TOP LEFT CLUB – THE HOPE & RUIN (BAR), BRIGHTON 14.6.25
The Stay Sick club nights in the bar of The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road in Brighton are rather legendary around these parts! Neil Sick Smith and his chums have been on the case for 17 years now and real vinyl records are very much on the menu at each outing. But not just any old vinyl, they have to fit the Stay Sick mould, and so at each outing music lovers will always hear a decent smattering of surf rock, punk rock, trash rock, rock’n’roll and even R’n’B and garage. Special guests for this evening’s bash are local “Synth punk filth” Top Left Club who are to perform the longest set I’ve ever seen them play!
As is often the case with so much music on offer in town we decide to take on two gigs, with this being our second installment. The first being a short brisk walk away at The Prince Albert where the headliners are Brazilian psychobilly surf trio The Mullet Monster Mafia, who have also been on the case since 2008, and are playing only their fourth ever UK gig in their 17 year history! The previous three being on Wednesday at The Red Lion in Bristol, on Thursday at The Ferret in Preston, and last night in London at Signature Brew. Support this evening came from fellow Brazilian duo Yur Mum and Surrey based trio Dead Hombres – Read our review of that event HERE. Thankfully this event finished earlier than planned due to swift turnarounds and thus we were able to whizz across to The Hope & Ruin whilst Top Left Club were offloading ‘Talk Talk’ and ‘RIP’ from their 2021 ‘Shoulders At 90’ album, as well as ‘Scratch & Sniff’ from their 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album.
We arrive just as the Top Left Club quartet are starting ‘I C U Tonight’ which is found on their ‘Shoulders At 90’ LP. The street level bar is absolutely rammed with ecstatic punters of varying ages and styles, but we somehow manage to get to the front! We have entered the sweatbox and brace ourselves for copious amounts of sleazy high energy raw synth punk! Tonight’s set comprises no less than 19 tunes, which is virtually all of their recorded output thus far. Turns out that they only omit ‘Shark Eye’, ‘Le Chat’ and ‘Killing Me’ from ‘Turn And Burn’ as well as ‘Rollin’’ and ‘Initial Hum’ from ‘Shoulders At 90’.
This evening is a warm-up for their 10-date French tour which begins in a few days time. Top Left Club are a supergroup of sorts as they feature both members of SKiNNY MiLK, namely Johnny Hart on left-handed bass and vocals with Tim Cox on drums, as well as from Young Francis Hi Fi and previously riding with Rotten Foxes we have MacDaddy on guitar plus Jimi Dymond on lead vocals and Yamaha keys.
Top Left Club are seriously entrenched in my ‘Top Five Brighton Based Bands’, and show no sign of dropping anywhere below that for the foreseeable future, so I guess you can already guess how this review is going to go!
I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again….Top Left Club ARE the UK’s answer to the Ramones! Their songs have the same fast intensity and they rattle them off in blocks without really coming up for air. Their overall ‘sound’ seriously reminds me of the Ramones, The Heartbreakers, early Damned (especially Johnny’s vocals) ,Stiff Little Fingers, a heavier version of The Clash and The Stranglers, as well as the vibe of the Rezillos mixed with the New York Dolls, and The Stooges. They have captured that nostalgic sound to perfection!
I’ve already flagged up their first four tracks tonight and that was the first block of tunes. We are at the head of the boisterous crowd who are set out to have real fun on this Saturday night. So much so, that I assure you, that the bar floor is actually bouncing! We are packed in like sardines and jovial moshing seems to be the order of the day. Surprisingly, there’s a guy at the front who has taken his shoes and socks off and is going barefoot throughout! His feet survive the ordeal. There’s another guy to my left who I believe is celebrating his 50th birthday! Well this’ll be a memorable one for him! The punters are of all ages and sexes and it’s clear that Top Left Club and Stay Sick’s sound is a multi-generational thing of beauty!
It’s impossible to take any real notes as the next block of five tunes whizz by. These being ‘Connection’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’), ‘No Control’ and ‘Piss’ (from ‘Shoulders At 90’), as well as a track according to their setlist is ‘Don’t Wanna Be You’ which is either unreleased or a cover version. Completing the handful of tracks is ‘World’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’).
It’s been a few months since I’ve seen the band live in the flesh, but they certainly aren’t keeping any local hairdressers in business! It suits them and even their colour coded chav shell suits are amusing as a total juxtaposition to their heavy sound. Thankfully throughout their 51 minute set, they still offer up their human shaped ‘Shoulders At 90’ ‘T’ pose, which always lightens the mood. Notably drummer Tim, is a keen purveyor of this, and Jimi often sticks out his left hand and does a motorbike revving action, which really does seem to increase the intensity of the night.
The quartet launch into ‘Rattle My Brain’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’) and during this Jimi has managed to somehow snap the microphone holder, which is essential for when he is playing the keyboard, which sadly tonight was far too low in the mix. A replacement mic and stand are on hand and they are away again with ‘Teddy Biscuits’ (from ‘Shoulders At 90’), and the trio of ‘Dream’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’), ‘Shitbag’ (from ‘Shoulders At 90’) and ‘Coming 4 U’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’) complete the next block of songs. They are very much on the homeward straight now and the final block of four tunes leads them right up to exactly 11:00pm. The tunes being ‘Slugs’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’), ‘Frown’ and ‘Tie Me Down’ (both from ‘Shoulders At 90’) and finally ‘Demons’ (from ‘Turn And Burn’). Neil then takes to the stage area and Jimi decides to dedicate one more tune to him, this being their rendition of ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ by The Stooges, which goes down very well indeed! A majority of folk are drenched with sweat and the street-level venue oozes the stench of success and at 11:06pm that was it!
It’s been a very successful night and puts the quartet on the right path across the channel. Bon voyage mes amis!
Top Left Club:
Jimi Dymond – lead vocals, keys
Johnny Hart – bass, vocals
MacDaddy – guitar
Tim Cox – drums
Top Left Club setlist:
‘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)
‘Don’t Wanna Be You’ (unreleased)
‘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)
‘Shitbag’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders At 90’ album)
‘Coming 4 U’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Slugs’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘Frown’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders At 90’ album)
‘Tie Me Down’ (from 2021 ‘Shoulders At 90’ album)
‘Demons’ (from 2023 ‘Turn And Burn’ album)
‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ (The Stooges cover of from 1969 ‘The Stooges’ album)
