LOOSE ARTICLES + TRIPLE DRAIN + JOPY – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 6.10.24
Loose Articles are a Manchester based punk quartet specialising in discordant, hypnotic repetition, tales of boozy nights out, and radical politics, that features Natalie Wardle (vocals and Fender Mustang bass), Erin Caine (vocals and guitar), Abbi Phillips (drums) and Anna Reed (Korg keyboards).Their music speaks to all those determined to get through the age of austerity with tongue in cheek, pint in hand, and two feet firmly on the dance floor.
They dropped their debut 4 tune EP titled ‘Orchid Lounge’ on 14th December 2019, which featured ‘Snake’, ‘Money For Booze’, ‘Orchid Lounge’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’. Their orange vinyled ‘Chaos’ EP followed which featured ‘Chaos’, ‘Eggshells’, ‘Dirty Dicks Food And Ale Emporium’ and ‘Kick Like A Girl’. This year the quartet have thus far dropped a trio of singles ‘I’d Rather Have A Beer’, ‘Mr Manager’ and ‘Are You A Welder?’ as well as their debut album on Alcopop, which dropped on 26th July. Titled ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’, it consists of nine cuts and the vinyl has a decent looking leopard effect and each of the 4 CD options have been especially crafted to focus on a different member of Loose Articles. In essence it’s the same packaging but with a different body print, with one for Everton, one for Corinthians, one for FC United and finally one for LAFC.
In support of the debut long player, Loose Articles have taken to the road and have been hitting the UK motorways which they will be travelling on until mid October and then they head off to Germany, France and Belgium. Tonight they are performing here in Brighton at The Hope & Ruin and immediately on arrival we note that they have stamped their mark as the inhouse Laine Brew Co drumkit is missing and in its place is Loose Articles brand new bright orange coloured Pearl Master Caster maple drumkit and orange Terror bass and orange amp, all of which are proudly sitting to the rear of the stage and looking really cool. Orange is very much the colour of choice for vocalist Natalie who is sporting the same colour hair and skirt. They certainly brighten up the place! They have pulled in a few big names on the local circuit too with Cal from Ditz and Phoebe from Lambrini Girls both present and correct.
Hanging at the rear of the stage are a row of six vertical light units each with a dozen spots and these are interspersed with five double lego block style lights. I’m rather hoping that these too haven’t come with the band, but are in fact new features of the venue, just like the two relatively new Martin Audio floor speakers in front of the stage.
Loose Articles take to the stage at 9:02pm as the intro tape plays ‘Guess’ by Billie Eilish and Charli XCX and the band play their own instrumental ‘Intro’ tune. After which as Natalie addresses the crowd, it’s immediately apparent as to where she’s from because of her broad Manc accent. Their set will be of 14 tunes and will last 54 minutes. The first of all nine cuts from their ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album arrives in the form of recent single ‘Mr Manager’ with its drumming led bouncy sound complete with some cowbell action and decent repeated top bass string action. It’s a good start and there’s more rumbly bass action on the next track, ‘Buses’, from their 2021 ‘Up The Disco’ single, which also has some surf guitar action and “I hate buses” chants. The slower offering of ‘I’ve Nearly Made It’ gets an airing next.
Last years ‘Sinead Loves Bitcoin’ single comes next and Natalie explains that it was written about a mate of theirs that “got hacked by Bitcion hackers”. This has a funky drumbeat and features rumbly bass atop. Selection six was ‘Want’ from their album and this is a jaunty number and features a “want want want I wanna be ya” chant from
Erin as she plays her guitar. They announce ‘Pinball John’ and enquire whether anyone plays pinball in the room, to which there’s a “yep” from the crowd and the track gets dedicated to them, and they are off again. The high pitch of the guitar worked well on this tune and the vocals are shared between Erin and Natalie.
We are then asked if any of us are welders. No one is, but it’s the cue for the girls to let loose on ‘Are You A Welder?’ which features Erin on lead vocals which are delivered in a matter-of-fact way, as well as the tune having a decent rockabilly surf twangy guitar sound. ‘Unpaid Intern’ begins with “(Ooh, ooh) let’s all chant” as in the Michael Zager Band disco hit, and this tune is fuelled by some cowbell and keys action and it’s a funky post punk ditty and the likes of Rip, Rig + Panic and Pigbag spring to mind. Part way through this track the party atmosphere was rammed up as Anna vacated her Korg keys in favour of two drums that were positioned behind her. There were several cowbells on the go and then both Erin and Natalie came for a wander into the audience and with Natalie’s long microphone lead, they started a crowd limbo competition, with Cal from Ditz having a go. This was a big hit with the punters and one guy handed his mobile phone to our friend Graeme to film his antics as this guy had a go on the limbo and handed his false leg to an astonished Natalie, who admitted that this had never happened before. It was a joyous moment for the band’s tour memories!
