San Cisco has been at the forefront of Australian alt-pop for years. Their bright combination of realist lyrics, infectious riffs and carefree energy has proved to be an irresistible formula. Their show on Friday night at Sydney’s Enmore Theatre delivered all of these components and more, making for a fun, charming set to compliment their equally fun and charming new album, The Water.
On opening duties were self-proclaimed peddlers of “cheesy garage pop” Boat Show, playing tracks from their 2017 release Groundbreaking Masterpiece. Their energetic set highlighted their great onstage chemistry and bold, tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
Triple J darling Thelma Plum’s set evoked a sort of prom night mood, with fairy lights, a (v fresh) cropped pink ‘do, and silver balloons spelling “T H E L M A” behind her band. Plum’s on stage persona is reserved, even shy, shrinking from the lights and crowd and letting her voice take center stage. Dreamy synths served to compliment her deceptively delicate sounding vocals as she performed older tracks and debuted a couple from her highly anticipated upcoming album.
The audience was largely made up of younger fans. Almost all of them wore under 18 wristbands, which in addition to making me feel super old, was a great affirmation that Australian teens are listening to homegrown music. It was also the reason for my busted eardrums following the overwhelming scream that accompanied San Cisco taking to the stage.
The Fremantle four piece opened with ‘Did You Get What You Came For?’ a track from their latest release The Water. They continued to run through songs from The Water, which were received extremely well by a crowd who already knew all the words to the new tracks.
‘Magic’, from 2015’s Gracetown, was an opportunity for lead vocalist Jordi Davieson and drummer Scarlett Stevens to showcase their signature harmonies, as well as garner some quality whisper-scatting and spirited na-na-na-ing from the audience.
They packed in a surprising amount of songs, managing to play most of the new tracks from The Water. Their new work is catchy as hell, synth heavy and funky, with clear Tame Impala and Daft Punk influences on display.
All the dads in the crowd were well and truly bopping by the time the band closed out the set with their hit ‘Too Much Time Together’. They of course returned to gift the crowd with encores in the form of an acoustic rendition of ‘Waiting For The Weekend’, followed by ‘Sunrise’. Notably absent was ‘Awkward’, arguably their biggest song.
The show reflected the band’s chemistry as a group and their affinity for writing relatable lyrics and beats that are tailor made to dance to. San Cisco aren’t exactly all grown up, but The Water is an undeniably fun body of work that further serves to experiment with and refine their sound whilst establishing them as alt-pop royalty on a global scale.
The Water national tour continues, with dates in TAS, VIC and WA still ahead. Grab tickets here.
