Majak Door | The Curtin
Majak Door were playing at The Curtin to launch their new double single Time/Something Good. Supported by Stimpies and Erica Avenue.
After getting my wrist stamped I opened the door to the stairs and was instantly whacked by the noise of the Stimpies first song. Like dropping icy chips into a deep fryer. Jesus it was loud, especially to my calm, fresh ears.
Stimpies are a great band, loud, with an old-school driving rhythm section and chimey guitars with a lot of treble. Over top their two vocalists shout and yell together, sometimes hitting delicate harmonies and sometimes cacophonous. Their second track was Counting The Days, and it started harsh and abrupt. A hard and choppy track with lots of stops and starts, slowing down into a bridge and breaking into an almost Irish pub style sing along, before speeding back into the last chorus.
During their next track ‘Mama’, which opens with a great organ intro, the guitarist broke his high E string and played without it for the rest of the set, the string swinging from the head of the guitar threatening eyes in the front row.
Throughout their set the two guitarists jumped and flailed around on stage, contorting their necks to yell into the mic. Their energy was perfectly counterbalanced by the yang of the bass player, who remained almost entirely straight-faced and emotionless throughout. They close out their set by screaming “Stimpies best band in the world!” and leave the stage with their sunglasses still on.
Stimpies played a great set, a very high energy group who have a shtick that works. They’re all proficient musicians who’ve clearly been playing together for a while, with a very tight sound that never wavers, brought together by their drummer who was phenominal. They have the modern Aus punk-rock sound but bring to it something new.
After a walk outside and a few glasses of water at the bar we waited for Majak Door to take the stage as the smoke machine pumped the room full. They opened their set far quieter and more restrained than Stimpies. They were a Marlboro gold compared to the under the counter red of the set before.
Majak has a very unique sound. They’re deep and wavey with lots of chorus and delay over big wide chords and mysterious, spacey guitar riffs. The drum and bass are driving, and lock straight in underneath the band. They say hello as the crowd now fills out all the way to the back of the room.
They play some of the hits starting out with ‘Everybody Wants You’, a track which shows off the knack they have for strong vocal melody and harmony. Their songs fit together like one of those 3D puzzles that you can only put together one way with strained guitar lines that resolve in unexpected places while the bass and vocals circle.
They play their new single ‘Time’, a nostalgic and melancholic track that I really liked. Together with their other new track ‘Something Good’ they show a definite evolution in their sound, more lo-fi and post-punk than their earlier stuff but with the same core sound.
Frankie their lead singer is funny and charming, and odd on the mic. He says “goodnight” halfway through the set, and asks if anybody has “questions or comments”, leaving no space for the audience to respond before the band launch into ‘Borderline’. A great track off their 2024 album, a psychedelic country and western song that would suit a road trip through New Mexico during UFO season, or a high altitude helicopter ride where the oxygen makes you slightly delirious. Tracks likethis, as well as the descending guitar line at the end of songs like ‘Seeing Red’ and the airy synthline at the start of ‘Everybody’s Listening to the Radio Now’ give Majak songs their unique feel-good woozy feeling. They finish their set and make a half-hearted feint off stage before playing a two-song encore, closing with their popular cover ‘Music Sounds Better With You’ and the crowd sings along. We exit back down the stairs and agree we all loved the gig on the way back to the 59 tram, and the next day I listened to Majak in the car on the way to visit my mum.
They have a deep back catalogue online, and their new double single ‘Time/Something Good’ is out now.