Oklahoma alt-rock trio Skating Polly opened the UK leg of their tour here in Brighton at The Hope & Ruin on Monday, courtesy of local promoters and label, Love Thy Neighbour.
Step-sisters Kelli Mayo and Peyton Bighorse formed Skating Polly back in 2009, when they were 9 and 14 years old. Kelli’s brother Kurtis Mayo later joined the band on drums in 2017. This allowed multi-instrumentalists Peyton and Kelli to focus on guitar and bass. Although Skating Polly do still alternate their instruments among themselves during their live performances. More on that later.
Skating Polly’s sound combines 90s grunge and Riot grrrl with indie-pop. It transcends genre and era, rather than easily (or lazily) being pigeonholed. Many of Skating Polly’s songs have a quiet, quiet, loud style, like the calm before the storm, similar to The Pixies.
Their set on Monday was slightly delayed due to a few technical issues. But there was no hanging around, when the show kicked-off, literally with Kelli high-kicking her way through the opening number and most of the set, in striking red patent platform ankle boots.
Their opening song ‘Queen For A Day’ started with Kelli’s screeching vocals. Peyton took over lead vocals for ‘Free Will At Ease’ a mellower song. Kelli showed another side of her vocal skills on ‘Little Girl Blue And The Battle Envy’ which she opened with just her on bass and softer singing style. It did get noisier in the song when Kurtis and Peyton joined in, with that quiet loud approach.
Kelli introduced the next song as “a new song”. ‘Hickey King’ is the first single off Skating Polly’s forthcoming double album ‘Chaos Country Line’ out on 23rd June on El Camino Media. ‘Hickey King’ was a frenetic track, on which Kelli and Peyton traded off vocals. On this song the step-sisters share their distinct perspectives on the minefield of power dynamics in sex and relationships.
The new single was followed by a couple of tracks from the 2016 album ‘The Big Fit’. The tempo slows slightly on the next song ‘Pretective Boy’ with its heavy drum beat from Kurtis, and picked up again on ‘Nothing More Than A Body’.
‘Louder In Outer Space’ had a sublime simple but effective intro with Peyton on guitar and Kurtis on drums. As with many songs in Skating Polly’s set there were loud and quiet segments to ‘Louder In Outer Space’.
We were treated to another new song from ‘Chaos Country Line’ with ‘Send A Priest’. This song featured a very intricate guitar part from Peyton, which showcased another side of her playing style, and stood up well against the grungier bass on this track from Kelli.
The next song in the set ‘Oddie Moore’ by contrast had an almost country sound at the start, before a louder grunge sound and Kelli’s very aggressive vocals kicked in. The following two songs ‘Stop Digging’ and ‘Perfume For Now’ had real Riot grrrl anger with Kelli’s screaming almost fiendish vocals especially on ‘Perfume For Now’.
All change next as the multi-instrumental Peyton and Kelli swapped sides of the stage and instruments for ‘Hail Mary’. (Although Kelli was often front and centre rather than staying put on the right of the stage.) While this song started with an atmospheric almost ghostly guitar intro with simple pounding drumming, it did turn into a rock song.
No slow, soft start to the next song ‘Camelot’. Straight in with Kelli screaming “Go Long! Go Long! I want something better than you” before bending over backwards to play bass mid-song.
The final song of the set saw another instrument swap. Kurtis came out from behind his drum kit to play guitar with Peyton taking over drumming duties. These change overs were fairly seamless, without any unnecessary breaks to the flow of the band’s performance.
Kelli took the title of the song ‘They’re Cheap (I’m Free)’ to promote the merch on sale after the show. Her sales pitch worked a treat. The final number was a fitting close to a great set. Kelli’s screaming vocals, fast screeching guitars and solid drums holding it all together.
From their stage mannerisms the two step-sisters have different styles; Kelli was more in-your-face with her high kicks and bright outfit with red platform boots, while Peyton seemed the quieter of the two, dressed in combat trousers and not seeking attention. Yet the dynamics between the two of them worked so well. Neither dominating, or upstaging the other, but complementing each other perfectly.