‘It’s Art’ came next and Abbi’s drums were sounding rather like The Streetband’s ‘Toast’ hit single, with added bass atop. Meanwhile Anna traded in her Korg for her guitar and they rocked! It was then signalled that there would be a change of direction next and the tempo was to be taken down for their “ballad” as Natalie referred to ‘Guitars, Cars, Knickers And Bras’ as, but this actually still rocked! The final cut from their album was up next, this being ‘I’d Rather Have A Beer’ with its skiffle punk beat and faster speedier drums. They signalled that they were now on their final tune and this was the sole remaining cut from their 2019 ‘Orchid Lounge’ EP, this being ’Snake’, and there were handclaps aplenty going on for this tune, as the crowd were well into it! The beat of this track actually sounded like the Sex Pistols in parts which was a bonus. Mid-tune they requested a dance-off and the crowd obliged. Natalie then said “right, we’ll be at the bar!”…..
But the punters shouted for more and Natalie checked with the sound guy as to how much time they had left before curfew and the reply was that there was time for one more tune. So after a quick discussion Natalie said they were going to perform ‘Kick Like A Girl’ (which is found on 2022’s ‘Chaos’ EP) which they hadn’t played in quite a while! Abbi’s drumbeat kicked in, sounding not too unlike Generation X’s ‘King Rocker’ and there were more “Ooh, ooh” chants from both the band and audience. Everyone was having so much fun. Anna blew a whistle and the song’s beat changed and got down and dirty and the vocal lines screamed and sounded like Brighton’s very own Pussyliquor. And at 9:56pm that was our lot. It had been an enjoyable night out!
Loose Articles:
Natalie Wardle – vocals, bass
Erin Caine – vocals, guitar
Abbi Phillips – drums, backing vocals
Anna Reed – keyboards, drums, whistle
Loose Articles setlist:
(intro tape: ‘Guess’ by Billie Eilish and Charli XCX)
‘Intro’
‘Mr Manager’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Buses’ (from 2021 ‘Up The Disco’ single)
‘I’ve Nearly Made It’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Sinead Loves Bitcoin’ (a 2023 single)
‘Want’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Pinball John’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Are You A Welder?’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Unpaid Intern’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘It’s Art’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘Guitars, Cars, Knickers And Bras’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
‘I’d Rather Have A Beer’ (from 2024 ‘Scream If You Wanna Go Faster’ album)
’Snake’ (from 2019 ‘Orchid Lounge’ EP)
(encore)
‘Kick Like A Girl’ (from 2022 ‘Chaos’ EP)
Kicking off proceedings tonight are Jopy who are a Brighton based three-piece band led by songwriter Jo Parnell (vocals and Fender guitar) and completing the line up are Clown Baby (Fender Jazz bass) and Louis Relf (drums). Their glam punk sound has rousing post-punk riffs and frantically infectious choruses. Last month they dropped their 12” transparent purple vinyl ‘Planet Zombie’ EP on local label Goo Records, and what a corker it is! It’s six slabs of epicness that proudly sits in my record collection.
This evening we get to hear all of the half dozen tunes on the EP as well as a single from last year and an unreleased track as part of their 8 song 28 minute set which ran from 7:22pm to 7:50pm. The trio took to the stage and kicked off with ‘Graveyard Romance’ and immediately Jo was in the zone with an animated vocal delivery whilst pulling off some serious shimmy foot action. Which leads us nicely into tune two, the unreleased ‘Twisting’, the intro drumming of which reminded me of ‘Coz I Luv You’ by Slade until the track heads off into The Cramps territory, with its decent bass hooks. Jo then introduces ‘Head Hunters Pub And Grub’ as being the first tune on their EP. Again Louis’ drumming is really solid, and Jo’s guitar playing has now become so good and frantic that it could appear to some that a fit will be imminent.
Track four is the title track of their ‘Planet Zombie’ EP and right from the off when Jo begins with “mumma mumma mumma” intro words, you can’t help but notice the reincarnation of Marc Bolan’s sound and mannerisms. Later on in the song, there’s also a strong Brett Anderson vocal sound as well. Plus Louis’ is really battering Loose Articles orange drumkit. ‘Birdwatching’ come next and from the off, the tune reminds me of The Clash replete with surf sounding guitar, but then I get a serious nod to The B-52’s ‘Give Me Back My Man’ tune, in particular the “I’ll give you fish, I’ll give you candy” section.
