Moider Mother/Grecco Romank/Demons of Noon – Whammy Bar: January 25, 2025

0

There are links between Ōtautahi act Moider Mother and Tamaki Makaurau group Grecco Romank, google reveals all, though where Demons of Noon fits in is a little more mysterious. But on a wet and windy (but warm) rahoroi night all toru groups performed to an unostentatious-sized crowd in a oubliette-like space on Karangahape Rd.

Demons of Noon

I’m a big fan, I think Demons of Noon exhibit a uniqueness amongst metal/doom genre acts that borders on the thespian arts. Harmonies and sparseness dually fill the room, heeding that these artiste, players are to  be attended too by the gathered.

The volume builds, energy is sparked, doomsters are enflamed, and he(a)vy met(a)l envelopes the few, the some, the many assembled. Is it maths-metal. As ensemble members co-construct sabbath riffs aplenty, angelic vocals waft, and harmonies flow in operatic quivers. In moments of space, clarity appears, feedback, dark bass rhythms, unadorned beats, drumstick on drum and rim. Time slows down mid flow, and almost stops, the moment stretches forever (like slomo) then collapses forward.

Demons of Noon finish on rua harmonically intro’d, doomish driven song drops of syncopated beats and rhythms, well, the audience of dandies can sway in unison to the darkened emotions. The declining vocals from the rua chanteuse mirrors 70s horror splatter screams, there’s mirth at last in their eyes. Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

Moider Mother

Tonight is Ōtautahi Moider Mother’s debut Tamaki Makaurau show, yet they are not headlining. Moider Mother are Hannah Harte, Noah McKay and Nick Harte, Nick Harte was/is The Shocking Pinks, a band that flamed and then (perhaps in abeyance) flamed-out. 

Southern Gothic sage Bruce Russell (The Dead C) is in awe, and Moider Mother have collaborated with Grecco Romank and played shows with Clementine Valentine and Delaney Davidson. Their debut album Miracle Healing Crusade was released in 2024 on hipster Ōtautahi based Leather Jacket Records, all the signs are aligned, so it seemed.

 Hannah Harte commences as angel-like figure prophesying, early on the sound person is battling feedback, as she uses an array of effects to distort, delay, harmonize her vocals. It gets sorted and the distraction from the trios drums, bass and vox compositions is allayed.

Moider Mother are spartan listening, be it the screeching, inaudible or audible narratives, in a dadaist construct delivered in an agitprop style. Or the minimalist, monotonous (at times) drum n bass sound-bed constructed by Noah McKay and Nick Harte. Later on songs, or musical manifestos offer a richer diversity in sound and beat, vocals clearer and digestible. There is the obligatory dedication of a song to David Lynch, and clever dadaist cut up of National Coalition quotes, that serves a purpose of critique.

But if a group is going to bare themselves with just rhythmic tools, whence narratives are delivered in a manner of pre/post punk absurdism, think Cabaret Voltaire/Coum transmissions without the cut ups, visuals and triggers, then absolutism needs to prevail. Nick Harte’s bass skills are meritorious, there is a fluidity and an intricacy that holds, The affecting of Hannah Harte vocals adds. However the drumming is at times colourless, perhaps a symptom of youth. In a set that was a little long, I found myself wanting  a whole lot more from Moider Mother. Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Brenna Jo Gotje:

Grecco Romank

Are Billie Fee (she/her), Mikey Sperring (he/him), and Damian Golfinopoulos (he/him) A bus driver, an opera singer, and a Greek filmmaker. Onstage there is a humongous array of diabolic digital devices on one side, while Fee and Golfinopoulos inhabit the other ⅔’s with microphones and much less gadgetry.

Grecco Romank deliver menacing eurobeats, east-european styled operatic vocals and aural space filling adornments (concurrently flowing from Fee and Golfinopoulos)  in narratives of cut-ups, skewed with disembodied samples and catchy loops. Toru songs into their set, and the trio have the dancefloor reminiscent of a techno rave, only missing are the lighted floor panels.

The three are obviously visually impassioned by their demeanor, and highly skilled and competent at their mahi in music making. Like toru slightly laconic post-techno industrialists, Grecco Romank are harking backward and forwards, cherry-picking from each decade’s fallen fruits, It’s techno, it’s EDM, it’s neo-classical, it’s all three , but none unique.

In a far better performance than I’ve seen before, I’m starting to understand the appeal of Grecco Romank to younger folk, my tahi gripe was the need for members, or member to dress like they are an extra from a Mad Max movie, come on guys, a little more style please.

Click on any image to view a photo gallery:



Simon Coffey

 

Simon Coffey
Latest posts by Simon Coffey (see all)