COACH PARTY + PANDA SWIM + GIRL SCOUT – PATTERNS, BRIGHTON 13.10.23
Hotly-tipped Isle of Wight indie rockers Coach Party headed to Patterns in Brighton for the final date of their 14 date UK Autumn tour. The tour coincided with the release of their debut album ‘Killjoy’ released on Chess Club Records last month. Having played four times at The Great Escape this year, Coach Party certainly made an impression on Brighton’s music fans, as their show was sold out.
The band consisting of Jess (vocals and bass), Steph, Joe (both on guitars) and Guy (drums) came on stage to the sounds of Simple Minds ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’. Without delay, they launched straight into ‘Micro Aggression’ a venomous rejection of misogynistic double standards from their debut album ‘Killjoy’. Fitting with the song’s title, it was a fast aggressive number with similarities to Wolf Alice’s ‘Yuk Foo’. Without a break between songs or a drop in the fast tempo, this was quickly followed by ‘What’s The Point In Life’ a uncompromising nihilistic indie rock anthem.
Before the next song, singer Jess shared “Last night and tonight have been emotional. We’ve been on a journey. Only two years ago we played Komedia here”. The Brighton and Hove Music Team caught that gig back in 2021 – Read our account of that night HERE. Coach Party clearly enjoy playing Brighton, and Jess declared they were happy they chose to close their tour here. The pace slowed for the next track, ‘Born Leader’, before ramping back up again on ‘Can’t Talk, Won’t’ an older number. Older being relative as it was from their 2021 ‘After Party’ EP. Fast bass playing from Jess, and matched by the guitars from Steph and Joe built this song to a crescendo finish. They slowed things down for the following song ‘Be That Girl’ from the ‘Killjoy’ album. This showcased another side of the band’s evolving sound and Jess’s voice.
The mood changed for the next song, ‘All I Wanna Do Is Hate’, which started with a recording of a sinister voice reminiscent of Big Brother in George Orwell’s ‘1984’. (No, not the voiceover on the new series of ‘Big Brother’ on TV.) This song had a very menacing feel about it. The band took us back to last year’s ‘Nothing Is Real’ EP with the next two indie rock numbers ‘Shit TV’ and ‘Nothing Is Real’. ‘Nothing Is Real’ had those loud and quiet parts to it. Jess introduced ‘Always Been You’ as “… being written for the album. Onto the next album.” Here’s a band who aren’t standing still.
In keeping with the music and lyrics of the next song, ‘Everybody Hates Me’ the stage lighting was much darker for this song. On this fans’ favourite, Jess was joined on vocals by nearly everybody in the audience at Patterns. For a band going forward at a fast pace, Coach Party haven’t forgotten where they’ve come from over the last three years. The next song from the debut ‘Party Food’ EP ‘Bleach’, was dedicated to a long-time fan, Lambie, who had been with them from their early gigs on the Isle of Wight.
There was a short break before the next song with Jess and Steph discussing being sad that the set was going so quickly and tour was coming to an end, which led into the next song, ‘I’m Sad’. On the next song ‘Hi Baby’ Jess sang in a slightly higher pitched voice with a few lines of a solo vocal, before the band kicked in to close the song.
Coach Party were joined on stage by Jeph, the skeleton who is on the cover of their album ‘Killjoy’. Jeph had been quietly sitting by the merch stall up until that point. The band had different views on this model skeleton, who had been on tour with them over the last few weeks. While Steph admitted to becoming attached to it; Jess said it was not needed now the tour was over. So Jeph the skeleton went crowd surfing during the next track, ‘Breakdown’, and was last seen crowd surfing in the direction of the bar. Back to the music on stage, ‘Breakdown’ also had quieter parts where Jess again sang virtually solo, before a very loud close to this song.
‘Sweetheart’, which followed, was a mellower number which in parts Jess sang accompanied with just a guitar and minimal cymbals. By contrast the final two tracks were anything but mellow. ‘FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)’ was delivered with real anger and rage in Jess’s vocal as well as the music. Given the subject matter of this anti misogynistic anthem, that’s no surprise. The Brighton crowd sang along with the lyrics.
Members of two supporting bands, Panda Swim and Girl Scout, joined Coach Party on a very crowded stage for the finale. ‘Parasite’. This is one of the band’s heaviest tracks, and was an ear-splitting punk rock closing number, which was a perfect way to close an amazing performance.
Jess was spot on early in the set, when she spoke of the band being on an amazing journey over the last three years. I’ve seen Coach Party a few times, including that night at Komedia, Camden Electric (supporting The Mysteries) and various Great Escape performances. Based on their show at Patterns they’ve made great leaps forward in terms of variety in their live show and material. They’ve built on their catchy indie tunes, and lyrics which are always from the heart, by adding both occasional punk outbursts and a mellower side on others.
