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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.
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