ROLLER DERBY + LITTLE GRANDAD – ALPHABET, BRIGHTON 6.11.25
Introverted Hamburg based indie dream poppers Roller Derby are a recent discovery of mine thanks to the Instragram algorithm. What I heard, I liked and so the decision was made to switch gigs from Peter Hook & The Light in Worthing to seeing Roller Derby at Alphabet, which is located just up from the Clock Tower at the North Street, Western Road, Dyke Road, West Street, Queens Road junction. Thankfully a colleague stepped in for reviewer duties for the Worthing concert (Review HERE).
Roller Derby comprise Philine Meyer (vocals, keys) and Manuel Romero Soria (guitar) and they are accompanied by Izzy Ment (bass, backing vocals) and Jannis Gottschalk (drums) and we are in their company for 58 minutes from 9:31pm until 10:29pm. During this time they perform all of the 10 tracks off of their debut ‘When The Night Comes’ album which came out this year, and offers a sparkling bittersweet mix of joy and melancholy throughout, as well as a trio of previously released singles and a couple of yet to be recorded tunes.
The quartet take to the raised stage, the back and side walls are painted indigo mauve and the rear wall has a number of vertical strip lights which are bright white and together it gives off a good vibe. It’s like a sweatbox in here as it’s a sold out event. The downstairs bar is rammed and unbearably sauna-like hot and so we spend as little time there as possible. The punters’ ages this evening span across various ranges, such is the pull of Roller Derby. The quartet have made themselves at home by draping plastic vines around their microphone stands and instruments.
The performances commences with a handful of cuts from the ‘When The Night Comes’ album, the first of which being ‘Dreams’ which affords a foot-tapping beat and benefits from a solid drumming sound. With four taps of the drumsticks they are away again with the keys being at the fore for ‘Emily’s Dance’. Despite hailing from Germany, their material is all penned in English and so it’s possible to follow the drift of the tunes. Philine then makes reference to their record and informs us that ‘Last Night’ is up next. With a quick drum and cymbal action and notable bass riff, it’s for me, their most immediate composition thus far. They next perform ‘Lights Out’ which is the very first song of theirs that I recently came across and one which secured my interest in the band. It has that retro dreamy 1980’s feel, and on record reminds me of the work of Molly Nilsson. ‘Your Love Is A Lie’ is the fifth selection from their album and this has a slower beat, followed by some guitar action and Slowdive spring to mind.
Their very pleasant 2022 ‘Starry-Eyed’ single is next performed for us and I am particularly in tune with the metronomic drumming along with the twangy guitar bass action. I note that a majority of lines are delivered by Philine with her lips pressed against her microphone as opposed to standing back a bit and belting out the lyrics, but obviously Roller Derby aren’t that type of act. It’s back to the album with the performance of the slower ‘In Spring’ which has nice electronic drums backing which I presume is from the laptop. There’s more twangy guitar action here too. After this Philine informs us that tonight is their second show in Brighton and then the players set about impressing us with ‘Ready To Forget’. The drumming pattern immediately reminds me of Jessie Ware’s 2012 single ‘110%’ and I like this very much. No wonder it was selected as a single release last year.
Philine next informs us that this evening they will be performing two new songs they wrote in the Summer and one of these will be next, this being ‘Holy Waters’, which was performed after the band name introductions. If you can imagine China Crisis with a female vocalist then that’s about where this one sits and it shows promise for future releases. It was back to their album with the arrival of ‘Silver Jet’. The intro bass riff delivered by Izzy was quite similar to the distinctive one used on ‘Warhead’ by the UK Subs, but when the other trio come to the party, it becomes a different beast altogether, with copious amounts of dreaminess floating from the stage, and this is a set highlight for me. On its conclusion the quartet unexpectedly make a swift exit stage left (our right) and the punters bellow for further material to enjoy. We don’t have to wait for very long.
They return and give us another cut from their LP, this time it’s ‘Never Wanted More’, which is reminiscent of the more sedate New Order tunes from the mid-1980’s. There’s some head bobbing and knee-jerking required for their ‘Flying High’ single from back in 2020. After this Philine informs us that the next offering is the other new tune and that it’s called ‘Twisting’. This is another bopper and certainly signifies the way forward for the band. We were then asked if we were “having a good time by the way?”. The reply from the punters was a resounding “yayyy” of approval. The twangy guitar sounds from Manuel along with the solid drums from Jannis, signalled that ‘Always On My Mind’ was going to be a set highlight.
