THISTLE. + GOODBYE + AIN’T + CARNE – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 18.6.25
Local promoters Hidden Herd returned to The Hope & Ruin on Wednesday night with another quality and varied line up of new and upcoming artists, which included local Brighton bands CARNE and goodbye and the exciting Londoners Ain’t and Northampton’s thistle.
With a change to the running order, South London band Ain’t opened Wednesday night’s feast of live music. Ain’t’s sound brings together 90s guitar, post-punk and shoegaze.
At the start, singer Hanna Baker Darch introduced themselves as “We’re 3/5ths of Ain’t.” She was joined at The Hope and Ruin by Ed Randall and George Ellerby on guitars. She went on to explain that the other members of the band, Joe Lockstone (drums) and Chapman Ho (bass) were unable to make the event due to illness. Hence the change in running order and a stripped back set.
Ain’t started with two unreleased songs, ‘Fish Tank’ and ‘Arms’. Clear from the start was the quality of Hanna’s vocals, often with a dreamy quality that rose beautifully with the music. ‘Fish Tank’ featured a sliding technique by one of the guitarists, which gave the song a feel similar to ‘Fade Into You’ by Mazzy Star. It was the first time they had played ‘Arms’ live. Its laid back understated yet quality guitars gave space for Hanna’s vocals to shine.
As Ain’t couldn’t play all the songs they had planned without a full band, it was a hastily reworked set, and they filled in with some amusing anecdotes. As well as the usual story from visiting bands about ferocious seagulls stealing their food, we heard of some of the more bizarre passengers on the train from London.
Back to the music. ‘Jude’ featured a good dual vocal, while Hanna put even more emotion into her voice on ‘April’. Hanna was getting more animated on the instrumental parts with low key dancing as their set progressed.
Before their closing number ‘Pirouette’, Hanna joked “We’ve one more song in the same format.” In the lyrics of ‘Pirouette’, Hanna asks “Does this entertain you?”. I, and I think it’s fair to say all those there early at Hidden Herd’s event, were very entertained by Ain’t’s rearranged stripped back set.
At the end Hanna said “We’ve been A I N without the apostrophe and T”. After their enjoyable reworked set, I hope Ain’t return to Brighton with their full band in the near future.
Ain’t:
Hanna Baker Darch – vocals
Ed Randall – guitar
George Ellerby – guitar and vocals
(not present):
Joe Lockstone – drums
Chapman Ho – bass guitar
Ain’t setlist:
‘Fish Tank’
‘Arms’
‘Jude’ (a 2025 single release)
‘April’
‘Pirouette’ (a 2025 single release)
Second up was Brighton four-piece Carne (stylised as CARNE), a new quartet redefining and reviving the raw sounds of 90s grunge and rock. Emerging from multiple Brighton projects, Carne are Carmen Mellino (vocals and guitar), Milo Hill (guitar), Emia Demir (bass) and Joe McTaggart (drums).
Carne opened their set with ‘Vast’ which signalled their intent with their fast loud guitars and thumping drums from the very start. Carne mixed up their sound and Carmen her vocals across their lively set. Most notably on ‘Become Red’ which started as a solo by Carmen with Milo whistling along, and then ‘So Sad’ which was relatively lighter with a quiet close. The haunting effects at the start of ‘Polly’ gave that song a different and interesting feel. Throughout the set there were some very good bass lines from Emia.
The three guitarists were poised like sprinters on their starting blocks, waiting for the drums to act as the starting gun for ‘Lurk’. Milo’s screamed backing vocals added a thrash metal touch to ‘Lurk’. Carne closed a very good set with a rock number and their debut single ‘J.U.M.’. It’s loud quiet (mostly loud) format worked well.
Carne:
Carmen Mellino – vocals and guitar
Milo Hill – guitar and backing vocals
Emia Demir – bass
Joe McTaggart – drums
Carne setlist:
‘Vast’
‘Man’
‘Become Red’
‘So Sad’
‘M.S.G’
‘Polly’
‘Lurk’
‘J.U.M.’ (a 2025 single release)
Brighton quintet Goodbye (stylized as ‘goodbye’) bridges the worlds of shoegaze and jangle-pop, dancing between melancholic melodies, Johnny Marr-esque guitar lines and blissed-out crescendos. They are Megan Wheeler (vocals), Sarah Ryan (guitar, keys, vocals), Alfie Beer (guitar, vocals), Jake Smith (bass) and Elik Eddy (drums).
