PEACHES Concorde 2 Tues 1st? Electro sex pest and inveterate bikini wax dodger Peaches brings her explosive stage show to Brighton. Debut album, The Teaches Of Peaches,exploded her onto the scene in 2000 like a spectacularly sleazy gonzo porn cum shot, with the title song’s refrain of “fuck the pain away” swiftly becoming the motto for doomed (but attractive) hipsters from NY to Shoreditch. Follow-up Fatherfucker featured a frankly hilarious collaboration with Iggy Pop and a song about female on male anal sex called Back It Up, Boys. Essential electro-clash chaos. (AI) [SOURCE second opinion: brightonsource.co.uk/gigs]
PEACHES Concorde Tue 1st Since offering up the opening line “suckin on my titties” as an introduction to the world, has Peaches succeeded in her sexy, revolting, or shocking musical approach to seduce the masses? Big blurts of bass and stiff drums pump away while the fitting live shows reflect the sordid love affair between electro beats and instigated gender confusion (on her own part). Sweaty, sticky, hairy: all come part and parcel of a raunchy encounter with Peaches. (AS)
JIM BOB Freebutt Weds 2nd
Almost twenty years after bestriding Britain like nu-dustmen of the post-Thatcher tip, there are some who actually still love Carter USM. Sadly, all the prisons are full and rapists considered a higher risk. The duo’s “distinctive style of power pop, fusing samples, sequenced basses and drum machines” (it says here) has not aged well, puny karaoke outclassed by Sing Star backing tracks. So, Jim Bob, a message: What’s worse than watching Carter? Watching half of Carter! Yours, the only living middle-aged boy in New Cross. (BG)
JIM BOB Freebutt Wed 2nd
Former frontman of 90s indie heroes Carter USM, Jim Bob returns in support of his latest solo album Goffam- a concept album about a city caught in the grip of crime and deserted by its superheroes. Expect a set packed full of trademark lyrical gems from his fairly sizeable back catalogue and possibly a few Carter songs thrown in for good measure. Chris T-T joins him on piano for part of the evening, while support comes from local folk shoegazers Thirty Pounds of Bone. (IC)[SOURCE second opinion: brightonsource.co.uk/gigs]
TANDY HARD Sanctuary Cella Fri 4th
Following the self-titled debut album released last year under the guise of Tandy Hard, Andrew Willis quite rightly won many new fans with his wistful blend of dark pop, garnering praise and comparisons as the south’s answer to Richard Hawley. Complete with a newly formed band (including members of Clowns and The Dials) this promises to be an intimate performance at the ever-lovely Sanctuary Cella. Also on the bill is one of the newest members to Brighton’s folk family, Frankylou. (IC)
GOLD BLADE Engine Room Sat 5th
The mighty John Robb’s punk soul brothers Gold Blade have been plying their gold suited, shade sporting, guitar flashing rebel songs through mixed fortunes for the past decade without slacking. Gold Blade’s Oi meets Dexys shows serve to rally disaffected skins, mods and MC5 fans from the cruddiest British toilet venues to obscure biker festivals halfway up Scandinavia. Making our grins even wider is the news that Robb’s reviving The Membranes later this year. (SH)
BAD MANNERS Concorde Sun 6th
They’re back… again! Well Buster Bloodvessel, (only original member) is certainly still around. Forming in the mid 70s amidst the 2-Tone explosion, Bad Manners somehow crept between the gaps, albeit with some super big hits. Although seen as something of a novelty act in their heyday, that doesn’t take away from the impressive back catalogue. And so pushing their latest greatest hits collection Walking In The Sun we’re sure the bald big bodied Busterwill no doubt revel in another chance for live obscenity. (AS)
PASSION PIT Concorde Mon 7th
If Passion Pit’s Glastonbury performance is anything to go by, the Massachusetts five-piece have all but graduated from underground secret to full blown pop stars. With their debut Manners already established as soundtrack of the summer and single Sleepyhead worming its way into Radio 1 playlists and Channel 5 promos, an August beachside show should be a perfect way to celebrate a fantastic year for the band, and perhaps a final opportunity to catch them in such an intimate setting. (DP)
PASSION PIT Concorde Mon 7th Evolving from a one-man pet project to a fully fleshed electro pop outfit, Passion Pit are as sincere as they are infectious. With unfamiliar innovativeness in this saturated genre both EP and album have taken the band to the forefront of new music and their popularity has risen almost to the heights of frontman Michael Angelakos’ flirting falsetto. It’s not often you can gyrate and shake to a live show of pop versatility with such a human connection. (AS) [SOURCE second opinion: brightonsource.co.uk/gigs]
Passion PitConcorde 2 Mon 7th
PASSION PIT Concorde Mon 7th
Ignore the lazy MGMT comparisons; these Massachusetts boys have more than three songs and don’t come packaged in all that annoying faux-psychedelic hippie bullshit. Although they have recently been getting criticised in the blogosphere, it’s got nothing to do with their music (the blogs were full of praise before they signed to a major), which remains startlingly good. Squeezable frontman Michael Angelakos’ castrato vocals are dangled over dazzlingly rich layered synth melodies and a firm, propulsive rhythm section to create a sound like no other pop band out there. We really can’t recommend them enough. (DA)
