DITZ + HANDCUFF – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 27.4.23
Brighton as a city of music is literally buzzing at the moment, not only with home grown talent, but also filled with those that have gravitated towards our scene. Add to that the hordes of artists that select Brighton as part of their UK tour dates, then to put it mildly the local concert goer is spoilt for choice. It’s often a toss-up as to which event to choose or even whether it may be possible to run between venues in order to catch some of the bands on each bill. Although this is a slight inconvenience, it’s millions of times better than no-one being based here or wanting to play here in our seaside town.
Thus a hard decision was made this evening! Do we select Torrid Horror, Top Left Club, and Dog Of Man at The Hope & Ruin, or Midge Ure at the Theatre Royal, or Gaz Coombes, and Lonelady at the Concorde 2, or The Lottery Winners, and Pet Needs at Patterns, or Karl Blau & Country Gravel, Fane and Amelia Caesar (DJ) at The Rossi Bar, or head on over to The Prince Albert for a celebration event on the passing of Steve ‘Roadie’ Jones? For myself and photographer Cris Watkins there was only really one place to be and that was the Green Door Store for the first of two consecutive bashes (organised by LOUT promoters) from the rather wonderful Ditz (written as ‘DITZ’). Our decision was also doubly-verified when we learned that London based quartet Handcuff (stylized as ‘HANDCUFF’) were selected by DITZ as tonight’s support act…..more from them later!
So we jump right in with Brighton noise-rock band DITZ who have not surprisingly sold out both of their local concerts. Some artists and bands obtain success immediately, whereas others such as IDLES took about 8 years to break through. The DITZ bandwagon has been gradually rolling along since their inception back in 2016 when vocalist Cal Francis and bass guitarist Caleb Remnant (who incidentally grew up together in Gloucestershire), recruited guitarist Anton Mocock to join their band. Drummer Jack Looker bolstered their ranks in early 2017, and after a reshuffle two years later, which saw the loss of a member and Jack switching his stix for a pick, to allow new boy Sam Evans to take his seat, the current solid lineup was set in place.
I had witnessed the previous earlier incarnations of DITZ, and the first time I saw them playing live with Sam on drums, Jack on guitar and Caleb on bass, I immediately knew that they would be making an impact on the music scene in the future! It was a certainty! My partner, Jordan Mooney, who sadly passed away last year, really liked DITZ, and she clearly knew a thing or two about music, having witnessed the Sex Pistols forming right before her eyes and going on to be Adam & The Ants first manager, and so it was a no brainer to invite DITZ to appear on the bill for her Memorial Charity Concert on 29th May 2022 – Read the review HERE.
The trio of DITZ 12” vinyl releases, 2020’s ‘5 Songs’ EP on pink vinyl, 2022’s ‘The Great Regression’ debut studio album in the pink and black splatter ‘dinked edition’, and their new ‘On The Bai’ou’ live album on red vinyl all proudly sit in my record collection. It has been a joy watching the band grow and grow, but how would they fare this evening?
We positioned ourselves at the very front in order to get some great photos and for me to rest my hand on top of the stage speaker and so also be able to truly feel the music. The first thing I note prior to the quintet taking to the stage is the new inclusion of a vintage looking Moog synth, which was a little surprising but very much welcome by yours truly. There now also seems to be more guitars and bass guitars ready for use at the rear of the stage, clearly DITZ are developing their sound and investing their vinyl profits back into the band via more equipment.
The guys take to the stage at 9:15pm and entertain us for 67 minutes with a 15 song set which runs until 10:22pm. From my memory, this will be the longest DITZ set for me yet, and so I wonder what they are going to fill it with?
From our left to right, the lads are gathered with Jack Looker (immediately in front of me) initially on Squier Mustang guitar; on his left is Caleb Remnant who starts on Fender Jazz; centre rear is Sam Evans on drums; in front of Sam is Cal on vocals; and on our right (stage left) is Anton Mocock on Squier guitar. Well I say that Anton is on Squier guitar, but clearly there’s a technical situation with his equipment, wiring or pedalboard, and so during the first two numbers ‘Ded Würst’ and ‘Summer Of The Shark’ (both of which are found on ‘The Great Regression’ album), he quietly and efficiently gets to the route of the problem, as his four chums simply just get on with it and entertain the sardine packed creatures gathered in front of them.
Ooooh special treat next, a new unreleased number titled ‘Riverstone’, which benefits from masses of distortion and kicking the shit out the drums akin to say IDLES, and then Caleb turns around and plays the Moog synth for the first time instead of his bass.
The first of a trio of numbers in tonight’s set from 2020’s ‘5 Songs’ EP is up next in the form of the popular track ‘Gayboy’, which was omitted from Cal’s setlist, but not the others as far as I could tell. For this number Cal joined the faithful for a closer inspection of his vocal abilities and new colour hair.
