HARKER + MAYPINE + THE E.D. FOWLER BAND + GARY & THE YAYS – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 18.05.19
Following a long-realised dream headline tour in Japan earlier this year, Brighton punks Harker are back with a brand new single ‘Dead Ends’ out now on Wiretap Records and kicked off six date May tour at the ever popular Green Door Store in Brighton.
Harker are Mark Boniface (vocals/guitar), Phoebe Saunders (bass/vocals), Tony Ware (guitar) plus Matt Claxton (drums) and they are Brighton’s very own USA influenced fuzzy punk rockers.
The last time the guys played a home town gig was at the sadly defunkt Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar last November, and the Brighton & Hove News music team were there – read our report HERE.
It’s taken 5 years for Harker to perfect their emo-gaze sound, with their feet firmly rooted in pop music, and their heads still buzzing from the golden era of Dischord records and 90’s fuzz aggression.
Starting as a solo project in late 2014 by frontman Mark Boniface, the band has bloomed into a four piece collective powerhouse and what is now a relentless touring machine, warming up stages for the likes of Beach Slang, Ducking Punches, Creeper, Boston Manor, Spanish Love Songs, Red City Radio and many more.
The new ‘Dead Ends’ single follows on hotly from their ‘Flex Yr Head’ offering which you can watch HERE. Prior to that we had their fabulous 2018 album ‘No Discordance’, which made our ‘Top 50 Albums of 2018’ – see HERE.
Commenting on the ‘Dead Ends’ single, the band say: “We dig our own graves, pin blame on ourselves, ruin everything. Destroying what we create makes us human, the hardest part is to learn from your mistakes. Here’s to the ones who constantly feel like they are getting nowhere and are frustrated. Give yourself a catharsis, let loose—break all and rebuild. Come back stronger.”
Tonight, the single was available at the busy merch stand. Well it was bound to be busy as there were 4 bands on this evening…..
First up was Gary & The Yays who were tonight playing their first ever show, but you wouldn’t have known that unless Gary hadn’t informed us. It’s fair to say that he’s quite a confident fellow and him and his three other band members played a relatively decent premier set this evening.
It was warming to learn that all proceeds from the recently released (end of March) ten track cassette and download album entitled ‘When I Grow Up To Be A Man’, will be going to the MIND charity for mental health. Listen/purchase it HERE.
There’s even a song in tonight’s set about this subject, entitled ‘Down On The Inside’. Another tune given an outing tonight is entitled ‘Nothing Turns Out Like You Want It To’ and there was reference to Watford FC’s hammering by Man City. On a lighter note, there was a tune about the popular kids tv show called ‘You And Me’ which ran from 1974 to 1992.
The aforementioned cassette covers various music genres and styles, with my pick being the sub one minute Dickies style ‘People Say I’m The Life Of The Party Cos I Tell A Joke Or Two’. However as a live quartet, they are far less eclectic and are indie rock with slight pop overtones or as they put it, they are…”80’s-pop obsessed punk idiots desperately trying to figure out life in general”. For fans of Descendents, early Weezer, and Lemonheads. Their second live show is taking place on Thursday June 20th at The Prince Albert supporting Ogikubo Station with Mike Park & Dan Potthast – grab your tickets HERE.
Gary & The Yays setlist:
‘So, What Would You Little Maniacs Like To Do First’, ‘Is It Really So Strange’, ‘She Came Back From Yesterday’, ‘You And Me’, ‘Nothing Turns Out Like You Want It To’, ‘Down On The Inside’, ‘Goodbye’, ‘I’m The One’.
Info on Gary & The Yays is currently in short supply, but a good starting point is HERE.
Next up was The E.D Fowler Band who are a Brighton-based trio made up Effie Fowler (guitar/vocals), Helen Anderson (bass) and David Gridley (drums) who perform jolly decent alt pop/rock.
