DOG RACE + MEDIA GIANT + PARIS BLUE – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 19.6.24
After reading the blurb that ‘Hidden Herd’ had sent me on the three bands who were playing The Prince Albert tonight, my expectations for a great night were extremely high. Here we had a promoter with a fantastic track record on introducing us to fantastic new bands and these three, on paper at least, sounded awesome. How would all that hype translate when they took to the stage of the legendary Prince Albert though?
Hitting the stage first tonight are Paris Blue, a Hastings quartet who have been championed by Earmilk and Clash Magazine. Melita Dennett on BBC Introducing is such a huge fan that she’s not only had their singles on heavy rotation, but also invited the band into play one of the coveted Live Lounge Sessions on her show. Live, they’ve supported heavyweights such as The Enemy and Kid Kapachi.
Paris Blue hit the stage and treated us to a 28 minute energetic, fun set that showed a lot of promise. They certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves up there on the stage and as their set went on and the crowd started filling up (the poor things started just 10 mins after the doors opened) it was good to feel the energy behind me cos these guys were giving it from the get go which I’ve got a lot of respect for.
We were only treated to one of their singles this evening which shows what a strong set of songs Leo Nakamura – Wear (vocals & guitar), Harry Giles (drums), Joseph Stephen (guitar & synth) and Riley McCarthy (bass) have in their locker.
‘Prove It’ was a lovely number that became even better when the second guitar kicked in and gave the tune a real early Talking Heads/Gang Of Four vibe.
‘Say It’ was a great alt pop number, but the song that followed ‘Don’t Hold Back’ was much more rocky with both guitars playing off each other beautifully. A proper slice of old school CBGBs sound it was with hints of both Talking Heads and Television and what’s not to like about that eh?
‘A Tout Alors’ was introduced with Leo telling us “The sun’s out, here’s a slow one for you”. And slowish it was too compared to what had gone on previously before, the bassist and drummer rocked out before the track could reach its conclusion.
‘Honestly’, their 2024 single was introduced with Leo stating “if you’ve seen us before, this is our main single. Enjoy”. And I enjoyed it very much. A powerful slab of indie pop that didn’t last long enough for my liking. Hopefully I’ll get to hear the 12″ version next time cos that was a killer tune.
‘Everything’ came up next and this one with the drummer and guitarist supplying backing vocals was another song I’d love to hear again. Some great playing again and if you’re a fan of early Talking Heads or Bloc Party material this is a band you need to watch out for.
Their final song saw Leo relieve himself of his tank-top and his guitar and slouch on the front of the stage. ‘Heaven/Headphones’ is another great track and with just the one guitar this time we were treated to more of a bad ass slice of punk rock which I enjoyed very much.
A cracking way to start the night and hoping to see these guys again real soon.
Paris Blue:
Leo Nakamura-Wear – vocals & guitar
Harry Giles – drums
Riley McCarthy – bass
Joseph Stephen – synth & guitar
Paris Blue setlist:
‘Prove It’ (unreleased)
‘Say It’ (unreleased)
‘Don’t Hold Back’ (unreleased)
‘A Tout Alors’ (unreleased)
‘Honestly’ (a 2024 single)
‘Everything’ (unreleased)
‘Heaven/Headphones’ (unreleased)
Next to take to the stage were London four piece Media Giant who are aptly named when you look at the levels of media hype their last release on Brace Yourselves Records (home to JOHN & Panic Shack) garnered. Not only did this receive the support of Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1, Radcliffe & Maconie on BBC Radio 6 and John Kennedy on Radio X, but the living legend that is Elton John declared his love for them on his Apple Music Rocket Hour Show as well. By all accounts they can cut it live as recent reports from their support slots with Bodega and DSM IV (who physically tore the roof off The Hope and Ruin last week) suggest.
Are they really this good or do they have someone working on Taylor Swift’s PR team working for them as a side hustle?
They open with their 2023 single ‘Afraid Of The Dark’ and if the rest of the set is going to be on par with this one, it’s safe to say that they don’t have anyone from Swift’ies payroll in their pocket. What a start. Think LCD Soundsystem but rockier folks…. and they managed to add in some cowbells as well.
Track two, the unreleased ‘Look What You’ve Done’ was like a hybrid of LCD Soundsystem meets Talking Heads when they were going through their funky period. This bad boy had a real heavy synth sound throughout and I couldn’t help but think of David Byrne doing his running on the spot routine, but trying to do so at the speed of Usain Bolt as this one rocked out as well.
Tom on vocals was wearing a NIN vest which was rather apt as their third number, the unreleased ‘Smart/Casual’, with its even heavier beats, louder drums and guitars could easily have slotted into their ‘White Teeth’ album.
This is a band that may wear its influences on their sleeves, but only when they are wearing short sleeved shirts. This isn’t some kind of nostalgia band, this is a group that is current and is playing music that needs to be listened to now. We’re three tracks in and we’ve got audience members bobbing their heads up and down, some shaking and dancing away and some like me doing both.
Tom informs us that criminally “this is our first gig in Brighton this year” as the into their 2023 single ‘Man Bites Dog’. A brief ‘Shaft’ like guitar rift gives over to the best punk song that The Rapture never wrote. And the cowbell popped again. It sounds so wrong, yet sounded so right.
“Here’s a slow one now. A romantic one. A ballad.Think about kissing and stuff” is how Tom introduced the unreleased ‘Magical Thinking’. It was certainly the slowest song of the set with both Tom’s sharing vocal duties, but whereas most ballads are played at 33rpm this one was played at close to 45 rpm. At least it gave my neck and backside a wee rest from all my bad dad dancing.
