Project Description
SUNNYBOYS
+ Ups and Downs
Canberra Theatre
(22 February 2018)
Live Review
by Benjamin Smith
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There is a sound, a kind of melodic fun punk sound that Aussie band Sunnyboys do better than almost anybody else. Its not one you hear a lot any more and even at the height of their moment in the sun, Sunnyboys were probably just a little behind the times. Sonically they took most of their cues from UK acts like the Buzzcocks, but in truth they were a band that could only have come from suburban 80s Australia. You can tell because it was more about ignoring authority than pointlessly rebelling against it. Sunnyboys were more than anything else a band who set out to make music fun.
Having been on the road in their current form since about 2012 the sound now is probably better than it ever was when the band were younger. It’s still unbelievably fucking loud, but the really key feature is the groove. The melodies are so catchy calling it punk seems a little out of place. But being punk was always about bucking trends and in a time where the synth was king and reverb and echo and hair and glitter were everywhere, Sunnyboys were something completely different.
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Looking every minute of their advanced years, they nonetheless gave it everything for their performance at the Canberra Theatre, their first in the capital in 30 odd years. And the audience responded accordingly. Canberra crowds can be a little too polite at times, making it difficult for performers who feed of reactive energy to get a momentum. Not the case for Sunnyboys; two songs in they were filling the aisles and taking up every inch of free space in front of the stage. In fact the reaction to Sunnyboys is probably the most excited of any of the bands who’ve played there in recent times. Seriously, they went wild, young and old.
They were well supported by Ups and Downs, a band similar in both age and appeal but with whom I think much of the audience weren’t familiar.
Its great to have such an iconic Australian band back together and back where they belong, in front of audiences bursting collective eardrums all over the country.
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