polaroids of androids

Ohana + To The North @ Hopetoun Hotel - 09/07/2008

Almost instantly Brisbane's To The North reminded me of 28 Days. Maybe it was because the lead singer was wearing a hat. Maybe it was their general skateboard kid vibe. Luckily, they sounded nothing like the terrible hip-hop-rockers who, if I remember correctly, attempted (and failed) to answer the unasked question - "does Australia want their own version of Limp Bizkit?".

To The North were punchy. Not in the sense that they threw punches at peopl, but more in the way they sounded. Short, hard, emotional (but not emo) and with a strong solid punk backbone. Unbelievably good pounding drums brought it all together nicely as well.

Unfortunately, however, they were supporting Ohana who are currently the greatest band in the world and, as soon as the Wollongong four piece took to the stage, To The North's admiral performance was deleted from my internal memory storage facility.

Faultlessly delivering their unique combination of perfectly hypnotic rhythms and jolts of frustrated, smothered cries - Ohana continue to impress with every performance. The control they have over their sound is unbelievable. Their performance was also powered by the healthy sized (and generally healthy looking) Wednesday night crowd, who responded well to everything that was served up.

The band offered few additional details to when their new album will be available, but we have already written our review. It involves record breaking usage of the words rad, awesome and exceptional. It is now officially 'hotly anticipated'.