Review: The Belair Lip Bombs @ Lion Arts Factory 13/03/26
It goes without saying, but The Belair Lip Bombs are ones to watch.
Words Emily Wilson // Image supplied
Review: The Belair Lip Bombs w/Cool Sounds & Perfect 50 @ Lion Arts Factory 13/03/26
The Belair Lip Bombs are the talk of the town. The Victoria-based indie band have enjoyed a sudden and stratospheric rise to acclaim (at least, the rise always appears to be sudden and stratospheric to those on the outside). In reality, bands spend years gigging for pittance at thankless venues before muddling up a reputation and then finally being described by a random music journalist as having enjoyed a sudden and stratospheric rise to success. Indeed, it is worth noting that The Belair Lip Bombs did in fact first form in 2017, nearly a decade ago.
In 2023, the band released their debut studio album, Lush Life. In 2024, they played at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and became the first Australian act to be signed to the Jack White-founded label Third Man Records. And in 2025, they released their sophomore album Again (as well as re-releasing Lush Life via Third Man Records). The hype, as the kids say, is real - and the kids are out in hordes tonight on Friday 13 March at the Lion Arts Factory in Adelaide.
It is the kind of gig that I feel deeply uncool at. All the alt kids are out, with their wolf cuts and their Y2K-inspired outfits and their hand-rolled cigarettes. (I’m just wearing jeans and a shirt - no attempts at hip layering - and do not have any tobacco in my purse whatsoever.)
The night starts off strong with a local act, the beloved folk-rock three-piece Perfect 50, who are always an exciting addition to any gig line-up. Next up is Melbourne-based shapeshifting indie pop-rock outfit Cool Sounds, who possess the perfect name. It cannot be denied that they are displaying some cool sounds onstage.
READ MORE: Review: Pacific Avenue @ Hindley Street Music Hall 07/03/26
The air in the room tightens in anticipation of the band of the hour. It is actually thrilling to see the Lion Arts main room so packed for an up-and-coming Australian band. People are elbowing each other and pushing their way to the front of the crowd. The floor is sticky like cement beneath the seething mass of bodies.
When The Belair Lip Bombs grace the stage at 9:20 pm with their album opener ‘Again and Again’, a man ordering a beer at the bar cries “I LOVE THIS SONG” and jumps up and down impatiently as he waits for his pint to be poured so that he can rush back into the crowd.
The band - lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Maisie Everett, guitarist Mike Bradvica, bassist Jimmy Droughton and drummer Daniel Devlin - is washed in violet light. The crowd is enthralled; everyone around me knows every single song lyric to come. (The members of Perfect 50 are having a ball and form an impromptu mosh pit halfway through the set.)
Everett is a shy but gripping frontperson. (By shy, I mean she barely interacts with the audience outside of a musical capacity. Conversation is sparse. I think the set would probably benefit from more crowd interaction, but perhaps the silence is purposeful, adding to her intrigue.)
As a band, The Belair Lip Bombs are a well-oiled machine. They deal in potent pop melodies buoyed by driving rock and roll textures. The best of these tracks - ‘Hey, You’ and ‘Back Of My Hand’ are the obvious standouts - are high-octane, riveting, impossible not to head-bang along to. Parts of their set, however, reveal competent music that occasionally veers dangerously close to generic. The Belair Lip Bomb’s Achilles’ heel is one of the things that has solidified them as Aussie indie darlings: their music is quite safe.
I want to acknowledge that they are extremely talented - consummate musicians and songwriters - and I bring up this element of safety because I think their music has so much potential to be more interesting. That being said, it was an undoubtedly triumphant night at the Lion Arts Factory, and I wait with bated breath to see how their sound will evolve. It goes without saying, but The Belair Lip Bombs are ones to watch.
