Walking up to Club Envy on a relatively cold August night, I can hear the distinct vocal tone of Matt from Rivalry subtly bleeding through the walls. I haven't seen these guys since The Point Party, but man, despite them having not gigged in two months, these guys still rock. What gets me is the amount of songwriting maturity these guys display, and they're not even out of school yet.

Take the song, 'Hours' for example. Rivalry put together a song that's part alt country/part dance rock with healthy jabs of indie. Then, the next song they'll be invoking The Pixies (a comparison that happens quite a bit). We get treated to a few new songs tonight, which is an added bonus, and am eagerly awaiting the release of their EP next month.

Locavore are one of these bands that improve in leaps and bounds. They'll easily very soon be the best prog band the Coast has seen in a while. They're getting much more comfortable on stage, with themselves and with each other, and vocalist BJ makes for a very intriguing frontman. It's a solid mix of proggy guitar duality, and a chunky rhythm section making each song a magic, deep journey. Give them six months and they'll have conquered the Coast and will be stirring a lot of interest in Brisbane (though that's already developing now)

Bringing their folk-tinged alt rock into the mix Minor Elite are another band defying trends on the Sunshine Coast. Straight into it, vocalist Matt's melodic grungey tones and the blending of acoustic guitar with heavier distorted guitar, warm full bass and pounding drums are a distinct signature of a band to definitely look out for.
The second song of the set has a fantastic hook that for some reason makes me think of The Pogues (don't know why, just does). The third song they do blows the roof off the joint. Such a sweaty, driving rock song.
These guys have a way of dragging 90's sounds kicking and screaming into 2010 and much kudos for them doing just that. One criticism I have to make, and I rarely do this, the drums were way loud, to the point of overpowering the sound of the band. This was no fault of the engineer (Brian, you do an awesome job), but if the drums could've been hit just slightly softer it would've blended better. Apart from that, it was an overly impressive set from another band to watch out for.

Finishing off the night (and filling in at last moment for Never Plead Guilty) was Social Anger. I have seen these guys before, and swear they've played more than I knew of, but apparently this was their second gig.
Loud, raw, and abrassive, their sound reflects the nature of the band. The crowd were lapping it up. I caught the first few songs of the set before I had to say my goodbyes, leaving Social Anger to tear it up on stage, and step back out into the cold.

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