THE GIG LIST – NUMBER 21

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February has picked up a fair few gig highlights in Brighton already with Late Of The Pier, Wild Beasts and Elbow due to play, as well as the NME Tour hitting town. An amazing blend of tastes, ages, styles and clout for the circuit to showcase for Brighton’s lovely residents. Here’s a couple of fresh listings that should also be well worth making note of…

DAS POP
I cannot stand Alphabeat. Really. They’re the kind of sugar-infused pop that’s simply too sickly even in the smallest of portions. It therefore goes that I should also dislike Das Pop just as much, as there’s certainly enough of a similarity. It’s the kind of 80′s-tinged pop that takes too much from the period that’s shelved under ‘wrong’ – i.e. the Kenny Loggins, (see the song Footloose), kind of beat and glaringly obvious melodies – you know exactly where the next 16 beats are going to go. Where as the 80′s-tinged pop La Roux goes for is all Prince, Eurythmics and The Cocteau Twins – i.e. superb. However, my notice was prompted by the fact that Das Pop comes with a blessing from the likes of Justice, SebastiAn and Soulwax. Hmm. Upon further investigation they’ve grown on me. It’s less McFly and more Ladyhawke and apparently their live set is something to behold, with their swinging basslines and funked-up fun. It is with this that I point you to their mid-Feb club night in New Hero. Get drunk, step up and don’t forget to wear your dayglo leg warmers…

ACT: DAS POP
VENUE: NEW HERO, Lower Dyke Road, Brighton
COST: £ 6.00 +
DATE: 13th February 2009
WEBSITE: Myspace

HEELS CATCH FIRE
As previously pointed out to so lovingly in The Recommender 23 recently, this Brighton based 4-piece are well worth a few of your finest shillings to see live. They play very tight sets of angular, fast-paced Indie. It’s all about the guitars with these guys. You wouldn’t be too wide of the mark thinking of a kind of Maximo Park on fast forward. It’s never too heavy to or too brash to make you switch off. The songs drive along as if heading for a brick wall, only to swerve to safety at the last minute. It’s high octane, brilliant stuff. Elliot’s vocals lift the scene from the page and together this provides the melody that sits neatly on top of the guitars riffs. Set for a promising 2009, they play at Brighton’s NME club night, just a few weeks before they head off to the awesome SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas. There’s no better showcase for new bands anywhere in the world than at this Texan party, so catch them now, before any triumphant return from the States.

ACT: HEELS CATCH FIRE
VENUE: COALITION, Club NME, Brighton Beach
COST: Free
DATE: 11th February 2009
WEBSITE: Myspace

Don’t allow either of the above gigs to slip under your radar in what will prove a busy month in February. At least now you can’t say that you haven’t been warned. See you there…

Mike

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THE RECOMMENDER – NUMBER 23

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It’s been a while since I listed a Brighton band on here and being from the greatest of UK cities for new music it surprises me it’s taken this long between posts. Suffice to say, I am plumped up and encouraged to be able to list not one, but three Brighton-based recommendations on this post. The other weekend I found myself out on the piss with two of the below bands and for a group of people making such spiky, punked Indie music, they’re a actually a bunch of very lovely folk indeed. This Brighton-themed post will therefore be dedicated to Laura, Elliot, Tim and Andy…

MATHS CLASS
Indie-Punk music should be an attitude right? Perhaps not anymore? Surely the guys playing it should be just as hard-edged as the music, right? Well not anymore. This 5-piece are all about allowing the music to be plenty sharp enough without all that necessary dicking around. Does anybody outside the NME office really enjoy all that Frank Carter abuse when the Gallows play? Most of these bands put the attitude first and quickly forget the music. Don’t get me wrong, Maths Class are plenty lively enough when you see their set, (although they’re still doing that thing where they rarely look up at the crowd whilst playing), but they are enjoying an ever-growing locker of fast-paced tuneage. As they peel out of town to play in Paris the buzz in Brighton increases. Like the band below, they play out a guitar set that involves rapid bass notes and a lead that’s all about the sharp riffing. We love it. Certainly at their best when they layer the vocals with Andy and Piers joining in. It’s an obvious comparison, but if you enjoy the Foals and Late Of The Pier, then you’ll enjoy these fella’s. We’ll be watching their rise closely…

Find them here:         Myspace

Hear them here:        MATHS CLASS – NERVES (ysi)

HEELS CATCH FIRE
So this is the second of our Brighton highlights that I wanted to loyally dish the opinions on today. The speed and frenetic energy that these guys possess in their pacey Indie music is astonishingly bright. With Elliott on vocals I really don’t quite know how he riffs such up-the-neck guitar sounds whilst keeping one eye on fronting the singing. Add Laura’s superb guitaring stage left and the power soars. We walked into the room during a recent gig, they’d already begun, and we had one of those moments when the door opens and wham!! we received a slap in the face from the noise they generated – that’s what gigs are all about. Relentless, yet always enjoyable, with a strong chorus to whip you up, this 4-piece are bouncing around the circuits as if, well, their heels were indeed on fire. Catch them soon at the NME club night at Coalition, (…or wait for us here at The Recommender to remind you in an upcoming ‘Gig List’ posting…)

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:       HEELS CATCH FIRE – A BRIGHT LIGHTS NOT WHITE (ysi)

DOLL & THE KICKS
If a tour suporting Morrissey is a sign of good promise, then this band are well tipped for a huge 2009. The last of my Brighton highlights today, these guys and dolls are supplying us with an attractive soundscape. They play out a spellbinding variety of pace, with tunes sometimes a funky, slower rhythm that then float into the middle of a song, before splashing out into a brilliant, lively crash. Hannah, (or Doll if you want to get the set up), is on lead vocals and provides obvious comparisons to Kate Bush, ( – it seems this crops up in so many reviews of the recent batch of female singers – see Little Boots, or La Roux, or Marina & The Diamonds this year already – are we spotting a theme here!!), although I personally recognize more of Blondie in her.  Having met at Sussex University in Brighton they are already, just three years later, a shining light in the local scene. They seem to have set their sights on an album release in 2009, following their single release (see below) late last year, so look out for much exposure in the run up.

Find them here:        Myspace

Hear them here:      DOLL & THE KICKS – ROLL UP THE RED CARPET (ysi)

It’s great to be part of a city that, outside London, shows off some of the best new bands on the scene. As we wade into the Spring and Summer festival circuit expect a batch of showcases from the above bands and no doubt plenty of new discoveries to add to the already exciting horizon.

Mike

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