Last Sunday night at Urtext I saw Adelaide bands Sidewalks and Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! with Perth band The Fault sandwiched (pun!) in the middle. It was Fire's all-ages EP launch, and Sidewalks debut gig... considering this and their being out-of-towners The Fault were not the band people were there to see. Heck, they weren't the band I was there to see. But next time they're in Adelaide that sure won't be the case.

The Fault are a high-energy act that have a distinctly early-rock feel without sounding out of place with the other acts that night. Big drums, dirty bayou guitars and razorblade vocals make for a fun but dark sound, but the key ingredient here is the keys (another pun!). While sometimes the keyboardist can be a bit of a superfluous/gimmicky element of some bands this one takes an already great band to a higher level. With a versatility stretching from the spooky organ sounds of a misfigured opera-house phantom to the electric tinkering of Jerry Lee Lewis.

All three bands were great. But The Fault were a real surprise. The highlight for me was The Memoirs of Dr Mephesto so have a listen. (I could make a pun about it rocking so hard you'll feel like you're sitting on a FAULT-line... but I hate myself enough as it is).