With the Mercy Arms moving from 'hiatus' to 'official break up'  to 'management denial' and back to 'official breakup' (if their R.I.P myspace headline is to be believed)... it's relieving to know that the creative juices of lead man Thom Moore haven't been stifled by the turbulence. His subsequent musical project Canvas Kites is a little more uptempo and joyful than the Arms, but that's not to say that there's any loss in musical impact. They're just about to make the pilgrimage to London (as many have before them), but thankfully threw down some last-minute local shows before packing up their Rickenbackers.

Canvas Kites might be less grandiose than Mercy Arms, but being a pared back 3-piece does have its benefits. For starters it makes more of a feature of Thom's amazing vocal and (no less impressive) hair stylings. Firstly to his voice: it's as if it was made specifically for jangly indie pop. Not only does it cut through the 130dB of overdriven chords and crash cymbals booming out of the system, but is also manages to sneak its way passed my super-stylish foam ear plugs (why exactly they need to be an attention-grabbing fluoro is beyond me). And hair? Well the Astley-esque coiffe is sure to shift some units once they touch down over the pond.

The kind of music they play doesn't allow for too much extended flair from either bass or drums, but that said, both Brett (bass) and Alex (Drums) are tighter than tight. Furthermore, my favourite parts of the show were when all three jumped on the mic in harmony. I also very much appreciated a cover being thrown into their set. I'd go so far as to say that a cover should be mandatory for any supporting artist who are relatively fresh on the scene - playing a recognisable lick is a good reference point for even the most appreciative of audiences. Sure it was an obscurish b-side from The Who's My Generation era, but it certainly gained some significant kudos from the growing audience.

Now before I deliver a less-than-lukewarm review of Bachelorette, let me temper it somewhat by admitting that I almost wet myself last year in delight at hearing the beat changeup midway through The National Grid on her album My Electric Family. Sure enough I was equally as excited last night when she began looping those slow claps that begin that song. But the rest of the gig left me a little cold. Looping technology has allowed many acts to do some amazing things on stage, but it's no longer impressive in and of itself. Behind the two laptops, tables, keyboard and two microphones stood a wonderfully modest performer with a spine-tingling voice who was too busy trying to figure out which microphone to sing in to really let her vocals fly. I found myself wishing that a bandmate might pop out behind the drums for the next song rather than a loop selected from one of her lappies. To compare, Melbourne artist Pikelet has built her reputation on constructing whole tracks on stage through a humble looper and somehow manages to do it without any pre-recorded material. As much as I loved Bachelorette's rendition of Her Rotating Head (probably her set's highlight), part of me couldn't enjoy it as much knowing that the pre-recorded material outweighed that which was being created on the spot.

Now to the headline act. Pains have whizzed through Australia in less than a week, hitting the big four in a curious order: Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane then Sydney. But extensive flights across the Nullarbor and beyond seemed to do nothing to quash their synchronised bopping spirits. Notwithstanding the bowl cuts, mod fringes and square glasses, the band is refreshingly un-image conscious. They each seemed to be in their own respective worlds completely enjoying the music they were playing, and happily parading the fact that Kip's mum had joined them on tour. Having only released one and a half albums, I figured there wouldn't be too many surprises in the hour-long set. Sure enough they ripped through most of their self titled LP and the Higher Than The Stars EP. Come Saturday definitely scored highest in front-row fanboy appreciation. However my favourite song by far was introduced as a new one, and kicked off at a burning pace, standing as a mark of distinction against the rest of their material - which does get a little repetitive. Although having said that, after making a quiet observation to a friend that it all kinda sounds like the same song, he retorted with "yeah but how good's that song?!". Tough to argue with that, but for my $38.50 I was glad the Kites were in tow. ---JZ