Sulfate
24th August 2019
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review and photography by Sarah Kidd.
Ask anyone who regularly frequents local live shows and they will tell you that Auckland is currently the best it ever has been, a wide range of genres seeing several fantastic acts circulate in and around them.
The Other’s Way festival, is of course a wonderful chance to spend time in venues that may not necessarily be your normal haunt, perusing a wide range of both up and comers and heritage acts. One holding his own headline show just the weekend before.
Peter Ruddell is a familiar face around New Zealand; as one third of post-punk trio Wax Chattels, he, along with his bandmates, have amassed a legion of fans, their music punchy, its edges jagged, with lyricism that crawls inside your brain and pokes around at things.
Presented with the opportunity to strike out on his own, Ruddell has created Sulfate, an act which in many ways is an exquisite juxtaposition to his more frenetic persona as the keyboardist and vocalist for Wax Chattels. Having recently released his debut single ‘Speaking for Others’, Ruddell embarked on a four-date tour around the country, winding back up in Auckland for a fifth show due to demand.
Of course, what would the local scene be without a plethora of bands sharing a stage together, the community one in which both art and friendship co-exist. In keeping with that theme Oscar Dowling, a musician who has supported such New Zealand music alumni as Aldous Harding, was the first to grace the stage. Armed with little more than a bar stool, his guitar and a slightly huskier voice than usual thanks to the unwelcome winter ills, Dowling delivered a melancholic set of songs that included material from his debut album Free and Easy such as ‘Fair Weather Friend’
Like the holy trinity of Dylan, Cohen and Buckley, Dowling had the audience entranced as his songs lazily hung in the air for all to savour, old works reborn with new words, latest compositions tested out on the attentive fans. An equanimous set.
From the serene to the not so, milk was next in line to impart a performance on the audience that would leave them hungry for more. Led by the intriguing and accomplished Reuben Winter (Totems, Roidz, Caroles) milk recently released their sophomore self-titled album in follow-up to the deeply personal issue(s) from 2016.
Armed with a three-piece band, Winter’s began folded up on the floor as he made the final adjustments to his pedals, the gorgeous ‘mihiteria’ with it’s distorted vocals and shoe-gaze style of delivery opening the set. A song about his nana, it certainly had the feel of something personal; a track about the band Korn entitled ‘cornhusker’ coming in behind with Winter displaying some outstanding guitar work; it is after all the first instrument he got into and the one he enjoys most.
Bass lines, beats and keys shimmied around the stage as tracks about homeowners in Grey Lynn and local tinny houses in the form of ‘bong iver’ enthralled attendees, Winter’s vocals often hitting points that were melodiously off-kilter. A few tracks from their recently released second album brought the set to a conclusion with the contorted ‘Signal Me in the Mirror’.
The penultimate group of the evening came in the form of Bad Timing who describe themselves as ‘some sad white boyz and a non-binary alien angel’; the band certainly dressing for the occasion with an impressive range of sunglasses and some stylish artificial weaves.
The Tāmaki Makaurau four-piece which consists of members from groups such as The Miltones, Nahbo and Dead Little Penny have also recently unleashed their debut EP; a collection of songs about what it’s like to exist in your 20’s under the fat thumb of capitalism. Using the platform afforded to them the EP explores everything from the effect we as civilisation are having on the environment through to more joyous subject matter a little closer to home.
Lead by Chris Marshall of Miss June on guitar and vocals, the band kicked off with the cruisy ‘Cabbage’ that suddenly imploded into bursts of grungy wallops that headed straight for the gut, Marshall bearing his teeth as he bellowed into the mic. Pulling it back a little and infusing in some deliriously poppy guitar riffs, ‘Tui’ was all about that stunning sleek-feathered friend that hangs out in the trees high above our heads, the birdsong that features at the end of the album version of the track rather lovely.
The fast and punky ‘Human Interference’ drove home an important message, new addition to the band, cowboy hat toting Chris Townsend, giving the track the extra oomph that it needed; while ‘Honour the Treaty’ categorically spoke for itself. Without a doubt though it was two of Bad Timing’s last tracks that everyone in the room found themselves relating to in some way, shape or form; fan favourite ‘Day Job’ with its Weezer-esque chorus lines and raucous backing vocals courtesy of Siobhan Leilani that punctuated key points, an instant kiwi classic. The tongue in cheek ‘Avoca-Don’t’ seeing Leilani once again strut their stuff.
Capping off what had already been an absolute showcase of neighbourhood talent was of course the musician who had brought the entire evening together, Peter Ruddell. Seated at his keyboard in his trademark black attire, Ruddell naturally cuts shapes that are an art form in themselves. Joined by David Harris (Jonathan Bree, Princess Chelsea) on drums, the set began under the veil of red light, Harris’s fingers moving across the symbols to create an effect that was quite bewitching.
Having only released the two singles entitled ‘Speaking for Others’, a track that Ruddell first wrote a demo of back in 2014 when he was living in Japan, and the very recent ‘Bush’, the set was a unique opportunity to just lean back and take it all in, Sulfate’s sound both having a sense of familiarity and yet the thrill of something new at the same time.
While remaining seated during the entire performance, there was still an electricity that ran through Ruddell; ever the consummate performer, the intensity that he has become so well known for in Wax Chattels could still be seen and more importantly felt, as it was channelled in a more structured way that allowed for the music to slowly permeate the layers, full saturation soon occurring.
Live, Sulfate has already been referred to as ‘startling’, ‘sonorous’; Ruddell’s keyboard work ‘crushing-yet-considered’. Indeed, Sulfate is all of this and more, Ruddell’s vocals seemingly filling every available space within the room, his fingers confidently finding their mark.
Time stops however when Ruddell invites none other than Hariet Ellis from Na Noise to the stage for ‘Bush’, Sulfate’s latest single and a duet that is quite unlike any other; Ellis’s voice bringing a power to the room that momentarily sees people hold their breath in homage. With a passionate shared hamoney that only the likes of artists such as Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and Chelsea Wolfe could muster, Ellis and Ruddell folded in on one another with a natural grace, Ellis’s vocals expanding in size with minimal effort. If there had to be standout track of the set, ‘Bush’ was undoubtedly it.
The night came to a close with a perfectly measured melody, each beat, each key, every individually hand-crafted note having its allocated place; ‘Don’t use your flashlight / You feel me near’ Ruddell crooned into the microphone, the song’s finale like the majestic crashing waves against the unyielding stone seawall.
Sulfate is destined for greatness, especially when not only supported but surrounded by a local music scene that has never sounded better.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this eclectic gig? Or have you seen Sulfate perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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