Although it wasn’t a sold-out show, probably being a Monday night and the weather warnings, Skating Polly got a great reception throughout and at the close of their show.
Back to that merch reference to introduce the final song. It was easily the longest merch queue I’ve seen at The Hope and Ruin or similar venue, as it went all the way back downstairs to the ground floor. If a band’s performance were judged by the numbers at the merch stall after a gig, Skating Polly’s were up there with the best. A very impressive varied set full of energy by the Oklahoma siblings on their return to Brighton.
Skating Polly:
Kelli Mayo – lead vocals, bass (guitar)
Peyton Bighorse – vocals, guitar (bass and drums)
Kurtis Mayo – drums (guitar)
Skating Polly setlist:
‘Queen For A Day’ (from 2018 ‘The Make It All Show’ album)
‘Free Will At Ease’ (from 2018 ‘The Make It All Show’ album)
‘Little Girl Blue And The Battle Envy’ (from 2018 ‘The Make It All Show’ album)
‘Hickey King’ (from forthcoming 2023 ‘Chaos County Line’ album)
‘Pretective Boy’ (from 2016 ‘The Big Fit’ album)
‘Nothing More Than A Body’ (from 2016 ‘The Big Fit’ album)
‘Louder In Outer Space’ (from 2017 ‘New Trick’ EP)
‘Send A Priest’ (from forthcoming 2023 ‘Chaos County Line’ album)
‘Oddie Moore’ (from 2016 ‘The Big Fit’ album)
‘Stop Digging’ (from 2016 ‘The Big Fit’ album)
‘Perfume For Now’ (from 2016 ‘The Big Fit’ album)
‘Hail Mary’ (from 2017 ‘New Trick’ EP)
‘Camelot’ (from 2018 ‘The Make It All Show’ album)
‘They’re Cheap (I’m Free)’ (from 2018 ‘The Make It All Show’ album)
Supporting Skating Polly on Monday and the rest of the UK leg of their tour were SPAFF. The four-piece band from Yorkshire were playing their first gig in Brighton.
SPAFF came on stage to a quiet country music song. How different this was to their own sound, which combines punk and rock influences.
Core to SPAFF’s sound is the axis of bass guitar and drums. There were several times in songs, when bassist Jordan would play facing Isaac the drummer rather than the audience, with the two band members feeding off each other’s energy.
One band member who had plenty of energy was Jake, the lead singer, who had a very angry punk vocal style. The other member of SPAFF’s line was Kirk on keyboards and also guitar.
On the opening song of SPAFF’s set ‘Lord’ lead singer Jake also played harmonica. During the second song, he decided to sing amongst the audience. The band were musically tight enough to allow their singer to go walkabout.
The third song was introduced as the single ‘Walk’, which Jake jokingly asked “If you know words sing along. It helps us out massively”. Not that he needed any help with the singing.
The next song ‘Bad’ had a very fast drum intro and parts of the song reminded me of early The Clash and The Jam. At the start of ‘Siren’ drummer Isaac started off chanting “F*ck the Tories” before starting the song with a drum solo. When he shouted “Don’t trust Rishi Sunak”, it was almost as if it was a prompt for the others to join the song.
SPAFF finished their set with their other single release, ‘Reign’. With its fast bassline and almost tribal drumming, they saved one of their best songs to the end.
Overall, a very impressive Brighton debut for the Sheffield based band. A good honest no-nonsense rock/punk live band with plenty of energy and passion. Judging by the audience’s reaction to SPAFF’s performance, I think they’ve picked up a few new fans on the South Coast.
SPAFF:
Jake – lead vocals
Isaac – drummer
Jordan – bass
Kirk – synth & guitar
SPAFF setlist:
‘Lord’
‘Eye Spy’
‘Walk’ (2022 single release)
‘Bad’
‘Siren’
‘Cloud 9’
‘Trouble’
‘Reign’ (2022 single release)
