Memorial Waterslides | Brighton Music Blog

Taken from their official debut album Memorial Waterslides – last year’s Music for Films doesn’t count because it was, as the title suggests, soundtrack works – Memorials described Lamplighter as “the poppiest song on the album”. You can’t argue with that, but I’d love to see the effect that the swirling organs (they built their own Mellotron for the track) and driving krautrock drums might have on someone who’s spent 2024 on a diet of Charli XCX and Taylor Swift. It was a toss up for me as to whether to put Lamplighter or A Guaranty of Sanity into my end of year list, but including a track tucked towards the end of a relatively low key EP release might sound like I was trying a bit too hard. The Centre Pompidou EP does deserve a mention though, since it includes a track which unlocks a Memorials easter egg which has probably passed most listeners by: The album, Memorial Waterslides, includes the track Memorial Waterslide II – three and a half minutes of uncompromising free jazz. The EP has a completely different track called Memorial Waterslide, made up of funky hip hop loops, which sounds wholly unrelated to it’s namesake. Play them both at the same time though, and you get a fantastic new psych track, much much greater than the sum of it’s parts.

5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter

6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Earlier this month Memorials released their debut album Memorial Waterslides on Fire Records (last year’s Music for Film didn’t count as a debut because it was soundtracks, apparently). The duo have just completed a UK tour to support the release, starting in Scotland a couple of weeks ago and culminating in a hometown gig at Alphabet last night, supported by Emma Gattrill. A personal highlight for us was the extended version of the album’s centrepiece Memorial Waterslide II (if you’re wondering about part one, that was released on their Centre Pompidou EP earlier this year), which brought to mind some of Stereolab’s extended psychedelic tracks – indeed both bands share a manager and Laetitia Sadier was spotted in the audience at the gig (Graham Sowerby from AK/DK – playing at Alphabet next week – and David Best from Fujiya & Miyagi were also in attendance). The gig ended early without an encore which gave me the time to enjoy a drink at Alphabet’s gorgeous new bar downstairs, which feels like a sophisticated secret drinking den and might well be Brighton’s best kept secret.