AVERAGE WHITE BAND Concorde 2 Tues 8th ?It’s some 35 years since AWB created the seminal hit Pick Up The Pieces from a studio jam but it’s a hard tune to escape even now, given its continual TV and film use. AWB seem to have given up on new material – three of their last four releases have been live albums – but live they still set the standard for funk and soul grooves. Expect a set-list mined heavily from their six gold selling albums from back in the day. With support from the much-vaunted Johanna Harman, this is a gig that should appeal to all, not least Brighton’s army of aspiring young funk musicians. (ME)
T-MODEL FORD The Old Market Weds 9th ?James Lewis Carter Ford is as qualified as any bluesman you are likely to find. He only started recording upon reaching his 70s, following an almost cinematic life of legend. Born in Forest, Mississippi, back in the 1920s (he can’t actually remember his exact birthday!), he worked various manual labour jobs, ploughing fields and driving trucks, before being sentenced for ten years on a chain gang for murder. This rebellious character brings us his mixture of Delta and Chicago Blues as part of a rare European tour. (TR)
THE MAGIC NUMBERS Concorde 2 Tues 15th ?Since they achieved household name status on the back of their future epitaph Love Me Like You (and their unfortunate but column inch-grabbing description by Richard Bacon as “a big fat melting pot of talent”), things have been a bit quiet for the Magic Numbers. Their last album was three years ago, following the two in two years of their initial flurry of activity. Now reportedly recording again, this is a rare chance to see the band as they evolve new material on stage with, we’d imagine, little pressure to maintain anything as predictable as career momentum. (NC)
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS Concorde 2 Weds 16th
When Mike Score first sprayed an entire tin of Silvikrin onto his backcombed blond bonce, little did he realise his legacy would amount to pretty much just that. It’s had the piss ripped by just about anyone who wants to draw attention to a ridiculous 80s-style coiffure, securing the band’s legend way more than their two hit singles, Wishing and I Ran. So it’s a shame that all Mike’s hair has long since fallen out and he doesn’t even have the common decency to wear a comedy wig while croaking them out on stage 30 years later, the killjoy. (NC)
KAYO DOT FREEBUTT Thurs 17th ?Like all music fans, we spend most of our time listening to Ne-Yo’s most recent album on repeat, but every once in a while we get a craving for something else, and that is usually only satisfied by some proggy, niche metal. September’s fix looks like being satisfied by Seattle’s Kayo Dot, though we might be upsetting the band by labelling them as ‘metal’ (in fact labelling them as anything seems frowned upon) as their most recent output is, though undeniably loud in places, much more emotive and atmospheric than that term would suggest. Oh, and there’s sax solos – what more do you want? (DA)
PSYCHEDELIC DOUBLE BUBBLE The Lectern Sat 19th and Sat 26th
Dig out your paisley shirts – things are about to get trippy as The Lectern gets taken over for two consecutive Saturdays by a mini psychedelic festival. The 19th sees DJ Scotch Egg’s psych-jam band Drum Eyes and the Notorious Hi-Fi Killers bringing their brain-frying acid rock; while the 26th includes locals Esben And The Witch and the dense cosmic prog of Diagonal amongst a host of others. And if all that wasn’t enough then there’ll also be psychedelic light shows. Phew. (IC)
FINK Komedia Tues 22nd
Former SOURCE cover star and in fact star pretty much everywhere while he waits for the UK to catch up, Fink returns for a welcome hometown slowdown. Bringing some chilled emo-soul to the set that offers faint echoes of his dance music side-projects, Fink really sets himself apart from the rest of the singer-songwriter pack, packing them in wherever he plays across the various ponds. Catch him intimate now before you’re watching him on the big screens from the back of arenas like they have to in America and France already. (NC)??Talvin SinghConcorde 2 Weds 23rd
Since winning the Mercury Music Prize a decade ago, we haven’t really heard much from Talvin Singh. It’s true of a few recipients though; not everyone makes an obvious leap from being briefly on the news to being in Asda display units, which is why the Mercurysare maybe more important than more commercial gongfests. With a new album, Calcutta Cyber Café, his first in seven years, it sounds like he’s found his legendary mojo once again. Expect a laid back evening of Indian vibes and laid back drum’n’bass with percussive rainforest soundscapes. (NC)
TIMES NEW VIKING Freebutt Thurs 24th [email protected]
When did you last put on some music and find it virtually unlistenable? For SOURCE, that would have been earlier this year with the release of Times New Viking’s last EP, Stay Awake. Well, let all joy ring out triumphant amongst a deluge of noise, distortion and painful skree, for September sees the arrival of Born Again Revisited, a full length, 30-minute savage by their uncompromising attack dog. Tonight, expect a torrent of questing lo-fi direct from Columbus, Ohio. Earplugs will not be served. (BG)