We reviewed their live performance supporting the Muncie Girls last month and reported “I enjoyed their set on several levels. Effie feels every word that is launched out of her mouth with compassion. She also has her guitar on a short strap which means that’s it’s quite a way up her tall slender ‘Thin White Duke’ physique and reminds me how Bobo from IDLES prances around the stage with his axe”.
Although they are a trio, it’s Effie who holds the limelight, and it appears that both Helen and David are happy with it this way. They let Effie express herself and to communicate with the punters with the thought process behind all of their half dozen set. Maybe the title ‘The F.E. Fowler Band’ as in Effie would be more suited?
Yep, just six tunes tonight, and one of my faves ‘Anxiety’ got dropped too, but hey I can always watch the video HERE. You can do wrong than listening out for their forthcoming track entitled ‘A Dread’ as it’s fab!
The E.D. Fowler Band setlist:
‘Say It With Your Eyes’, ‘Intimacy’, ‘Coming Out’, ‘Masculinity’, ‘She’, ‘A Dread’.
More info on The E.D Fowler Band HERE.
Main support this evening came from East Sussex’s 5-piece MAYPINE (styled in capitals), who I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing live before. The bands personnel are Jase (vocals), Dan (guitar), Becky (guitar/vocals), Tommy (bass) and James (drums).
Last summer they released their ‘Bend/Break’ EP to great acclaim, with all 4 tracks ‘Give’, ‘Kodokushi’, ‘Weather’, and ‘Together Alone’, receiving radio airplay from the likes of Radio 1, Kerrang Radio and BBC Introducing.
It’s no wonder then that this evening all four tracks got an airing as well as three other numbers, with two of which being the next single ‘Roosevelt’ and the following single after that, namely ‘Repair/Replace’. The other composition being ‘North/South Divide’ which I’m sure the guys won’t mind me flagging the similarity of the sound of that with Blink 182.
It’s funny because when they started their opening number (‘Weather’), there was absolutely no indication of what was to come. It was nice and melancholic and akin to New Order and then the powerful sound kicked in. Before we knew it ‘Roosevelt’ was blasting out and will be adored by fans of Nirvana and if your name is Ade Fenton.
‘Repair/Replace’ reminded me of local Brighton duo SONS, minus the tattoos, and then bam, the mighty bass guitar kicks in – fabulous stuff! With the last track ‘Together Alone’ we were back in Nirvana territory again. No wonder they have supported the likes of Silverstein, Dream State plus As It Is. I’m expecting great things from these guys as they play a powerful tight set and would do no wrong in supporting the likes of Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes and IDLES.
MAYPINE setlist:
‘Weather’, ‘Roosevelt’, ‘Give’, ‘Repair/Replace’, ‘Kodokushi’, ‘North/South Divide’, ‘Together Alone’.
More info on MAYPINE HERE.
Well where do you go from there? Time for Harker I guess. Once again as with every Harker gig I have been fortunate to witness, it’s been heads down, backs bent forwards and off we go! No messin’ with this lot.
Suffice to say that vocalist Mark was particularly buzzing as this was the gig for the launch of their new EP, before they set off to London, Leeds,Glasgow, Lincoln and finally Bristol in order to ply their wares.
Again it was a tight, fast, powerful, consistent set from this modern day Brighton punk band. We were served ten tracks, including a new one called ‘Low Ceilings’ and my fave of the night was the penultimate song ‘Plague Your Heart’ as it’s more the standard punk that I’ve grown up with. And that as they say was a small onion….’shallot!’.
Hopefully, they won’t leave it another six months before they play a home town gig again.
Harker setlist:
‘23’, ‘Hellion’, ‘Sometimes Dead Is Better’, ‘Dead Ends’, ‘Low Ceilings’, ‘Caught Up’, ‘Station Approach’, ‘Flex Yr Head’, ‘Plague Your Heart’, ‘300 Cigarettes’
More info on Harker HERE.
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