bReview: Twine (AUS)

bReview: Twine (AUS)  

Whammy, Saturday 8 February 2025 
Words by Molly McLennan 

Photography by Rachel Ashby 

The final stop in the Twine tour fell on the evening of another blisteringly hot day in Tāmaki Makaurau. Despite the heat and some attendees’ two-day-long hangovers following Laneway, the crowd was ripping to go. Massive kudos to Goose Garden on their curation of local support. Awning and Ringlets kept the energy high, and the crowd engaged ahead of the Kaurna Land/Adelaide-based band taking the stage. Both bands complimented Twine without it feeling like a triple bill of same-same. 

This show marked a couple of milestones worth celebrating, alongside it being the first international headline tour for Twine, their long-awaited return after an infamous Camp A Low Hum performance, it also was their first Tāmaki show since February 2024. My expectations were high as I’ve been rinsing their stellar debut album, New Old Horse since it dropped at the close of last year.* A former bFM Breakfast host gave the quintet’s live set at Camp a massive seal of approval, and I’d heard rumours that it was the highlight for many other attendees. It was also the first show I’ve been to in a while where the audience didn’t talk through its entirety (please don’t talk during sets!). 

I wasn’t alone in my anticipation for this gig. Whammy was feeling chocka by half-past eight, and the room was already sweltering. On opening duty was Awning, accompanied by De Stevens on hand percussion. Off the bat, Christian announced that they’d be playing all new material apart from the first song – fingers crossed this means they’ll be releasing these tracks soon! Highlights of this set include an extended outro for Gold Star (off the 2024 EP of the same name), emblematic of what I think makes the band so awesome live. As a live act, Awning really digs into driving repetition making changes to rhythm and dynamic intensity all the more satisfying. IIRC, the second-to-last track in their setlist included a tambourine and cowbell moment, another highlight, and emblematic of the playful moments throughout all three sets that counterbalanced raucous noise.

(Awning opening for Twine at Whammy / Photo: Rachel Ashby)

Ringlets were second to take the stage. Since their debut in 2022, the band have been playing live across Tāmaki and Pōneke consistently and it definitely shows. Leith Towers is an enigmatic frontman and shines most when leaning more into a New Wave-y spoken delivery. Whilst Awning’s set was impressively dynamic, Ringlets didn’t seem as cohesive until three tracks in and I initially found it difficult to parse out Arabella Poulsen on bass and backing vocals. I’m not sure if this was a mixing issue, or due to the guitar and drums being played a tad too loud. But, I was a big fan of the unreleased material played towards the end of their set that hinted at country influence for future releases. I’m stoked to see Ringlet’s progression as a live act and leaning into their unique theatricality that makes them a blast to watch.

(Ringlets opening for Twine at Whammy / Photo: Rachel Ashby)

Keeping the drama high, this gig was the first, and likely only, where I’ll witness a band walking out to Grieg’s In The Hall Of The Mountain King. A touch camp, a touch frenzied, it felt fitting for Twine. One of my favourite moments included the extended tuning/noise between the first and second song, in part to fill time when Tom Katsaras’ guitar string broke, but also to lead into the explosive second track. My favourite off the album, Future Exhales, was killer. The call and response between Matt Schultz and Katsaras on guitar and Thea Martin’s violin worms its way into your brain like nothing else - especially at eardrum-splitting volume. Fruit To Ripe converted me into believing that everything is with violin. 

Even with earplugs, I had to move to the back of the crowd by the third track. Twine did not hold back. Aside from the broken guitar string, Martin seemed to be burning through the horsehair of their bow as the set progressed and Katsaras’ voice sounded increasingly hoarse. I was blown away each time the quintet dissolved into feedback, cacophonic violin and arrhythmic drumming. I loved it all and given how loud it was Whammy’s sound tech Mark loved it too. The overwhelming volume did make it hard to glean Katsaras’ lyrics, which I wasn’t bothered by in this case. Although I love the lyricism, especially in the titular track of New Old Horse, it felt like this performance cracked open the album for me. It’s hard to put into words and I’m gonna lean on the cliche of ‘you had to be there’, but trust in that it was the kind of show where you don’t want to be analysing metaphors or trying to sing along. 

That’s not to say that vocals took a back seat the entire time. Martin’s vocal harmonization on one track with Katsaras pointed to the band’s ability to deliver a more delicate and folk-based performance. Plus, despite the band’s acknowledged weariness, Katsaras continued to deliver howling vocals up until the encore track.

(Twine at Whammy / Photo: Rachel Ashby)

Whilst Twine have been compared to the seminal PNW ‘90s punk outfit Unwound (even sharing a stage with them), they’re not derivative of punk and post-rock. It’s been a minute since I’ve been to a gig where each band can captivate the crowd to this extent, and I honestly think it’s down to each band’s ability to walk the fine line between emotionally vulnerable story-telling and humour. Whether it’s the exaggerated stage presence of Leith Towers, the dry humour of Christian Dimmick, or the back and forth between Twine and the crowd (including a Q&A and listing local slang they’re bringing back over the ditch), the capacity for current punk and post-hardcore to be emotionally cathartic wasn’t undermined by the usual glib satire when it came to the music itself.  Although the Whammy air-conditioner seemed only to be working intermittently, this gig was refreshing. Don’t sleep on Twine next time they’re here, hopefully, you won’t have long to wait. 

*Side note - New Old Horse came out right at the close of 2024, so don’t stress if you didn’t catch it. But the Kaurna Land/Adelaide-based band have truly provided a Christmas gift that keeps on giving. If you haven’t already, go give New Old Horse a listen right now, and do it again because with each listen, you’ll notice another detail, another introspective lyric, or a particular moment that violin and guitar delicately weave.