Their slow jangly indie Brit-pop guitar riff heavy ‘2023 ‘Headshot’ single gets an airing next and prior to beginning Jo says than now for the very first time, it can be said that this is an old tune! The penultimate number for Jopy tonight is ‘Honey The Vampire’ with its dirty gritty rockabilly beat with echoey U2 sounding guitar work created via the tremolo. They signed off with arguably the track that they best perform live, namely ‘Purchase No.3’, which this evening sounds immense with the combination of all three instruments (drums, bass and guitar) working in perfect harmony and the tune flits between quieter parts and frenzied tremolo heavy parts. There’s a real buzz about this band and it’s a good plan to see them now before they start to play larger headline gigs! Clearly we aren’t alone as Wasted Youth’s Rocco Barker has gone on record and stated on his social media the following: “Jo & her band were quite possibly the most exciting young things that I’ve seen in decades. They blew me away and are clearly destined for some fabulous times ahead.x” This was after he watched them supporting Wasted Youth at The Piper in St. Leonards-on-Sea on 21st September. You have been warned!
You can catch Jopy, when they play the Goo Records x Hidden Herd All-Dayer at The Hope & Ruin on Saturday 7th December 2024 – Purchase your tickets HERE.
Jopy:
Jo Parnell (she/her) – vocals/guitar
Clown Baby (they/them) – bass
Louis Relf (he/him) – drums
Jopy setlist:
‘Graveyard Romance’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
‘Twisting’ (unreleased)
‘Head Hunters Pub And Grub’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
‘Planet Zombie’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
‘Birdwatching’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
‘Headshot’ (a 2023 single release)
‘Honey The Vampire’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
‘Purchase No.3’ (from 2024 ‘Planet Zombie’ EP)
The second support act tonight are Triple Drain who are a trio consisting of Lithuanian born Eva (vocals and awesome 5-string Ibanez bass), Bella (guitar) and Rachel (drums) and they are currently finishing off their debut single. Visually they draw comparisons to a modern day version of The Slits and even offer up the subliminal reggae bass dub backbeat, but are best described as post punk with a goth edge.
This evening we are in their company for 26 minutes, running from 8:10pm to 8:36pm and they kick off with ‘Mindfuzz’ which commences with metronomic drumming and pleasant guitar work before exploding with sound and then back again. Selection two is called ‘Found Mary’ and Rachel’s cymbals and Bella’s bass are working in tandem here to great effect and sounding not a million miles away from Public Image Ltd. Track three is ‘Rachel’s House’ which has a quieter opening with the top two guitar strings being plucked in accompaniment with a decent drums and cymbals combo action, and then the bass is suddenly noticeable. There’s an almost Arabic guitar vibe here and Eva’s vocals remind me of Xmal Deutschland which was often written as X-Mal Deutschland. They were at the forefront of the German Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) music scene, they formed back in 1980 with a completely female line-up and very good they were too, especially their 4 John Peel sessions.
The next Triple Drain offering was ‘Batrat And Mothboy’ with its guitar and cymbals intro certainly had elements of Siouxsie & The Banshees, especially on the vocals, that is until it got loud and frantic towards the end. This trio are an altogether different act to their predecessors Jopy and are less urgent and almost dreamstate like and too are an enjoyable listen. ‘This Mayo’ was up next with its dub style bass and drums and cymbals combo along with guitar shaking swirls. The vocal deliveries are contrastingly slower than the beats, but this really does work rather well indeed. This reminds me of PiL. Their penultimate choice was ‘Prometheus’ which Eva informs us is a new one. This certainly has its musical crescendos topped with Liz Frazer Cocteau Twins style wailing. They leave us with ‘Sonic Sludge’ which has The Mission style guitar sounds and again Arabic vibed bass and drum beats, along with Eva’s increasingly wailing vocals. It’s been an enjoyable set!
You can next catch Triple Drain live in Brighton at a Halloween special at The Prince Albert on Thursday 31st October. The event also features Modessa and Bones Ate Afra – Tickets HERE. Their next gig after that will be at The Bee’s Mouth in Hove on Sunday 22nd December.
Triple Drain:
Eva – bass and vox
Bella – guitar
Rachel – drums
Triple Drain setlist:
‘Mindfuzz’
‘Found Mary’
‘Rachel’s House’
‘Batrat And Mothboy’
‘This Mayo’
‘Prometheus’
‘Sonic Sludge’
