C.O.F.F.I.N + TOP LEFT CLUB – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 26.5.24
We last reported on Aussie dirty rock band C.O.F.F.I.N (Children of Finland Fighting in Norway) a whole year ago when they rocked on up at ‘The Great Escape’ for the Sounds Australia showcase in the basement at Komedia, where one of our reviewers referred to them as “rough-as-gold-prospector’s-scrotum”, which still makes me laugh to this day!
The outfit have thus far released five studio albums, titled ‘Under The Influence’ (2010), ‘Spring Break At the Asylum’ (2014), ‘Piss~Up’ (2018), ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ (2020) and their most recent ‘Australia Stops’ (2023), which so happens is the title of their current tour which began in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany before crossing the channel and blasting punters ears in Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and London. Tonight they played their final UK gig here in Brighton at the Green Door Store courtesy of Acid Box promoters. Their plan from here is to then hop over to Lille and Paris and then a couple more dates in Germany. However, as we are informed this evening by vocalist/drummer Ben that he unfortunately left his passport in Bristol but the hotel were sending it to London for the band to pick it up on Monday, totally unaware of the Bank Holiday and their collection point being shut! Their Lille gig is on 28th May so I hope the lads get it sorted in time!
As well as Ben on vocals and drums, the Sydney based outfit also features Abijah on Gibson guitar and vocals, Loz on bass and vocals, and last but by no means least is Aaron on guitar and vocals. They got it together back in 2005 as schoolmates who were influenced by a huge love for music, skateboarding and a good-times-all-the-time attitude. Since playing their first show at the age of 12 opening for The Hard-Ons at Manly Youth Centre, the band have meticulously carved out their own corner of hard biting Australian Rock n Roll. Looking around the venue this evening it’s evident that C.O.F.F.I.N have a passionate following who are all gathered inside this hot sweaty mosh-filled former stable to enjoy the Aussies unique take on punk and rock music. It’s certainly time to get down and durrrty with these lads! The audience, who are almost all dressed in black, with a whole host of tattoos to boot to show off are an energetic bunch and the (friendly) jostling begins from the outset for opener ‘Cut You Off’, which is found on the new 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ platter. Actually, before I forget, talking about tattoos, C.O.F.F.I.N have actually in the past toured with Rose Tattoo, as well as TSOL, Celibate Rifles, Dead Kennedys, Cosmic Psychos, Parkway Drive, Frenzal Rhomb, Misfits, Amyl and the Sniffers and the Hard Ons.
Tonight’s live show featuring lyrical activism and howling guitars continues with the first of four selections from their ‘2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ album, this being ‘Plans For You’ and the crowd get a tad livelier. I heard someone reference them as “Rockiest Status Quo meets punk” which I guess within certain boundaries isn’t actually that far off. After the tune concluded Ben quite rightly told the crowd to “Have as much fun as you can without ruining anyone else’s” and they launched into the second choice from their latest long player, this tune being the Motörhead-esque ‘Lover’s Leash’. After this we had ‘Done By The Dogs’ from 2018’s ‘Piss~Up’ album, which reminded me of punk outfit GBH, and suffice to say the moshpit was in full flow. Selection six was ‘Keep It Dark’ which is found on the 2023 album and during this number I spotted the first proper crowd surfer. ‘Cum In The Street’ from 2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ record came and went and then we had two newbies ‘City Sun’ and the longer slower drawn out ‘Beasts’.
