Posted by Andy Ryan on December 21, 2010
The Inner West copped a dose of Tennessee trouble as Those Darlins and Jeff the Brotherhood stopped in at the Annandale for a Meredith sideshow.
A sparsely populated Annandale Hotel didn’t diminish the raucous noise emanating from the drums and guitar duo of Jeff the Brotherhood. While the minimal set up lends itself to more unsophisticated music, when done well and intently, like here, it really lets you tap into the raw essence of rhythms and noise. Volume becomes an instrument in itself and with just you and your mate up there, fine things happen when attuned musical intuition takes hold.
The guitarist would wander through the crowd and atop the bar and rip all manner of noise out of his peals then, while the drums clanged like a runaway shopping trolley, he’d lock in. They did their best to inspire some spirit and spirits into the crowd, threatening to play a ‘cerebral’ song if we didn’t move closer and urging us to just get wasted and party.
Those Darlins had to postpone their last Australian tour due to a drinking injury. They suffered a few early technical hitches, broken strings hampering a few planned instrument swaps, but they powered on regardless with a “There’s plenty of guitars to go ‘round”. All just a reflection of their life which is lived full-tilt. Songs are strewn with lovers enjoyed and then disposed of like an empty bottle; misanthropy; and intemperate misadventure. A prime example of the exuberance of excess is ‘The Whole Damn Thing’, a song about getting drunk and eating a whole chicken. It also prompted some wild floor-lying, legs-flailing dancing and helped spark the crowd for a super slurred and sultry version of ‘Shakin all Over’.
The good times they sing about may be slightly different to ours, but the results and feelings are the same. Drinkin’ and dancing and debauchery, as outlined in their closing song, is what their national anthem would involve if they were a country. It’s ‘Funstix Party’; “I’ll bring the pussy you bring the dick/ I’ll bring the beer you bring the drugs”.
those darlins, jeff the brotherhood, annandale hotel, sydney, gigs, reviews