Another treat followed in the form of the second unreleased tune of the evening. This one is called ‘18 Wheeler’ and I’m speculating whether its subject matter is in reference to either the Scottish rock band of the same name who were active in the 1990s, or possibly something to do with a semi-trailer truck, or even connected with a Boeing 747 aeroplane. I guess there are at this moment in time only five people in the room who truly know the answer to this. Anyway, suffice to say, the newbie was delivered in the usual very powerful DITZ style.
‘The Warden’ (from ‘The Great Regression’ album) was given an outing next. The beginning of this number has a drumming pattern that reminds me of the 1978 novelty single ‘Toast’ by Streetband, which actually had Paul Young as vocalist. After this initial drum pattern it’s business as usual on the wall of sound and wanderings of Cal.
The second track from the ‘5 Songs’ EP, came next in the form of ‘Role Model’ which saw Cal still camped out in the middle of the crowd as he delivers his almost copyrighted vocal delivery. If anyone requires an introduction to the sound and styles of DITZ, then this may well possibly be the number to start with, as it’s quiet to start with and then bang Cal launches into “I did it for you!” vocals as his noise symphonia chums aid with backing. Great tune!
Another ‘The Great Regression’ number was next in the form of ‘Three’ with its catchy “Ah ah ah ah ah Oh oh oh oh oh” lyrics which are followed by “Give me your thoughts and applause”. Well we gave him our applause after this, so hopefully that was enough?
‘I Am Kate Moss’ was up next and saw Anton switch his guitar, and Caleb was already sporting his impressive looking open v-ended bass and thinking to himself “I cut a striking figure”. (Sorry I couldn’t resist!).
‘Instinct’ from the debut studio album had its turn next and Cal yet again joined us for this very tight number, after which the lads played yet another unreleased tune, ‘Señor Siniestro’, which saw Caleb exchanging bass guitars again. I was particularly impressed with Jack’s guitar work on this newbie, that part way through exploded into metal style and then even dipped into disco courtesy of Sam’s drumming.
‘Hehe’ (stylized as ‘hehe’) was upon us and Anton changed his guitar again, plus there was some more Moog action for the second time tonight from Caleb. In fact the synth notes were so deep that my trouser legs were reverberating from the floor speakers down by my legs, lovely stuff. I’m really loving the Moog addition to their sound. Caleb then switched back to his bass for the rest of the tune and it suddenly became like a heavy sounding ‘Silver Machine’ (Hawkwind) and then some! This was one of my set highlights!
For ‘Teeth’ (from ‘The Great Regression’), Jack switched his guitar back again and Cal made his way through the crowd and he stood up on the wall at the back and then he was held aloft and floated back to the stage. Their penultimate number was their Peaches ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ cover from back in 2020 from their ‘5 Songs’ EP, for this Anton switched guitars again.
We had finally arrived at the end of their set, and as always they saw us out with their best live tune, that being ‘No Thanks, I’m Full’ from ‘The Great Regression’ album. It became evident that Cal might not have been paying attention during every school lesson, as tonight he decided that during the instrumental section of this number that he would make three paper planes from the setlists lying around the stage. Cal then instructed via arm movements for us punters to crouch down low and then when given the nod bounce back up again. As normal, this number morphed into an extended 12” mix so to speak as the lads put out joint distortions via their pedalboards to see the tune out…..except tonight, they got the song going again with a second wind and revved up the counter to 100mph, before once again giving it some pedalboard welly, as well as some more Moog action. This had become the longest version of the tune that I had ever witnessed live. It was now 10:22pm and they had finally finished their set for this evening…….only to return tomorrow and…….let’s wait and see shall we!
DITZ had once again conquered, and although I’m sensing foray’s into heavy metal (which I’m not a fan of to be honest), many folk around me that I know were telling me that the band have literally just taken it to another level, and so who am I to argue?
DITZ:
Cal Francis – vocals
Caleb Remnant – bass guitars/Moog synth
Anton Mocock – guitars
Jack Looker – guitars
Sam Evans – drums
DITZ setlist:
‘Ded Würst’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Summer Of The Shark’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Riverstone’ (unreleased)
‘Gayboy’ (from 2020 ‘5 Songs’ EP)
‘18 Wheeler’ (unreleased)
‘The Warden’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Role Model’ (from 2020 ‘5 Songs’ EP)
‘Three’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘I Am Kate Moss’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Instinct’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Señor Siniestro’ (unreleased)
‘hehe’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Teeth’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
‘Fuck The Pain Away’ (Peaches cover) (from 2020 ‘5 Songs’ EP)
‘No Thanks, I’m Full’ (from 2022 ‘The Great Regression’ album)
As mentioned above, the support band for this evening were HANDCUFF who we had the pleasure of witnessing live on New Year’s Eve last at The Hope & Ruin bash, where we reported thus:
“Handcuff are the new kids on the block, having formed at the end of July and previously only played two gigs. Their first was at Guildford’s Boileroom supporting Crows on 6th November, and the second was on 8th December in London at the New Cross Inn, and here they are tonight opening up proceedings at The Hope & Ruin.