Philine then informs us that there’s just one more song to be found on their record and this appropriately is titled ‘Goodbye’. It’s a slower-longing number when you sense that something great has just come to an end. Manuel’s guitar is pitched high for this, as it has been throughout the performance, and the addition of Philine’s vocals of angelic proportions, makes this the appropriate way to sign off. And with a “Thank you very much, thank you for coming, thank you, we’ll see you next time” they vacated the stage. Overall it had been an enjoyable set, although slightly marred by the continual talkers in the room who clearly had been consuming alcohol for some time whilst waiting for the band’s to arrive. Roller Derby’s first Brighton gig at The Rossi Bar, this time around it’s at the larger capacity Alphabet, and I’m betting for their next arrival, they will again be performing at a larger venue.
Roller Derby:
Philine Meyer – vocals, keys, laptop
Manuel Romero Soria – guitar
Izzy Ment – bass, backing vocals
Jannis Gottschalk – drums, laptop
Roller Derby setlist:
‘Dreams’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Emily’s Dance’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Last Night’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Lights Out’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Your Love Is A Lie’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Starry-Eyed’ (a 2022 single)
‘In Spring’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Ready To Forget’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Holy Waters’ (unreleased)
‘Silver Jet’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
(encore)
‘Never Wanted More’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
‘Flying High’ (a 2020 single)
‘Twisting’ (unreleased)
‘Always On My Mind’ (a 2023 single)
‘Goodbye’ (from 2025 ‘When The Night Comes’ album)
This evening got underway with London based newcomers Little Grandad who comprise brothers Jack Lower (bass, vocals) and Harry Lower (guitar, vocals), along with Ned Ashcroft (guitar, trumpet, vocals) and James ‘Jimmy’ Brennan (drums, vocals, guitar). Prior to our arrival at the venue, we were unaware of their existence, despite them playing their debut Brighton gig a month ago, but now they are solidly on our radar!
The lads take to the stage at 8:32pm and they take us on a musical journey until the top of the next hour. We are rewarded with a mere handful of unreleased tunes which span across various genres. They commence with ‘A Minute On The Lips’ which sees Jack (stage left, our right) on lead vocals. His style for this is akin to an Americanized version of Mick Jagger. There’s some notable guitar strumming throughout. One song down and the quartet have secured the interest of the punters who are becoming crammed into the first floor performance room.
For their second song, the slower paced ‘Sleepwalking’, Ned trades in his electric guitar for an acoustic one and during the track he offers an almost female-like controlled backing scream which is commended. There are a trio of harmonies in action here across the front three, which are delivered in an Americana style. The catchiest line being “And I’ve been sleepwalking”.
Ned switches back to his electric guitar for the retro sounding ‘Tiny Feet’, which now features all four band-members on vocal harmonies from the beginning and I get a sense of The Beatles and The Maccabees with this. Thus far no two songs have sounded the same, and there’s their strength, as in you really never know what’s going to come along next.
Their penultimate offering is ‘Unmasked’ and this initially sees Ned taking to the trumpet, whilst he offloads his electric guitar to drummer Jimmy, who takes up his duties on the new instrument. Meanwhile, brothers Jack and Harry give us a dual-vocal delivery. Then Ned puts the trumpet down and collects his guitar back and suddenly the tunes gets quite a bit more livelier. Somehow Mink DeVille, and The Strokes sprang to mind, and then much to my astonishment, Ned places his guitar flat on the ground and then picks up his trumpet and rests the end on top of the guitar whilst playing the trumpet. I’ve never seen this manoeuvre performed before! Meanwhile, Jimmy seriously lays into his drumkit. On its conclusion the band are rewarded with boisterous approval from the punters. Jack then says “Thank you, that was a bit intense!”, he wasn’t wrong.
They signed off with ‘Babe, We Run Out Of Time’ for which the quartet rocked on out in a The Stokes kinda way. We were centre front as usual and to our right was renowned BBC Radio 6 Music DJ Steve Lamacq, who I spotted merrily singing away to some of the tunes! Clearly someone’s been sent a demo tape, or whatever it is these youngsters send these days! You really have no idea where a Little Grandad set is going to take you, and although they sat slightly outside of my usual fare, I’m really expecting big things from these guys! I would have stated that even if Steve Lamacq wasn’t in the building. Suffice to say that they went down an absolute storm!
Thankfully Little Grandad will be making a swift return to Brighton next week, when they will be sharing the bill at The Hope & Ruin on Thursday 13th November with headliner Cordelia Gartside as well as Lucky Darke (who now also fronts Swallowtail) – Tickets HERE.
Little Grandad:
Jack Lower – bass, vocals
Harry Lower – guitar, vocals
Ned Ashcroft – guitars, trumpet, vocals
James ‘Jimmy’ Brennan – drums, vocals, guitar
Little Grandad setlist:
‘A Minute On The Lips’ (unreleased)
‘Sleepwalking’ (unreleased)
‘Tiny Feet’ (unreleased)
‘Unmasked’ (unreleased)
‘Babe, We Run Out Of Time’ (unreleased)
drop.cobrand.com/d/littlegrandad
