LIVE REVIEW: BETTER LOVERS + SPLIT CHAIN + BLIND GIRLS + GLITTER STRIP @ CROWBAR 23/01/26

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi

Better Lovers’ first ever gig and visit to Australia as a band was energetic, chaotic and powerful. The crowd was on fire as they launched off the Crowbar stage: diving and crowd surfing as the American hardcore punk supergroup whipped them up into a frenzy.

The whole evening had been an amazing different view of metal with locals Glitter Strip, Gold Coast band Blind Girls, and the UK’s Split Chain delivering their own signature sounds of hardcore. The big crowd at the Crowbar really got involved with the performances and music.

The doors at the Crowbar opened at 7pm. Then, by 7.05pm the first band of the evening, Gold Coast based technical metal punk hardcore band Glitter Strip, started their short set. The band brought their intense energy to the crowd and blasted away. The band tracks were tight with fast drumming and heavy, hard-hitting guitar riffs. And it was loud!

Underneath the vocal fry and those big heavy drumbeats were some great melodies. Their vocalist (Alex) had a real howl that cut through the mix of ‘Violence’ and ‘Pigs’. It was a great introduction to the band and the crowd appreciated their set.

After a quick change over, Blind Girls got themselves ready to perform. Blind Girls are a screamo metal hardcore band and comprises of Sharni Brouwer (vocals), Julian Currie (guitar), Luke Sweeney (guitar), Mark Grant (bass) and Ben Smith (drums).

The band did a very quick sound check, they launched into their set. It was hard to take your eyes off Sharni Brouwer as she whipped her hair and body around the stage as she performed ‘Bone’, ‘Jeep’ and ‘Wish’. The crowd built and moved forward to see the band deliver ‘Breathe’, ‘Jam’ and ‘Silent’.

The band’s control of their instruments allowed Sharni Brouwer to roar throughout Blind Girls’ short, powerful set. And their 12-song set included many tracks from their acclaimed 2024 album, ‘An Exit Exists’. The set was more of a taster, with lots of promise, as it was performed with blistering speed. The crowd was liking what they were seeing. The band was a sweaty mess as they closed out their set with ‘Ghosts’.

Then, there was another change and quick sound check as the British band Split Chain took to their first ever Australian stage and their first ever tour of Australia. On the evidence of the set the band performed, Split Chain will become a firm favourite here in Oz.

Bristol’s Split Chain are Bert Martínez-Cowles (vocals), Oli Bowles (guitar), Jake Reid (guitar), Tom Davies (bass) and Aaron Black (drums), and they formed in 2023. They took to the Crowbar stage with a sense of wonder about them, like deer in headlights, as their lead vocalist said: “Compared to the other bands tonight, we are more of a pop band”.

It is true that Split Chain’s look and sound have come from the resurgent nu-emo and nu-grunge scene in the UK. But their sound was wonderful and the energy they brought to the crowd was terrific. Within the first few minutes of their set, the circle pit had started, the crowd were encouraged to start stage diving and the mosh at the front was headbanging along.

I was really impressed with this young band’s sound and songs like ‘Fade’, ‘Subside’ and ‘Chalk’. Their punchy and full melodic rock sound was great, especially on the songs ‘Future’ and ‘Extract’. Split Chain did the ‘shoey’ out of a fan’s Converse – it was a brave moment and I hope the lead singer is not too sick. The crowd really loved the impressive 9-song set. It ended with a wall of death as ‘I'm Not Dying to Be Here’ blasted out across the venue. The sweaty bodies crashed into each other and I took off to the side of the stage. I really like what I saw and heard by Split Chain and when they hit their groove their performance was genuinely something special, and every head in the venue was bobbing along.

Then, the set was over and the headlining band Better Lovers were up. The drumkit was restructured, an amazing pedal board was hooked up to the power adaptors, sound checks were done and setlists were down on the floor.

Better Lovers had an intriguing introduction with a dark stage and sounds of a person schooling radio channels – it was a ‘megamix’ of bits of songs as the radio frequencies were scanned and all the songs had ‘love’ in the title: the crowd seemed jazzed up as they sang along to ‘Easy Lover’, ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Love Is A Battlefield’ and ‘All You Need Is Love’… and it was mad to hear Whitney Houston and then Queen songs before a hardcore punk band rocked out onto the stage.

Better Lovers bounced onto the stage and started channelling the spirit of classic punk hardcore. Even though the band members (a supergroup) featuring Greg Puciato (vocals), Jordan Buckley (guitar), Will Putney (guitar/producer), Steve Micciche (bass), and Clayton "Goose" Holyoak (drums), the band have a fire in the belly of their performance. The set was powered by dynamic band and crowd interactions that acted like rocket fuel as the crowd exploded with crowd surfing and stage diving.

Better Lovers rapidly delivered ‘A White Horse Covered In Blood’, ‘Drowning In A Burning World’, ‘Superman Died Paralyzed’, ‘Two Alive Amongst The Dead’, ‘Become So Small’ and the fabulous ‘Don't Forget To Say Please’, where the band stopped and talked to the crowd about the band and its first visit to Australia. Better Lovers also mentioned most of them had been coming to Australia since 2004 with their other bands Every Time I Die, Fit For An Autopsy, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The band even stated we’re “not dead yet – all you can hope for really is that you wake up again” and they certainly had the crowd awake.

Better Lovers were like energiser bunnies on speed. The music was loud, heavy and in your face! The whole set felt like a showcase of hardcore at its most toned. Here’s a group of experts in the field doing what they do best, and in the environment of the Crowbar that heightens that even further. The tracks ‘Future Myopia’, ‘Sacrificial Participant’, ‘The Impossible End’, ‘The Flowering’ and ‘God Made Me An Animal’ were the highlights at mid-set.

The band grabbed the crowd, shook them, bounced them as they made the venue their own. They drained the energy of the crowd in a good way as the set didn’t waste any time. The tracks ‘At All Times’, ‘Love As An Act Of Rebellion’, ‘Lie Between The Lines’ and ‘30 Under 13’ closed out the set.

Better Lovers delivered a tried-and-true gig: it had passion and energy joined with hardcore sounds and they removed any pretensions and feelings of world-weariness. Better Lovers’ performance was fresh as they played the classic thrills of hardcore and let the music and crowd take the reins. It was a special night for hardcore fans.