Laura Imbruglia at Spectrum, Sydney

LAURA IMBRUGLIA
THE LAURELS
WIFEY
Spectrum, 19/12/09

Sporting a high beard ratio, Wifey opened things up with grown-up yet still perky indie-pop, which included bits of melodica, the occasional trumpet and some pleasingly dour between-song banter.

The Laurels rarely fail to impress and tonight’s show offered a typically awesome barrage of psychedelic/shoegazey noise. From a stage littered with pedals, the sound really was massive and - importantly - within the all-out sonic attack were some killer songs, as two vocalists shared lead duties. Outstanding stuff.

It’s been a quiet year for Laura Imbruglia, gig wise, as she has been busy putting together her second album, The Lighter Side Of…, which is due for release in February. In fact, this was her only headline outing of 2009, so she made the most of it by inviting a host of special guests to join her in showcasing plenty of new material.

Backed by a band featuring Ben James from Talons on drums and long-time bass player Stiff, and alternating between electric and acoustic guitar, she opened with new song Pauly before Surly was followed by another newie, the country-tinged and wonderfully-titled You’re a Parasitic Germ. Joined by Sarah Kelly from theredsunband, she showed a new dimension to her songwriting with the delicate Don’t, a stripped-back number with just one guitar and soft two female vocals.
The special guests continued to punctuate the set; Rosa Agostino, aka Red Ghost, strapped on a guitar for a jaunty version of Loretta Lynn’s Fist City, which was dedicated to Tiger Woods’ wife, Youth Group’s Cameron Emerson-Elliott played guitar on current single When it All Falls Apart (And it Will) and the rest of Talons turned up for a mental and utterly brilliant cover of Salt N Pepa’s Shoop.

As well as her growingly diverse sound - she is equally happy rocking the hell out as she is in country/indie territory - the really appealing thing about Laura Imbruglia is her ability to tell a story. Far from being a series of cheap gags, the delightfully comic lines she delivers work so well because they are contextualised within honest tales that are often desperately sad and self-deprecating. Tonight proved she is an absolute gem of a songwriter, and, judging by the depth and quality of her new songs, the upcoming album is something to really look forward to.