Well this is rather pleasing, Smalltown Tigers have announced just three UK gigs and one of those will be here in Brighton at The Prince Albert on Sunday 10th September from 2pm – Tickets available HERE.
The Brighton & Hove News Music Team witnessed their decent live set in London on 28th October last year when they were one of the support acts from The Damned’s original line-up gigs, here is what we said……….
First up this evening are Smalltown Tigers who I haven’t yet had the pleasure of witnessing live. They are a trio consisting of Valli, Monty and Castel who hail from Rimini on the east coast of Italy. They earned their stripes playing squat clubs and beach parties, before scooping the support slot for the likes of Hagar The Womb, Baby Shakes, The Menstrual Cramps and The Speedways.
It would appear that the Smalltown Tigers are making inroads on the Euro garage-punk scene after dropping their debut single ‘Just Friends’ on Area Pirata Records, which was followed by their 8 song mini-album ‘Five Things’ which dropped just in time for the first Covid lockdown in spring 2020. Valli and Monty previously played together in another band called Rockaway Bitches that’s still going on, and Castel has three bands that she plays with… a sort of international drummer ensemble from all over the world called Drumatica, an all-female hard rock/metal cover band called Whiskey Wives and a pop-rock project in the Italian idiom called Le Figurine.
Wind the clocks forward to the present and these Rimini punks are set to finally get their name out there and landing the opening slot for The Damned this evening will certainly take them to another level.
There was no hanging around with their nine song 22 minute set which commenced at 6:30pm on the dot. This was only around fifteen minutes after the security staff started letting punters into the venue, thus they were performing to a small audience as compared to the other bands, but those present were certainly enjoying what their ears were hearing, although the sound was echoey either due to the sparseness of humans or the sound setup on the night.
The girls were showing their unity as a group by all sporting virtually the same clothing, that being black, brown and white striped jumpers, black shorts (although the drummer had black leathers), and black stockings. They all had long hair. The format was bass guitar with lead vocals, Fender Stratocaster guitar and vocals, and drums. We learned that it was bassist Valli’s birthday, what a way to celebrate!
Their sound was a blend of punk rock previously offered by the likes of The Runaways (Joan Jett) and the Ramones, with a sprinkling of very early B-52’s and heyday Suzi Quatro. The choice track for me was the Ramones-esque ‘Monster’, which I do believe is currently unreleased, so the future is looking bright for these no messin’ ladies. At 6:52pm they were done. It would be rather good if they were to come to Brighton as I know many folks that would enjoy their sound.
Smalltown Tigers:
Valli – bass, vocals
Monty – guitar, vocals
Castel – drums
Smalltown Tigers setlist:
‘Five Things’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Crush On You’ (unreleased)
‘Find Myself Another Name’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Runaway Gal’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Girl’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘I Want It Now’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Monster’ (unreleased)
‘Darling Please!’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Just Friends’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
