CUD + DREAMCOASTER – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 26.7.25
In the very late 80s and early 90s, I got into indie music thanks to the indie-dance crossover music that came under the ‘Madchester’ or ‘baggy’ banner (The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, The Inspiral Carpets, Northside, etc.). I then expanded my listening pleasures to other indie bands. One of those was Cud (stylized as CUD) who are tonight headlining at one of Brighton’s marvellous grassroots venues, The Hope & Ruin in Queens Road. Cud had a big following among indie fans around Leeds in the late 80s that then expanded to other areas of the north and the rest of the UK. Tonight’s gig is unsurprisingly sold out.
Cud are an indie rock band who performed their initial four gigs with differing line-ups in Leeds in 1985 and 1986. By mid-1996, a solid four-piece line-up consisting of Carl Puttnam (Ilford, 1967) on vocals, Mike Dunphy (Northumberland, 1967) on guitar, William Potter (Derby, 1968) on bass guitar, and Steve Goodwin (Croydon, 1967) on drums was formed. A year later, Carl sent a copy of a three-track demo tape they had recorded to John Peel at Radio 1. John liked what he heard, and they were invited to record a Peel Session. Reception Records then put out their debut single ‘Mind The Gap’ the same year. Two EPs were released by Nightshift and Ediesta Records in 1988, then following extensive touring and positive press, Cud were signed by Manchester independent record label Imaginary Records in 1989. As well as a number of singles, Imaginary released three albums: ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’ (June 1989), compilation, ‘Elvis Belt’ (June 1990), and the critically acclaimed ‘Leggy Mambo’ (October 1990).
It wasn’t until the PolyGram-backed A&M Records signed them in 1991 that the band achieved chart success. Their most successful period chart-wise was in the spring and summer of 1992 when they achieved two Top 30 singles, ‘Rich And Strange’ and ‘Purple Love Balloon’, and a Top 30 album, ‘Asquarius’. The band broke up within a year of the release of their next album ‘Showbiz’, (released in April 1994). They reformed in 2006 with Felix Frey replacing Dunphy on guitar. In 2012, Dunphy was back on guitar with Gogs Byrn replacing Goodwin on drums. Since then, they’ve toured on and off with the same line-up.
Tonight’s gig is the last of a five-date ‘Summer Seaside Tour’. The previous four dates were at Three Tanners Bank in North Shields, Bootleg Social in Blackpool, The Piper in Hastings, and Bear Cave in Bournemouth.
Doors opened at 7:30pm and it was around half full by the time local support act Dreamcoaster took to the stage 45 minutes later. They are a husband-and-wife duo, Andrew and Jane Craig. They hooked up when they were in the early 90s five-piece Luminous. It wasn’t until 2018 that they started writing songs together. They named themselves Dreams of Empire and released their debut single ‘Drive On’ in December 2018 and followed up with further singles ‘Skinny Dipping’, ‘Swarm’, and ‘Radiation’ in 2019. They then released their debut album ‘Nothing’s Ever Finished’ in September 2019. After another single ‘Broken Keys’ in March 2020, they released their second album ‘Encapsulation’ later that year.
The duo renamed themselves as ‘Dreamcoaster’ in April 2021 and expanded to a four-piece for their initial live performances. They have gone on to release three EPs: ‘Dreamcoaster’ in 2022, ‘Say Nothing’ in 2023, and ‘So Long’ in 2024, as well as their latest single ‘Don’t Lie To Me’ in November 2024.
Tonight Dreamcoaster played a half-hour set as a duo with Jane on lead vocals, tambourine and keys. Andrew is on electric guitar and provides harmony/backing vocals. Drums are on the backing track. They start off with the leading two tracks from their self-titled EP. These are ‘Step Outside’ and ‘I Want You’. These songs set the tone of the performance, jangly guitar pop with melodious vocals. Jane uses keys instead of tambourine for the third song of the set, ‘Careful What You Wish For’ from the ‘Say Nothing’ EP. After which Andrew says, “We are Dreamcoaster, from the hills outside Brighton. We love Cud, we last saw them at Crystal Palace in ’91”.
The opening track from the Encapsulation album, ‘Space Invader’, is next. This song feels more upbeat and sees Jane using tambourine again. There is more mid-song conversation from Andrew as he mentions they made the mistake of walking down the very busy West Street earlier and nearly ended up in a stag party. This brought about a few chuckles from the audience. Andrew continues, “We have a new album out in October, and this is a song from it”. Jane says, “It’s called ‘Dancing To Your Favourite Song’”. The penultimate song of the set is another from the ‘Encapsulation’ album. It’s ‘Hidden Girl’. To me this is the best song of the set and the higher vocals from Jane remind me very much of Lush. To round off the set we hear the latest single, ‘Don’t Lie To Me’. Andrew then remarks, “Thank you so much, you’ve been really lovely. Enjoy Cud”. There is a round of applause from the appreciative audience.
