Here’s your weekly dose of live music in Brighton and Hove. Gigs, gigs, gigs, get ’em while they’re hot!
Monday 22 January
Jonah Matranga + Non Canon @ The Hope and Ruin // 19.30 // £8.00
Tuesday 23 January
Casey Lowry @ Komedia // 19.00 // £8.00
“Sparkling indie pop at it’s finest”, The Independent said what everyone who has pressed play on Casey Lowry’s most recent drop has been forced to think. Selling out venues by word of mouth after supporting Coasts, The Hunna and The Sherlocks on their tours, his hooks certainly fill the meaning of the word.
Latest release, Confused, saw his efforts starkly crystal clear. His funky jumping grooves run over rippling riffs and his etched out folk-esque vocal to provide the lightest, meandering cut memorable.
The Yellow Bellies w/Curls + Alfie Neale + Hallan @ Green Door Store // 19.30 // £4.40 // 18+
https://soundcloud.com/user-166880280
All proceeds to be donated to Mind Charity
Elder Island @ The Prince Albert // 20.00 // £7.00
Bristol based trio Elder Island offer a rich and unique sound. Katy’s sweet and soulful tones flow over multi-layered synths, beats and melodic broodings to stir up any crowd to get up and dance. Sonically placed somewhere between the likes of The xx, Sylvan Esso, Mount Kimbie & Maribou State, there is no denying Elder Island are carving out a home for themselves in our musical landscape.
Acid Box & Golden Voice Present: Wand w/Special Guests @ Patterns // 20.00 // £11.00
Last year, LA psychedelic rock wizards Wand hit Brighton with a sold out show at The Hope & Ruin. This time they bring their thick, heavy stoner riffs melt with creeping electronics to tell tales of otherworldly fantasy to Patterns.
LP 1000 Days slippery shimmers and tortured drones of tracks like Passage Of The Dream proved they’re not short of curious, dark tales. With touchstones in The Melvins, Ty Segall, and Thee Oh Sees, theirs is a sound as instant and progressive.
https://soundcloud.com/ganglion_reef
Wednesday 24 January
Suzi Ireland w/Safe To Swim + More @ Green Door Store // 19.00 // FREE // 18+
Voodoo & The Crypts w/ Riveira + Scruffy Pups @ Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar // 19.30 // £5.00
Voodoo & The Crypts offer a more complex approach to synth-pop characterised by colourful, shimmery guitar hooks and tropical melodies as heard on ‘Breathe’ – The Indie-pendent.
“Making waves we shouldn’t ignore” – Hattie Pearson, Key 103 & ex-Radio X
“Super-cool imprint” – Manchester Evening News
“Scruff are proving themselves to be instrumental in bringing forward new talent” – Louder Than War
“A one-stop-shop for getting acts to the next level” – Ben Ryles, DHP Family
“Discovering and developing some great talent in Manchester and beyond, it’s exciting to be working with them” – Joe Vesayaporn, Music Glue
Lord Huron + Flyte @ Concorde 2 // 19.30 // £17.50
Lord Huron, the conjured project of Ben Schneider from the depths of Lake Huron in Michigan, comes to Brighton with his hazy, desert Americana rock.
Formed in 2010, Schneider moved to LA, growing songs with a band, grand bretheren from years past. Friends and fellow Michiganders, Mark Barry, Miguel Briseno and Tom Renaud, left their respective paths, or bent each road to their own will, to reconvene out west. An old crew reformed in a new harbor.
After a pair of EPs, a debut album, Lonesome Dreams saw release in 2012. Tours followed that found the boys in blistering deserts, reveling in sinister paradises, wandering frozen coasts and lost among the hanging fog of bygone forests. Who can say but the soles of their shoes how far they traveled and how wide?
In 2014, trail-weary but intrepid, Lord Huron set up camp deep in Los Angeles at Whispering Pines Studios to notch their latest songs and abet the journeys of others. Lord Huron released the latest chapter of their adventures, Strange Trails, in April 2015.
The band’s name was inspired by Lake Huron, the lake which band founder Ben Schneider grew up visiting, where he would spend evenings playing music around the campfire, the music of Lord Huron evokes the haunting simplicity of nature and late night thoughts and words.
“tuneful new growth.” – Spin
“appropriately epic, its echoing acoustic guitars and yearning, Fleet Foxy vocals mixed with cowboy cattle calls and Pawnee chants.” – The Observer
Thursday 25 January
The Brew @ Komedia // 19.30 //£12.00
From Grimsby, The Brew continue to grow in stature and ever since the release of their international breakthrough The Joker, this award-winning trio has become one of Europe’s most potent rock acts, combining the musicianship of classic rock with youthful energy and a brash, contemporary outlook.
