JANUARY 14 2010 THE WELLINGTONS REVIEW

THE WELLINGTONS

THE WORKERS CLUB

MELBOURNE

THUR JAN 13 2010

The WELLINGTONS from Melbourne are a power pop band. Actually no they are not. They are a really FANTASTIC power pop band from Melbourne. They have fantastic songs, full of sugar and sunshine. They have fantastic hooks and harmonies, riffs and catchy sing-a-long lyrics. They look cool. They wear hip indie kid clothes. They leap about the stage; they look like they are having fun. AND they can really play.

The band is tight, harmonies bang on and they have great handclap bits! They have recently had the infectious Come Undone all over Triple J and Rage, and the previous single Song for Kim, has one of my favourite all time couplets in it.

You’re the girl that I want at my party

You’re so cool you probably know karate

They play to adoring fans in Spain, USA, Japan and Europe. Their songs have been used on the US sit-com hit How I Met Your Mother. So why are there only forty people here tonight? Buggered if I know. It’s week two of their four week residency at the Workers Club (formerly the Rob Roy) in totally hip Brunswick Street. And there is a small but appreciative crowd here. They know all the words. They sing along. They don’t dance though. Later I am told indie kids don’t dance at gigs in Melbourne, only at indie clubs. I am sorry to tell you non-dancing Melbourne Indie kids, you are getting this bit totally wrong. The Wellingtons I saw tonight were a MEGA-BLAST of pure power pop kinetic energy. Just have a dance – you’ll be glad you did.

The five piece consists of Zac Anthony (guit/voc), Kate Goldby (bass/voc), Koji Asano (guit/voc), Gustav Lindstrom (drums) and the keys tonight are admirably taken care of by Anna Dobbyn, til their regular person returns from … well, elsewhere.

With three albums to cherry pick from tonight they concentrate on their latest Heading North for the Winter. With Zac leaping round and climbing onto speakers, doing big jumps at the end of EVERY SONG (pretty much), The Wellingtons encapsulate everything great about this music. Yeah there aren’t a thousand people in the room, but they play like there is. They crank through these pop gems like they are ploughing through a box of crème centred chocolates, savouring each one before picking up the next, consulting the guide on the lid and devouring it with gusto. Come Undone is early in the set and sets pulse’s (if not feet) racing. On & Off is terrific and the live favourite Freak Out is enthusiastically received. The incredible I Get My Heart Broken Every Day was also a set stand out.

There is a line in their song For Friends in Far Away Places that goes:

It’s not that we are bored here,

It’s just that people who like our songs live far away

The danger is that we will lose these guys to a more power pop friendly nation. I hope that doesn’t happen. I hope the good people of Australia embrace all that is good and glorious about these kids from Melbourne and hang onto them with a big fuzzy bear hug.

Ian Bell

PS: See the accompanying POWER POP rant over at my other blog thing at

http://djianmaiden.blogspot.com/