Project Description

SHAG ROCK

and String Elephants

at Smith’s Alternative

(16 September 2017) – Live Review

Reviewer – Benjamin Smith

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Shag Rock have a pretty laid back approach to the music, they’re a typically chilled surfer pop act. It’s a sound that carries a particular image, no matter where you hear it. It’s all barefoot afternoons in beer gardens; it’s barbecues and mid-summer Sundays.

Musically things are pretty simple and inoffensive. Guitarist Jacob Reed occasionally shows a little flair, but only within the confines of the feel the band are working towards. The driving force behind most of the sound is the bass work of Nick Cavdarski, which is understated but on point. Performance is pretty low key as well; this is not a band looking to start a riot. They do manage to gather a decent crowd within the ramshackle space that is Smith’s Alternative, one that seems familiar with their work and warms to them quickly.

Opening for Shag Rock are local lads String Elephants and there are moments where they threaten to make the night their own. They are another easy going bliss pop act, but singer Jordi Davis has a quality that adds something extra.

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These kinds of bands are the current darlings of the Triple J program directors and it’s easy to see why, especially as things start to warm up and thaw out. The great thing about seeing bands like this is that it’s ok to just sit and let it wash over you, it isn’t a challenge and it doesn’t require any great emotional investment from you. It’s just a couple of hours of likeable tunes with some easy going lads who aren’t thinking too far beyond beer and petrol money.

It’s a strange phenomenon that these kinds of bands are so well received in Canberra, a place with no beach for hundreds of kilometres. Maybe it’s the 6 month long sub-zero winter that creates a craving for anything remotely tropical feeling.

Regardless, soaking up Shag Rock’s tunes is a pretty nice way to spend an hour or two wishing it felt as warm as they sound.

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AMNPLIFY – DB

Dave Bruce

My nickname is “The Amnplifier”. Why? Because around here my focus is on being a conduit for providing greater outcomes that people come here for. My day to day “work” is living in the moment, and I love helping others concentrate on finding their connection to themselves through their experiences.

Why start a music environment? The truth is I love music, I love writing, and I love life. I work with musicians every day, and I feel certain that I will be until they put me in the ground. I have been managing people in businesses of some sort for over thirty five years so along the way I have developed some “wisdom” from my regular and constant “observations”.

Amnplify your experience. That is what we want you to do here, and if you want to let me know why you do, or don’t, shoot me a message on Facebook.

Hope you enjoy yourself here and find something that hits you somewhere.