Luckless @ Grüne Kombüse (alt) Rostock

As the wind across the harbor rears within moments from a soft caress to a brutal howl, so too does the music of Luckless, the ever-evolving musical project spearheaded by songwriter Ivy Rossiter.  
 
Luckless’s sound is as elusive as smoke but as enveloping as smog. Definitions hover slightly out of reach while layers of guitar-wail and drum-thunder echo around the edges. Luckless draws inspiration from 90’s heroes PJ Harvey, Mark Lanegan and Sparklehorse, while reaching out to contemporary touchstones The Kills and Warpaint; the music is poised somewhere between the ethereal haze of indie folk and the propulsive drive of alt-rock. Not since Fur Patrol’s Julia Deans has New Zealand had as compelling a frontwoman; a guitar slinging, caterwauling explosion as capable of entrancing as eviscerating an audience.
 
2014’s sophomore album “Vindication Blues” builds on their 2012 self-titled debut, with a record of great emotional breadth and musical scope. Two years of touring throughout New Zealand honed Rossiter’s songs to be brought to fruition at the Sitting Room in Lyttelton, with the aid of co-producer and engineer Ben Edwards.  
 
Founded in 2010 in Auckland as a solo project, the Luckless line-up ebbs and swells as the tide does. Recently Rossiter has presented Vindication Blues in the company of a raucous four-piece band, but also tours an enchanting and ethereal solo show.