There aren’t too many bands nowadays that get to release six albums. Also, there aren’t too many trios in particular that can defend the reputation of being a tirelessly touring excellent live-act, all of which while maintaining the original line-up. The Brew are unique and they step back onto the scene with their new album, Shake The Tree. Released in the UK on 4 November 2016, as with its predecessor Control, Tim Smith (bass), Kurtis Smith (drums) and Jason Barwick (guitar/vocals) relied on the fruitful collaboration with Toby Jepson and Veil Studios. And their brand of modern rock with psychedelic touches was in good hands and over the course of a month they crafted ten songs that comprise a sixth album, that has effectively outgrown any comparisons.
Whilst the album captures the power of their live performances remarkably well, rock fans, live music lovers and aspiring musicians can get a real adrenaline-shot and see the drive, passion and explosive action of this band when they next play in the UK.
Hundredth Anniversary w/ Penelope Isles + Prince Vaseline @ The Hope & Ruin // 20.00 // £5.00
The Hundredth Anniversary
Atmospheric & precisely structured songs marry bright guitar lines, rigorous percussion & clear, honest vocals. The band have played shows across the UK sharing bills with Lower Dens, Waxahatchee, Wolf Alice, Fear of Men & more. They have been twice named in NME’s ‘Ones to Watch’ and their album Sea State Pictures was named as one of the albums of 2017 by Drowned in Sound
Penelope Isles
Hailing from the Isle of Man, Penelope Isles is the sound of siblings Jack and Lily Wolter. The band’s home recordings portray a lo-fi melodic approach in capturing their music. Their live sound is hypnotic and captivating, smeared with fuzz, dreamlike pop and dynamics that will transfix and satisfy.
Prince Vaseline
Prince Vaseline write hypnotic and ethereal songs with a Moog Rogue, guitar and a drum machine. The duo have only recently released their new EP ‘The World of Leaf Moon’. Conjuring images from a semi-conscious sleep, Snowy and Max’s synth/baritone vocal partnership gels like one of Pulp’s His ‘n’ Hers classics, with occasional gestures made towards the pastoral diaphanous and carefully plucked tones of the Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention.
Holy Bouncer @ Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar // 20.00 // £5.00
The neo-psychedelic crew have confirmed more than 50 shows across the continent, including a quickfire visit to the UK. It couldn’t be better time. Cult heroes in the Catalonian underground, Holy Bouncer recently overhauled their psychedelic psound to incorporate some cutting edge influences.
New single ‘Mightly Mad’ is a fine demonstration of where they could go next. Guitars drip with effects, while the lysergic vocals float from speaker to speaker.
It’s the subtlety of sound, though, that really impresses; those tinkling piano notes, the way the drums gently power the song forward.
Friday 26 January
Tommy Sissons Wwamah Album Launch Show w/ DownSouth @ Green Door Store // 18.00 // £5.00
‘We Were All Mud and Halos (WWAMAH)’ is set to drop on 26th January. Tommy Sissons and QM Records will be taking over the The Green Door Store from 6pm until 10.30pm, with an after-party and open cypher, co-hosted by Marcus Mandible, to be held at a secret location, yet to be revealed.
The night will feature an installation of Lauren Joy Kennett’s photography and a range of incredible support acts, who will be announced one-by-one as the date approaches.
WWAMAH is Sissons’ 20-track debut album and his first professional introduction to the music industry. It is a record littered with anger, pride, despair and celebration – but importantly it stays true to its unglamorous and realistic identity throughout. The phrase ‘We were all mud and halos’ means simply that we have come from the dirt but are angelic in our roots – we have the ability to rise. This is an album about class, youth, love, family, violence, loneliness, corruption, joy and, as a whole, rebellion against the corruptions of power.
Since the release of Etchings EP in 2014, Tommy Sissons has been very busy indeed. In addition to completing his degree in English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths University, he has worked on a number of diverse projects with commissions from the likes of Red Bull, BBC Radio 1, VICE magazine and The Guardian to name a few . The 22-year-old poet, originally from Brighton, now based in London. He has won a number of poetry slam championships, and has performed across the UK at venues ranging from the Bestival to the Royal Albert Hall. He is a regular presenter of Channel 4 music programme Four to the Floor and was commissioned by the BBC to write a Remembrance Day poem in 2015. His debut poetry collection ‘Goodnight Son’ was published by Burning Eye Books in 2016 and has been studied at schools and universities internationally
Jah Wobble @ Patterns // 19.00 // £17.60
Over the past three decades or so, Jah Wobble has ploughed his own furrow as a prolific solo artist, as well as becoming a well-respected session musician, with a genuine passion for Eastern and Global music. He has worked with a diverse range of musicians, including Baaba Maal, Bjork, Primal Scream, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Julianne Regan, Dolores O’Riordan, Holgat Czukay, The Edge and Chaka Demus & Pliers.
