If a release has six tracks, three bands and clocks in at less than twenty minutes, does that make it an EP, or a mini-album? Who knows. Guts is a new digital / cassette release on new-ish label Reeks of Effort and is released today.
I casually slipped the video for the new Kovak single into a post about them heading off to NXNE a week or so ago, but now that it’s out, it deserves a post of it’s own, because it’s doing so well – It’s been playlisted on Radio 2. Not bad for a band who are unsigned – a situation which I’m sure won’t last long.
As well as the band themselves being from Brighton, the video is shot partially in the Green Door Store, the suits are from Gresham Blake and the shoes are from Irregular Choice. Good to see them keeping things local!
The single is out digitally now – buy from iTunes here.
Living in Brighton is fantastic, because there’s always something happening. Sometimes though, it can feel that there’s not enough hours in the day to do everything you want to, and thursday is one of those nights. There’s three gigs on, at the Pavillion Theatre, at the Green Door Store and at Coalition that I’d like to be at. The one I’ll be going to will be the one I bought a ticket to before finding out about the others!
First of the three is the Source New Music Night at Pavilion Theatre. Sparrow are headlining, and they’re supported by Rain Eater, Arthur and the Irrational and Tyrannosaurus Dead. I normally do my best to get along to the Source Nights, because they’re great for new bands and an absolute bargain at only four pounds. Next month’s – headlined by Sweet Sweet Lies – is already in the calendar.
Then we’ve got The New Union at Green Door Store, who really impressed us supporting Clock Opera a few weeks ago. And that’s even more of a bargain, because it’s free! We’re big fans of the Peter Saville style posters – there are four different varieties each relating to a different band member.
The gig I’ll be at though, will be Best Coast and Fear of Men at Coalition. Here’s the video for their new single Green Sea. Expect a few words and maybe some pictures on the gig later this week.
Hopefully you’ll make it along to one of these, or one of the many other gigs going on all round town. You’re spoiled for choice!
Before last night’s gig I’d had a listen to The New Union on soundcloud and what caught my ear was the slick production. Great studio production isn’t a guarantee of a great live performance though, so I was impressed by their display supporting Clock Opera. All dressed in black, the group gave the impression of a band with a unified look, rather than just four guys who happened to be on stage together. The songs were well written, obviously well rehearsed, and sounding tight. If anyone was looking for Brighton’s next big guitar pop hope after The Maccabees, they need look no further than The New Union.
The New Union
The scottish power-pop band The Hazey Janes came back to Brighton last night for a gig at the Green Door Store.
Support came from the Pure Conjecture, a Brighton supergroup of sorts featuring members of Electric Soft Parade, Brakes, British Sea Power, Tenderfoot and Restlesslist.However this was no rambling indie rock in the usual style of those bands.
When lead man Matt Eaton nervously started what was only the band’s second gig you could be forgiven for thinking that he was a terrible singer fronting a makeshift soul band. By the third song the audience was convinced that not only were this group a completely brilliant funk machine in the style of the Dap Kings but that Matt Eaton was one of the finest soul singers on the planet. As he grew in confidence the sound just got bigger and punchier. This was foot-tapping stuff of the top order.
Matt covered Barry White with some verve, and then broke down the show-stopping I love My Car with a long joke about black boxes and working in tele-sales told over a rumbling beat and which made him completely own the stage, working a treat.
Pure Conjecture have an album in the can, apparently recorded in four days featuring a full line-up of 14 people including a horn section. On the basis of this gig it should be brilliant.
Headliners The Hazey Janes had a lot to live up to, following their support.
A big beaty four-piece playing power pop in the style of early 90s American bands such as Velvet Crush, they started in Scotland more than a decade ago but still carry a lot of youthful energy and passion in their music. When they let rip, as they did every other song, the waves of energy were felt around the room. This was garage rock of the highest order. They have a new CD to sell, but if you get the chance to see them live don’t miss it.
So when I joked last week about the Juice Christmas Party being one last gig before Christmas, I honestly thought that would be my last gig before Christmas. But I ended up going to another. Friday Night was the Big Salad Christmas Party, headlined by Foxes!, who you’ll probably hear a lot more of next year – their debut album is out on the 16th January.
First up were a band whose name I didn’t catch, but whose tunes sounded like nobody had told them Britpop finished over ten years ago, and who spent more time tuning up between songs than they spent playing songs. Nice Christmas outfits though.
