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[somme]

Well this was a rather pleasant surprise. I was heading to go and watch some friends of mine that were playing at the Ambassador lastnight (Hissyfit) without any clue as to who else was on the bill when who should I see on the lineup but one of the main bands I really wanted to see at Borderline but was unable to: Mothers Of Darkness.
For those who've never been there, the Ambassador is a curious lil bar tucked away in an old theatre in Pt Chevalier. On rare occasions gig take place in theatre itself but for the most part, lastnight included the gig was located in the foyer.
Mothers of Darkness were at the end of the bill and were a nice way to breakup the evening after the Drab Doo Riffs who whilst being good at what they do, aren't exactly what you call groundbreaking or challenging listening.
I can't really speak for the guitar, because for the most part I couldn't hear it despite being upfront but for the rest of the band, rock solid rhythm section, some good, over the top hammond-esque organ and tape delay-driven vocals laid the ground work for a good sound that appeared to have one foot in an almost punk-like style and another in a bit more of an experimental krautrock-type groove which for me made for a very nice combo indeed.
Some readers here may know that I'm a fan of a good effects pedal here and there so was looking forward to hearing what sounds were going to come out of the guitarist's extensive signal chain, but for some reason that wasn't coming through.
Would definitely recommend catching them again next time they play, especially for the last song which was a driving krautrock-style jam that had heaps of good stuff in it driven by some very restrained drumming and pulsing bass.
Sorted out the men from the boys with alot of people unfortunately not having the patience to see it through to it's fruition.
Congrats guys, great set!

As for the rest of the rest of the night, first up were Hissyfit:
Good, no nonsense young bratty girl punk in the style of say early Bikini Kill/Huggy Bear/Bratmobile sorta sound. songs were short & sweet, as was the set.
Gaytime were next: a two piece drums/guitar garage punk band. Good energy, fun stuff. Dunno what the shelf life is going to be but worth taking them in if they're playing a night that takes your fancy.
Drab Doo Riffs were third. Quite energetic. Kinda surf/rockabilly-sounding.
Not bad, entertaining to watch but like Gaytime I guess. I dunno how they would entertain me if I was listening to the album at home.
Probably best experienced live. To their credit though, I didn't mind the harmonica at all with them and I usually hate the harmonica with a seething passion.
Definitely my picks of the night were Hissyfit & Mothers Of Darkness, go see em.
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[Gel Douche]

Haha cheers for the posi review. Pretty sure that was our worst show - sound was awful and we were tired and over it from recording all day. Would be keen to play Ambassador again though - everyone seems to get loose as.

That's why you always accept a soundcheck!

[somme]

You guys were sounding sweet apart from the lack of guitar. What was your guitarist using? A Fender Twin? Those things normally do the business pretty well. Did he sort out the issue in the end?
Either way, still a pretty sweet gig.
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[Gel Douche]

Yep a Fender Twin. Fuck knows what was going wrong since those things are NEVER too quiet.

[somme]

Yeah that was some wierd shit right there. I wonder if having it on the floor away from the drummer may have helped? Since it was intermittently too loud for him?
I could barely hear the guitar apart from the odd burst when there was some pedal-based knob twiddling going on.
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[Jae Shima]

Fender Twins can single handedly overpower just about anything without even being mic'ed. Four 6L6s into those super efficient meaty magnets set on anything over 6 on the volume dial = run for your fucking life!

Maybe the guitarist set the volume pretty low, expecting the soundie to sort it through the PA... But in my experience Fender Twins/Reverbs usually scare the pants off most soundguys ...

[model.citizen]

so do 8x10's in a small venue!
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