Dreamcoaster:
Jane Craig – vocals, tambourine, keys
Andrew Craig – guitar, harmony/backing vocals
Dreamcoaster setlist:
‘Step Outside’ (from 2022 ‘Dreamcatcher’ EP)
‘I Want You’ (from 2022 ‘Dreamcatcher’ EP)
‘Careful What You Wish For’ (from 2023 ‘Say Nothing’ EP)
‘Space Invader’ (from 2020 ‘Encapsulation’ album)
‘Dancing To Your Favourite Song’ (unreleased)
‘Hidden Girl’ (from 2020 ‘Encapsulation’ album)
‘Don’t Lie To Me’ (a 2024 single)
The crowd built up as anticipation grew for the appearance of the evening’s headliners. There were a few technical issues, but they were soon sorted, and by the time Cud arrived on stage to great applause at 9:18pm the venue appeared to be packed to capacity. By 9:19pm we were off and running with ‘Heart’, the first of five songs we would hear from ‘Leggy Mambo’. There was plenty of mid-song banter from Carl during the set. Following the opening song, he said, “Thank you very much, it’s beautiful to be here. I’m half yeti, and it’s a bit hot for me.” He then said, “William says I’m the abominable part.” 1994 groovy rock single ‘Neurotica’ is next. Carl then realises that one of the legs of the skin-tight jeans he is wearing is rolled up about a third of the way to his knee, so he adjusts it and says, “Sorry, it’s not some sort of peculiar fashion. William pointed it out to me hours ago, and I forgot.” We move on to the excellent 1992 single ‘Through The Roof’ and 1991’s ‘Oh No Won’t Do’. I’m starting to remember that Cud had some very good songs, and they deserved to be much more successful.
There’s more banter from Carl, still talking about his jeans. He said, “Shame on you if you thought it was a London fashion thing,” and then went on to talk about wearing a jacket upside down. Next, they play a newish one. Well, it’s from 2022 and is their most recent single, ‘Sorry I Let You Down’. Gogs on drums then asks for more stories from Carl about fashion. We are then back in the groove with ‘I Reek Of Chic’. This one really gets the crowd moving. We then get to hear ‘Love In A Hollow Tree’, which starts off jazzy and sort of reminds me of Hue & Cry. We then get to hear a trio of songs from Cud’s 1989 debut album, ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’. Although I’m less familiar with these, there must be some real Cud fanatics in the audience as these are real crowd pleasers. For the second of these songs, ‘Only (A Prawn In Whitby)’ the band are joined on stage by a Bez-style dancer (without the maracas). Following these songs, Carl mentions that they sent a copy of the next song, ‘Eau Water’, to a leading mineral water supplier (Volvic) and were told they could have a branded truck to tour around with, although something went wrong with this idea and it never happened.
Next up is their highest-placing single ‘Rich And Strange’. Carl then asks if former Radio 1 DJ Simon Mayo is in the audience. There is no sign of Simon, yet Carl claims he was on the guestlist. The dancer is back on the stage for ‘One Giant Love’, then we get to hear the wonderful ‘Robinson Crusoe’. Carl then says “This is our last song, although you know it isn’t”. They play another Leggy Mambo track ‘Hey Boots’ before departing the stage. Two minutes later, they are back for the encore. Carl says “Thank you very much”. For the encore, we get three songs starting with their other Top 30 hit, ‘Purple Love Balloon’. Another groovy track follows. This is ‘Possession’, and we finish with ‘I’ve Had It With Blondes’, which sees two different members of the audience (who appear a little worse for wear) join the band on stage for a dance. As the song comes to an end, Carl says “Thank you very much, it’s been great being here, see you again soon.”
A splendid evening was had by all. Dreamcoaster were a good support act. Cud played an amazing 1 hour 20 minute set with Carl’s distinctive vocals, Mike’s excellent guitar work, William’s decent bass playing, and Gogs was very good on drums.
Cud return for an autumn tour in October and November, playing dates in Whitby, Manchester, Wolverhampton, Northampton, Huddersfield, London, and Doncaster, as well as an appearance at the Shiiine On Weekender at Butlin’s in Minehead.
Cud:
Carl Puttnam – vocals
Mike Dunphy – guitar
William Potter – bass guitar
Gogs Byrn – drums
Cud setlist:
‘Heart’ (from 1990 ‘Leggy Mambo’ album)
‘Neurotica’ (from 1994 ‘Showbiz’ album)
‘Through The Roof’ (from 1992 ‘Asquarius’ album)
‘Oh No Won’t Do’ (from 2006 ‘Rich And Strange: The Anthology’ album)
‘Sorry I Let You Down’ (a 2022 single)
‘I Reek Of Chic’ (from 1994 ‘Showbiz’ album)
‘Love In A Hollow Tree’ (from 1990 ‘Leggy Mambo’ album)
‘Strange Kind Of Love’ (from 1989 ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’ album)
‘Only (A Prawn In Whitby)’ (from 1989 ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’ album)
‘Vocally Speaking’ (from 1989 ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’ album)
‘Eau Water’ (from 1990 ‘Leggy Mambo’ album)
‘Rich And Strange’ (from 1992 ‘Asquarius’ album)
‘One Giant Love’ (from 1994 ‘Showbiz’ album)
‘Robinson Crusoe’ (from 1990 ‘Leggy Mambo’ album)
‘Hey Boots’ (from 1990 ‘Leggy Mambo’ album)
(encore)
‘Purple Love Balloon’ (from 2008 ‘Elvis Handbag’ compilation album)
‘Possession’ (from 1992 ‘Asquarius’ album)
‘I’ve Had It With Blondes’ (from 1989 ‘When In Rome, Kill Me’ album)
