IS BRIGHTON NEXT?

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We’re not entirely sure if a bonafide music scene can actually exist in a city anymore. Since that damn Internet thingy got invented it seems that everyone’s “into a bit of everything“, so tribes don’t properly exist in large numbers like they used to in decades gone by, and scenes -where lots of bands share a sound, a fashion or a culture – don’t generally gather much momentum in the modern era. These days, what we seem to have in their place is simply a bunch of bands, from all ends of the spectrum and a multitude of genres, that appear from the same geographical location, but that’s all that seems to link them.

A few years ago you had Manchester, with the likes of Everything Everything, Egyptian Hip Hop, Hurts, Delphic and Wu Lyf all appearing over a short period of time, sending A&R men up north into a clamouring frenzy. Soon after you had Oxford, with the bands that revolved around a kind of creative scene called Blessing Force, but that was more of a scene mainly because the protagonists were mates, some living together and lets face it Oxford’s so small that it would be easy to unify. Still, it brought us the likes of Trophy Wife, Fixers, Jonquil, Pet Moon and our favourites, Chad Valley.

Not to be outdone, that scene’s subsequently been followed up by Newcastle, no doubt earning a moan by those poor A&R men, who must have felt like travelling salesman in recent years. Out of the North East came Polarsets, Lanterns On The Lake, Let’s Buy Happiness and Mammal Club, among others. All of these are blindingly good, but like all of the other cities scenes these bands share virtually nothing in common in their music or choice of genre. If everyone is into “a bit of everything” these days it’s perhaps no surprise that so many disparate artists can co-exist.

And so to Brighton. Are we next? For such a small city there’s a surprisingly large number of new bands existing at any one time. Perhaps it’s the city’s famous youth culture, or the popular Brighton Music College, or the plethora of small and mid-sized venues, or perhaps it’s the proximity to London? Numbers vary depending on who you speak with but we’ve heard there’s a approximately 300-400 bands floating around at any one time. So why would we consider 2011 any different from any other year? Well, it seems that this year there’s been a sharp rise in quality. Coverage of Brighton artists on the likes of NME and the tastemaker blogs has been widespread as well as radio plays and industry excitement.

Once again they share zero in common other than the place they call home, and many of them weren’t actually born here, but Brighton can claim them as their own. The genres are spread so wide that even if you are into “a bit of everything” it would still be hard to like them all equally. However, the quality is outstanding and the buzz from the underground impossible to ignore. We list below a small selection of tracks from the shortlist, and although it’s not definitive, as there’s plenty of other bands that are arriving all the time, it should give you a decent idea of why we think Brighton is ripe for a new scene. Let us know your thoughts in our comments and we’d love to know if you believe we’ve missed any obvious bands? (MB)

CURXES

REGAL SAFARI

BLANC

LITTLE LOUD

GROSS MAGIC

PHORIA

RIZZLE KICKS

CAVE PAINTING

FEAR OF MEN

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MONSTA

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If we mention the genre of pop to you who do you think of? Britney? Rhianna? JLS? They are all totally fair answers, as there’s often a lot of mainstream and stardom associated with pop – we often think of the ‘pop star’ – so it’s not surprising those kinds of names come to mind. Unfortunately with that type of star there’s also a lot of elements that are manufactured, in order for the star to be fully propelled into the lucrative limelight. Sadly, in pursuit of the important dollars we notice that a lot of the pop music can suffer, as a stream of similar songs are created and handed out to them by the labels. It homogenizes the genre and puts a lot of people off, save for a large number of 14 year old girls. Hopefully today we can show you an example of a new group that are making proper pop music, with enough integrity and edge to warrant just as much broad attention.

There’s a twist in this story though as two out of the three people behind Monsta are a production duo called Rocky and Rufio, who are perhaps better known as Pegasus. They’ve helped major label artists, such as Gary Barlow and Daisy Dares You, write hits in the studio, so when we talk of manufactured pop, this duo are one of the silent machines in the background who help to spit it out. Another solo artist they’ve previously worked with, called Bryn Christopher, (who’s signed to Polydor), has joined to become the third member of the team. It’s his clean, soulful voice that makes up the trio now calling itself Monsta. This blurs the lines between the manufactured and the genuinely authentic like never before, but what we do know is their music sounds like a sting of hit singles in waiting.

Monsta harnesses the machine-tooled pop of the modern era, but they effortlessly inject the kind of soul that pop’s creators once developed decades ago. Pop wasn’t pioneered by Britney or Rhianna, they simply borrowed lessons from a genre that used to be packed with integrity, especially in the 60s, where soulful hit machines ruled the airwaves, or in the 70s and 80s when sexual synths arrived in the form of Madonna, alongside the dance moves of Michael Jackson. Monsta blend that soulful depth with exciting synthetics, but also add in more contemporary heavy basslines and massive beats. It’s a deadly concoction that should have a big appeal, as what is pop designed for if not to be hugely popular.

The track Destroya begins with a familiar pop production before the beats begin to march in. Bryn’s vocals seem to be sped up from his solo work, giving them an enjoyable styled tweak. It sounds like the kind of tune Justin Timberlake would have loved to get his hands on. Where Did I Go sounds like the missing tune from a Cee Lo Green album, sharing a similar slower pace with Never Ever, which also contains a more urban twist. In fact they share quite a few genes with Gnarls Barkley, so fans of that accessible pop music will adore this. As you would imagine the production is immaculately put together, with masterful touches throughout each of the songs. As if to push home the soulful elements of their music they’ve also covered I Heard It Through The Grapevine to good effect.

The hit in waiting has to be Holdin’ On, which hooks you from the outset. It’s very sample-heavy, like a Pretty Lights tune, but it marries Bryn’s strong vocals over a punchy bassline to wonderful effect. Like a lot of their songs they’re designed for the radio, further proving that we’re dealing with a team that fully understand how to write singles. Because of this we can expect them to be signed up very soon, if they’re not already. Their debut gig is on Tuesday 20th September at The Water Rats in London and with their combined experience we expect a performance to match the polish. Here lies a lesson in not only mixing the right ingredients for commercial success, but utilising those people with the genuine skills in which to deliver them. (MB)

MONSTA – HOLDIN’ ON

MONSTA – DESTROYA

MONSTA – GRAPEVINE (cover)

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