THE DSM IV + FRANCIS PIG + JONNY COUCH + SOLID PLEASURE – DALTONS, BRIGHTON 16.8.26
Tonight we headed down to Daltons, which is located below the zipwire on the Lower Promenade of Madeira Drive in Brighton, for one of their packed summer seaside soirees. On the bill this evening we have headliners The DSM IV which was formed by Guy McKnight of critically acclaimed cult favourites The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, with support tonight coming from Brighton’s Francis Pig New Jersey based Jonny Couch, and Brighton’s Solid Pleasure.
We never want to miss any of the action and so we arrive at the door opening at 7pm where local electronic duo Solid Pleasure are still soundchecking. We purchase our liquid refreshments of choice and exchange banter with friendly folk and before we know it, the black dividing curtain is pulled back and we are allowed entry. Almost immediately, Neave Merrick on vocals and electronics, and Lucy Milani on synths, electronics and laptop set about entertaining the gathered punters for the next 29 minutes, from 7:44pm to 8:13pm.
Solid Pleasure, who are both clad in black attire with sunglasses, are to offload a half dozen choice cuts for us tonight, with the first of these being an experimental unreleased tune which shares the band’s name. There certainly are plenty of distorted, delayed and reverbed vocals going on here from Neave, whilst Lucy gets busy on the Roland TR-8 digital drum machine with built-in effects, as well as the other electronics available to hand. Tune two is also not released yet, this being ‘RAW’ which has a dirty synth beat akin to Suicide meets Acid House. Third offering, ‘Death Disko’, which isn’t the PiL tune of a similar name, is just as out there on the tweaking bleeps front. Interestingly TR/ST spring to mind here.
The final unreleased song is next, this being ‘Spirit Divine’ which is a slower chugging beat number that fans of Belgian New Beat and EBM fans of Skinny Puppy and Portion Control would lap up. Neave has a wander in the crowd to give us that up-close-and-personal effect. After which I was immediately taken unaware as the electronic “boom boom boom” beat of their 2026 ‘Bury Your Head’ single suddenly signified a massive upturn in intensity of their set and enjoyment for yours truly. Sounding very much like the very first Soft Cell ‘Mutant Moments’ EP and in particular ‘Metro MRX’, Neave’s “You’ve gotta bury your head in the sand” lyrics were a standout.
They stayed in the same area and intensity as they signed off with ‘Sweet And Tender Hooligan’ (The Smiths cover) which back in the day would have rightfully belonged on the famous ‘Some Bizarre Album’. These final two numbers for me far outshone the earlier tracks and those punters who didn’t get down early to see them, it’s shame on you!
Solid Pleasure:
Neave Merrick – vocals, electronics
Lucy Milani – synths, electronics, laptop
Solid Pleasure setlist:
‘Solid Pleasure’ (unreleased)
‘RAW’ (unreleased)
‘Death Disko’ (unreleased)
‘Spirit Divine’ (unreleased)
‘Bury Your Head’ (a 2026 single)
‘Sweet And Tender Hooligan’ (The Smiths cover)
After a 17 minute live music hiatus, it’s back to the action with, for yours truly, the mystery act of the night, this being Jonny Couch and his band. Until tonight, it’s fair to say that I’ve been blissfully unaware of Jonny and his accompanying history. However this was somewhat put to right with a conversation with the Queen Priscilla herself Jenny Drag, who also offers lead vocals for former Banshee guitarist John McKay on his John McKay’s Reactor, who incidentally we were fortunate to have caught live in action at the ‘Forever Now’ festival at The National Bowl in Milton Keynes on 22nd June last year. Jenny had ventured down from London in order to give her support to Jonny. Jenny informed me that Jonny was well known on the New York scene and back in the day he was the drummer for an outfit called The Choke and that their album titled ‘Extra’ was actually produced by Buzzcocks bassist Tony Barber.
It turns out that Jonny Couch reinvented himself as a solo artist in 2016 and released his ‘Animal Instinct’ EP. In 2019 he dropped his ‘Mystery Man’ album, which has now been followed by latest long-player ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’. He’s over here playing a few dates to plug the record, which included a date 4 days ago at Jenny Lind in Hastings. His next gig is a bit further away…it’s in Chicago on 5th September. For these concerts he has brought along some chums, these being Veronica Garcia (keyboards, backing vocals), Jonas Wilson (bass, backing vocals), Peter Mavrogeorgis (guitar, backing vocals), and David Murray (drums) and it’s this band who are in action at Daltons from 8:30pm until 9:03pm.
