JAMBINAI & GOLD CLASS LIVE AT THE CHEVRON FESTIVAL GARDENS
An understated Gold Class meandered onto the Chevron Gardens stage, seemingly unfazed by their first ever Perth performance. Despite only being from Melbourne, Gold Class hasn’t been avoiding us, they've just been too busy to see us. Only forming in 2014, Gold Class released an LP within a year of conception, toured internationally multiple times and is already preparing another release. It wasn't us, it was them.
For the hour-or-so runtime, I was genuinely entranced by Gold Class. We were treated to tracks from the upcoming LP and songs from “It’s You”, each one sounding as meticulously rehearsed as the next. Adam Curley’s booming baritone voice serves as a grounding point for the jangly, discordant guitar, punchy bass and unrelenting drums. For a band with only three instruments, Gold Class sounded absolutely immense. There’s a reason why there’s so much hype surrounding Gold Class. As their final song, “Life as a Gun” concluded, the band assured Perth that it wouldn't be long until we saw them again. Let’s hope that’s the case.
I had high expectations for the South Korean post-rock band, Jambinai. Post-rock is a genre that I have had a love affair with for many years, having seen many of the genre’s heavy hitters in the flesh numerous times. Although nothing that I had seen, or listened to, could prepare me for the forthcoming aural onslaught. The set began with a presentation of traditional South Korean music, lead mostly by a Geomungo, some percussion and a resonating Haegeum. These traditional instruments are what really separate Jambinai from any type of post-rock I've heard before. It’s almost as though Jambinai have this moral obligation to re-purposing traditional music for a contemporary crowd, and they exceed extraordinarily well in doing so. Although, it wasn't all traditional sentiment. The first song, “The Mountain”, while beginning quite innocuously, eventually grew into an immense, insurmountable wall of sound.
Jambinai’s entire performance was intertwined with bursts of furious energy, refined atmospheric sections and fluctuations in tone. In the moments of silence between songs, Jambinai were incredibly humbled to be able to play to a receptive Perth audience. “I got off a plane to play in Perth for the first time. I was very tired, but you have given me the power to perform. We are very grateful for you being here”, was one such statement that really stood out for me. I stood by myself for the entire runtime of the performance, the all-encompassing nature of the performance was so wholesomely atmospheric and visceral that company would only detract from the experience. No longer will I associate South Korean music with Gangnam Style and K-pop, instead I will associate it with a budding post-rock scene.
