Heavy And Low
A review of Budd at MoshPit, March 26, South King St
There is nothing like stoner rock on a Thursday. Loud, low, and built to rattle the room. I caught the first of a two set evening with BUDD, originally billed with shifting lineups across the night. Jez, Kez and Tom up first, followed by a second set with Jez, Ngakau and Tom, a nod to the OVIT recordings from thirty years ago. Unfortunately Ngakau couldn’t make it, but what unfolded still felt like something rare. A proper launch of the OVIT 12” vinyl re-release, and a reminder of exactly why BUDD still hits.
From the first notes, it was all about tone. Jeremy ‘Jez’ Finlayson, founding member and driving force, stepped into it with absolute control. His pedal board alone was something to take in. One of the most detailed setups I’ve seen, curated to a level where every shift, every layer, felt deliberate. The crowd clocked it straight away. Mesmerised, fully dialled in.
What followed was heavy, groove-driven and unapologetic. The kind of sound that sits somewhere between weight and swing, pulling you in without needing to push too hard. As the set built, the room came alive. Heads nodding, bodies moving, that slow burn turning into something bigger.
The influence is all there if you know where to look. The density of Tad and The Melvins, the grit of Mudhoney and Nirvana, layered with flashes of Cosmic Psychos and Fudge Tunnel. There’s noise in there too, hints of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the industrial edge of Big Black. But it never feels like imitation. It’s all filtered through something distinctly their own.
There’s also a rawness to it that doesn’t come from gear or genre. Jez has spoken about early influences like speedway racing, and you can hear it. That mechanical push, the constant drive underneath it all. Not chaotic, just relentless.
For a band rooted in the 90s, there’s nothing dated about it. If anything, it feels sharper. The space at MoshPit suits it perfectly. Close, loud, no room to drift. Every note lands.
Even without the full second lineup, the night delivered. Not as a throwback, but as a continuation. A band that knows exactly what it is, and leans all the way into it.
Heavy, focused, and firing on all cylinders.
MoshPit
642A King St, Erskineville NSW 2043
@moshpit.bar
moshpitbar.com.au