The first of the nine songs played is ‘Vertigo’ which is the first of two tunes in the set found on 2019’s ‘Mystery Man’ album. It’s a poppy number that certainly benefitted from Veronica’s playing on the Yamaha MX49 synthesizer. ‘Overwhelmed’ comes next and is introduced as “a new song” by Jonny on account of it appearing on the new ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ album. It’s a bopping post-punk number noted for its “ooo hoo” backing vocals. It’s here that Jonny makes his first foray into the audience. David’s drumming kicked off ‘Hideaway’ which is also on ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’. Strangely I get the vibes of the Fine Young Cannibals throughout the song. The title tune from 2016’s ‘Animal Instinct’ EP is given an outing next. Apparently, it’s the first time the track has been played live in the UK for this tour. It’s a slower tune and the vocals have an unmistakable American twang and it’s a USA Radio friendly offering circa late 80s.
It’s fair to say that Jonny delivers each tune with conviction. ‘Sweet Charlene’, another from ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ is next and this sounds like a rocky version of A Flock Of Seagulls. The second (and final) cut from 2019’s ‘Mystery Man’ album is up next in the form of ‘Irrational Hearts’ with its notable keys and solid drumming combination. Jonny then introduces the following number, it’s a yet-to-be-released song called ‘Found Out UR A Zombie’. It’s another post-punk pop ditty that bopped along. Whilst watching the musicians, it’s evident that they are all proficient at what they do.
The penultimate track is the title tune of ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’, which, to me, has a 1978 Rolling Stones vibe going on, you know the era that spawned their ‘Miss You’ and ‘Respectable’ singles. They bid us farewell with a fabulous cover of Joe Jackson’s ‘Steppin’ Out’ single, which for me was the best tune that he ever recorded. Veronica’s keys did the song proud. It’s fair to say that maybe Jonny Couch was an unusual choice for this lineup, but they did offer that late 1970’s, early to mid 80’s chart pop vibe, which isn’t really heard that much in Brighton these days.
Jonny Couch:
Jonny Couch – vocals
Veronica Garcia – keyboards, backing vocals
Jonas Wilson – bass, backing vocals
Peter Mavrogeorgis – guitar, backing vocals
David Murray – drums
Jonny Couch setlist:
‘Vertigo’ (from 2019 ‘Mystery Man’ album)
‘Overwhelmed’ (from 2026 ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ album)
‘Hideaway’ (from 2026 ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ album)
‘Animal Instinct’ (from 2016 ‘Animal Instinct’ EP)
‘Sweet Charlene’ (from 2026 ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ album)
‘Irrational Hearts’ (from 2019 ‘Mystery Man’ album)
‘Found Out UR A Zombie’ (unreleased)
‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ (from 2026 ‘Where The Sidewalk Ends’ album)
‘Steppin’ Out’ (Joe Jackson cover)
After a 20 minute live music break, the venue now has the joys of Francis Pig for the next 36 minutes, from 9:23pm to 9:59pm. As I look around behind me (I’m as usual at the front), I noticed the venue has suddenly become much more packed with eager punters! Where have they all suddenly materialised from? In fact, this is the most people in attendance this evening, as almost 50% of these are nowhere to be seen for the headliners set. One thing is evident, Francis Pig are building up quite a following in these here parts and the word is getting out about not missing their increasingly intent and seductive stage shows. One thing has changed from my last recent encounter with the band and that’s that they have a new drummer, who is introduced to me as “Ben Bones”. I query the name as it has that psychobilly/rockabilly vibed name, and Ben has that look as well, but I’m assured that’s his name. During the performance, Irish frontperson Alana Doyle introduces Ben. Meanwhile behind her he is coincidentally combing his rocker hairstyle, and let’s face it is looking cool as f*ck.
Thus tonight Francis Pig comprise Alana Doyle (lead vocals), Henry Wickett-Padgham (vocals, guitar), Jacob Newman (guitar), Phoebe Feren (bass) and “new boy” Ben Bones (drums, presets). They are all clad in black bar Alana’s seductively long red boots. We are rewarded a mere 7 cuts, but these are often far from sub 3-minute pop-ditties. We are now putty in Alana’s hands as she begins her sexually charged performance. Something which the late great Jordan Mooney would have very much approved of. Thankfully Alana did get to meet and grab a photo with Jordan, I know for a fact as a while back Alana reminded me of this, as the world of Jordan was (and still is) very much an inspiration to Alana.
