World’s End Press @ The Corner

Melbourne’s World’s End Press have been making waves in the Melbourne indie scene for some time now. The first show of their current East Coast tour found us rugged up, braving the Friday cold and heading to the Corner Hotel for a bevvie and a boogie.

More than just a collection of fucking cool haircuts, World’s End Press are a tight unit, whose explosive live shows are becoming something of a legend among the increasingly finicky Melbourne hipster crowd. As the curtains opened and the coloured lights slashed through a haze of fog, World’s End Press emerged to treat the packed house of a set of tunes which, within moments of the first note being struck, had the dancefloor heaving under the weight of more than 800 shape cutters.

Of course, this was the launch of their new single ‘Second Day Uptown’, and it was this track, played about halfway through the set, that really shone. To borrow a line from the song, they’re band with way more than just reasonable abilities. Their infectious indie disco wraps itself around your ears, bounces into your brain, and before long has made it’s way through your central nervous system and extended out to your arms, your legs, and your booty. Dancing when World’s End Press are playing live is like breathing, blinking or digesting – no longer a choice, it’s a bodily function that try as you might, you have no control over.

As barefoot singer/guitarist John Parkinson had the crowd eating out of his hands, Sashi Dharann laid down funky bass line after funky bassline like nobody’s business, the multi instrumentalist easily juggling bass guitar, synth and electronic percussion duties in between displays of dance dexterity. But it’s Rhys Richards’ synth work and Tom Gould’s four on the floor drumming that form the foundation of all World’s End Press’ tracks. Their formative years have been long and productive, and, while borrowing liberally from influences reaching as far back as David Bowie and Billy Idol and contemporaries like Cut Copy and The Rapture, they have truly forged a sound that belongs entirely to them.

It was show marred only by the obnoxious drunk down the front throwing himself all over the place, who was nearly set upon by the flock of Vultures he increasingly annoyed throughout the night. After this tour, World’s End Press are set to jet off to Wales to record their debut album. In a castle, no less. We’re looking forward to boogie-ing down with these princes of Australian nu-disco for a long time to come.

Tagged Billy Idol, corner hotel, cut copy, David Bowie, disco, indie, Second Day Uptown, shapecutters, synths, World's End Press