| DJ Sets ::Infusion (Jamie Stevens,
Frank Xavier and Manuel Sharrad)
Certain Australian rock groups have recently
been hailed as the “saviours” of the genre by
the international press. “Electronic music is dead,”
the taste-making mags eagerly gush, “and rock is very
much back in vogue - with antipodean acts at the vanguard.”
The argument media mavens put forward is this: How can dance
music – a genre based around overweight, overpaid, old-aged,
humourless DJs spinning non-descript repetitive beats –
compete with the kind of “incendiary” live performances
and raw, “real” recordings delivered by the leaders
of the rock renaissance How could electronic music ever be
as energetic or exciting as a screaming, spitting, eardrum-splitting
rock set
How Ask Infusion. Just as Aussie acts have almost single-handedly
proven that there’s life in the rotten corpse of rock’n’roll
yet, fellow antipodeans Infusion are here to put to rest any
discussion of electronic music’s imminent demise. Take
a listen to the group’s upcoming second album 'Six Feet
Above Yesterday', or witness one of their dynamic live shows,
and you’ll agree that reports of dance music’s
death have been greatly exaggerated.
On the other hand, reports of Infusion’s excellence
are anything but inaccurate. While the music press has been
generous in its praise of the Wollongong-bred trio (comprising
Frank Xavier, Manuel Sharrad and Jamie Stevens), it certainly
hasn’t indulged in flights of hype fancy. With Infusion,
there’s no need for hyperbole. Stating a widely-held
belief, premier Sydney newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald
described Infusion as “Australia’s best live act”
(NB: no qualification of ‘best live dance act’
- just “Australia’s best live act”, full
stop). Offshore, Muzik Magazine labelled the band “a
force to be reckoned with”, and Mixmag portrayed Infusion
as “exciting, and funky as fuck.”
“Exciting” really is the word when it comes
to summing up Infusion’s live gigs. With a solid pedigree
in live performance, these guys consistently deliver the goods
onstage. Why else would they be perennial faves for major
Australian festivals like Big Day Out and in the same year
booked for such prestigious international outings as the Roskilde
Festival and Creamfields UK, or Glastonbury 2004 (where they
performed twice) Then, there are the recent slots at Creamfields
in Argentina, guest gigs at top UK clubs including Renaissance
and Fabric, and a relentless touring schedule that sees the
trio regularly tripping through Europe, the US and Asia.
Yet, while Infusion may be “big in Japan”, they’re
also well established in their homeland. Unlike the nu-kool
Oz-rock groups mentioned at the beginning of this spiel, it
hasn’t taken column inches in the international press
to reassure Australia that it’s OK to like Infusion.
A dedicated fan-base, packed-out gigs across the country,
ARIA Award wins and a swag of Australian Dance Music Awards
testify to the love this wide brown land has for the gleesome
threesome.
Now signed to the newly revived Deconstruction in the UK,
Infusion's first single from their impending second LP, is
in essence a re-release of a big club hit from last year.
Entitled Girls Can Be Cruel, the track precedes the varied
depth of it's album Six Feet Above Yesterday, already lauded
by Rolling Stone as one of the 'Best 50 Albums of 2004'.
And this is only the beginning.
With the release of their first major label LP, backed by
a relentless, no-sleep-‘til-stardom touring schedule,
Infusion are set to cause seismic activity on a transcontinental
scale. Forget backward-looking, Xerox rock and by-the-1800-numbers
pre-fab pop – the 21st Century belongs to Infusion.
