Review - The Early Hours
@ Excelsior Hotel, Surry
Hills, 9Feb98
These guys have come so far since the
day the first Cellar Dwellers cassette turned up at the office back in 1994.
Even though the venue was sparsely populated for a TripleJ
Unearthed band, and despite Kirk’s bronchial
cold, the three Cellar Dwellers plus one pumped out two killer sets.
Those of us who were privy to the old days
would have recognised all the old faves: Big
Star, 2 Girls, EK Special, Get What I Want, She’s A Go
Go...but those who were waiting for I’m
Drained (the Unearthed winner) would have been sorely disappointed (the
pressures of maintaining your indie cred!?). Stand out tunes from both sets
included 25, Hard Feelings and This Is No
Good
Their press refers to their brand of music as
Power Pop, but I’d like to think of it as Retro Rock with a twist of Radio Birdman
and early Hoodoo
Gurus thrown together with that late-60s Rickenbacker
jingle-jangle (The Humm, The
Byrds, etc). It would be great to see these guys at a fully-miked
venue! HHHH