Enthusiastic live bands are almost always good. Unfortunately Cut off Your Hands would be the exception to the rule. They brought a lot of enthusiasm to a sleepy Adelaide audience last Friday night but they just couldn’t get the crowd moving. Maybe that’s because in all their enthusiasm they forgot to bring their ‘in key’ vocals.

 

 

They jumped, they screamed, they danced, they crowd-surfed, they brought along an extra percussion section. But they didn’t sing, they didn’t stay in time and they didn’t let us hear the thematic clash of lyrics and instruments that makes their album a top listen. The value in Cut off Your Hands’ music lies in the genius of juxtaposition. When you listen to their songs you realize that the sweet pop melody carries a string of bitter anti-love messages and it’s mighty refreshing. But their live show has none of the trade-mark sweetness and singer Nick Johnston just can’t get all the lyrics out while he’s screaming at the top of his lungs…so the magic is shattered by the wrecking ball of enthusiastic intentions.

 

 

Despite all the problems they did pull off two shining moments in the forty-five minute set. The first was Nostalgia; a nearly solely instrumental drum and bass fuelled anthem. Twenty five minutes in and this was the first time the whole band played to the same tempo and they did it with such ferocity that each audience member felt every beat in the pit of their stomachs. The second came in the form of their show closer Let’s get out of Here. This is one of their older hits and a clear audience favourite that was greatly enhanced by an open invitation to get your dancing ass on stage, which every audience member under 18 promptly did. With so many people visibly having fun the rest of us couldn’t help but have a little too.

 

Cut off Your Hands debut album You and I is out now and it’s good. - Farrin Foster