GRASSHOPPER + RED DEER PEOPLE + OLM – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 3.1.18
As everyone knows, young grasshoppers can’t actually jump or play backwards, but Brighton’s very own young four piece post-punk-pseudo-goth band grasshopper (without a capital G) did play backwards, as it is a song of theirs!
To start the year off nicely, The Green Door Store hosted a trio of local talent in the form of grasshopper, Red Deer People and Olm.
Up first were Dan, Tom, and Pete who go by the mysterious name of Olm. Dan takes care of the electronics and synths side of things and Tom and Pete man the guitars. Tonight they performed an understated brief continuous set of instrumental tracks that edge towards experimental film music, which would have sat nicely on the 4AD Records or Factory Records labels back in the day.
Next up were Jo, Stuart, Sammy and Martin who go by the moniker of Red Deer People. Their name to me doesn’t actually match the music that they performed tonight for us and come to think of it neither does grasshopper.
The Red Deer People brand of melodic snarly punk went down rather well with the eclectic multi-aged audience. We were treated to a mere half a dozen tracks tonight, which consisted on their 2016 ‘Fun Fun Fun’ single followed by their new single ‘C’est Bon’ which clocks in at a mere 2 minutes. However, I particularly enjoyed the excellent ‘Johnny Sleeps With Both Eyes Open’ and also ‘Real Horror Show’, which reminded me of Gang Of Four’s gem ‘At Home He’s A Tourist’. My mate singled out their final track ‘God’s Great Workhorse’ as his highlight as it sounded like Macclesfield’s Spring King.
Red Deer People setlist tonight reads: ‘Do You Read Your Bible’, ‘Fun Fun Fun’, ‘C’est Bon’, ‘Johnny Sleeps With Both Eyes Open’, ‘Real Horror Show’ and ‘God’s Great Workhorse’.
Top of the bill tonight were Rachel, Luis, Morgan and charismatic frontman Javi, who collectively are known as grasshopper. They are only a very recent discovery for me as I uncovered their exciting new ‘Nothing Like Us’/’Scream’ 7” red vinyl platter last November when it came out. It immediately grabbed my attention, it was like whoa what’s this unreleased lost Bauhaus track! It’s amazing to learn that it’s nothing to do with Pete Murphy et al or even anything to do with The Editors too, as the vocals could also easily be those of Editors vocalist Tom Smith. Standing there in the Green Door Store watching the tall Javi, it really doesn’t computer that one so young can have such a mature deep goth-like voice – it’s quite astounding and captivating.
The guys didn’t even seem fazed when Morgan’s guitar gave up the ghost, but thanks to Jo from Red Deer People, normality was resumed. The band kept good time with Rachel’s drums and it was a really enjoyable seven song set. My highlight according to their somewhat briefly titled setlist was the one referred to as’ Leo’. Which Javi stated was an old track. This I found amusing as they are a young outfit as it stands, so they must have been about 14 at the time of writing it – impressive stuff.
The grasshopper setlist said: ‘O/R’, ‘Time’, ‘Knife’, ‘Leo’, ‘Grin’, ‘Hymn’ and ‘Backwards’
Try before you buy at:
https://bandgrasshopper.bandcamp.com/
https://reddeerpeople.bandcamp.com/
More details: https://www.facebook.com/olm.sounds/
