Lift Your Head Up

Written by: Tom Wilson @thetomwilsonexperiment - Sense Music Media | Monday 1st August 2022

The buzz is real. Playing their first shows in fifteen years, SUNK LOTO’s national run of shows is completely sold out. We’re lucky to be here, and we know it.

We get our spot on the barricade and watch Melbourne’s THE LAST MARTYR emerge onstage. Purveyors of “dark rock”, full of atmospherics, soaring vocals and 7-string crunch, they set the tone early, combining nu metal bounce with electronic samples. Singer Monica Strut is a formidable presence onstage, full of rockstar poise, and shows she can think on her feet when her mic cord comes loose and she sprints over to bassist Ricky Andrés to use his and keep things going. The riffs are outstanding – guitarist Ben Rodgers twirling and spinning like Wes Borland while dropping planet-smashing chords. The energy on display is outstanding, particularly during new single Sugar, which sees Ricky go so hard he’s in danger of a neck injury. The way they carry themselves tonight, you’d think that they’re headlining. Hindsight brings their set to a cataclysmic end, and they walk offstage with an army of new fans.

OSAKA PUNCH are a hard band to describe, but I’ll try, because it’s fun. What would TOOL sound like if they hired Mike Patton and started playing weddings? Effortlessly segueing from funk and rock into pounding djent rhythms and back again, their songs are enigmatic and intoxicating. The incorrigible Jack Venables is having a brilliant time as always, prancing, grinning and singing his lungs out. Their drummer is a sight to behold tonight, launching into frenzied solos on a sparkling red kit, and the groove is only matched by the band’s boundless enthusiasm. As HEAVY’s Kris Peters once put it, “OSAKA PUNCH are one of those rare bands that refuse to accept if you’ve had a bad day,” and truer words have never been spoken. There is a reason they call themselves “THE WIGGLES of death metal”. How We Operate is by turns danceable and thunderously epic. The set comes to a stunning end, and then, out of nowhere, the guitarist starts strumming the squelchy intro to RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’s Bulls on Parade, and we’ve barely got the chance to look at each other and say, “What the fuck is going on?” before the riff kicks in, and the crowd erupts. It’s glorious.

In the midst of the first wave of the pandemic, I started writing for SENSE, and my first interview was with SUNK LOTO singer Jay Brown, who had just released his country music EP Disappearing Act. As he emerges on stage tonight as singer of the band who conquered Australia when they were still teenagers, it feels like life coming full circle, and SENSE is front row centre to witness it. Guitarist Luke McDonald starts a squeal of feedback, Dane starts a thunderous gallop on the drums, and the first Brisbane SUNK LOTO show in fifteen years kicks off with Five Years of Silence. Opening with a volley of tracks from 2003’s Between Birth & Death – their brutal second album that morphed their nu metal beginnings into an uglier, more cerebral beast and is fondly remembered as one of Australia’s finest metal releases – The Triffid’s very foundations seem to shake. Empty & Alone and Fall Apart sound enormous, and we start to realise that Jay wasn’t kidding when he told SENSE that he couldn’t believe how good they sounded after all these years. It’s like they never left. Lift is utterly volcanic, causing SENSE to headbang so hard one of my earplugs flies out and bounces off the stage (thank god for spares). The bouncing intro segues into rap-infused vocals, and Jay gives it his best Chino Moreno as the groove takes over. Tonight’s set is twenty songs long, covering two LPs and their legendary debut EP Society Anxiety, so this is far more than a greatest hits affair. Deep cuts abound, and the crowd is loving it.

The entire band is on fire tonight, but if you ask me, the night belongs to the unassuming figure with the red dress socks that match his guitar. Quietly focused, but with a massive smile on his face, Luke has fought a long battle with negative influences, and while he isn’t sprinting about the stage, he is nevertheless a man unshackled, and the grateful expression doesn’t leave his face once all night. At one point during Starved, he and Jay play off each other, and the smile between the two of them could make your heart explode. You won’t have to take my word for it either, as the entire set tonight is being filmed. We are treated to a previously unheard track called Jaded that was recorded during the Between Birth & Death sessions and never released, and the reaction is immense, before Erased and Soul Worn Thin bring them to the finish line. “We’re back for good,” Jay assured us, and the crowd roars.

They file offstage, but we know there is unfinished business, and they soon re-emerge, Sean Van Gennip strapping on his bass and starting a low thrumming. The anticipation is fever pitch, and punters whisper in anticipation. What is it? Finally, the opening of Society Anxiety classic Porcelain Buddah comes crashing in, and the crowd lifts. Goodbye Tonight follows, before the distorted jangle of Vinegar Stroke rings out, and four grown men devastate The Triffid with a song they wrote as teenagers. They say their goodbyes and exit stage triumphant. Last to leave is Luke, who takes a second to savour the moment. SUNK are back, and life is good.

All Photos by: Tracy McLaughlin - Kaotic Images

The SETLIST