PEANESS + ZOUJ + SEAFOAM GREEN – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 4.10.22
Their name might elicit chuckles from all of us with lingering secondary school humour, but Peaness (Pronounced PEA-NESS) mean serious business. The Chester-based indie-punk outfit are renowned for their sensitive lyrics on everything from friendship to environmentalism, all delivered with charm and a healthy dose of bright guitar fuzz. With their debut album ‘World Full Of Worry’ still flying off the shelves of indie record shops after its release this May, the trio’s return to Brighton shores definitely had the feel of a victory lap.
It was a bit of a weird show, I’ll admit. As fascinating as each band on this lineup was individually, the combination of the three was one of the strangest scheduling moments I’ve ever seen. Peaness are alumni of Alcopop! records, and their sound is just as bubbly, just as gently laced with candy-sour spirit, as their label’s name would suggest. You’d expect local support to come from someone sharing their output of self-professed sad bangers, even with a little genre variance. Instead, Peaness brought the thoroughly left-field collective Zouj along with them, as well as picking Seafoam Green as their Brighton-based support.
Seafoam Green is an amalgamation of members from local alt-rock bands Currls and Madeline North, but sound far less rock-y than either group, let alone the jangly indie-punk guitars of Peaness. They’re more along the lines of oat-milk-presenting indie, foregrounding the glittering synth in the pedal-heavy guitar format.
On tracks like ‘My Heart, My Soul’, their influences pitter-pattered around indie rock with inflections of modern funk, but later offerings like ‘Been Thinking’ proved the quintet could certainly rock when needed. A vocalist with one of the most beautifully soaring voices I’ve heard in a while held it all together. They brought a tender performance to everything from sweetly nervous love songs, a la The Beths, to a brilliantly placed Kylie cover. More alternative bands should do Y2K pop song covers. I am a big advocate of this.
Seafoam Green setlist:
‘Lie To Yourself’
‘Try Hard’
‘My Heart, My Soul’
‘Spinning Around’ (Kylie Minogue cover)
‘Been Thinking’
‘Changes’
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Zouj, on the other hand were…very much Not That. Just one dissonant banger into their set and my journalistic urge to define every band by some arbitrary microgenre was completely stymied. The genres they borrowed from were as sprawling as their stage setup (so many synth boards, my god, so many synth boards).
Listeners could hear pitched-up autotuned mics in the grand tradition of hyperpop alongside intricate funk basslines that reverberated through the floor and right into your throat. It’s definitely not a sound for everyone, a sensory smorgasbord that I could easily see overwhelming audience members who thought they were going to see a guitar band. I personally loved it, but this was definitely a band from the post-MP3 generation where everyone listens to everything instead of having a particular type of record they’ll embrace.
The charisma of the performers seemed to win folks over, though. Hearing the occasional rap verse from effortlessly confident Slovenian emcee Sahareya made even the most hip-hop-sceptical audience member sit up and take notice.
Zouj setlist:
‘Embryo’
‘Lefty’
Stoopid’
‘Metal’
‘One’
‘Anxious Sleep’
‘Floota’
’Driving With My Eyes Closed’
‘Other Side’
‘‘Delete After Death’
When Peaness took to the stage, it was as though the balance of the evening had been restored. It’s not that they’re a mid-point between their support acts, simply that their music has an incredibly comforting quality to it that warms the soul even in a pretty jarring lineup.
The trio sound phenomenal on their debut record, don’t get me wrong, but onstage before a crowd full of regulars seems to be where their star shines the brightest. As soon as the warm tone of their guitars on previous single ‘Kaizen’ rang through the Green Door Store, it was pretty clear they’d captivated the crowd’s attention. It’s hard not to, really, with harmonies that stunning.
Every member of the band typically sings on their tracks, but with drummer Rachel’s voice on the blink, guitarist Carleia and bassist Jess’ voices mingled with more than enough joy to keep their sad bangers going.
‘World Full Of Worry’ is a pretty synth-heavy record, by their own admission, so the band became a four-piece for the tour with the addition of Nicki Noodles on keys. Their sound was already big, far more so than just three musicians really have any right to be, but the synths added a whole new dimension of immersion to their music.
The confessionalism of their lyrics really is tricky to not get swept up in when you’re hearing it in front of you in the flesh. On tracks like ‘Doing Fine’, Peaness’ usual power-pop chord progressions blended with a synth tone reminiscent of that viral video where those wee animated ghosts sing in a choir.
Their set wove together lyrics of sickly-sweet denial in ‘Doing Fine’ with the sardonic edges of ‘Girl Just Relax’ and ‘Good For A Girl’ to craft a really genuine performance, like your most insightful friends are holding your attention over a cuppa.
