Methyl Ethel kill at their second home
Methyl Ethel
The Bird
Saturday, June 6
4 stars
Review: Nick Sas
They were literally hanging off the rafters to catch a glimpse of Perth's newest offbeat pop maestros Methyl Ethel.
The three-piece, who were celebrating the release of their excellent debut album, could have probably played in a venue four times the size.
But The Bird, which they also use as a rehearsal space, is like a second home.
And you could tell.
From the get go they looked and sounded like 10-year veterans, not a band that has only been together for 12 months or so.
Kicking things off with Idee Fixe, the album's opener, The Bird's fantastic sound system reverberated around the packed house.
Next up an extended freak out led into the gorgeous Shadowboxing, with lead Jake Webb telling the audience they were going to play the album in full.
That meant "smash hit" Rogues was up next (it should really be a smash hit, it is that good) and later arguably their best song Twilight Driving had the crowd swaying along.
As it is on the album (which in my opinion in one of the better local releases in years) the second half gets into more experimental Animal Collective-like territory.
The eerie Also Gesellschaft just highlights the band's versatility as does the Blur-like Artificial Limb.
Finishing with a fantastic new tune (Webb has said he has a bunch of new songs ready to go), the boys left the stage to a whole room of fans, who now like them even more.
