written by Chris Familton

Matt Walters plus keyboardist serenaded the earlybirds with his gentle songwriter tunes that were sweet, inoffensive and tainted with gentle angst. He possesses a great voice, perfectly suited for the style of his songs but somewhat lacking unique personality. In the world inhabited by Josh Rouse he would hold his own though he’d be wise to steer closer to Augie March than some of the James Blunt balladeering that crept in at times.

Papa vs Pretty turned up the volume and histrionics with an impressive set of songs that show them developing into an exceptionally tight and proficient trio. Heavily influenced by the likes of Muse, Franz Ferdinand and Jeff Buckley they already know their way around complex and perfectly placed melodies and have a supremely confident and talented in frontman Thomas Rawle with Matt Bellamy soaring vocals and fearless and frenetic guitar playing.

Gypsy & The Cat have been getting some heavy hype of late, courtesy of their label Sony. Pegged  with ‘next big thing’ can either be a millstone or a leg up from a discerning A&R rep and in this case Sony have obviously seen a straight to market commercial appeal with the duo. Tonight they were joined by a drummer and bassist who added a session muso professionalism to the sound.

Time To Wander is without doubt a summer pop anthem and deservedly received a roar of approval from the audience. Their music places them at the junction of Phoenix, Empire of the Sun, the yacht rock of Toto and pure 80 synth pop. It worked occasionally but too often the lyrics failed in a wash of banal cliche as the music breezed along in soft focus. Frontman Xavier Bacash seemed friendly and humble but the stunt of announcing Jessica Mauboy was a special guest in the audience came across as a gratuitous namedrop.

There is little doubt that Gypsy & The Cat will find success as the new face of nostalgic commercial pop, perfectly suited for fans of Jack Johnson who want to dance and know no better. Unless they distance themselves from the easy listening cliches and inject some more interesting angles into their sound they may just end up as the new Savage Garden.

this review first appeared in Drum Media