Their opening number ‘MEAT’ began with Megan’s spoken word clipped delivery, before the song built and her vocals soared to match. ‘13a’ with its dreamy shoegaze feel centred around the rich vocal harmonies of Megan and Sarah.
Goodbye played two new untitled songs in their set, written on the setlist as ‘Quite New’ and ‘Very New’. The first new song began with Elik’s drum roll and a jangly indie feel, the rise and fall of the music and vocals across this track, as with many others in Goodbye’s set was impressive. There was a haunting beauty to the vocals.
‘Origami’ started with its dreamy feel from Sarah’s soft keyboard before building to a frenzy and a soft fade out.
Before the next song, ‘Benji’s Collar’, there was time for a chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ to bassist Jake. Alfie introduced ‘Benji’s Collar’ as “It’s a bit moody.”. After Megan’s soft yet fast vocals it switched up to be one of their loudest songs of their set. There was an almost operatic quality and feel to Megan’s voice on this song, before her soft vocals to close.
‘Take Time’ saw Sarah take lead vocals as she started to just her guitar and Elik’s trip hop feel drumming. Goodbye’s quality musicianship was again apparent on the instrumental breaks of ‘Take Time’ as it subtly built, fell back and rose again, before closing with a beautiful vocal harmony.
Goodbye’s closing number, an untitled song, wasn’t just written on the setlist as ‘Very New’, but had a very new feel to Goodbye’s sound. While it started with a familiar indie guitar sound, it was the change in Megan’s vocals that set it apart. As well as a higher pitch, she had a sassy cabaret style with an almost playful tone, mixed with Kate Bush like vocal theatricals. Her vocals were amazing with a genuine wow factor. That was the song everybody was talking about after Goodbye’s set and at the end of the evening.
It was a very special performance from Goodbye, one of the very best I’ve seen from them.
goodbye:
Megan Wheeler – vocals
Sarah Ryan – vocals, guitar, synth,
Alfie Beer – guitar, vocals
Jake Smith – bass
Elik Eddy – drums
goodbye setlist:
‘MEAT’
‘13a’
untitled (“quite new”)
‘Origami’
‘Benji’s Collar’
‘Take Time’
untitled (“very new”)
The closing band of the evening was Thistle (stylised as THISTLE.) a trio of Cameron (vocals and guitar), Lewis (drums) and Judwyn (bass). The Northampton band are known for their fast-paced, hard-hitting guitars and melancholic vocals.
As their set opened the two guitarists Cameron and Judwyn started with their backs to the audience. Their opening number and latest single release ‘Wishing Coin’ set the tone of their performance with its grungy fast guitars. Not only were Thistle’s songs fast, but the set overall was too, with one song often going straight into the next without a pause or banter from the band.
Thistle added softer sections in some of their songs, usually interspersed with bursts of noise. While Cameron also mixed up his vocals between grunge and rock, screams and quieter delivery.
The Hope & Ruin audience enjoyed Thistle’s fast, energetic lively set. Many were dancing and moving along, with one or two rock fans headbanging. There was loud applause in the brief gaps between songs.
Thistle closed a very good set with ‘Lomochrome’, by the end of which Cameron had put aside his guitar to make a crescendo of noise from his pedal board. Many agreed that the energy levels from Thistle was a great way to close another great night of live music.
Thistle:
Cameron – lead vocals, guitar
Lewis – drums
Judwyn – bass
Thistle setlist:
‘Wishing Coin’ (a 2025 single)
‘Hesitate’ (a 2024 single)
‘Nice To See You’ (a 2024 single)
‘Fleur Rogue’
‘Cobble/Mud’
‘Magpies’ (a 2023 single)
‘Punk Song’
‘Holy Hill’
‘Greys’ (a 2025 single)
‘Bite’
‘Lomochrome’ (a 2023 single)
You can catch more exciting up-and-coming bands and artists, by getting yourself along to the Hidden Herd new music discovery nights in Brighton, with news of shows and tickets available HERE.
