THREE DAYS OF FREE GIGS: GO SEE THESE
HIND EAR •
Everyone’s favourite experimental electronic group Hind Ear are a real treasure of the Brighton music scene. Passively pop, their songs have a build-up of engineered rhythms, akin to the likes of High Places in their more twinkly moments. There’s a nod to The Knife’s abstract compositions in some places, and a less sad-sounding Thom Yorke in others – it’s wave after wave of beautifully composed noise. (LS)
HOUR HANDS •
Having finally pulled their fingers out and released their debut album ‘A Combination Of Errors’ a few months back, this lovely trio have blossomed into musical maturity. A hazy, laidback in a surfer-rock kind of way, and yet experimental sound, for fans of Pavement and Deerhoof in their pop moments it’s pure indie in the traditional sense of the word. (LS)
MAN RAY SKY •
Part of the mightily impressive, multi-disciplinary Beatabet collective, Man Ray Sky play delicately melodic psych rock with pastoral, Paisley Underground leanings. As all good psychonauts ought, they regularly interrupt the flow of their music with full-on, electronics-heavy wig-outs, but the band’s strong songwriting talents always make it back to the surface. (DL)
PINK NARCISSUS •
Reanimating the putrefying corpse of Ziggy Stardust via a defibrillator shot of Jane’s Addiction, Pink Narcissus stride the stage like Colossus. Armed to the teeth with androgynous sneer and brash, caustic backing, they bellow a confidence that dares the audience to accept their manifesto of mayhem, creating a unique performance of unadulterated true rock’n’roll spirit. (NC)
RAMONA •
Three-minute buzzsaw guitar fun from reasonably-likely-to Ramona. The songs are neat, the band are photogenic, and they’ve got a totally Scott Pilgrim name. Yeah, so they clearly like Blondie rather a lot, but so do we. The shot-on-a-cameraphone video to their current single ‘How Long’ pricked the ears of the NME too, if that still matters. (DL)
THE ROBOT HEART •
“Multi-harmony singing, clattering brushed drums, acoustic guitars and synths, glocks and pianos, bits of electronica” are how The Robot Heart describe their pared-down style, which we think pretty much sums it up. Like so many enterprising Brighton bands, the ‘Heart came about through chance encounters, playing often at the fabled Bleeding Hearts Club at the Prince Albert. (LS)
THE STARS DOWN TO EARTH •
Old school indie pop six-piece The Stars Down To Earth craft very pretty, often folky, occasionally wonky music under the guidance of founding songwriter Alastair Gray. There’s elements of old English song in both Gray’s vocals and TSDTE’s arrangements, but their arsenal of glockenspiels and keyboards keeps the sound buoyant, fresh and beautiful. (DL)
WOB •
The irrepressible Wob has been a fixture on the scene for over 20 years, performing his infectiously upbeat tunes in every pub in the county, and seemingly every grass roots festival in the world. Wob’s appearance at Brighton Live this year creates a link from the city of today to the lost Brighton of The Zap Club, ‘Turn It Up’ and cassette-only Levellers demos. Top chap. (DL)
SOURCE PRESENTS:
AK/DK •
Two drummers. You can never go wrong with two drummers. But what if you stop there. Well, then things start to get really interesting. One of the strangest bands on the Brighton Live line-up, but they’re surprisingly easy to get your noggin around. Rhythmic and synthy, they’re like a more direct Add N To (X) – you’ll be astounded how much they can achieve from behind their kits. (JK)
CROOKED MOUNTAIN, CROOKED SEA •
We’ve been hearing a lot about post rock of late, not least within our own pages. The ‘Crookeds here are accomplished exponents, plying a trade of complex timings and driving guitar melodies. It hints at progressive arrangement but neatly sidesteps any accusations of pretention as they veer from raw aggression to introverted melancholy, all the while testing the amps’ capabilities. (NC)
JUSTICE FORCE 5 •
