THE HOWLERS + LES BODS + CARAMEL – THE ROSSI BAR, BRIGHTON 4.12.21
Last Saturday, Portsmouth trio The Howlers paid a visit to The Rossi Bar at 8 Queens Road in Brighton as the last stop of their long-awaited (and postponed) tour.
After seeing them play a sold-out show at The Wedgewood Rooms in the singer’s hometown less than two weeks ago, I was excited to see them take to the stage in Rossi’s basement venue. Before the show, lead singer Adam Young expressed that playing such an intimate venue at the end of the tour was quite a contrast to their show in London the evening before where they packed out the Lexington.
Brighton-based four-piece caramel kicked off the evening with an incredibly dynamic set –having the crowd moving around to what has been described as a retro-indie sound in one moment, while in the next you could hear a pin drop in the room as the audience listened anticipation. It was incredible and refreshing to witness the energy and sonic exploration they brought to the stage as they played through their set.
They took the audience on a journey through their music, notably with not one but two lead vocalists, through unreleased songs like ‘Freckles’ and ‘Clingfilm’ to a powerful finish with their latest single ‘I Am So Bored’ (listen HERE). Definitely keep an eye on caramel’s socials as well as this interview where they explain their sonic influences and the message behind their music.
Find out more from caramel by visiting their ‘linktree’.
Next up were garage rockers Les Bods, who also played support for The Howlers at their Portsmouth show. Their set was a mixture of their older releases ‘Free Your Mind’ and ‘People’, but they announced that their sound has been evolving over the past year into something different, evident in their latest release ‘Tea Stained Day’ (listen HERE).
Think an explosion of energy, riffs for days and raw vocals. They kept the crowd on their toes as they played through their repertoire, adding in a track they just started writing. The bods ended their set powerfully with ‘Mr Whip’, a track they recently recorded. Les Bods are halfway through recording their debut EP with Theo Verney, who also produced and mixed The Howlers’ EP. They’re also in the process of making a film about their progression as a band and the recording process of their EP – shot by yours truly. Follow their Instagram to keep up to date with Les Bods. They will playing live at The Hope & Ruin with Deeper on Sunday 12th December. Purchase your tickets HERE.
Check out Les Bods on YouTube.
At ten it was finally time for the main act as The Howlers took the stage in the packed basement venue. The three-piece, who met in London at university, have an electric stage presence that draws you in as an audience from the moment they start playing. As the last date of their long-anticipated tour (it was postponed and then postponed again), the guys were excited and humbled to be playing in a smaller setting than in most of the rest of their UK tour.
Their set travelled through the intimacy of the topics they address through their music, carefully and strongly delivered in what we expect from The Howlers. In August, the band released their debut EP ‘The Sum Of Our Fears’, produced at Echo Zoo Studios in Eastbourne and reviewers have already praised it widely, describing the group’s trajectory as “on the[ir] way to rock n roll dominance” with their desert-rock sound and their honest and authentic lyrical messaging.
They played their EP’s two most highly acclaimed tracks ‘I Don’t Love You All The Time’ and ‘Lost Without You’ during the first part of their 45-minute set and took the audience on a journey through their sonic repertoire, playing their 2019 single ‘La Dolce Vita’ as their penultimate song and finished strong with ‘Never Enough’, also from their latest EP.
The Howlers are definitely a band to look out for both in terms of their sound and their stellar performances I’ve been able to see in both Portsmouth and Brighton. Follow their socials to keep ‘em close and you can snatch a vinyl of ‘The Sum Of Our Fears’ HERE.
The Howlers setlist:
‘The Boy I Was Before’
‘Gotta Go’
‘I Don’t Love You All The Time’
‘Lost Without You’
‘Take It Easy’
‘Further Down The Line’
‘El Dorado’
‘Solid Gold’
‘La Dolce Vita’
‘Never Enough’
Check out The Howlers on Bandcamp and also visit www.thehowlers.co.uk
