Ben Salter strikes again – Giants of Science hit the Troubadour
Words: Dave Callaghan
Photos: Kate Scantleton
If balls out, but sophisticated grunge is what you crave, then the Giants of Science are definitely what you seek. As front man Ben Salter’s side project from the Gin Club, the Giants were always going to have writing integrity as he is no slouch with a number of Q Music awards under his belt.
And if you don’t know who Ben Salter or the Gin Club is then you need to move to another city as you clearly have not been paying attention to the music scene in Brisbane. Gin Club lovers should not be disappointed as the subtlety still exists in these songs, they are just a little harder to find behind the wall of distorted guitars.
Although they attempt to disconnect themselves from the ‘stoner rock’ scene I would suggest their music has stark similarities with the Queens of the Stone Age. Similarly as Queens do, the Giants offer enough intricacy of song-writing to make it interesting for the ‘musicians’ in the audience without disengaging the weekend punters. I believe their music is quite available to all walks of life and cater to most likes.
It is rare to find a band that have found a formula for great song-writing yet find a new way to reinvent that formula for each song they create. Oddly, their knack for sounding like every other band makes them widely accessible to the public but does not take away from their performance. Their subtle spin on modern rock speaks to most people.
Their live performance was tight and professional. The only potential downside I could find was the lacklustre guitar solos that seemed more like melody lines then the sort of licks we have come to expect from a band of this nature. The guitars seemed a bit one dimensional throughout the gig. Your two choices were distortion, or distortion. It seems a clean guitar sound was not on the agenda.
But I am getting really picky here. The gig was thoroughly enjoyable and I would recommend them to all who enjoyed great Aussie rock, but crave a little more than straight down the line AC/DC. A must see for all Brisbane regulars.