THUMPER + SLANT – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 27.10.21
It’s totally beyond me why Irish sextet THUMPER aren’t as big as IDLES and Fontaines DC. It seems they are currently under the radar of many folk at present, but surely it’s only a matter of time before they break through…or smash through more like!
Seems The Irish Times have high hopes for the band too, as their journalist Tony Clayton Lea has gone on record stating “THUMPER are the future rock and roll icons we’ve been waiting for. Four guitarists stage front and 2 drummers, they create “a sonic thrust impossible to ignore”. Plus The Undertones lead singer (and Today FM DJ) Paul MacLoone, has described the THUMPER sound as “Raucous tunesmithery”. Whereas Golden Plec announced that “THUMPER has quickly become one of the most exciting live bands in Ireland. They leave an indelible mark in your memory after a performance”, and IMPOSE Magazine says that THUMPER are “New, exciting, revolutionary, and outright inspiring”.
It’s evident that there’s tons of love out there for THUMPER, and anyone who has so far had the good fortune of witnessing them perform live, will totally understand why the band are topping the “Ones To Watch” lists and constantly selling out shows.
The future of rock and roll looks bright when these wide-eyed rock stars perform. For instance, check out the video for their ‘Ad Nauseum’ single HERE and also ‘(You’re Bringing Me) Down’ HERE and you can see the real potential that they have.
Our concert tonight in the independently run family owned Prince Albert pub at the top of Trafalgar Street, close by to Brighton mainline railway station was organised by One Inch Badge promoters and featured one of the very best music performance of the year so far and that’s a bold statement, considering how many bands I have already witnessed this year.
THUMPER, who hail from Dublin, were performing in Brighton in support of their latest single ‘The Loser’ which was dropped this week. Watch the accompanying video HERE. They will be releasing their debut album at the end of February 2022. It will contain 11 tracks and I for one can’t wait as it’s likely to be my album of the year or thereabouts!
Tonight’s nine track set commenced at 9:29pm and concluded at 10:27pm and for 58 minutes the band mesmerised the whole crowd. The unit comprises Oisin Leahy Furlong (lead vocals/guitar), Alan Dooley (Gibson guitar/vocals), Alex Harvey (guitar/vocals), Dav Campbell (bass), Stevie D’Arcy (drums) and Benedict Warner-Clayton who has this year replaced Shane Holly on drums.
Tonight THUMPER opened with ‘Topher Grace’ which most certainly set a marker for the rest of the night. The quality of the whole set was seriously high, with no duff numbers whatsoever, but having said that, I wouldn’t expect any less from this excellent outfit.
Their two drummers Stevie and new boy Benedict were dictating the beat in a Sigue Sigue Sputnik style, whilst the guitars and bass threw out everything that they had to offer. I have always been partial to bands with two drummers as they look so cool and balanced, like The Glitter Band, Adam & The Ants and Sigue Sigue Sputnik used to have.
THUMPER tunes are in the main not three-minute wonders, but jostle you along and then blast in your face as they go up a gear or two.
‘Summer Assault’ was up next and this was followed by ‘25’, when the lads really got it together behind Oisin’s singing with a wall of guitar and drum barrage. New number ‘The Engine’ followed, which is for THUMPER dare I say a tad more melodic than the numbers that have been written before. But then true to form the screechy guitars and pummelling double drumming kicked in.
‘Greedy Guts’ starts rather quietly with a trio of harmonies and continues along the same vein. Then bang on 10pm, the double drummers begin their awesome Sputnik intro to ‘Ad Nauseum’ and Oisin sings “On and on and on and on” and the band are a very tight unit. They didn’t even need setlists as they all knew what was required of them. The Gretsch and Fender guitars and Fender bass were in perfect harmony as were the drummers. It was a sight to behold.
New single ‘The Loser’ was next and this was followed by ‘Fear Of Art’. Their final number was ‘(You’re Bringing Me) Down’ with its Glitter Band style drumming. Oisin decided to join us in the crowd and his microphone lead was long enough for him to reach the bar at the back of the room, whereby he ordered a pint whilst still singing! Legend! ‘Down’ is one of those songs that builds and builds until it hits an awesome crescendo and was the perfect way to finish their very enjoyable performance at 10:27pm.
We headed off to their merch stand and T-shirts and a cassette tape were purchased. Happy days!
Thumper setlist:
‘Topher Grace’
‘Summer Assault’
‘25’
‘The Engine’
‘Greedy Guts’
‘Ad Nauseum’
‘The Loser’
‘Fear Of Art’
‘(You’re Bringing Me) Down’
Find Thumper on the web:
Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bandcamp / YouTube / Spotify
Support this evening came from SLANT who are Katy Smith (vocals), Frankie Stanley (vocals), Aurora Bennett (drums), Jamie Broughton (Fender guitar) and James Virtue (Fender bass).
They themselves say that they “are an inter-galactic powerhouse” who draw “glam-rock back out of the ether and merging it with a riot grrrl energy”. They released their debut single ‘Haircut’ last year which was followed up with the alt-pop/disco track ‘La Danse’. Both of which get an outing today.
SLANT commenced their nine song 35 minute set at 8:32pm with ‘Nightcrawlers’, which was followed by ‘Poly’. Their format is Korg keys (which is shared between Frankie and Katy), guitar, bass, expressive drumming and somewhat quirky perfectly harmonious expressive female dual vocals, which results in toe tapping energy.
‘La Danse’ was up next and it featured some frenetic guitar work from Jamie and is a single which can be found on Spotify. ‘Haircut’ followed with its Nirvana ‘Come As You Are’ style guitar arrangement and Kate Bush style vocals.
New baby ‘Eat The Moon’ got an outing next and hit streaming services this Friday. ‘The Cat Who Got The Cream’ was tonight getting it’s debut live debut with its Kate Bush influenced vocals leading and several members singing at the same time. You’d never know it was their first performance of the song.
‘Wallow City’ with its beat changes came next, which certainly got your feet tapping and legs wobbling. ‘Modest’ was the penultimate number with great bass lines and vocals. Their set concluded with ‘Punch Ups’, which was a great choice. They finished at 9:07pm.
SLANT setlist:
‘Nightcrawlers’
‘Poly’
‘La Danse’
‘Haircut’
‘Eat The Moon’
‘The Cat That Got The Cream’
‘Wallow City’
‘Modest’
‘Punch Ups’
Visit SLANT’s ‘linktree’ HERE.