Being a new outfit meant that their 20 minute set (7:02pm-7:22pm) was approximately half original material which they started with, before going on to play a diverse range of covers. The fancy dress two boy-two girl quartet consisting of Ayesha Linton-Whittle as a female devil (joint lead vocals/guitar), Duncan Smith as a FBI agent (joint lead vocals/guitar), Mazz Gambardella as a priest (drums), and Anna Titov as a nun (bass).
Handcuff were offering us a pop punk vibe that initially sounded like it was 1977 all over again and then their sound moved on to the turn of the century sound. Their self-penned material was the more enjoyable, which is encouraging, but their renditions of The Hives ‘Hate To Say I Told You So’ from 2000 and Cornershop’s ‘Brimful Of Asha’ pre- Norman Cook mix were both welcome additions to their all too brief appearance. They were amateurishly wonderful and it was well worth venturing out tonight in order just to see these guys. Let’s hope for a swift return to Brighton!”
Back to this evening and tonight was indeed their return. How have they changed over the past four months? Let’s find out shall we…..
The quartet took to the stage at 8:23pm – this time in their own clothes as opposed to their New Year’s Eve fancy dress gear – and they laid down no less than ten tunes during their all to brief 24 minute energy filled set. No wonder they describe themselves as “short songs for bored people”.
They begin with a drum intro from Mazz, who is then accompanied by Ayesha and Duncan on guitars and Anna on bass, and suddenly the room starts to fill with inquisitive punters who make their way in from the bar and outside smoking area. Duncan then kicks off the vocals for the night for their 2023 ‘Holiday’ single, which Ayesha then takes over and they flow into their other 2023 single ‘El Ganso’, which is followed by ‘The Judge’ from their brand new 4 tune red cassette tape which dropped on 14th April.
This is God’s honest proper 1977 punk, but is being made by four people that weren’t even born then, talk about flying the punk flag and keeping it alive. We were informed that they had ventured down from London in order to play for us. My reply to them was a loud very deep sigh, followed by “I wish you were Brighton based as I could see you every week!”. They were pleased with my ‘from the heart outburst’ and clearly I wasn’t alone in my thinking as the more tunes they played, the more enthusiastic the punters became.
Both Ayesha and Duncan’s vocal styles are of the shouty version, which led to a couple of folk I know who were late arriving – after consuming copious amounts of garlic, no doubt in order to create a safety void around themselves during the gig – to both separately comment that HANDCUFF sounded “Oi!” to them, I totally disagreed!
We were then served no less than a handful of yet to be released gems all in a row, commencing with ‘Brainslide’, which was followed by ‘Nice Guys’, both with decent rumbly Gretsch bass parts (from Anna) and Fender guitar licks from Duncan and Danelectro ones from Ayesha. The trio of remaining as yet to be recorded tunes were ‘Keep Repeat’, ‘Crawling’ and ‘Priory’, with one of these having received its debut live outing this Monday (three days ago).
For their final number, ‘Nice Guy’ (from 2023 ‘Handcuff’ 4-track cassette) and not to be confused with their earlier number ‘Nice Guys’, they leave us with a flurry of activity as Duncan attacks his guitar with his playing, whilst Ayesha has a more 1960’s swinging hips action. By 8:47pm they were done.
They have thankfully dropped all of the cover versions that they played 4 months ago, which I then stated were the weak links, to solely concentrate on their own material. Both photographer Cris Watkins and myself were in total agreement that tonight’s show was even better than our previous encounter. Put it this way, if they were to move to Brighton, then they would immediately jump right into my Top 5 Brighton bands…..and we know how many there are dotted all around town.
This act should seriously be looking to play The Great Escape or Alternative Escape this year if they can get in, or next year, and even head on up to Blackpool for the Rebellion Punk Festival. They don’t look punk, but they sure do sound it. Fabulous stuff!!
HANDCUFF:
Ayesha Linton-Whittle – joint lead vocals/guitar
Duncan Smith – joint lead vocals/guitar
Anna Titov – bass
Mazz Gambardella – drums
HANDCUFF setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Holiday’ ( a 2023 single & from 2023 ‘Handcuff’ 4-track cassette)
‘El Ganso’ (a 2023 single & from 2023 ‘Handcuff’ 4-track cassette)
‘The Judge’ (from 2023 ‘Handcuff’ 4-track cassette)
‘Brainslide’ (unreleased)
‘Nice Guys’ (unreleased)
‘Keep Repeat’ (unreleased)
‘Crawling’ (unreleased)
‘Priory’ (unreleased)
‘Nice Guy’ (from 2023 ‘Handcuff’ 4-track cassette)