Bono and the G8 summit could take a leaf out of these guys’ book – the best way to save the world is through rock. Their gigs are like the best party you ever went to, with a firm emphasis on the theatre of performance – all underpinned by some serious, comic book-transcending power chords by a gang of superheroes. You’ll definitely believe a band can fly. (NC)
KINEMA •
It crept up on us a bit – perhaps because singer Dom is a SOURCE writer – but Kinema write world class pop songs. ‘Circles’ is one of the best singalongs of the last year in any genre. Soft synth electro pop with the bollocks of r’n’b, there’s no reason that they can’t be as big as Chromeo one day. They’re certainly picking up fans on the blogs already. (JK)
MODERN FIGHTING VEHICLES •
As much as everyone loves the Fleet Foxes, we’ve always felt a little disconnected from America’s Yee-Haw country music. With a foot in both camps are Brighton whippersnappers Modern Fighting Vehicles, whose youthful British exuberance wholeheartedly embraces our colonial cousins’ rock’n’roll and folk traditions. Speaking of youthful exuberance, expect a glut of collaborators to be in on their whirlwind of gentlemen’s shirts and lace summer dresses. (MB)
MONSTERS BUILD MEAN ROBOTS •
In a progression from the more electronic sound of their first album, they’re currently treading more organic ground, echoing Arcade Fire in places, as they make more of a faithful translation of their onstage sound to record. World events and surrealist self-realisation inform the songs that lilt with a soft artfulness that needs to be witnessed on the stage. (NC)
POPE JOAN •
Brighton’s best electro indie band ripped the arse out of our Great Escape party despite, or because of, the band before dramatically overrunning. With that in mind we had to have them back for a full set of glitched-up guitars, killer choruses and strong hooks. Sammy Aaron Jr has turned into a proper frontman and the rest of the band are really fucking cool too. Pope Joan have got it all. (JK)
RESTLESSLIST •
Our favourite instrumental freaks (that’s musically, not personally) have been away for a while and we’re delighted that one of their first gigs back with new material will be for our Brighton Live showcase. Their last album ‘The Rise & Fall Of The Curtain Club’ wowed us with its DIY sprawl and they have more ideas than most bands around, so we’ve got high hopes. (JK)
TRANSFORMER •
One of the most powerful bands to come out of Brighton in the last few years, Transformer have taken their banging electro funk right across Europe and back. As a frontman Johnny Giles just gets better and better – he’s taken to playing the keyboard with his head – but the whole band are real performers and the tunes are completely catchy behind the beats. (JK)
TOP TIPS
Duncan Hall – The Argus
“The Robot Heart’s EP ‘Dust’ was a great introduction to Tom Marsh’s classic songwriting. Their live show mixes acoustic guitars, computers and beautiful three-part harmonies with truly emotive lyrics. Plus don’t miss Glen Belt.”
Phil Jackson – BBC Introducing
“Fresh back from their outing on The BBC Introducing Stage at T In The Park, Arp Attack make the kind of quirky electro pop that never fails to get my head bobbing up and down in a fashion that’s frankly unseemly for a man of my age. Jazz Morley and The Robot Heart are worth a look too.”
Tony Marks – Juice FM
“With edgy, yet accessible tracks fronted by a great female vocalist, it looks like Ramona have got a massive future.”
Jeff Hemmings – Latest/Radio Reverb
“Rob the Rich are a lively spark within the dying embers of the current indie scene – crunchy, energetic, manic rhythms with a dollop of tropicana. Fantastic band name too. Also look out for Z-Star, Illustrators and Pink Narcissus.”
Mark Ede – What’s Happening
“It’s really exciting to have an established international artist curating a night in the shape of Z-Star, plus I’d recommend everyone checking out Raising Maisie and Poor Little Pierrette, two unheard of up and coming bands.”
WORDS BY MATT BARKER, NICK COQUET, JAMES KENDALL, DAVID LETTS, LYDIA STOCKBRIDGE