RISKEE AND THE RIDICULE + THE BLUE CARPET BAND + THE MELBIES – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 19.11.21
Grime-punk outfit Riskee & The Ridicule, from Ashford in Kent, are very much a band of the people. Formed in 2011, they have taken the DIY route, and forged an impressive reputation through crowd-funded recordings and blistering live shows. Their music is an exciting blend that fuses elements of punk, metal and hip-hop, whilst big vocal hooks alternate with urgent bursts of fiercely passionate rapping. Unashamedly political, they wear their hearts on their sleeves and tell it how it is. After the enforced hiatus of the pandemic, it’s good to see them back on the road, and I’m very much looking forward to tonight’s show.
The venue is Patterns, on the seafront, and it’s an early start. There’s some confusion on the door whether the venue is actually open yet, even though the first act can clearly be heard starting up. Ever stylish, The Blue Carpet Band have just rolled up in the coolest gig wagon I’ve ever seen, a vintage fire engine, so to circumvent any argument I help them carry some gear in.
Sure enough, The Melbies are on stage and their set is underway. Hailing from Dover in Kent, they describe themselves as ‘DIY nerd punk’, and have previously been known as Mel’s B or Melisandre’s Beaver. Usually a three-piece, tonight they have additional guitarist Charlie Miller thrashing away house right, bobbing a shock of brown hair. Centre stage is the tall figure of bassist and vocalist Mac McNamara, looking cool in a baseball cap and a shemagh scarf, busily riffing on an Epiphone Explorer. Lead vocals are shared with guitarist Daniel Drew, whose T-shirt features Kryten from ‘Red Dwarf’, a possible clue to the ‘nerd’ tag. Completing the lineup, drummer James Nesbitt is giving Riskee’s kit a proper pounding.
Musically, the sound strikes me as pop-punk, with strong tunes and great hooks. The lyrics have a charmingly playful quality. ‘Charge Up!’ is particularly catchy, and made even more satisfying by the front row all bouncing in unison. ‘Brother’ is introduced as being about Hulk Hogan, which brings to mind Bowling For Soup singing about wrestler Alexa Bliss. ‘Reboot Me’ is a recent single, and I’m rather taken with ‘If Only We Were Serious’, whose poppy vibe is punctuated with beautifully cascading drum fills of fancy triplets. The set concludes with the splendidly titled ‘Rest In Pizza’. The artwork of the band’s 2018 debut album featured a person-shaped pepperoni in coffin-shaped packaging, and I’m very pleased to see that theme continuing, with tonight’s setlist scrawled on the back of an obviously used pizza box.
The Melbies are a lot of fun and worthy of further investigation. They have recently joined the impressive roster of Kent label Bad Granola, so hopefully we’ll be hearing a lot more from them soon.
The Melbies:
Daniel Drew – guitar/vocals
Mac McNamara – bass/vocals
James ‘Nesbo’ Nesbitt – drums/vocals
Charlie Miller – guitar
The Melbies setlist:
‘Harambe’, ‘Truth Be Told’, ‘Data!’, ‘Charge Up!’, ‘Brother’, ‘Reboot Me’, ‘If Only We Were Serious’, ‘Sausagefest’, ‘I’m Sorry Indy’, ‘Rest In Pizza’
www.facebook.com/TheMelbies
themelbies.bandcamp.com
The Blue Carpet Band are from London, and when not cruising around like the Trumpton Fire Brigade they play a spectacularly raw and visceral sort of punk rock’n’roll. Their publicity material invites you to imagine Little Richard fronting The Stooges, which is pretty much spot on. There have been a few personnel changes, but the constant is vocalist Djamel Abina, who oozes star quality and is as dynamic a frontman as you could ever wish for. The lineup, featuring Brendan on guitar, has been augmented with the addition of second guitarist Stan and drummer Ant from psychobilly legends Demented Are Go. Most recent recruit is Marie on bass, tonight playing her second show with the band.
Opener ‘Rock’n’Roll Carpet’, the title track of their debut album, has a sense of urgency and a gloriously descending chorus riff. The venue is steadily filling up, but most of the crowd are hanging back from the stage. No problem, Djamel will go to them. As the hypnotically intense groove of ‘No Cadillac’ pounds out, he is over the tubular barrier with an athletic bound, and taking it to the people. “Hair in a quiff, jacket’s black. No, I can’t get nowhere with no Cadillac!” The song concludes with a particularly satisfying guitar playout from black-clad Stan, who is house right, wrangling some impressive riffage from a matching black Les Paul. His flat-capped counterpart Brendan, house left, finds himself playing ‘Mental Case’ with Djamel kneeling at his feet. The bequiffed vocalist has discarded his leather jacket to reveal a snazzy leopard print shirt.
‘I Don’t Wanna Go Home’ sees the main man again leaping into the audience. The song has a breakdown with a long pause, sufficient for him to hang his mic over the barrier and casually walk around the PA stacks back to the stage before launching the raucous conclusion.
‘Back In The Trash’ was a single pressed on 7” vinyl, as will recent release ‘B-Movie Boogie’ be if sufficient pre-orders are received. Head to the Bomber Music website and make it so!
