House music is often hugely derivative music. Studio chemists take other styles of music, distill them down to their essence and then re-interpret them within a 128 bpm framework. In one of the more recent manifestations of this practice, house has found itself getting all inbred, as producers have started deconstructing one of the original sounds of house – acid. Over the last two years, the humble 303 has enjoyed its umpteenth revival and the kids are going crazy for it – probably because said kids weren’t even alive the last time we were all going bonkers to sparse analogue squelches.

And so now, the revival has reached such momentum that there are now some bona fide acid house parties in Sydney once again. A couple of weeks ago the Mandarin Club played host to the Popfrenzy mob who Jacked The Box with authentic acid and hip-house from back in the day. On Saturday just gone, Mark Murphy weighed in with Flipper, a night designed less as a tribute to times gone by and more as a contemporary celebration of those famous gurgles.

And it was a great night. Here is why:

1: We had a great venue; Castles is fast becoming the new hot venue for small nights – just the right size for a couple of hundred madheads, cheap beers, easy to get to and friendly bar staff – who are also compassionate enough to have a rack of glasses of water on the bar that you can just lean over and help yourself to.

2: A wonderful crowd. A disparate bunch of techno kids, house heads, party animals and ring-ins. The average age was probably mid-to-late twenties, and there were plenty of people there who looked like they’d been there to experience acid house the first time around – and even one or two who looked like they hadn’t been home since 1987, and that this was yet another evening in their 20-year-long summer of love. There were plenty of stupid conversations to be had and smiling faces all around.

3: Fabulous music. Definitely not acid all night long, we had Dave Choe and Matt Aubusson kicking off the evening with some fabulous Glitch Gear, followed by Ken Cloud who played a contemporary set with tickles of old school loveliness. Mark Murphy lobbed up afterwards and went straight into 303 lunacy, dropping plenty of 21st century acid, while managing to contextualise it successfully with tracks like French Kiss and Theme From S-Express. Darkchild was up next, taking us into proggier territory (to the surprising delight of some of the techno snobs), and it was he who got to play Hardfloor’s seminal Acperience – perhaps THE acid track. And then N-Zed finished up the night, with hardly any acid at all, instead opting for twisted crunchy techy nonsense that kept people firmly stuck on the dancefloor.

4: The party carried on at LEAST an hour after it was supposed to finish. N-Zed was absolutely killing it out there, and as fatigue set in, Mark Murphy jumped in and the two went back to back, with a good 50 or 60 heads still going bonkers until the sun was up and the plug was pulled. It was probably about 7:30.

And so, in summation, Flipper is a much-needed addition to Sydney’s music offerings. A great party, with a diverse music policy, a great crowd, a great venue and – it has to be said – a vibe of total and utter trashiness. Recommended.

But – why on earth did they call it Flipper?