, it made me think of Danny and Sandy gone bad. A unanimous encore saw them return onstage sans band, to perform a mostly a capella duet of ‘The Only Ghost in the Room’ with Quarrel on minimal keys. That St Helens managed to pull off such a passionate performance without playing it up, shows that their power is tempered by a kind of modest restraint. It makes songs such as ‘Heavy Profession’, ‘Don’t Laugh’ and ‘Coffin Scratch’ all the more potent.

After watching St Helens live, I’m grateful I came back to the future. It’s a good place to be.

by Ruth McIver