200 or so bands, scattered across god-knows-how-many venues all over Brighton, taking place across three days.
It would require planning and tactical cunning on a military scale to see everything I had my beady eye on. Here, roughly, is what happened…
Thursday
“I’ve just got one question” says joint Gomez frontman Ben Ottewell. “What the fuck am I doing on the NME stage?” A good point, well made. But this doesn’t detract from his performance. Unsurprisingly though, it is old favourites like ‘Whippin’ Piccadilly’ that get the biggest cheers. He also assures everyone that the band are still very much together and have a new album in the pipeline.
Friday
First up was a beachfront venue to check out Canadian three-piece Born Ruffians. Glued in place to the world’s stickiest floor, I find myself being mighty impressed with what I hear – stompy, alternative quirk rock which is just the right side of catchy, but still done with enough attitude and technical ability to impress all.
Tempted as I was to stick around for a possible encore, I had places to be – a small, low ceilinged venue rammed full of people, to watch new synth-punk outfit Dead Kids presented by Levi Ones To Watch. “I want to smell your sweat. And your desire” growls their singer. Angrily ridiculous but with the riffs to back it up, Dead Kids put on an immensely entertaining live show that you can’t help but get involved in. Think Jump-era Van Halen on steroids, with a punk attitude and more shouting, and you’re getting close.
“We are Alphabeat and we make pop music.” Yes, you do. Unfortunately you do it very badly. Dismally in fact. Worse is the fact that the crowd appears to contain everyone who has ever shopped at Topman, and they absolutely love it. I head home wanting to cry a little bit, highly disillusioned with the world but hopeful that Saturday will hold better things…
Saturday
It’s three in the afternoon and the venue I’m in is already rammed full of people necking snakebite and falling over, waiting for Canadian thrash punk outfit Cancer Bats. This is the perfect antidote to the last night’s pop tragedy that was Alphabeat. Cancer Bats come on to a happily shouty reception and go about metalling things up with a set of solid, riff-laden hardcore that goes down a treat.
After an extended wait for the evening’s music to kick off, I stumble across a tiny venue showcasing Pivot, an Australian three-piece, recently signed to Warp, who provide the best set I see over the festival. A small(ish) but highly appreciative crowd are treated to a brilliantly tight set of laptop-happy tech-rock, much like a cross between Tortoise and Battles, with the obligatory machine-precision drumming.
On a bit of a high from Pivot, we head back to the seafront with the intention of catching some MIA-tinged remix-happy dub hop from Santogold. Apparently we were out of luck – she had lost her voice from the previous night’s performance. Great. That’ll learn her to misplace her lozenges.
Her replacement was newbie indie rock outfit The Rascals, who did a passable impression of Arctic Monkeys. Not bad, but in a live context their songs don’t have the same slight alt-weirdness that makes their recorded material more enjoyable.
Next up was the hotly-tipped Friendly Fires. A popular choice going by the size of the crowd crammed into this Levi Ones To Watch sponsored venue, this four-piece do a nice line in ruffed-up disco indie, with tracks like ‘On Board’ showing that they can also break out a sleazy house vibe when necessary. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.
So, Crystal Castles. On record they put out some decent punky electro, but seeing the live performance is where these two impossibly skinny kids from Toronto really come into their own. Their live performance also gives a clearer indication as to the ‘thrash’ label that everyone seems determined to give them. Basically, they ripped the shit out of the venue and it was fantastic, with Alice Glass spending most of her time clambering above and through the audience, all set to filthy, jagged electro backgrounds.
The obligatory ‘Crimewave’ and ‘Alice Practice’ just serve to excite an already loopy crowd, and by the time they come back on for an encore they could have played ‘Chopsticks’ and still got an ecstatic response. Thankfully they didn’t, and instead carried on with the wonderfully dirty synth textures.
A fitting end to a fine festival that seems genuinely committed to unearthing and showcasing as much new talent as is possible over a weekend. Good on them.