Now it’s here dear friends that we hit a major snag as one of our party was obviously in some great discomfort and was barely standing. They had been looking off-colour before the support artists came on stage, but endeavoured to front it out but it proved to be a losing battle. They hadn’t been drinking or taking anything untoward and so we decided to leave whilst we could. Looking up their symptoms online, the nearest explanation found reads thus: “Certain migraine types can make it more plausible that gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms will appear along with light sensitivity. Abdominal migraine typically impacts children, who develop symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting as well as sensory complaints such as photophobia during the attack phase”. The music had been fast, loud and with flurries of hammer-ons and wailing lead guitar, which quite possibly compounded the situation. Just prior to C.O.F.F.I.N commencing their set Ben informed me that they “sometimes mix tracks up on the setlist!”. If this was the case this evening, I’m not really sure, but according to the setlist that Ben and I were referring to the remaining tunes should have been ‘Dead Land’, ‘Give Me A Bite’, ‘Factory Man’, ‘Night Breaker’, ‘Fast Love’ and ‘White Dog’. Recencent concerts have also indicated an encore track, this being ‘Through The Sewer’. So as the headline states “Unwell but not yet in a C.O.F.F.I.N”.
C.O.F.F.I.N:
Ben – vocals, drums
Abijah – guitar, vocals
Loz – bass, vocals
Aaron – guitar, vocals
C.O.F.F.I.N setlist:
‘Cut You Off’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Plans For You’ (from 2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ album)
‘Lover’s Leash’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Done By The Dogs’ (from 2018 ‘Piss~Up’ album)
‘Keep It Dark’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Cum In The Street’ (from 2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ album)
‘City Sun’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Beasts’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Riff Raff’ (AC/DC cover)
‘Dead Land’ (from 2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ album)
‘Give Me A Bite’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Factory Man’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Night Breaker’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
‘Fast Love’ (from 2020 ‘Children Of Finland Fighting In Norway’ album)
‘White Dog’ (from 2018 ‘Piss~Up’ album)
(encore?)
? ‘Through The Sewer’ (from 2023 ‘Australia Stops’ album)
Support this evening came from one of my Top 5 Brighton bands Top Left Club who I had witnessed performing live at The Dorset only a week ago as part of an Unofficial Escape. I had purchased their ‘Shoulders at 90’ debut album from them when they played the WaterBear Venue when it came out, and I caned it to death. Since then they have dropped their second long player ‘Turn And Burn’ and this vinyl seriously needed to be added to my music collection, and so I purchased that last week. It’s just as good as their debut and reminds me of The Damned’s debut long player as well as the Ramones. Top Left Club features both members of SKiNNY MiLK, namely Johnny Hart on bass and vocals with Tim Cox on drums and from Young Francis Hi Fi completing the lineup are MacDaddy on guitar plus Jimi Dymond on lead vocals and Yamaha Reface DX keys, and together they perfectly show how vintage style punk rock should be delivered, despite giving you the false sense of security with their colour coded shellsuits, which vocalist Jimi informs us smells of wet dog after a few numbers.
Tonight being no exception as the quartet are seriously building up a sweat as they deliver the excellent punk ditties in front of an almost full capacity crowd, which I’m sure for them is most encouraging. From 8:29pm we are in their hands as they race through no less than 17 tracks in their allotted half hour slot. Yep, it’s fast’n’furious stuff and yet light-hearted. They commence with a warm up ‘Intro’ tune which is a call to arms for those outside having a fag break and those at the bar, to get their arses through the dividing curtain and into the performance room. This evening, strangely there aren’t actually many of those judging but the many souls already camped in the room at the very start. We get eight cuts from the debut platter and seven from the latest album, with the remaining tune ‘Ambulance’, being, as far as I know, an as yet unrecorded track. The songs are delivered in sections of tracks, it’s five, four, four and four, with the only real stop being the extended false ending silence of ‘Dream’, for which even the stage lights went out for added effect! And in summing up, another blinding set, one which a majority of C.O.F.F.I.N fans really enjoyed. Fabulous stuff!
Top Left Club:
Jimi Dymond – lead vocals and keys
Johnny Hart – bass and vocals
MacDaddy – guitar
Tim Cox – drums
Top Left Club setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Talk Talk’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘RIP’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Scratch & Sniff’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘I C U Tonight’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Connection’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘No Control’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Piss’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘World’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Rattle My Brain’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Teddy Biscuits’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Dream’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Slugs’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Ambulance’ (unreleased)
‘Frown’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Tie Me Down’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders at 90’ album)
‘Demons’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