First up this evening is their 2024 ‘Obscene Dream’ single which commences with a meaty bass and swirling guitars intro. This totally sets the scene and the band are seriously in the zone as are the punters. The electrical particles are in the air are getting seriously charged and I’m already wondering to myself if Francis Pig might just be knocking Lemonsuckr off off the top of my local bands list!
This year Francis Pig dropped their 4 track ‘Supertrash’ EP and this evening we get all of the tunes from it, with the first of these being the slow chugging ‘Kiss It A Go Go’. This is delivered with punk “I don’t give a f*ck” attitude vocals. OK it’s a fair point to state that Alana’s vocals aren’t in the same bracket as Sinéad O’Connor or Sade, but she isn’t laying claim to the finest vocalist out there, it’s simply Alana bellowing out her lyrics in her true heartfelt style. But Alana isn’t all about the words, it’s the overall performance for her, it literally is seduction overload! It flows off the stage, as she does herself on occasions, and it’s like a female version of heyday Iggy Pop bellowing that he wants to be our dog! There’s a certain amount of microphone stand posing as well as the swirling guitar sounds flow around her.
The second cut from ‘Supertrash’ comes next in the form of ‘Like It, Like You’ with its drum machine sound and swirling guitars to start. I would say that Henry’s microphone should have been higher for this as he shares vocal duties with Alana on this. This very much sits in gritty proto punk territory. As Adam Ant used to say back in the day on 1980’s ‘Don’t Be Square (Be There)’ from ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’ album “Ant music for sex people, Sex music for Ant people”. The title tune from ‘Supertrash’ is next and it’s a slowie that somehow reminds me of Buzzcocks ‘Why Can’t I Touch It?’ but obviously with female vocals.
Another chunk of durrrrty electro punk is served with the arrival of last year’s ‘Sex Talk’ single, with its “Let’s all talk about sex baybeee” repeated lyrics. For this Alana discards her black skirt and is commanding attention in her fishnet bodysuit with black panties underneath. There’s the obligatory crawling and writhing around the floor during this. Overall it’s a humongous delivery. Alana’s red kneehigh boots are taken off as they launch into their ‘Daddy Said’ 2025 single. There’s a Jesus And Mary Chain style backbeat here with dirty guitar offerings. They conclude their set with the final cut from ‘Supertrash’, this being ‘Who’s The Junkie?’, with a guitar riff that came close to the iconic ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. Tonight Francis Pig went down an absolute storm and I can’t wait to catch them live in action very soon! In conclusion, they are on a par with Lemonsuckr for yours truly!
Francis Pig:
Alana Doyle – vocals
Henry Wickett-Padgham – vocals, guitar
Jacob Newman – guitar
Phoebe Feren – bass
Ben Bones – drums, presets
Francis Pig setlist:
‘Obscene Dream’ (a 2024 single)
‘Kiss It A Go Go’ (from 2026 ‘Supertrash’ EP)
‘Like It, Like You’ (from 2026 ‘Supertrash’ EP)
‘Supertrash’ (from 2026 ‘Supertrash’ EP)
‘Sex Talk’ (a 2025 single)
‘Daddy Said’ (a 2025 single)
‘Who’s The Junkie?’ (from 2026 ‘Supertrash’ EP)
After a 24 minute live music break, which is mainly spent having some banter with local heroes Scare Taxi, who we last caught in action last month at the ‘Alive At The Barn’ festival. This evening Alexander Boag and Tara Guitara are over the moon as their ‘Lucky Number’ has just come up as they have just secured the support slot for the Lene Lovich gig at The Prince Albert on Sunday 25th October – You know what to do – Tickets HERE.
We are summoned back in the venue as The DSM IV appear to be ready to show us what they are all about. The trio got it together back in 2018, when former The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster member Guy McKnight started releasing tunes with guitarist Jade Ormesher and keyboardist Patrick “Pav” Cummins. This is what happens when fans of Iggy pop, Vince Clarke and Eric Fripp get together and you get The DSM IV, who present a dark sound blending noise-rock, synth-pop, and industrial elements, to deliver a unique musical experience. Their powerful material features rich textures, melodic hooks and thought-provoking lyrics that both entertain and encourage introspection.
After a trio of singles, ‘Racist Man’ (2018), ‘Funland’ (2019) and ‘Killing Your Time’ (2020), their ‘New Age Paranoia’ debut album hit the streets on 9th June 2023 and in the same year (November 2023) they played at The Prince Albert as part of the ‘Mutations’ festival. They returned to Brighton on 12th June 2024 as part of a Hidden Herd bash at The Hope & Ruin. Their 6-tune ‘Negative Utopia’ EP dropped on 31st January last year, and was made up of remixes from their 10-track ‘New Age Paranoia’ album as well as some new material. It had swiftly followed on from their ‘Wise Guy’ / ‘Pennywise’ double A-side single which came out just a month before. In their time together The DSM IV have headlined packed-out rooms across the UK. They have shared stages with the likes of John Cale, Warmduscher, Ladytron, The Wytches and Deadletter.
