Polish Club with Merpire - Live! For A Minute - Corner Hotel Melbourne 17th April

Apr 19

Following 2020’s live-music drought it’s only natural for crowds to feel a bit shaky now that venues have reopened but there’s just something about the iconic Corner Hotel that puts you at ease and on Saturday night Melbourne was treated to something special.

On their Live! For A Minute tour, Sydney rock duo Polish Club, with support act Merpire, played not one but two sold-out shows on the same night and while I can’t speak for the late show, the early show was a musical celebration of soulful, garage rock.

Unashamedly wearing her own merch, Merpire started her set unceremoniously before quickly winning over the crowd in the space of a few songs with her charisma and unique brand of alt-pop. Hauntingly introspective, the set echoed with vulnerability, and other than getting her hair caught in her guitar strap it was all smooth sailing for the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter. Joined by producer/bandmate James Seymour, Merpire played a modest set which included her latest single ‘Dinosaur’— a track that draws a line between social anxiety and the Jurassic Park quote “Don't move! He can't see you, if you don't move.” With covid to blame for three cancelled national tours, the jittery excitement emanating from the stage was palpable and with a debut album on the horizon, Merpire has a lot to be excited about.

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Following a brief intermission, Polish Club erupted into an infectious set beginning with their latest single ‘Stop For a Minute’ — a sonically 80s track disguised as a pulsating earworm that condemns “our inconsistent acknowledgement” of abuses of power within the music industry. Without missing a beat the band smoothly transitioned into the hard and fast ‘Iguana’ before jetting into the rockabilly punk track ‘Beeping’ that had bandmates smiling across the stage at one another.

Joined on stage by bassist and Linkin Park enthusiast Dan Cunningham and keyboardist, tambourine shaker, and saxophone extraordinaire Kirsty Tickle, Novak, and JH delighted fans with songs including the groovy ‘Just Talking’ and a cover of Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’. Another highlight was ‘Don’t Fuck Me Over’— a song written to fill a swear word void in their catalogue that sounds like a 50s doo-wop tune.

If you only take one thing away from a Polish Club show it’s that these guys really love what they do. The second takeaway is that drummer JH might just be the Mark Ruffalo of the Aussie music scene in that he can’t keep his mouth shut to save his life and throughout the night preluded almost every song with a play-by-play of what we were about to see and hear.

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Ending their first show of the night with their hit song ‘Clarity’, Polish Club continue to prove themselves as one of Australia’s most exciting live acts, and one can’t help but feel gracious seeing a stadium-worthy band in such an intimate venue.