Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side

The Sober Light Of Day
Spooky, 2005

Sixfthick are a monstrous rock'n'roll band from Queensland who roar down the east coast every six months or so and leave a trail of broken glass from Byron Bay to Brunswick Street. Their live shows are infamous. Fronted by brothers Geoff and Ben Corbett, the band churn through cacophonous songs with names like 'Dogshit Blues' and 'Beat Myself' that sound like they were written during a fit of rage in a gutter somewhere. Geoff, the older brother, tells stories about alcoholism while his younger sibling variously stalks the stage, dives or slips and falls into the audience, covers his chest in shaving cream and lights it, smashes glasses against his head, picks fights with hecklers and as often as not ends up shirtless and streaked with blood.

When he isn't hanging over the side of the stage writhing in piss and sweat, Ben is a strikingly handsome man – a mix of tall, dark stranger and weather-worn farm boy, one part sensual and two threatening. He fronts his own band, Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side, dressed in tight silk shirts and snakeskin boots, gyrating his way through love songs and tales of heartbreak like a sinister version of Elvis in his youth. The name of the band is only half-sarcastic. Gentle Ben is a mix of Corbett's Sixfthick persona and a man struggling to be a thoughtful suitor despite himself. "If I lose my self-control and some cunt ends up bleeding," he coos sweetly to his lover in 'Help Me Make It Down The Street', "Please don't let it run your evening."

One of the best tracks on The Sober Light Of Day is a cover of Spencer P. Jones's 'Execution Day'. The original Beasts Of Bourbon version is one of their more deafening numbers, a relentless and melancholy churn of guitar noise with muffled lyrics about a failed romance. Gentle Ben & His Sensitive Side pluck out the main melody and turn it into a sultry flamenco track with maracas and acoustic guitar. When the chorus comes around, the band let loose with a trash-rock blast of noise in the spirit of both Sixfthick and the Beasts. It's the most elemental expression of the band's raison d'etre, a strange but captivating mixture of sexuality and violence.