Tonight is the almighty battle of hardcore vs pop-punk sponsored by those lovely fellows at, well, Punk V Hardcore. The consistency of the line-up on this miserable Thursday eve will sweeten even the bitterest of winters.
Loose Lips kick off tonight’s proceedings. They manage to effectively saturate the intimate venue with their intoxicating drums and boisterous charm. The songs are driven by percussion and iced with hook-ridden melodies. This results in a perfect opener from the Brighton-based trio.
Next up are If Heroes Should Fail. From the outset, all we can say is wow, just wow. Audible pleasure comes in the form of a continuous stream of gorgeous and ambient hardcore. To top this off, the set is laced with ribcage shattering screams from the frontman, who stands immersed within the crowd for the duration. It seems that chaos is channelled through their cathartic melodies, and the audience seem too involved to move.
Though not quite as captivating as their predecessors, hardcore dual-vocalists Broker do a sterling job. After a fragmented start, the punters are furiously shuffling as the punky and rebellious set kicks in. Their sporadic style isn’t as easy to grasp, but as overheard in the crowd, ‘they had mad riffs’.
Finally, Gnarwolves, the main talking point of tonight’s show, take to the stage. Stories of how the audience members each heard of this infectious band drift amongst the eagerly awaiting fans. As the opening chords are strummed, the floor is alive with bounce. Kicking off with the opener from EP ‘Cru’, ‘History Is Bunk’, the trio’s charm seeps between us, filling us with the sudden urge to move and grin.
Despite a broken guitar incident, the well-balanced mix of old and new tracks goes down a treat. Crowd-surfers gravitate towards the gabble of young and energetic lads as it seems the band plays in their hometown almost every week, and are starting to become a household name in Brighton. Their set culminates with their EP’s last track ‘Coffee’, which was voted at number 14 in our 2012 writer’s chart. Sea Monsters has done Brighton and this music scene proud with a stellar concoction, resulting in one of the best shows we’ve seen in a long while.
Prince Albert, Thursday 24th January 2013
Words by Lizzi Hart
Photos By Rob Orchard for Brighton Music Blog
Read more SOURCE Sea Monsters reviews:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7