‘Where Do I Start?’ was to be the last unreleased track they’d play for us tonight and it was a straight up rocky dance number. Tom’s vocals, which have been superb all evening, really stood out on this one.
Their final number, ‘Guilt/Shame’ from their 2023 ‘Market Research’ EP was much, much rocker than the number before yet they still somehow had me dancing along as well as rocking my head backwards and forwards furiously. A great song to finish a great set.
Well, are they worth all the hype? Absobloodylutely !! I can’t believe ‘Hidden Herd’ have managed, yet again, to drag a band of this calibre all the way down from London and not have them headlining and let’s hope we don’t have to wait another six months until they pop down and play for us again.
Media Giant:
Kieran Mansfield – bass
Nick Klar – drums
Tom Klar – vocals
Tom Sullivan – guitar & synth
Media Giant setlist:
‘Afraid Of The Dark’ (a 2021 single)
‘Look What You’ve Done’ (unreleased)
‘Smart/Casual’ (unreleased)
‘Man Bites Dog’ (a 2023 single)
‘Magical Thinking’ (unreleased)
‘Where Do I Start’ (unreleased)
‘Guilt/Shame’ (from the 2023 ‘Market Research’ EP)
www.instagram.com/mediagiantmusic
And our final band of the night are London five piece Dog Race who have built an enviable word of mouth reputation in the Capital and well beyond. Championed by Mr ‘finger on the pulse’ Steve Lamacq as well as Lauren Laverene, they’ve been playlisted by BBC Radio 6, backed by Jack Saunders on BBC Radio 1 and were recently invited in by Deb Grant to play a New Music Fix live session. Live, they’ve supported Fat Dog, have headlined the Bad Vibes All-Dayer and are off to Germany in August to play the Haldern Pop Festival and The Left of Dial Festival in Rotterdam in October.
I’ve obviously been living under a rock as like the first two acts. I’ve never heard of them so let’s see what the next half hour has to bring….
The band kick off with the first of their seven tracks, an unreleased song named ‘Walk/Sprint’. After a brief, dark, intro that the Virgin Prunes would have been proud of, the vocals kick in. Wow. What a voice. Am I picking up elements of Elizabeth Fraser, Nina Hagen, Kate Bush? I don’t know. I’m lost for words, which is very unlike me. And then the music takes off and so does that voice, and as she sings she looks possessed. This is off the scale.
How are they going to follow that? Well track two, their 2022 single ‘Terror’ follows it up perfectly. This time we are treated to a dark synth and feedback intro and during the song Healy’s vocals go from mean and menacing before finishing off in an almost operatic style. All the while the band are pounding away furiously. At some point during this number my jaw must have dislocated as my chin is now on the floor.
Before moving onto their 2023 single ‘There’s A Mouse In My House’, Healy thanked us all for coming in the quietest, sweetest of voices. Maybe she is only possessed when the band starts playing? She really is magnetic to watch, but I tear my eyes off her to see how the boys are going about making this magical wall of sound that has underpinned every song so far. My eyes scan from right to left and back again many times and it appears that they are managing to do so with no effort at all. This is a well drill machine, no doubt about it.
“This is a newbie and it’s going to be a slow one. We’ll pick it up after” was how Healy introduced the unreleased ‘Practice Silence’. This track was pretty much vocals only with the most minimal of music in the background. The vocals were utterly beautiful. They were haunting. I swear to God, I’ve never heard a room go as quiet as it did in The Albert as the crowd stood and listened in all the years I’ve been going to gigs. I actually found it quite emotional. Where on earth did that one come from?
She said she’d pick it after and that’s exactly what they did. We were treated to ‘Colours’, another unreleased song. Someone in the audience told me they’d come along tonight as they’d heard that Dog Race was meant to sound like early-era Bauhaus. I tell you what, Bauhaus never wrote a song as good as this in their entire career, it was awesome.
‘The Leader’ was introduced as “This is our next single. It’s coming out on the third of July”. This was the best song of theirs and anyone else’s of the entire night. A massive sound from the drums, keys and guitars, vocals to die for and an absolute choon. I’ll be pre-ordering this on one of the many streaming services out there even though I know it won’t sound as good as it does live. It’ll still sound brilliant though I’m sure.
And alas we move onto their final number, their 2024 single ‘It’s The Squeeze’. The band cranked it up to eleven for this one, the music loud, dark and majestic. Healy ended up singing on her knees with her head on the floor. A dramatic and fitting way to end what for me has been the best set I’ve seen from any band this year.
And as for that trying to compare Katie Healy’s voice right at the start of the review? Well after listening to seven songs and hearing the cornucopia of sounds,the range, octaves etc she can produce then forget about it. Her voice is totally unique and doesn’t deserve to be compared to anyone. And that’s a hell of a band she’s a member of. Early-era Bauhaus my arse. Present day Dog Race mate, that’s what they sound like and I want to hear more.
Dog Race:
Katie Healy – vocals
James Kelly – guitar
Jed Finkelstein – drums
Dillon Willis – keys
Will McNabb – bass
Dog Race setlist:
‘Walk/Sprint’ (unreleased)
‘Terror’ (a 2022 single)
‘There’s A Mouse In My House’ (a 2023 single)
‘Practice Silence’ (unreleased)
‘Colours’ (unreleased)
‘The Leader’ (unreleased)
‘New Age Paranoia’ (a 2024 single)