African Music Winter Warmer @Komedia // 23.00 // £5.00 // 18+
It’s cold outside, and you ate too many pies over Christmas – you need some sunshine to help shake off the cobwebs, but there’s none forthcoming. Don’t worry – we’ve just the thing to get you off your sofa, on your feet and smiling!
London / Dakar / Brighton titans Yamäya – an eleven-piece band playing a massive range of Afro-inflected musics, from Afrobeat to Ethio-Jazz, Mbalax to Jazz, and Dub to Soul – are coming to the Komedia stage to host an evening of soaring brass-lines, thumping rhythms, majestic vocals and cross-cultural sunshine for you all to bask in.
There’ll be live music from Yamäya, as well as top-flight DJs spinning African, Afrobeat, Caribbean, and Afro-Latin records to keep your waistline wound up all night long. So come on down and shake off your winter blues with us.
Dark Horses w/ Projector + Circe @The Hope & Ruin // 20.00 // £5.00
DARK HORSES
Dark Horses blend psychedelia, rock and electronica with moving image, monochrome lighting and photography. Their critically acclaimed debut album, Black Music, was released in October 2012 and featured Radio, later crowned Artrocker’s single of the year. They followed this up with the gritty electro-psych of Hail Lucid State in 2014, which garnered further repeated radio play on the likes of BBC 6 Music. Both records were produced by Death In Vegas’ Richard Fearless.
PROJECTOR
Projector occupy the heavy space between brooding 80s darkwave and My Bloody Valentine’s wall-of-sound pop; a combination tone of Goo era Sonic Youth and Pixies pulled together with an industrial Joy Division pulse.
Circe
Circe is an alt-pop artist who began life only a few short months ago in Brighton. Led by her icy, ethereal voice and a penchant for the mystical, Under My Skin combines dark dramatic lyrics, brooding soundscapes and visceral synth bass to create an otherworldly dimension, as if Kate Bush was exploring the depths of the upside down.
Saturday 27 January
Sextile @ The Prince Albert // 20.00 // £7.00
Sextile have been gaining a devout following since their inception in 2015. The band boldly throw convention out of the window to create and genre-bending imprint that combines the raw energy of 70’s punk with the intricate and sophisticated structural elements of 80’s post-punk and synth-wave.
Jungfrau + Speak Galactic + T. House @ The Hope & Ruin //20.00 // £5.00
Jungfrau
Jungfrau are an art rock band from Brighton, with two releases, one on Head of Crom records, and the other a self release. Their songs are based around solid staccato bass-lines, atmospheric drumming, dark moody playing from the keys and guitar with a very distinctive powerful female vocal. They have played with the likes of Sleepy Sun, Acid Mothers Temple, Carlton Melton, Mugstar, Enos, Teeth of the Sea. For fans of Savages, Chelsea Wolfe, Blonde Redhead.
Speak Galactic
Speak Galactic are a psychedelic ambient pop trio, based in Brighton and are regarded as one of the city’s finest live bands. Featuring members of Merlin Tonto and Great Pagans, they rarely perform live but are coming together for Triptych and release their first music since 2013’s split with P for Persia.
T. HOUSE
T House is the founding member of highly regarded noise-rock band Sweet Williams and prior to that the much celebrated underground post hardcore/rock act Charlottefield. He brings his dark and claustrophobic sound to the last night of Triptych on 27th January with Speak Galactic and Jungfrau.
T. House Free Streaming @ Bandcamp
Sunday 28 January
Terrible Love + Palm Reader + Guillotine + Frown Upon @ Green Door Store // 19.00 // £5.50
https://soundcloud.com/palm-reader-uk
A Savage (of Parquet Courts) + Jack Cooper @The Hope & Ruin // 20.00 // £9.50 // 18+
Savage is best known as the frontman for Parquet Courts, a duty split with fellow Texan Austin Brown. Their last record, Human Performance, delved into the emotional wreckage of a broken heart, to critical acclaim. But withThawing Dawn, it’s clear that Savage has matured. While assembling the record, he fell in love. Now, for the first time, we hear songs about being on the inside of love. Rather than lamenting the end of a relationship, we hear a voice trying, in the moment, to make sense of love’s mysteries. “Part of this maturity,” he says, “is reflecting on something when it’s happening, not just when it’s gone.”
