INTO THE MOSH 054: CRUMB, SESAME GIRL, MORNING MOOD | REVIEW AND PHOTO GALLERY
Words by Mark Griffin.
Photography by Taylah Chapman.
I’m at UniBar at the University of Wollongong, which is always a slightly strange experience given how much time I spend on campus during the week. It’s a good venue, so I don’t mind. I’m here to catch Crumb. I don’t know them too well, but my friend Cara is there, and she assures me they’re amazing. Having listened to them for a few days leading up to the gig, I’m keen to see them live. They play a kind of shoe-gazey, dream-pop, sort of Beach House meets Mazzy Star.
It's a decent, but not capacity crowd at UniBar, but Crumb are a cult band on their first Australian tour, so honestly an impressive turn out.
Locals, Morning Mood kick things off with their groovy, mostly instrumental show. I’ve seen them before and was as impressed then as I am now. The crowd is into it as well and more than a few people are dancing already. Morning Mood are difficult to describe exactly; it’s kind of jazzy, funky and there’s a ton of instruments on stage including extra percussion - which is always a plus for me. More than anything though, they are just tight as hell.
The crowd grows a bit as fellow locals, Sesame Girl jump on. I’ve been keen to catch these guys for a while and they don’t disappoint. They’re also kind of shoe-gazey, with a bit of a throwback indie-rock sound that kind of reminds me of Deadstar, and they have a loyal following in the audience. They’re clearly having fun on stage and that comes through the speakers as well. Definitely a band worth checking out.
The crowd grows again, and Crumb emerge. Everyone is immediately entranced. The music sort of washes over us in waves. Almost everyone in the crowd is moving in some way, some more consciously than others, but everyone just seems compelled to sway, bop or dance.
Crumb’s style of music seems incongruous with the effect it’s having on the crowd, at least on paper. It’s not commercial radio friendly pop with obvious hooks and catchy choruses, and it’s down tempo enough to not be obvious dance floor filler. Yet, in the middle of Wollongong there’s a couple of hundred people bopping and swaying in unison to a band from Massachusetts. So, what is It about this band that has everyone under their spell?
It’s not obviously catchy, or even energetic for the most part.
Instead, it comes over the audience in a wave, a soundscape that rises and falls, the steady rhythm causing girls to sway in gentle unison and boys to create their own weird choreography of pointing and shouting. Lila’s voice swirls over it; a Mazzy Starr-esque mumble that doesn’t quite convey the lyrics clearly but still brims with meaning.
At one point a saxophone emerges. My friend Cara, an avowed saxophone hater, leans over and says, “I like saxophone when it’s played like that.” And she’s right, there’s no corny sax-riff for Crumb, instead it’s a siren winding its way through the synths, another texture in their tapestry of sound.
It’s a potent mix.
I leave the show not sure I could sing along to a single song. But that’s not really the point of a band like Crumb. I know one thing for certain though, Cara was right, they are amazing.
