THE MARK OF CAIN + THE MESSTHETICS
LIVE @ THE TRIFFID - Brisbane, 17th October 2019
Pictured: Kim Scott + John Scott - THE MARK OF CAIN
Photo by: Tom Wilson
Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media
Humbling taking the stage to little fanfare, and rather amusingly supplied with a mic stand despite being an instrumental trio, THE MESSTHETICS’ bassist Joe Lally offers an expression of solidarity with Black Lives Matter and the racial tensions of their home country. It’s unexpected, and it feels like they’re much more comfortable letting their music do the talking. They do away with the microphone and dive into a mesmerising set, opening with a selection from their second album, Anthropocosmic Nest. We ride waves of simmering noise – an intoxicating blend of jazzy time signatures, noodling funk basslines and Anthony Pirog’s dizzying guitar, squelching and shrieking through a labyrinth of FX pedals. Boasting two members of rock legends FUGAZI, THE MESSTHETICS is an absolute showcase of talent; the absence of vocals pushing their musicianship to the forefront. Watching drummer Brendan Canty behind the kit, you can’t help but be impressed, and maybe even feel a little jealous – you’ve probably never had as much fun as he’s having right now in his early fifties.
Pictured: THE TRIFFID Setlist + Kim Scott - THE MARK OF CAIN
Photo by: Tom Wilson
Heaviness is not a simple concept. What makes a band heavy? Speed? Down-tuning? Screaming? Adelaide hard rock legends THE MARK OF CAIN may not be metal, but many extreme bands would be crushed under the weight of the Scott brothers’ unmistakable tone. Certain bands sound utterly unlike anyone else. It’s strange, then, to hear it in its embryonic stages, but that’s what we get when TMOC’s 1989 debut Battlesick is played in full. John and Kim Scott have played with many drummers throughout their history, including HELMET’s John Stanier. These days, it’s Eli Green behind the kit, tonight bringing youthful velocity to an album released before he was born.
As youthful, lean and dangerous as the Diggers who inspired the lyrics, Battlesick is a haunting, harrowing ride into the darkness of the Vietnam jungle and the post-traumatic misery that followed survivors home – an album of hair-trigger fear and dread set to brooding alt-rock. “I don’t wanna be afraid / I don’t wanna be saved / I’m in hell” John croons on the title track, and the gravity of the subject matter is undeniable. The Setback is a propulsive mix of deep, echoing vocals and high-velocity 80s punk riffage. A chilling recording of serial killer Elmer Wayne Henry Jr. confessing a murder to his mother plays over the P.A., before they plunge into You Are Alone, John wailing over a bassline from Kim that is heavy enough to knock an eighteen-wheeler off a highway.
Pictured: Kim Scott + John Scott - THE MARK OF CAIN
Photo by: Tom Wilson
After Battlesick is played in full, the band return to the stage for set spanning the other 29 years of their career. The devastatingly weight of First Time almost levels The Triffid. TMOC are a sonic bulldozer of jangling Rickenbacker riffs and a groove heavy enough to crack concrete. A seething Interloper and pulverising Familiar Territory take no prisoners, while Retaliate is a claustrophobic display of seething rage – John’s eyes closed and brow furrowed as he chants “I never wanted this / I never needed it …” An ode to a friend lost to a drug overdose, L.M.A. is absolutely heart-wrenching, and a set highlight – John’s usual intensity brimming with palpable emotion as he describes laying daisies on her coffin. Tonight’s only offering from TMOC’s last album – 2012’s Songs of the Third and Fifth – Milosovic’s mid-tempo chug puts the crowd at risk of a neck injury. Point Man brings the night to a close – a tour of duty from the perspective of an Australian infantry section commander in Vietnam, warning his arrivals of the dangers that lie in the jungle (complete with accurate military hand signals). As the band leave the stage, we are left to wonder just what Australia did to deserve a band as unique and enduring as these Adelaide veterans. Punters share stories of seeing them during the first of the great 90s music festivals, and you get a sense of why this band has meant so much, to so many, for so long.
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