Brighton after dark: 17 June 2014

Ben Bailey on anti-folk, hardcore and wonk rock

Jeffrey Lewis (Green Door Store, Wed 18 June) returns to Brighton this week in yet another incarnation, swapping last year’s backing band The Junkyard for a new female rhythm section going by the name The Jrams. Whatever those names mean is by-the-way, the essence of his kooky lo-fi songwriting remains unchanged. From the same New York stable as Adam Green and Kimya Dawson, Lewis writes the sort of scrappy, lyrically direct ditties that used to be called anti-folk.

Though that label seems a little silly in retrospect, its purpose was to flag up the punky, subversive sentiments of music made with acoustic instruments. That’s not to say Jeffrey doesn’t know how to rock out (almost every album has its token noisy number), just that he’s more interested in telling it like it is, or just telling a story. His lyrics, delivered in a love-it-or-loathe-it monotone drawl, are the main draw here. Whether he’s off on a rant about the music biz or pondering a romance-that-never-was, the songs are always amusing, often stuffed with subculture references and, at their best, genuinely life-affirming.

Taking over from bands like Black Flag and Minor Threat, Bl’ast! (Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar, Mon 23 June) took the oomph of metal and the urgency of punk and created a compelling fusion of weird, abrasive riffs (arguably, they also prefigured the trend of putting pointless punctuation into band names). Despite splitting on the brink of the ’90s, the California punks clearly inspired some of the grunge bands that came through around then. Last year Dave Grohl put out a remixed and remastered version of the band’s 1987 album It’s In My Blood. His version beefed up the production, gained the band a wave of new fans and inspired them to reform, roping in members of Queens Of The Stone Age to fill in the line-up. And now they’re touring.

William D Drake (The Brunswick, Sat 21 June) joined legendary wonk rockers Cardiacs in 1983 after frontman Tim Smith wrote a fiendishly difficult keyboard part to test his skills. Drake performed it with ease and ended up becoming an important element in the band’s distinctive sound. Proponents of a frenetic and highly-complex kind of prog-punk, Cardiacs were roundly ignored by the music press of the day despite gaining a large and loyal following. A fair few of them will be turning up to watch Drake and his new band, now on their fourth album. There’s still a whimsical art rock element to his solo stuff, but it’s mellowed into something more serene and stately. Inspired as much by the idea of forgotten folk songs as by pop psychedelia, Drake can be many things to many people. He’ll always be a top musician.

Brighton Noise
James McLarnon on the week’s best gigs

Glastonbury is approaching, traditionally signalling the start of UK ‘festival season’, which means we see a temporary reduction in the international touring outfits coming our way. The exceptions this week being Sean Nicolas Savage’s (Friday, Green Door Store) electro indie-pop, horror punk pioneers The Misfits (Monday, Concorde 2) and honey-voiced San Franciscan folky singer-songwriter Ed Prosek (Thursday, Green Door Store).

What better time, then, to feature the abundance of local talent that we have? A personal favourite Brighton band are Sealings (Friday, Fitzherberts). They specialise in a shoegaze-informed post-punk that wouldn’t sound out of place on the seminal Jesus and Mary Chain album, Psychocandy. The three-piece have gigged and released solidly since their formation over five years ago, steadily increasing their profile on record labels such as Italian Beach Babes and Too Pure. We understand they now have a debut album ready, which should see them gain a greater level of national recognition. Their live show is ferocious; even the gaps between songs are filled with relentless walls of feedback as they power through their, normally brief, set. Support comes from midlands based art-punkers Furrow, as well as Lifestyles, who contain members of Joanna Gruesome, Playlounge and Shudder Pulps.

If that all sounds a little too noisy Phoria (Saturday, Haunt) may well be up your street. They are five Brighton-dwelling lads who are rising to prominence suddenly. BBC 6 Music made ‘Emanate’ Track of The Week, whilst Gigwise tipped them as a “must see” of over 300 bands at this year’s Great Escape. Their sound is difficult to pin down: they can be minimal electro like James Blake, yet when the band cut loose they incorporate African elements into their sound much like Vampire Weekend. This show will be celebrating the release of their new EP The Display and the band will be backed by a string quartet to ensure maximum gorgeousness.

Any lovers of krautrock should make sure they catch Nope (Wednesday, Cowley Club) who feature two drummers one of whom, Jonathan Nash, is a member of the highly regarded Leeds band Hookworms. Support comes from Sweet Williams’ Lorah Pierre.

Finally Brighton Noise are putting on a show at the Prince Albert on Sunday featuring a host of local artists paying tribute to the songs of Townes Van Zandt the legendary alt-country godfather who sadly passed away in 1997. Come along and say hello!

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