CRUUSH + WORLD NEWS + FEZ + MATISSE – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 30.8.23
Wednesday at The Hope & Ruin was another good night of new music at ‘Hidden Herd Presents’. This is Brighton’s monthly night, spotlighting the exciting emerging artists, ones-to-watch and hidden gems. August’s line up featured Cruush, World News, FEZ and local band Matisse.
Manchester’s alt-indie band Cruush (stylised as ‘cruush’) was the main act on Wednesday night’s bill. The shoegaze four-piece are Amber (vocals and guitar), Arthur (guitar), Fotis (drums) and Charlie (bass). They have recently signed to Heist or Hit and released their debut EP ‘Wishful Thinker’.
Back to ‘Hidden Herd Presents’ and the live music. Cruush began their set with a grungy shoegaze soundscape with Amber’s haunting voice joining later in the song. This complex, almost contrasting, mix of music and vocals was the foundation of their sound. Based on this, Cruush added variations across the songs in their set. ‘Wishful Thinker’, the title track of their debut EP, had a My Bloody Valentine sound, on which Amber screamed the lyrics with an echo effect. While ‘Headspace’ had a slower tempo and was both very intricate and intense, reminiscent of Slowdive.
Cruush aren’t a throwback to the shoegaze bands of the 1990’s, but have their own very fresh approach and sound. Some of their songs were played much faster with a harsher, more brutal grunge edge. On the intro of one song Charlie played bass with a violin bow, demonstrating the band’s experimental side. They closed their set with ‘False Start’, a layered shoegaze sound with interesting changes of speed during the song. Amber’s vocals included howling like a banshee as well as ethereal singing on this song.
It was a real shame that Cruush had to cut their set short due to the curfew. We didn’t get to hear the final song ‘Cotton Wool’ and ‘Bckward 36’ was also cut from their setlist. Despite lots of calls for them to play an extra track, the regulations meant they couldn’t. Cruush gave a great performance full of intensity, beauty and variety, and were one of the best new bands I’ve seen this year. Vocalist and frontperson Amber has described the band’s music as having “the sweet elements of having a crush on someone but the screeching of an industrial car crusher.” I think that is spot on based on what I heard on Wednesday.
Cruush are setting off on a UK tour in October. Although they are not playing Brighton, you can catch their powerful layered sounds at The Windmill, Brixton in London or Heartbreakers in Southampton. I hope it’s not just wishful thinking that Cruush return to play Brighton and maybe ‘The Great Escape’ festival next year.
Cruush:
Amber Warren – vocals and guitar
Arthur Boyd – guitar
Fotis Kalantzis – drums
Charlie Hogg – bass
Cruush setlist:
‘LULL’
‘As She Goes’
‘Stick in the Mud’
‘Wishful Thinking’
‘Headspace’
‘6/8’
‘DADDAD’
‘False Start’
The opening band was Matisse, which is the new project from Brighton-based independent dream pop artist, Matisse Moretti. You may know him as the frontman of FLOWVERS, an indie/alternative band from Portsmouth. Matisse Moretti was joined on stage by five other musicians: Finnian (guitar), Leandra (trumpet and backing vocals), Tom (keyboards), Ben (bass) and Louis (drums). They had a very vibrant sound reminiscent of 60s jangle pop. The gripping guitar melodies worked well with the trumpet adding a distinctive style. Their sound reminded me a little of Travis or Deacon Blue, as well as 1960’s pop.
It was a good varied set from Matisse, including ‘Different Way’ with its moody haunting introduction and ‘Better Than Ever’ announced as “a dance one”. ‘You’re Up’ by contrast was a slower number with trumpet player Leandra on backing vocals. They ended their happy upbeat set with ‘Delicate Guys’, which was a good lively number to close.
Matisse explained that he didn’t want to release music the modern way on TikTok, but via more traditional routes. Although they haven’t released any material yet, the contents of their set on Wednesday suggests they have some good tracks in the pipeline for release in the near future. Matisse will be playing in Brighton next supporting Gerard’s Corner on 8th September at The Pipeline. (Ticket details are yet to be confirmed.)
Matisse:
Matisse – vocals and guitar
Finnian – guitar
Leandra – trumpet
Tom – keyboards
Ben – bass
Louis – drums
The August line up was completed by two London based bands, first up FEZ and then World News.
East London-based outfit FEZ are the second band on stage. The five-piece band craft a blend of neo-psychedelia and progressive rock. They embrace nostalgia for a bygone era of music and reinterpret it in a modern way.
It was FEZ’s first-time playing Brighton, and their yacht rock 60s sounding psychedelic music went down well. There were some good bass lines and keyboards, which are a key feature of the band’s music. The keyboards in particular sounded very prog rock. Their happy upbeat sound had many in the audience dancing along.
Their set consisted of longer songs with instrumental breaks. These sections had a loose jamming session feel. This meant that members of the band appeared to be playing differing styles. Opinion was divided with some people liking it, while others found it slightly confusing.
It was the guitarist’s birthday, and the band had a fortune cookie for him that read “Happy event soon”. By the smiles on the band’s faces, and several in the audience, during the set, it was a happy event in the present, not the future.
South London four-piece World News were the third band of the night to grace the stage. The quartet originally from Brighton are Alex Evans (guitar and vocals), Rory Evans (bass), Malte Henning (drums) and Jack Tollman (rhythm guitar).
Their sound is inspired by 80s alternative artists like XTC and The Fall. In their jangly pop guitar lines and melodies, I could hear the XTC influence. Their song ‘Back To Hong Kong’ had hints of country music, and later songs in the set had a louder heavier sound. Like the previous band FEZ, their songs were quite long with long instrumental sections. By comparison World News’s instrumental parts were less free-form and tighter. It’s a matter of personal taste which worked better.
Their last song of the evening was ‘Wake Up’, a happy pop song to close their set. The audience seemed to enjoy World News. Many were enthusiastically dancing and moving along to the music, which was far more than just tapping their feet in time to the beat.
‘Hidden Herd Presents’ returns to The Hope & Ruin on Wednesday 28th September, when the lineup includes Freya Beer, Winter Gardens, Everyday Saints and Mission Creep. Purchase your tickets HERE.
Looking further ahead, October’s lineup features Pynch, Max Fulcrum & The Win, Tinman and Jopy. Tickets available HERE.
While in November the bill includes Wooze, Welly, Lonnie Gunn and Owners Club. Tickets HERE.
