Saturday, August 30, 2008

REVIEW: SideKickNick

SIDEKICKNICK and THE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES
Kings Arms
Friday 29 August
Words by June Hart
Photos by Charlette Hannah





It doesn't seem quite right to describe SideKickNick's songs as music, as such. It's more an interesting amalgamation of sounds. Quirky beats, childish vocals (think Connan Mockasin), songs ranging from raucous distorted guitar to soft, whimsical flights of fancy. It's a challenge to put his unusual brand of music into words! Somehow it all works, and the live result is a catchy, quirky, and entertaining performance.

SideKickNick is accompanied live by The Technical Difficulties, made up of Murray Fisher (Voom, ex-Goodshirt) on bass, Brendan Morrow and Peter Hobbs on various instruments including keys, guitar and ukelele, and Pluto's Mike Franklin Brown on drums. Leading the cast is Nick Buckton, the brains and creativity (and madness?) behind SideKickNick's debut album, Miscellaneous Adventures.

The album release party was packed out with eager fans and a noticeable number of industry players. Although it's taken 10 years to release the album, it seems the time is right, with Miscellaneous Adventures being released on SonyBMG.

Live, SideKickNick's exuberant music is fleshed out with Nick's wicked sense of humour and complete ease on the stage. The bands relaxed confidence on stage belies the fact that they have only had three gigs so far. SideKickNick takes the audience on a journey through songs about a multitude of random subjects. Utilising strange vocal noises on stage as well as in the album, the performance was eclectic, fascinating, and altogether enjoyable.

www.sidekicknick.com

www.myspace.com/sidekicknick

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