THE REGRETTES + SLANT – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 25.6.22
The Regrettes are an American band from Los Angeles. The outfit is led by frontwoman Lydia Night. They released three studio albums on Warner Bros. Records: ‘Feel Your Feelings Fool!’ (2017), ‘How Do You Love?’ (2019), and ‘Further Joy’ (2022). Their musical style has been labeled as punk rock, riot grrrl, garage pop,and garage punk, featuring elements of garage rock, ’60s doo-wop and surf music, rockabilly and pop music.
If you’re the type of person who feeds off of other people’s positivity at gigs, the utterly devoted fanbase of The Regrettes should be an absolute dream. The moment ‘California Friends’, one of the LA indie-punk quartet’s most beloved tracks, kicked in, the audience at Patterns became a sea of brightly coloured hair lifted as their owners jumped in sync. Every member of the band that could stand matched this dedication, particularly frontwoman Lydia Knight, who looked at times like she was leading a punky jazzercise group.
When we talk about alternative summer songs, we’re often talking about the lineups of Reading and Leeds festivals, and the indie bands that draw in huge crowds of day-drinkers in bucket hats with their sing-along choruses. It’s not a term often applied to songs tackling subjects as heavy as mental dissociation (‘La Di Da’) and the infantilization of women (‘Seashore’). The Regrettes, however, thread the needle like experts. The band clearly come from the Riot Grrrl school of confessional songwriting, and it’s their willingness to be open about their emotional states in their music that turns their summery pop tracks into rebelliously optimistic bangers that are pretty damn appropriate for yet another summer of Unprecedented Times.
The glittering MUNA-esque synths of songs like ‘That’s What Makes Me Love You’ certainly fit the bill of underdog summer anthems. Whenever The Regrettes write love songs, they’re so filled with blunt honesty that you’d never be able to dismiss them as silly love songs, and Knight delivers these lyrics live with just as much devotion and yearning. The more poppy tone they’ve gone for in the catchy hooks of their latest album received the victory lap it deserved on this tour, with highlights including the ever-so-slightly retro instrumentation of ‘Barely On My Mind’ that got the whole crowd moving.
Even their ‘Smile’ cover got a warm reception. Americans doing Lily Allen covers usually makes me break out in hives, but in the week where Olivia Rodrigo brought out Lily Allen for a cover of ‘F*ck You’ at Glastonbury, my aversion’s fading. The snarky fake smiles of the song fit perfectly with deceptively upbeat Regrettes originals like ‘Seashore’, with both songs having the added bonus of giving audiences an opportunity to let their rage out in an undeniably dismal week. The Regrettes have never been shy about their feminist beliefs, and attempted to say something about the recent Roe v Wade ruling, but when disappointment and righteous anger made them lost for words, their songs gave them their voice back.
The Regrette lineup features Lydia Night (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards (2015–present), lead guitar, bass), Jenessa Gariano (lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), Brooke Dickson (bass, keyboards, backing vocals) and Drew Thomsen (drums, backing vocals).
The Regrettes setlist:
‘California Friends’; ‘Monday’; ‘Rosy’; ‘Nowhere’; ‘Smile’ (Lily Allen cover); ‘Has It Hit You’; ‘That’s What Makes Me Love You’; ‘Pumpkin’; ‘Barely’; ‘La Di Da’; ‘Lacy Loo’; ‘I Dare You’; ‘Seashore’; ‘Show Me You Want Me’
Find out more at www.theregrettes.com
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).
The ever-quirky rock outfit brought both the tunes and the glitter to their set. Between this showing and their recent standout performance opening for Dream Wife, the five-piece seem to be making a name for themselves as the band to call for major-key, purposeful post-punk. The crowd weren’t quite as lively for Slant as they were at Chalk, which put a slight dent in their performance. For songs like ‘La Danse’, the band bop about as energetically as the song’s name suggests, and that kind of energy being reciprocated by an audience seems pretty integral to making the song a showstopper.
For the most part, though, Slant weren’t to be deterred, kicking things off with fan favourite ‘Poly’ before transitioning into tracks from their recent EP. The left-field lyrics and infectious power-pop of ‘Eat The Moon’ certainly couldn’t help but cheer up crowds, and the same can be said for the casually charming ‘Young Forever’. I hadn’t heard the latter track before, but the slowed-down tempo and soaring high notes made it a real song of reflection, an instantly memorable addition to the set.
Concluding with ‘You’re A Girl’, which is nigh-on impossible not to chant along with once it gets going, ensured their set went out with a bang, although the abrupt ending of the song did make the set feel a little incomplete.
Slant setlist:
Poly’; ‘Eat The Moon’; ‘Haircut’; ‘Modest’; ‘It’s The Same’; ‘La Danse’; ‘Young Forever’; ‘You’re A Girl’
Find out more about Slant HERE.
