Rackett at Brighton Up Bar

Kate Young
26th Aug 2016

From the get-go, Rackett demand the audience's attention and the Sydney-based band have yet to even grace the stage. Glowing green lights illuminate the stage as fog from the machine heavily blankets the space. It's theatrical and way over the top, but then again, these girls don’t seem to do anything half-arsed; It’s all or nothing. Dressed in slinky black bodysuits that cat woman herself would be jealous of, and all masked in matching eye makeup, it's quite reminiscent of the “Sleaze Sisters” from the 1980 film Times Square (and if you’ve never seen the film do it for the killer soundtrack) and I can clearly picture these Grrrls running amok through the streets of Sydney, pushing TVs out of windows. 

That night a beacon was sent out in search of some heroes, who would in turn crank the volume up to eleven and destroy all in order for total rock domination. As temperatures rose, so did the anticipation of the audience. People were crammed in what ever space they could find. People stood on chairs, on tables and even jumping up on to speaker stacks. Whatever it took they just wanted to be closer to these wild woman of rock.

Rackett is made up of Bec Callander (vocals/guitar), Jessamyn Jean (guitar), Ally Gaven (bass), and Skarlett Saramore (drums). I learned that the super group had only formed earlier this year but I was quickly taken back with just how tight these four play together, but all four have also a decade of experience and professionalism behind them playing with and for some of the best bands around. Their sound is perfect live and has everyone thrashing, jumping and flinging hair wildly around.

Lead singer Bec Callander has a cocky bravado about her as she takes helm of the ship and to my great delight she comes through with the goods. This woman can wail, shred a guitar like no other, shake her hips like a go-go dancer all while cheekily grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

With all the fun said and done (it felt more like a house party than a launch, they even face-painted the audience members in between sets) these women are serious about their rock. Amongst the smile and the cheeky grins was determination and concentration; Transporting them away from the chaos and focusing solely on the music, sticking close to their motto of let it be passionate or not at all.

Saturday night's gig was to launch their single “Bats” which is a punk pop driven number with undertones of rockabilly blues and catchy surf rock guitar riffs. It’s wild, energetic and will have you howling along with the chorus. The other stand out killer tune for me was “My Mama Don’t Like You” which had everyone up and dancing.

I feel like this is only the beginning for this group and the road is only going to get crazier and the music louder. It's great to see these women giving all they’ve got. The truth is they are plainly just fucking amazing musicians. They should be recognised for their skills and passion toward their craft without focus on their gender. My one criticism: Rackett need to get this EP out (set for release Jan 2017) or release another single 'cause "Bats" needs to take a break from repeat.

Rackett have plenty of gigs coming up, including a free spot at The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville on Saturday September 4th as part of King Street Crawl. They'll also be playing Moonshine at Hotel Steyne, Manly on Friday September 9th, and returning to Selina's at Coogee (where the Bats tour began on August 18th) at the end of September. Keep an eye on the Sydney Scoop calendar for details. 

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Darlinghurst
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Mon – Sun 8am – late

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