Michelle Shiers on November 6th, 2014

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Rising Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett brought her shambling, charming rock to the El Rey Theatre on Tuesday night, mixing her droll narratives with brash, animated guitar playing.

Decked out in grunge-era flannel and backed by Bones Sloan on bass, Dave Mudie on drums and Dan Luscombe on guitar, Barnett opened with “David” from her double EP “A Sea Of Split Peas.” At first glance Barnett may seem like a deadpan observationalist, but her clever lyrics and slacker charisma quickly shine through. “Don’t Apply Compression Gently” exemplified her quirky narrative style as she sang “I may not be 100% happy but at least I’m not with you.”

Behind her left-handed guitar, Barnett is agitated and moody – hunched over with a mess of hair flying in her face and showing off her talent. The crowd cheered each time Barnett and the band pushed into jangly instrumentals, and die-hards sang along. On recordings she sounds a bit more singer-songwriter, but live is where her rocker side shows. Songs like “Blah” and “Pedestal” channeled bits of post-punk and slouching grunge.

The crowd favorite of the night was single “Avant Gardener” – a candid tale of the mundane with sarcastic undertones. Barnett came back solo for an encore of “one special song for you special people.” She closed with “Depresten” in which the quirky Barnett reminded us all “we don’t have to be around all these coffee shops.” She gave the crowd hope that she would be back again soon with a full album.

Wisconsin six-piece PHOX opened with their sophisticated indie-pop. Having just performed on Conan, the band were clearly still on a high as endearingly insecure singer Monica Martin laughed and joked with the crowd wearing Mickey Mouse ears. They were tight, with all six members working together and equally to perform bright and melodic songs colored with a number of genres and keeping the audience impressed.

Brooklyn baroque popsters San Fermin followed with a similar genre-mixing but packing much more punch. All eight members stunned the audience with their energy between flashes of Edison bulbs and infectious energy. San Fermin, the brainchild of classically trained Ellis Ludwig-Leone, know how to fuse rock, jazz, classical and pop in a way that is entertaining and pleasantly overwhelming. Trumpet player John Brandon hopped down into the audience to play and saxophonist Steven Chen pushed right to the stage edge to tower over the front row with his brass. The gorgeous Charlene Kaye (who replaced Rae Cassidy) moved around the stage flipping her long hair and showing off her vocal prowess.

Photos by Michelle Shiers