On a surprisingly cool summers night, I was excited to be spending my 14th of Feb with a group of mates at the park for a picnic. With Valentine's Day already shaping up to be a memorable one, we headed to the Rosie to see some familiar faces launch their very first studio recorded album "Hello Reality." Known for some phenomenal Aussie-grown shows (and some not so phenomenal) The Rosemount was starting to fill up in anticipation to hear "Available at the Counter's" new album from top to bottom. As we were hit with the opener of the album "The Master and Commander," beers were flowing and the crowd was ready for an entertaining show - and no one left disappointed!

Straight off the mark, it was clear these four boys (Chad Vocals/Synth/Guitar, Tom Guitar, Elliot Bass & Jack Drums) had been playing together for a while. Although taking on a few line-up changes, Available at the Counter have been together since 2007. Touring, writing and recently recording, their love of faith, music and family has taken them throughout W.A's southern coast playing in festivals like Albany's Strawberry Jam Fest in '08. With debut album now available (no pun intended) 

Hello Reality has proven to be a spiritual, hard-hitting collection of songs, specifically chosen to expand the listeners view on the world, and challenge their perspective on where and how they are living. 

As the night continued, tracks like Forever Will Stand and Bring Me the Sky proved that not only could this band keep up to date with today's electro-synth styled fans, but also write and perform some outstanding rock n roll tracks. Chad's vocals bring a unique tone to this four-piece, whilst the duo of drummer Jack and bassist Elliot wouldn’t miss a beat in amongst the complexity of some of their songs. A stand out track of the night was a song originally recorded with Hawk Nelson's vocalist 

Jason Dunn, entitled "Chasing Tales." With a true punk feel, resembling a good ol' Blink 182 track - it got everyone in the room to notice these guys are here for the long run. Special mention to the guitarist Tom Fullarton in that track - still can't get that riff out of my head. 

Towards the end of the night, the album ended strongly with big tracks like We Will Not Hide and Archangels, dipping into a heavier genre with screams and an epic breakdown yet juxtaposing that with the soft acoustic lick right in the middle of the song. Chad thanked everyone for showing their support and went on to presume that the crowd was hungry for an encore (which was true) so they stayed on and played two final tracks. A cover of "Southern Weather" by The Almost, and a track written since recording their new album - entitled "Individualism is Overrated."

It brings me joy knowing we have such talent coming out of Perth. This band brought it all on stage, both physically with their energy and passion, and emotionally through their songs. I can’t wait to hear all that they have ahead of them and I'm excited that I can say I was at their first album launch.

Hello Reality is available on iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/hello-reality/id956729468 And you can follow all they are doing around Perth and more on their Facebook https://www.facebook.com/availableatthecounter