It was a cold trek to the Brighton Up Bar, Sydney’s weather having not improved at all. My house mate questioned my sanity when I said I was leaving the warm house, and cackled loudly when I said I was doing so to see a band called The Stiffys. Yes, yes, The Stiffys is a funny band name. But laugh all you want, as silly as these boys present themselves they are one of the hardest rocking bands this guy has seen in a while.
It’s your boys The Stiffys, and they prove that they’re one of the bets live bands in Australia with an explosive show at Sydney’s Brighton Up Bar.
The boys are at the Brighton to launch their new EP Art Rock One. As they say themselves, it is the artiest record they’ve ever made, which was accomplished by locking themselves away in a room with nothing but Passion Pop and energy drinks to survive on. Which is a good thing to know going into their live show. It’s manic, it’s wild, and it’s surprisingly tight. The giddiness of seeing two grown men sporting space suits on stage eventually wears off and you realise that these dudes are quite talented individuals.
For all intents and purposes The Stiffys are essentially a punk band. They play hard and they play fast. Hearing them on record that sentiment comes across in a way, tracks like Kick Another Flip and King of the Internet have a raw energy to them. Bring that to the live setting and the boys take that energy and shoot it into the stratosphere. Like I said, their set was ridiculously tight, an orchestrated chaos to incite the frothing punters that had crowded into the Brighton.
Jason Leigh and Adam Stagg have nailed their drunken, space faring personas. These characters swaggering about on stage, cracking jokes and swigging from their bottle of Pinot Grigio with flair. Unfortunately your boys haven’t been able to procure their trademark Passion Pop, but as they assured the crowd their new love affair with white wine was working just fine. There were high-fives between every song, punters rushing to the stage to slap some skin.
Joining the band on stage for Space Blog was the Bad Bitch Choir, crowding the tiny stage with a dozen or so members. Could we actually hear the harmonies? Not really, but the vibes were flowing and everyone was just enjoying the party. Finally, the unmistakable sounds of Boogie Boarding echoed from the stage, Leigh tossing a boogie board to the punters at the start as they took turns surfing on the crowd.
A friend asked me the other day if I thought The Stiffys were the new Bluejuice. Sure the similarities are there, but I’d have to say no. The Stiffys are their own entity entirely, and there isn’t many bands who can pull off what they do.
