July 26, 2001

Starsailor : Sydney Club 77

Starsailor remain inspirational soulsearchers...

In a week that sees Eminem, Tool and The Strokes hit Sydney, Starsailor are the euphonious fishpond's small fry. So it is that while Maynard James Keenan preaches post apocalyptic cataclysm to 12,000 downtown, Britain's brightest young hopes play host to 200 in a basement club no bigger than Camden's Barfly. Some of those here will leave this evening nonplussed, confused as to what all the fuss was about. And some - those who've not yet had their hearts and souls sucked out by the hedonism and nastiness of life in the 21st century - will be rendered speechless: because tonight, for once, the hype was absolutely right.

James Walsh has the charming unwashed front-man look down to a tee. He is, we're informed, "a sweaty bastard." And the fact that he's a self-effacing, non-pasty/half-starved/tortured indie type endears him to us even further. "This whole trip to Australia I've been wearing a pair of pants with a fly that doesn't work," he giggles, "so I just spend every gig going 'I hope it's not hanging out!'" - rest assured Liam wouldn't be so engagingly honest about his shoddy tailoring. The lassies down the front are swooning already.

It's halfway through their first song 'Way To Fall' that something starts welling up in the tearducts. Restarted three times ("Sorry for the Spinal Tap moments. We might be the biggest band in Britain, but we don't have a keyboard that works, heh heh!"), from the outset it's stunning, so removed from the standard indie blueprint.

And while 'Fever' and 'Good Souls' are equally superb, the truly special moments come from the new songs, the primeval beats resonating from bassist James Stelfox and drummer Ben Boyd during 'Talk Her Down' and the lush evangelical notions of 'Love Is Here' - keyboardist Barry Westhead switching from church organist to possessed madman and back again, in perfect tandem with Walsh's tumultuous, achingly passionate vocals.

Sometime during the night, Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' is incorporated in to an acoustic version of 'Coming Down' - almost on an unconscious level dipping and soaring and slamming down with a resurrected force like it's the most natural thing in the world.

Maybe they're the best new band in Britain, but in Sydney Starsailor still the best-kept secret. Sometimes the small fry prove to be the most inspirational catch of all.

Alicia Brodersen