Retro four-piece Brisbane band, The Double Happiness played their home town at The Outpost Bar (17 January).
They went on after support acts The Stress Of Leisure and Sounds Like Sunset rocked the venue. This was their launch for the upcoming Double Happiness LP 'Wild Bikini', which is a change of musical direction for the band.Made up of two couples, The Double Happiness is Pete and Kristen Fergussen with Meg and Simon Welchman. On the night, they unleashed a new surf type sound to a packed audience of Hawaiian shirts and colourfully dressed over 40s with just enough room to do some dancing.
The band was complete with the guys in colourful shirts and Flintstones-type dresses with a bone prop in the hair for the ladies.
As well as playing all their new songs from the LP including the single 'Wild Bikini' with quirky gems like 'Coochiemudlo' – a surf song with lyrics based on a mud island in Moreton Bay). This groovy band also played their first single 'City' from their first EP of the same name.
Also in the mix was their biggest hit so far, 'No Place Like Nundah' that the band told me before the gig was released only as a download. This hit reached #15 in the Brisbane community radio station 4zzz's Hot 100 of 2019 and has been described as a bridge between the old, deep thinking urban lyrics of 'City' and the short, punchy new surf vibe of 'Wild Bikini'.
'Wild Bikini' has influences in it from the guitar work of The Shadows and the good time party theme of The B-52's. If you love that combination, you will love The Double Happiness and a packed venue that night certainly did.
