THE STUPIDS + PIZZA TRAMP + FUNBUG + IDLE BONES – THE PIPELINE, BRIGHTON 25.6.22
A big decision was to be made before the gig tonight. Do I wear shorts or long trousers? Michael Fish must have been in charge of the weather Apps on Saturday evening as Brighton’s heavens decided to open up and give us an unexpected drenching. My shorts were well and truly off and my long trousers replaced them in preparation for a night of melodic punk and skateboarding hardcore at Brighton’s very own premier Rock and Punk Bar, The Pipeline.
The weather certainly didn’t put the punters off, that’s for sure, as there was already a healthy crowd gathered in and outside the venue when we got there. This event was run as part of a ‘Turbojugend’ weekender as evidenced by the amount of double denim on display. Even one of the regular bouncers joined in with the dress code (for the uninitiated, Turbojugend are a group of people dotted all over the world, dedicating themselves to the Gods of Garage Punk ‘Turbonegro’ from Norway…It’s a long story).
The main course tonight (or headliner) were ‘The Stupids’ from Ipswich who have been flaunting their own brand of tongue in cheek Skatecore since the mid 80’s. They have toured all around the globe including Europe, U.S.A, Australia and most recently Japan. They have recorded three Peel Sessions over the years and even got their boat races on the front cover of the N.M.E in 1987 when the paper became interested in the new hardcore explosion that was hitting the U.K at the time (think Extreme Noise Terror, Electro Hippies, Doom, Visions Of Change etc). They split up in 1989 and Tommy Stupid (singer/drummer) went on to form a Drum and Bass outfit called ‘Klute’ and others formed bands like ‘Lovejunk’ among many others. They decided to reform in 2008 which was celebrated by Boss Tuneage Records re-releasing their whole back catalogue. They have released two brand new records since, the latest one being ‘Japanese Vacation’ which was released to coincide with their tour of Japan. But more of that later.
The first band tonight were a local band going by the name of ‘Idle Bones’ who have been strutting their stuff since 2017. By this time, the Pipeline room was getting full. They play in a ‘Horror Punk’ style with smatterings of rockabilly thrown in for good measure. They had a few technical difficulties at the beginning with their bass rig but once that was sorted, they soon bounced back and played a tight set in front of an appreciative audience. Keep an eye out for them in the future.
Next on the menu were the recently reformed pop punk heroes, ‘Funbug’ from Redditch (in the Midlands, Geography fans). I had a particularly keen interest in seeing these as I hadn’t seen them play since the mid to late 90’s. They were also incidentally the first UK band to get signed (and later sacked) by American based Lookout Records back in the day. I high accolade I think you’ll agree. They describe themselves as being ‘Probably the best 3rd rate Punk Band ever’. As soon as the first chord was struck, you knew you were watching a class melodic (3rd rate) Punk act in action. They played ‘The Bug Is Back In Town’ to start with, to the tune of Thin Lizzy. Jase on vocals was totally on form with the banter and there were definite echoes of the ghost of Rik Mayall in the room. Steve on bass was pacing the stage like a grinning tiger and the drummer was hot stuff on the pots and pans. This set brought back some happy memories of the past and when they ended with the song, ‘Sunshine Ate My Brain’ it left a room full of happy faces as they exited the stage.
Find out more at www.facebook.com/Funbug
Next up, were South Wales’ finest ‘Pizza Tramp’ who I’d heard a lot about, but not got round to seeing….until tonight, that is. They are normally a three piece but tonight they were down to a two piece as they were without a bassist as they had forgotten to get a replacement. An easy mistake….I also discovered that they have a ‘No Setlist’ rule so everything tonight was pulled out of the hat so to speak. I must say, they were pretty raging and soon whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. I didn’t notice their lack of bass player factor as the sound was so full (I guess they were using a bass splitter effect? Anyway, that’s enough muso talk). The songs were hard and fast and featured some hilarious song titles that I’m probably not supposed to mention here. Derogatory songs about Goths and Bono spring to mind, and a lot of the songs were around the 4 second mark (could’ve been shorter). The band looked like they were having a good time and there was an element of chaos in the room. A few stage invaders grabbed the mic and started ranting about something I couldn’t make out, followed by the singer saying “Parklife!” at the end of it all, which tickled me. This band seemed to be popular with the crowd and I’d definitely check them out again.
Next up were ‘The Stupids’ who hadn’t played Brighton in a good few years. I think the last time was at The Prince Albert with ‘Peter And The Test Tube Babies’. Tommy Stupid was his normal dry self and proclaimed how he’d never really liked Brighton (Surely he jests?). They kicked off their set with ‘It’s Fun To You’ and the crowd kicked off too on the dancefloor (in a good way). People were clearly up for a mosh tonight so when ‘Elephant Man’ got played the crowd didn’t let up. (Even my wife got in the mosh pit). They played relentless versions of their classics like ‘Slumber Party Massacre’ and ‘Born To Skate’ which made this room hot and sweaty to say the least. There was a fair bit of banter between songs too and Tommy’s drumming was fast and furious. After playing many short blasts of skatecore to a whirlwind of moshers, it was time to play ‘Wipeout’ before saying good night. A great night was had by all and every band kicked arse. I had one big decision to make on Sunday though….Do I get dressed? The answer is no.
More on The Stupids HERE.
