大象传媒

Practically no advertising, there's football on the TV, its cold and miserable outside and the economy is in the doldrums. 听It wouldn't have been surprising to find nobody here. 听Instead, the old venue is pleasantly packed, and we've got an early contender for gig of the year.

Napoleon, once a bloke with short-man syndrome who tried to conquer Europe, is now also a very useful band. 听茂驴陆You Don't Belong Here' quickly establishes their plans for invading our hearts, a beefed up Bon Iver by way of early Radiohead guitars. 听 听茂驴陆Wonder' is frantic and desperate, and 茂驴陆Holding Onto Hope' shows they have an ear for a commercial hook without seeming to search for it deliberately. 听Just no-one suggest they should cover Abba.

Mojo Fury could cover Abba and get away with it. 听They don't, but as possessors of arguably the most anticipated local album of the year, they don't have to. 听Digging back to their first ever practice session for their opener, it's clear that the quality has been there from day 1. Creating their own slightly mad strange brew of grunge, art, rock, and electronica, it's all bound by a sense of something special and alchemical going on. 听Really, it's just a case of waiting to see what limits they've set themselves, and by how much they exceed them.

Sixstarhotel therefore have a lot to live up to by the time they take the stage. 听茂驴陆Indigo', with its Arcade Fire gone more delusional rock stylings, is a more than decent response to the friendly gauntlet thrown down. Exhibiting a roundedness and completeness to their sound, an intelligence to the pop going on, 茂驴陆Left Alone' is soft but solid, hinting at Modest Mouse or Cold War Kids. The rush comes in with the layers of guitars and kitchen sinks thrown at us in 茂驴陆Don't Wake Me', a song with scale and space in it, whilst 茂驴陆Tell Me You're Sorry' goes even further down that road, creating and filling emotional space enough for far bigger venues. 听

Coming back for an encore, they change tack, drawing back as 茂驴陆Fell Away' creates an echoing emptiness as they leave the stage; a gap you didn't know existed having been created, filled, and then drained.

William Johnston