Coach Party came on stage to ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’ and nobody at Patterns on Friday will forget their performance in a hurry. Coach Party’s journey is only just starting. I’m sure we’ll soon be seeing them playing bigger Brighton venues like Chalk or Concorde 2.
Coach Party:
Jess Eastwood – vocals/bass
Steph Norris – guitar
Joe Perry – guitar
Guy Page – drums
Coach Party setlist:
‘Micro Aggression’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘What’s The Point In Life’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘Born Leader’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘Can’t Talk, Won’t’ (from 2021 ‘After Party’ EP)
‘Be That Girl’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘All I Wanna Do Is Hate’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘Shit TV’ (from 2022 ‘Nothing Is Real’ EP)
‘Nothing Is Real’ (from 2022 ‘Nothing Is Real’ EP)
‘Always Been You’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘Everybody Hates Me’ (from 2021 ‘After Party’ EP)
‘Bleach’ (from 2020 ‘Party Food’ EP)
‘I’m Sad’ (from 2021 ‘After Party’ EP)
‘Hi Baby’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
‘Breakdown’ (from 2020 ‘Party Food’ EP)
‘Sweetheart’ (from 2021 ‘After Party’ EP)
‘FLAG (Feel Like A Girl)’ (from 2022 ‘Nothing Is Real’ EP)
‘Parasite’ (from 2023 ‘Killjoy’ album)
Opening for Coach Party were Swedish four-piece Girl Scout. The band members Emma Jansson (guitar, vocals), Evelina Arvidsson Eklind (bass, vocals), Per Lindberg (drums) and Viktor Spasov (guitar) met at music college in Stockholm, and are quickly making a name for themselves beyond their Scandinavian homeland.
Girl Scout had a very good indie pop sound, and it was clear from their opening songs why many people had arrived at Patterns early to catch their set. Before their third number ‘Mothers And Fathers’ singer Emma explained it was their ode to divorce. This was a softer song than their opening two numbers. ‘Bruises’ was introduced as “a power ballad, but not an old man’s tune. It’s written by young people.” True to their word, it did have a fresh sound, and hints of the American alternative rock band Sixpence None The Richer.
Emma explained that the following ‘Monster’ was about “feeling like a piece of shit and being OK with it”. This had an American indie rock, soft grunge sound, a bit like Californian band Momma. Girl Scout upped the volume on this track and Emma walked around the stage carrying her mic stand. They followed this with a new unrecorded song ‘I Just Need You To Know’. This was used as an entertaining musical plug for their merch, “I just need you to know we’ve got merch on sale, records t-shirts…”. It worked as some people were seen clutching their newly purchased vinyl watching the following two bands. The song itself was much more rock-like, being louder and punchier than the rest of their set.
Girl Scout closed a quality and varied set with their debut single ‘Do You Remember Sally Moore?’ a rousing singalong indie pop tune. It was obvious from their performance, why some in the music press are saying Girl Scout are ones to watch for 2023.
Girl Scout:
Emma Jansson – guitar, vocals
Evelina Arvidsson Eklind – bass, vocals
Viktor Spasov – guitar
Per Lindberg – drums
Before Coach Party’s headline set was another Isle of Wight band, Panda Swim. The band’s line-up is Stu Spiller (vocals and guitar), Daryl Norman (drums), Tom Batcholor (bass) and the newest member Jake Goodrum (lead guitar). Their fuzzy grunge pop sound had a fresh back to the ’90s feel, especially on tracks like their debut single ‘School Of Fools’. ‘Way Out’ and other tracks had influences from US pop punk and reminded me at times of bands like Wheatus and Fountains of Wayne.
It was Panda Swim’s third night on this tour supporting Coach Party. Stu mentioned how they knew the headline act from way back. In fact, Coach Party’s Guy Page and Joe Perry used to in Panda Swim. Regardless of previous band member connections, Panda Swim stood on their own merits and were a very good entertaining support band. Panda Swim closed a very good set with ‘Lose Myself’ from their debut EP ‘Downer’. Stu’s vocals on this song were similar to Pixies’ Frank Black and his style of shouting the lyrics.
There has to be a special mention for lead guitarist Jake, who had one rehearsal with the band before the tour. It didn’t show, as the whole band were musically tight knit. It was Panda Swim’s first show in Brighton, with vocalist Stu admitting it was his first time to the city. Many at Patterns will hope to see them back again.
Panda Swim:
Stu Spiller – Vocals/Guitar
Daryl Norman – Drums/Vocals
Tom Batcholor – Bass/Vocals
Jake Goodrum – Lead Guitar/Vocals
Panda Swim setlist:
‘Tea’
‘Ghost Yard’
‘Way Out’
‘Be On Your Own’
‘Dinosaur’
‘Pretty Bad’
‘School Of Fools’
‘Lose Myself’
