Yves Klein Blue @ Oxford Art Factory, Sydney (04/07/09)

Just over a year ago, Yves Klein Blue were playing to handfuls of people for free beer. Now, they are selling out Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory.

Philadelphia Grand Jury offered their hand in support for YKB. A near-capacity OAF felt inclined to cease conversation and pay them a little attention with EP tracks I’m Going To Kill You and Ready to Roll turning a few heads. Their onstage energy, combined with a raw rock ‘n’ roll sound, had these three mismatched men putting their best toe-tapping foot forward.

If their old school vibe wasn’t entertaining enough, the recorded banter in between songs proved very humorous. Luckily, there are good reviews all round from me (otherwise I would run the risk of a PGJ assault, as the recording warned!). After looking away for no more than a second, I missed MC Bad Genius take a tumble off the stage. I did however catch the aftermath, which involved dancing with the audience before running through the crowd and out the door.

High-rotation single Going to the Casino Tomorrow Night predictably received a rousing response from the crowd. If you are keen on a good old-fashioned, hip shakin’ rock ‘n roll show, Philadelphia Grand Jury are the band for you.

Shortly after, four very talented and charming Brisbane boys came on stage to play us some new tunes off their debut album Ragged and Ecstatic. Yves Klein Blue launched into their set with Silence is Distance, which had frontman Michael Tomlinson displaying his trademark animated facial expressions. Dinosaur followed with its witty lyrics and fun pop sensibility, before Tomlinson traded his Rickenbacker for a spot behind the keys to play new single Make Up Your Mind.

New songs Digital Love and Solider were intertwined with the likes of older songs such as Blasphemy. The set seemed quite short, because before we knew it Charles was tapping out the intro of Getting Wise and we could sense the end was near. Getting Wise is probably my favourite YKB number to date. It has an unpredictable melody and a great vocal, but I just can’t put my finger on what it is that compels me to smile and dance.

After briefly leaving the stage, the oh-so-dreamy Michael Tomlinson returned, acoustic guitar in hand, to do a lovely version of About The Future. The other three lads joined him for what everyone assumed would be Polka – but boy, did we get a surprise! Instead, they did a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s hit, Born To Run. Now, I am a self-confessed, die-hard Springsteen fan, so you can only imagine my excitement. Although it lacked a few E-Street band layers, they unquestionably did the hit justice. Coming from me, that’s a hefty compliment.

Of course, they didn’t leave us without playing their most popular song, Polka. “This is the last chance to dance motherfuckers,” declared Tomlinson, and dance we did. Give Yves Klein Blue another year and they will be playing to 5000 fans. It’s amazing how much can change in just a year…

taken from: http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/events/19260/Yves-Klein-Blue--Oxford-Art-Factory-Sydney-040709.htm

smh.com.au review

Craig Mathieson
July 3, 2009

On Ragged & Ecstatic, the debut album from highly touted Brisbane four-piece Yves Klein Blue, the words pour out of vocalist Michael Tomlinson. From track to track he's the wisecracking observer, the excitable philosopher and a wry storyteller. Where some acts struggle to compile a disc full of original lyrics, Tomlinson has to work at containing his writing.

"It comes from me being a neurotic, verbose person. In real life I can't shut up or be concise," the 22-year-old admits readily. "I guess I have a lot to say. It's not for me to say whether it's true, or whether it's correct, or whether it's relevant but I am conscious of not appearing preachy or a know-it-all.

"I would write songs even if we didn't have the band. It's something I need to do. If I don't have the chance to play an instrument and use what I've seen in the last few days in some way, I feel terrible.

I feel wasted."

Ragged & Ecstatic is the culmination of a busy few years for Yves Klein Blue. The rockers have progressed from provincial hopefuls to laying the foundations of a national profile with few hiccups and much touring. The alternative band — Tomlinson, guitarist Charles Sale, bassist Sean Cook and drummer Chris Banham — have eschewed prevailing trends in favour of an idiosyncratic mood that moves easily between genres.

"We want to make the most of our opportunities. They're not easy to come by," says Tomlinson, who started the band with his school friend Sale and soon found a tune, Polka, from their debut 2008 EP, Draw Attention To Themselves, accompanying a car-maker's national television campaign.

For their album, the band travelled to Los Angeles to work with producer Kevin Augunas, attracted by his recordings with Cold War Kids. By day they would work in his studio, where Augunas would challenge them to improve their songs. At night they would squeeze into a tiny North Hollywood flat where you could barely turn on a light without waking a slumbering bandmate.

That resulting album adds muscular glam licks (Dinosaur) and solemn atmospherics (Celebrity Death) to the group's already frenetic sound. Ragged & Ecstatic sounds like a record: individual and multi-layered.

"We wanted it to be a 45-minute experience where you could sit down and listen to it from start to finish," Tomlinson says. "There's light and shade. There's not just slamming, compressed drums in your face the whole time. We wanted to show the length and breadth of the music we loved. We wanted to make something people could put on while they're driving and listen to the whole thing."



YVES KLEIN BLUE
Saturday, 3.30pm, Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst, 9332 3711, $13.50.

taken from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/gig-reviews/yves-klein-blue/2009/07/02/1246127624189.html