A few weeks ago I went out in search of crunching, scabrous rock’n’roll. Headlining were Fear and Loathing (their usual ramshackly brilliant horrorshow), Leather Messiah just before (their new stuff is fabulous. Remember how Legends of Motor Sport were great fun but seemed to lack something? Leather Messiah have that extra something - they’re a burnout, man). 

The band I was curious about, Iron Feather, were second on the bill, and within seconds of punching us all out, assorted members of the Messiah and FAL were front and centre, thrilled.

And you know how old and past it we all are. Who the fuck are Iron Feather?

In a town of metal-heads, Iron Feather are the band to watch. Not just because their songs are pretty damn good for a new band, but because there’s a lot going on (Jacob Gartlan leaps about with an energy and excitement you gotta see, it’s bloody thrilling). Oh yeah, the band are barely over 16.

No, really, you read that right. For a first outing, any band would be damn pleased with Set in Stone, but at their age, we can grin happily in the knowledge that there’s a ton of rocking left in Gartlan.

And as you know I don’t like a lot of metal. Too much posture, no point beyond posture. Set in Stone sing about a lot of familiar subjects, and this is their total immersion in the genre coming out. The joy here is watching a band discovering just what other possibilities the genre can offer - as a springboard elsewhere.

Okay, grim truth is that the LP is not brilliant. But it is damn good, and there’s a lot going on here. They’ve got their technique down, and Gartlan is a mean, dextrous guitarist. The longer he and Riley Ward write songs together, the better they’ll get. It’s clear from the live set I saw that the band have begun to move away from the lp already. This is where it gets seriously interesting.

The gig wound up with the Messiah dancing to FAL, and FAL dancing to the Messiah. Ward and Gartlan stayed as long as they could, both soaking up the music.

The gig was just fucking great. Right now, you really need to see Iron Feather - everywhere they play people will either dance like a dickhead (which is the right way) or roll over and wait to be taken from behind. They’re even worth a trip to Adelaide - just to see them.

Where do you get it? Iron Feather are also on Facebook.