Lice Trays, Scud, Hail Mary Jane - New Lice In Leather live at Nighthawks
On Friday night, local punk weirdos Lice Trays headlined at Collingwood’s Nighthawks along with supports from Scud and Hail Mary Jane. Fast, weird and heavy - the night was a blast.
Knocking the door down with a red-hot blend of punk, metal and garage rock were Hail Mary Jane. Heavy guitars, busy drums and fat bass made for a scorching opener, with a tight setlist and even tighter chemistry.
Rapid tempo changes, gnarly riffage and colourful lyricism are paramount to defining Hail Mary Jane’s sound. Sludgey first track Mental Break killed it live, while Freak and Vampire Eyes were absolute highlights. Likewise, closing self titled track Hail Mary Jane played the band out with a rocking goodbye to end out the set.
Taking the middle set of the night was high energy party punks Scud. A packed tight setlist with ragers galore, the performance was full of singalong moments and moshpit makers.
EP released tracks such as Scab, I’m A Punter and Baby On Board filled out the set along with several unreleased tracks. One of these hidden gems was an unidentified country rocker, which made for a hilariously good time to all in attendance. Definite favourite of the set was the intensly memorable Crocodile from their NO-EP. Scud are shit hot and ready to rock.
Finally taking to the stage for their headline set, Lice Trays ripped right into it. Redefining ‘short but sweet’ with a seventeen song set - pretty much all less than two minutes, and barely taking a breather between most - Lice Trays jumped straight from one high speed egg-punk oddity into the next.
Moving between time signatures whilst noisy guitars, synths and spaced out slap back vocals filled the room, Lice Trays smashed through tracks from the EPs Trays of Lice, Ice Rays Part 1 and Ice Rays Pt. 2 plus older singles and unreleased tracks, making for an eclectic set.
Highlights included Robodebt, Maggots, Stage Collapse, Deadzone and of course the unpredictable Cones. The synth line of Blood Loss however seems to stick in the brain like nothing else, making it a favourite live.
Pretty much inventing Math-synth punk, there isn’t really anyone doing it like Lice Trays.
Showing just how deserve the umbrella term punk really is, the bands on offer at Friday’s Nighthawks gig were diverse and dangerous in the best of ways. Always playing around Melbourne, get your ears around Lice Trays, Scud and Hail Mary Jane as soon as you can.
Lice Trays and Hail Mary Jane photos by Olivia Harrold @patr0ns4int. Scud phots by Young Ha Kim @painted.sun.in.abstract.