Milk & Biscuits were up next. They’re a bit of a Brighton supergroup – the core of the band is Matthew Davies and Max Earle of Restlesslist, but their mini-LP also features Tom White (Brakes, Electric Soft Parade, and dozens of other Brighton Bands), Jennifer Left, and Kayla Bell from Foxes! (at this stage I should note that I wasn’t making a point of exclamation about the members of Milk & Biscuits, but that Foxes! have an exclamation mark at the end of their name). Mlik & Biscuits started off with a two minute wall of white noise which then broke down to some lovely lilting kraut-pop, built around Matthew and Max’s keyboards and vocals, but augmented with backing vocals, guitars, bass and occasionally flute. Some songs tended more towards Velvet Underground, some were more Stereolab-esque. It was all rather good – good enough for me to buy the mini LP at the end of the gig. Balcony Times was a limited release which came out last October on Big Salad Records and includes a lot of what they played. Resident still have some in stock and it comes recommended.
After just enough time to get to the bar and back, Foxes! took to the stage. Foxes! and Milk & Biscuits are about as different as two indie bands could be – while Milk & Biscuits are all about layers and textures and soporific atmospherics, Foxes! are all about the three minute indie pop song, the lyrics and vitality. At the centre of the band is Kayla Bell, who takes care of vocal and drumming duty. If I had one complaint about the gig, it would be that the drums were placed where a normal band would place their drums – where the drummer is also the lead vocalist, that isn’t so appropriate. But you can’t really complain when the songs are so catchy and so well performed. They rattled through their repertoire with barely a breath inbetween each track. In Foxes! world, short is sweet. Their lyrics are a break from the norm too – I’m sure I won’t hear any other lyrics any time soon about peoples dogs getting anal cancer. Towards the end of the set, they played their track Christmas Songs – it’s quite a measure of Foxes vim that where most band’s Christmas songs are their at the upbeat end of their catalogue, Foxes Christmas track was one of the least upbeat. When they left the stage, they didn’t come back for an encore – In true lo-fi indie style they were off to man the merchandise stall.
Foxes! debut album is should be out in a few weeks time, so we’ll be reviewing that closer to the date. In the meantime, here’s Big Salad Records website and here are Foxes! on Facebook.
Shrag first came to my attention (musically at least) last year when I saw them supporting Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Concorde. I fell in love with them immediately – they reminded me of loads of the bands I loved in the mid nineties – Prolapse, The Delgados, Bis and Heavenly. Funny then, that support at the gig was Tender Trap – fronted by Amelia Fletcher, who also fronted Heavenly all those years ago. For most of Tender Trap’s set, Shrag lead singer Helen King stood at the front transfixed. It must be quite an honour to have one of your heroes supporting you at a gig in your hometown. Since this is the Brighton Music Blog, not the Oxford Music Blog, so I’ll skip over Tender Trap’s support and head straight onto Shrag’s set. They played a roughly equal mix of tracks from 2010’s Life! Death! Parties!, earlier tunes and songs written for their upcoming album due to be released next year on Fortuna Pop. The band don’t really aim for professional – the start was delayed by a couple of minutes while the bassist was fetched from the bar, and when a string broke on Bob Brown’s guitar, he didn’t have another spare guitar to swap with, instead having to use keyboard player Steph Goodman’s, which was “impossible to tune”. But it doesn’t matter one jot – I’d rather see a band who are funny, and intense, and who I can relate to instead. Their set was over far too quickly – one of the downsides of fast paced punky indie pop. Let’s hope they play again soon when their album comes out in the spring.
Shrag
Tonight (probably last night by the time you read this) was the November Juice New Music night at the Green Door store, which was their last night there before they move to their new venue, The Haunt. Ice Black Birds were originally billed as the headliners, but as the gig approached, some “special guests” were added to the bill, and the gig transformed into a hometown gig for The Ordinary Boys, who have got back together to do a proper farewell tour.
I only caught the last few songs by first act Elle Kaye. Maybe I’d come in too late, or maybe my tastes lie elsewhere, but they didn’t really push my buttons. Next up were BirdEatsBaby, who you may have spotted gracing the front cover of Unsigned Magazine which is doing the rounds around town. They had a much stronger look and a much stronger sound (in my opinion), but tucking away the frontwoman at the side of the stage didn’t do them any favours. I reckon they need to sign up a keyboard player to bring the band to their full potential. Next up were Ice Black Birds, who had the Ordinary Boys not been around, would have made great headliners. They sounded great, they had the songs, and they looked as if they needed to be in a band playing their music. Definitely ones to watch. And then The Ordinary Boys, who made it all look so effortless. Preston is much smaller in real life, but on stage he had so much presence. They had the advantage of songs that were familiar to some of the audience (although somewhat surprisingly, the crowd wasn’t packed with Ordinary Boys fans), and rounded off their set with Boys Will Be Boys.
As I mentioned, this was the last Juice New Music Night at the Green Door Store, and next month’s night – their Christmas Party – will be at The Haunt, and will be headlined by Kidda who are signed to Skint Records.
Brighton Music Blog 