FUCK BUTTONS Audio Sun 27th
We first encountered the amazingly named Fuck Buttons last year at a festival in Leicester, and remember spending the entirety of their set quite restless, waiting for something interesting to happen. Since then we’ve become rather unsure of ourjudgement because everyone else seems to think they are musical gods. The songs that we found dull, over-long and under-developed were described by Pitchfork(and this is a pretty typical quote) as sounding “like the sun rising over the ocean…then going supernova”. Hmmm, maybe. Or is it possible that they just have a great name? (DA)
FUCK BUTTONS Audio Sun 27th
Continuing to confound mainstream radio DJ’s with their refusal to slip into underground anonymity or revert to a more ‘daytime acceptable’ moniker, Bristol experimentalists Fuck Buttons arrive in Brighton this month with second album Tarot Sport on the way in October. Sounding like a delicate piano concerto being battered to death by Ketamine-fueled robot werewolves, their live show is at once beautiful, frenzied and genuinely unsettling, and quite unlike any other band you will see this month. (DP)
THE TEMPER TRAP AUDIO Tues 29th [email protected]?With Jet crashed, Empire Of The Sun’s Luke Steele orbiting his own madness and Nick Cave exiled in Brighton, Australia’s future as a deserted musical outback couldn’t be more secure if they unveiled Land Down Under as their official national anthem. For the latest example, consider Temper Trap, who sound like they’ve been dungeoned in West Street’s Walkabout with only U2, Snow Patrol and Coldplay records toasting on the barbie. Frankly, SOURCE would rather spend an evening with a mantrap. (BG)
THE TEMPER TRAP Audio Tue 29th
With their star firmly in the ascent (nominated for BBC’s Sound of 2009, drum’n’bass remixes by MIstabishi, Sky commercials featuring Jose Mourinho), Australia’s next big thing have relocated to London in perfect timing for the release of their debut album, Conditions. Those who witnessed their packed set at The Great Escape are sure to be back for more atmospheric guitars, Mansun-esque vocals and another chance to see a band who may well be massive by this time next year. (DP)
STAY SICK! LIVE – BOB LOG III Hector’s House Weds 30th
If you’re too embarrassed to show your face at Brighton Live then it’s not all bad – the legendary Bob Log III is back in Brighton. Playing a blend of punk andblues on a 1930s Silvertone guitar with a battered old bass drum, some cymbals and tambourines he fashioned together, he sounds something like Hasil Adkins and AC/DC. Support comes from Mudlow and [D-66]. People of a nervous disposition should just stay at home so you don’t shit yourself. Oh yeah, don’t forget to buy a boob scotch! (GA)
LOVELIKEFIRE – Freebutt – Tuesday 29th ?Getting your vocals compared to The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Karen O is generally no bad thing in the right circles, but singer Ann Yu has enough strength and purity to stand on her own merits. It’s the outstanding feature of this Californian four piece, whilst the climactic, drifting guitars and rumbling drums provide back up. Following two previous EP’s, they arrive in the UK to push their full length debut long player, Tear Ourselves Away, which is out in the middle of this month. (MB)
SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO Concorde 2 Wed 30th
SMD were rather lucky that they hit the scene just at the time the new wave of electro dance was taking off. It meant that, despite their penchant for horrible 90s trance-style synth sounds, they were often spoken about in the same breath as sexier dance acts like Justice and their ilk. Aesthetics aside, we suppose these guys are reasonably adept at ‘rockin’ the party’, and they are going to have to be because we haven’t seen too many parties kick off at 8pm on a Wednesday night. Who the hell schedules these gigs? (DA)
WAVE MACHINES Freebutt – Wednesday 30th? 2009’s best kept secret roll into town to play the Freebutt for the second time, following a support slot for We Have Band a few months back. This Liverpool group’s excellent debut album, Wave If You’re Really There, gives us slow disco pop basslines, with magical vocals that range from depressed spirits to falsetto lovemaking. With a sound that’s difficult to shelve, in the same great way Beck or Roxy Music often is, the unique charm found throughout their debut will grip the audience when playing live. (TR)
TANDY HARD
promises to be an intimate performance at the ever-lovely Sanctuary Cella…
GOLD BLADE
gold suited, shade sporting, guitar flashing rebel songs…
BAD MANNERS
another chance for live obscenity…
A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS
it’s a shame that all Mike’s hair has long since fallen out…
TALVIN SINGH
a laid back evening of Indian vibes and laid back drum’n’bass…
THE TEMPER TRAP
back for more atmospheric guitars and Mansun-esque vocals…
WORDS BY GREG ACKERLY, DOMINIC ASHTON, IAN CHAMBERS, NICK COQUET, MARK EDE, BEN GILBERT, STUART HUGGET, ADAM ING, DAN PEARSON, THE RECOMMENDER, ADAM STRANDT