INTO THE MOSH 130: LIVE AT THE SERVO | REVIEW | THE CHORDROYS, VAL MOOGZ, NOVACAST
Words by Zac Farr.
The one servo bringing joy back to Australians. The Chordroys last show for their Heart Attack tour filled the young and the olds tanks with sublime melodies, graceful tones and enough passion to push your car home.
As the sun set over the Illawarra range and the South Coast’s salty chills graced Port Kembla’s Sunday evening. A crowd — more like a multi-generational family of music enthusiasts — came together, ate beautiful Balinese, danced and teased their ears with folk, grunge and surf rock acts filling The Servo — venue with rich history that built a cornerstone for the South Coast music scene and even witnessed Hockey Dad film their music video for, Safety Pin.
Val Moogz opened with an immaculate set encapsulating much needed inclusivity, joy and a depth of sound which simultaneously had all eyes on the stage and hearts taken into a place only crafted music can. Accompanied by Dave Boyes bringing the beautiful bass tones, and Ashley Welsh-Jones’ unmatched rhythm on the drums, it laid a wonderful root for Val’s rich writing and soothing shreds.
Novacast are a four-piece grunge band of high school mates sharing their after-school jam sessions with the rest of the South Coast. You cannot help but appreciate how well the four work so seamlessly to bring a mountain of energy with not an ounce of chalant to be seen. Novacast put their own Jervis Bay grunge spin on a few covers such as Freak by Silverchair and Dani California by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, which opened up the room perfectly to hear some of their own originals. Their original, Suffocating, was truly brought to life as Max Atkins let vulnerability flow from his lungs allowing for a rawness to flow through the station. Finlay Brown blended the bass to the perfect groove, laying the foundation for Jack Ennis to shred all the strings he had, and Rhys Wilson to round up the rhythm. The quartet’s debut at the station was fantastic.
The Chordroys’ last HEART ATTACK, at least for now, was truly mesmerising. Their refreshing, distinct indie rock sound is not one to miss. Their blend of psychedelic, ambient guitar leads and ballads of harmonies take you to beautiful heartfelt places. Frontman George Schweitzer has lungs! He, alongside guitarist James Jenkins, drummer Noah Bartlett and bassist Nick Eastment have become a symbiotic masterpiece of music, creating sets of musical wizardry, humble realism and the feeling as though the whole room is one with the band. This comes out through their lyricism as well, with their new single, Heart Attack sounding spectacular live. The crew have mastered a level of professionalism and not taking themselves too seriously — that gives an ode to those that have gone before them.