Bassist Marie is concentrating hard, but locking in nicely with drummer Ant to provide a solid rhythmic foundation. She makes a colourful addition, with punky attire and two tone hair. Djamel has his shirt off by the final number, ‘Hangover Cure’, which sees him back in the crowd and crashing to the venue floor to lie prostrate at the set’s dramatic conclusion. Rest assured, this is all part of the act, and he’s soon back on stage, serenading us with an acapella rendition of ‘Up The Lazy River’ while the band pack their gear away.
The Blue Carpet Band have killer tunes, boundless energy, and genuine star quality in frontman Djamel. They and their fire engine will definitely be going places in the near future.
The Blue Carpet Band:
Djamel Abina – vocals
Brendan Stitch – guitar
Marie Terry – bass
Stan Standen – guitar
Ant Thomas – drums
The Blue Carpet Band setlist:
‘Rock’n’Roll Carpet’, ‘No Cadillac’, ‘Mental Case’, ‘Right Behind You’ (Ray Smith cover), ‘I Don’t Wanna Go Home’, ‘Back In The Trash’, ‘B-Movie Boogie’, ‘My Jacket’s Better Than Your Jacket’, ‘Ain’t Got No Damn Rock’n’Roll’, ‘Slow Death’, ‘I Love The City’, ‘Hangover Cure’
www.facebook.com/bluecarpetband
The venue has filled up still further ready for the main event. Riskee & The Ridicule open with ‘Nobody Likes Us’, which doubtless refers to their proud status as music industry outsiders, but is plainly not true in this particular room, where they are very popular indeed. The heavily bearded figure of Jimbo wields a Telecaster house right, an oasis of charm and calm amidst the ensuing mayhem. His guitarist counterpart Jordan is house left, favouring a Strat. The bass guitar position has been fluid just recently, with low end duties tonight falling to Maz, who sports thick rimmed specs and a broad grin. Matt thunders around the kit, and vocalist Scott prowls the stage, his muscular frame constrained by a tightly buttoned Fred Perry shirt. He is a skilled rapper and a mesmeric frontman, with cropped hair and an impressive neck tattoo as the centrepiece of an extensive array of body art.
There’ll be a gap in my notes now as the next song is ‘Banger’, which is exactly as its title suggests, closely followed by the spectacularly incendiary ‘Kaboom!’. These are two of my absolute favourites, and I’m busy bouncing and pinballing around in a particularly vigorous mosh. The crowd is a respectable size, but not densely packed, so there is enough space for the dancers to bring some momentum to the ensuing collisions.
Needless to say a few drinks go up in the air, to add a skid risk to the kinetic hazards. It’s all good natured though, and there are plenty of willing hands to right any toppled patrons.
‘Blue Jacket’, a single from last year, has the aftermath of Brexit in its sights. With a steadier pace, most of the power lies in the vitriol of the lyrics. ‘Accelerate’, on the other hand, does exactly what its title suggests, and there are some bold crowd surfing exploits, audience density notwithstanding.
‘Young And Beautiful’, another recent single, prompts a massive singalong: “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” I fear some of us are there already. The band has a good line in anthems, and there’s enthusiastic participation as well with ‘Our Time’ and ‘Molotov Cocktails’, the latter drawing enough reaction to inspire Scott to Snapchat the chanting crowd.
Every number is an absolute cracker. “You look nothing like your profile pic!” is a witty line from the excellent ‘Running On Air.’ Could this set reasonably get any better? Only if they played ‘Hipster’. Needless to say they do, and we’re right back into the lurching, beer spilling, crowd surfing chaos. From the spin-cycle of the mosh, I can just about draw enough breath to sing along.
This magnificent set concludes with the title track of 2019 album ‘Body Bag Your Scene’, whose message is as powerful a statement of intent as the hook is insistently catchy.
“We do this for the love, there’s no profit after. It goes studio, crowd funder, to your ghetto blaster.”
The recording was indeed funded by pledges, although having since teamed up with Bomber Music, this fine album is available on turquoise vinyl, if that’s your thing. Whatever your medium of choice, if you’re not already familiar, Riskee and the Ridicule are definitely worth checking out. Of the people, and for the people, this band’s distinctive sound and passionate voice demand to be heard.
Riskee And the Ridicule:
Scott Picking – vocals
Jimbo Aglony – guitar/vocals
Jordan Mann – guitar/vocals
Matt Verrell – drums/vocals
Maz – bass
Riskee and the Ridicule setlist:
‘Nobody Likes Us’ (from ‘Blame Culture’ 2017)
‘Banger’ (from ‘Blame Culture’ 2017)
‘Kaboom’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
‘Blue Jacket’ (single, 2020)
‘Accelerate’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
‘Young And Beautiful’ (single, 2020)
‘Villain’ (from ‘Blame Culture’ 2017)
‘Our Time’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
‘Molotov Cocktails’ (from ‘Blame Culture’ 2017)
‘Running On Air’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
‘Hipster’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
‘Body Bag Your Scene’ (from ‘Body Bag Your Scene’ 2019)
www.facebook.com/RiskeeandtheRidicule