Tonight in Daltons Guy solely concentrates on the vocals, and Jade is proudly standing above no less than 20 foot pedals for her guitar, and “Pav” is the caretaker of all things mystical on the electronics front, including a Korg WaveState keyboard. Guy informs us that they have driven down from Liverpool to perform for us, which, as you would expect, is greeted with appreciation from the crowd. We are to be rewarded 9 tunes across their 51 minute set, which ran from 10:23pm to 11:14pm. They open with the first of a handful of tunes culled from their debut LP, this being ‘Funland’, which benefits from a drum machine sound that was prevalent on early John Foxx era Ultravox! songs. This is followed by ‘Pink Lady’ from 2025’s ‘Negative Utopia’ EP which reminds me of ‘Papillon’ by Editors. Guy makes his first journey into the crowd (a common theme of the night by now) and he shows off his powerful vocal talents which go down rather well.
Tune three is I believe unreleased. It’s titled ‘Mannequin’ and has the vibe of a heavier version of Visage’s ‘Fade To Grey’. I rather enjoyed the glockenspiel sounding Korg keys at the end of the track. The keys were in action again for the start of the title track of the ‘New Age Paranoia’ album. This was followed by a low hum and then the electronic beats kicked in like an industrial guitar led version of Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’. Their new ‘Killers Of The Dream’ 2026 single was given an airing next. This at times conjured up the feel of the heavy sound of Japan and then ‘Theme For Great Cities’ from Simple Minds, then ‘Slow Motion’ by Ultravox! and finally The Psychedelic Furs’ ‘Love My Way’. The heavier ‘Lions’ from ‘New Age Paranoia’ saw the guitar very much to the fore ahead of the booming electronic beats. It’s an immediate winner with yours truly! Thoughts of Japan’s ‘Adolescent Sex’ and Phil Lynott’s ‘Yellow Pearl’ singles sprang to mind as well as Ultravox! in general circa 1977/78 period.
Last year’s ‘Juvenile Hero’ single was their next selection. The drum machine style beat filled the air as the guitar swirled around the beat. It’s borderline Killing Joke circa ‘Follow The Leaders’ era. Their penultimate offering was ‘Killing Your Time’ from ‘New Age Paranoia’ which is referred to as “A bit of a shanty” by Guy. There’s a ‘Fireflies’ by Owl City feel about the intro keys and then Jade lets her guitar loose and it immediately morphs into something quite different. It’s a rocker! They bid us farewell Kraftwerk style, as during ‘Scumbag’ from ‘New Age Paranoia’, as midway through the track Guy hands out flowers to the punters and doesn’t return to the stage. After a while Jade leaves as well and goes and sits outside as does “Pav”, whilst the heavy booming and Sisters Of Mercy guitar fuelled sounding tune plays out by itself! The beat is shaking my trousers as I’m standing by the floor speakers, which adds to the enjoyment. This number had the intensity of The Flowerpot Men’s take of ‘Walk On Gilded Splinters’ and was a great way to sign off.
The DSM IV are next playing live in Sussex at Brewing Brothers at The Courtyard, White Rock, Hastings (TN34 1JA) on Wednesday 23rd September with support from local synth and drums outfit Black Mask. This venue is located in the Old Victorian baths and opened in May 2021. It’s a below sea level bar, located a stone’s throw away from the beach with a wide covered outdoor area and comfortable seating.
Tickets are available now and can be purchased HERE.
The DSM IV:
Guy McKnight – vocals
Jade Ormesher – guitar
Pav Cummins – drum machines, synthesizers
The DSM IV setlist:
‘Funland’ (from 2023 ‘New Age Paranoia’ album)
‘Pink Lady’ (from 2025 ‘Negative Utopia’ EP)
‘Mannequin’ (unreleased)
‘New Age Paranoia’ (from 2023 ‘New Age Paranoia’ album)
‘Killers Of The Dream’ (a 2026 single)
‘Lions’ (from 2023 ‘New Age Paranoia’ album)
‘Juvenile Hero’ (a 2025 single)
‘Killing Your Time’ (from 2023 ‘New Age Paranoia’ album)
‘Scumbag’ (from 2023 ‘New Age Paranoia’ album)
