Antifolk is invading the south coast this month for a dirty bank holiday weekend at Hotel Pelirocco on Regency Square.
If you don’t know what antifolk is, you’re in good company. Neither does one of the genre’s leading lights, Brighton favourite Jeffrey Lewis. “The fact that no one knows what it means, including me, makes it kind of mysterious and more interesting than saying you’re a singer/songwriter or that you play indie rock,” says Jeff himself. And he’s usually so good with words.
Given that any definition is up for debate/doomed to failure, we’d describe the scene (which began about 30 years ago at New York’s Sidewalk Café as a reaction to the po-faced folk movement) as lo-fi, DIY folk/punk, where storytelling is valued over technique. Early Beck and Moldy Peaches were both associated with it.
A pioneer of the London scene, Filthy Pedro, now lives in Brighton. Filthy recently supported Warmduscher as part of Secure Men (pictured), and he’ll be resurrecting the spirit of antifolk on Saturday 25th August at the intimate Hotel Pelirocco. We hope the place knows what it’s letting itself in for.
As well as a potentially chaotic set by Secure Men, the bill includes Holy Magick (featuring Dom Keen, formerly of Death in Vegas and Dark Horses); antifolk veterans David Cronenberg’s Wife (well worth a watch), plus Albino and Mertle, who are both new names to us. Afterwards, local DJ crew and Pelirocco regulars Freakaholics will be spinning tunes till 3am.
Are all these artists strictly antifolk? Well… no. An agreed definition doesn’t exist, remember? But if previous Filthy Pedro nights are anything to go by, things might get messy.
Antifolk.com and Lost It Records present The Summer Antifolk Mash-up at Hotel Pelirocco, BN1 2FG, on Saturday 25th August 7.30pm-3am. Free entry.
