Batrider - Manchester Lane, Melbourne

Let’s talk about loop pedals. These little boxes of tricks are popping up everywhere at the moment, giving musicians the capability of layering tracks of instrument loops to produce a texture of complex harmonies, great in theory, but becoming a little tired. Pikelet is the Mistress of such gadgets, not only layering sounds but manipulating them on the fly, speeding them up, slowing them down, for example, using her voice to create a cello like sound. The problem is that due to the fundamental definition of a loop, i.e. something that repeats, songs end up all being rather similar, with no real structure, just building pieces that grow dynamically and then stop, with very few verses, choruses, key changes etc. Despite this Pikelet does a very good job of engaging the audience at Manchester Lane, her hypnotic compositions and lilting voice lulling everyone into her own little world and then bringing them screeching back into the real world with her rather dry and even mildly patronising inter song banter.

The sign outside the venue says that the show is album tour launch party, Batrider say it’s there last gig before they move to the UK in a month, is that the same thing? What is Australian bands obsession with moving to the UK to fulfil their musical dreams? It’s a big, scary and expensive place where outsiders are generally regarded as an annoyance, bands should go somewhere with a friendly music scene like Mainland Europe.

Anyway, enough of that tangent.

Batrider are working from the Nirvana definition of an acoustic gig, with drums, bass and an electric guitar on stage, maybe it’s more of a ‘Stripped down√Æ show, with only overdrive pedals switched off for good measure. Vocalist Sarah is on fine form, her gravel voice sounds like its summoning every ounce of pain she’s ever experienced, screeching and howling over the sole acoustic guitar on stage that she bashes with glee. It’s a damn fine opportunity to hear what great songwriters the band really are without all that ‘noise√Æ going on, in fact the definition of a good song is one that you can do anything with and perform any way and it still sounds fantastic. One even starts to wonder if the band should do this all the time, do they really need overdrive? It’s an emotional set, Batrider throw in a bunch of songs that they haven’t played for a long time and seemingly enjoy doing so. Tonight’s set is the sound of a band at the peak of their creativity, and in a twisted kind of a way we all hope that they have no success overseas and have to come back, no one at Manchester Lane wants them to leave the stage let alone the country.

Published in InPress