By Jake Ebdale

Date / Venue: Saturday October 18th, The Powerstation, Auckland

Following the release of their stellar sophomore record ‘Love Will Prevail', Electric Wire Hustle are currently on a triumphant tour of their homeland Aotearoa. This second album is a very hard pill to swallow, best befitting this description: it sounds like Marvin Gaye's ghost travelling through a rogue wormhole on acid.

Team Dynamite and Peacekeepers were good at riling up the crowd - apparently it was half full inWellington, and didn't seem much better in Auckland, which seems criminal for an act of this calibre.

EWH quietly walked onto the stage with hardly any fanfare - until they kicked into latest single ‘Bye And Bye'.A wallop of layered guitars and pianos, wading in a thick funk, the song represents a brave new world for the Okayplayer exports. ‘Perception', off of their eponymous debut, really hit home and saw the crowd surge to the front.

Mara TK and Taay Ninh drove the stage banter whilst their new drum/bass combo was a formidable force. Some of it didn't translate well though. My favourite song on the new record, ‘Loveless', was lost in the mix. ‘Blackwater', a tangled, beatific epic, also suffered the same fate. Unfortunately I had to leave before the encore, but really wanted them to play ‘Gimme That Kinda', which still sounds fresh and is at least a match for best beat that J Dilla never sliced.

An underappreciated act, Electric Wire Hustle should put on an essential live performance, and to be honest, I walked away underwhelmed. Maybe they're still figuring out the new stuff. So for now, pick up both of their amazing records, and if you're brave enough, venture into the wormhole when they play your town.

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