Gentleman Wolf by the sonic fire hearth: Sparkspitter live at the metropolitan, Adelaide 30 6 2011

Venue confusion, an unseasonably warm mid-winter night late in the week, cosy in the front bar which is pretty full for a Thursday night... clearly there are a few Thor worshipers lurking in our midst supping stout or dark ale. A warm twangy loop kicks up, sourced from a lapsteel guitar which is set down to move to a drumset and keep rhythm along with the slightly irregular cycle which added a little chaos, slipping in and out of time. Insistent bass and guitar strumming fills out the mid-tempo chug-glide. They explore a fair range of moods while sticking to a regular format, ultimately falling somewhere between a trippy subconscious repetition thang and a cathartic feet-on-the-ground indie rock sound. Its good to see elements of noise and improvisation and a lack of concern for pop hits. There is good sound in the front bar and a cosy bohemian feel with the band playing in front of the fireplace, setting a sonic fire under the mantlepiece.


When I heard the name Sparkspitter it gave me visions of some violent nerve shredding 80's electronic noise maniac outfit but in actuality they were laid back and steady burning like an oil lamp flame, playing a long set with no support which managed to sustain interest, and plenty of time for four or five dark ales to slip down. Good stuff, to be followed by a keen mission home through the dark of the parklands, in the absence of a late night mugging fear that flowed for some time from a slashing and solid beating back in East London on a cold New Years Eve. Under prescribed codeine painkillers and screening episode after episode of the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series my revenge was played out in my minds eye, dapper on that same street with a Swordstick delighting in some kind of witching hour payback. In the words of Sherlock Holmes, 'always carry a firearm east of Aldgate, Watson'... by Jimeny, I'm rambling again...