Review: Euterpe EP launch at the Factory Theatre
With their shaggy hair and electric sound, the quartet seemed like a relic from the 1970s rock scene blended with 21st century anxieties.
Image Credit: Euterpe’s Facebook cover photo
Celebrating the release of their debut EP -and His Echo, inner-west rock band Euterpe stormed the Factory Theatre stage last night in a hurricane of screams and chords. With their shaggy hair and electric sound, the quartet seemed like a relic from the 1970s rock scene blended with 21st century anxieties.
The four piece group was fronted by singer and guitarist Bianca Kotoulas, who fused the group’s youthful unease with a sense of nihilistic despair by singing, screaming and wailing their lyrics to an energised crowd — and the abyss beyond. This aura of apocalyptic paranoia was only furthered by the dialogue between sets, with menacing shouts such as “they’re coming to get you!” Despite this innate cynicism, Euterpe’s performance was anything but low energy — the group’s thunderous chords echoing across the streets of Marrickville.
The set itself was a sonic journey across Euterpe’s versatile discography. Living up to their namesake of the Greek muse of music and poetry, the group is known for their richly constructed aural landscapes, accompanied by lyrics filled with mystical imagery that at times veer into the occult.
Guided by the magic fingers of lead guitarist and occasional vocalist Oscar Dow, the band alternated between “distorted highs and delicate, acoustic lows” without skipping a beat. All the while, drummer Conrad Bajkowski and bassist Mim Benson kept them as tight as a live band could be, despite the various tempo changes.
Highlights of the performance include a period blood stunt, whereby lead singer Kotoulas sheepishly paused the show to ask the crowd for a tampon. As the request was left unsatisfied, Kotoulas and other audience members gradually became soaked in fake blood. With her white dress now stained red, Kotoulas resembled a mythical banshee — imagery that was strongest when she let out a triumphantly primal scream to kick off the song “Optimist”.
The band concluded their musical odyssey with their first ever single, ‘Tulips’, which was a clear crowd favourite, inducing trance-like dancing as the packed venue moshed to the band’s rampant energy. Older fans, who had been there since the band’s genesis, sung along to the song’s hauntingly beautiful lyrics, “There’s tulips in the garden/they’re growing out your eyes.”
After such an electric set, the silence was deafening.
With such a triumphant EP release, Euterpe is set to become a staple in the Sydney music scene for the years to come.