THE ST PIERRE SNAKE INVASION + EL MOONO + FAKE YOUR DEATH – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 26.4.23
The St Pierre Snake Invasion have been repeatedly recommended to me for some time, so I thought it was about time that I found out what all of the fuss was about.
There are two support acts tonight at The Hope & Ruin, located on Queen’s Road in Brighton courtesy of local promoters and label Love Thy Neighbour…you spoil us ambassador!
The first of which is Fake Your Death which is stylized as fakeyourdeath. They are a two piece electronic / industrial / post-hardcore duo from Brighton comprising vocalist Candi Underwood and drummer Sam Barnes from raw alt-rock trio Lazybones, who the Brighton & Hove News witnessed back in 2018 – Review HERE.
Everything else is on the backing track. Anyone who has read my reviews with any regularity will know my views regarding this kind of thing: live music should actually be live, right? However, singer Candi is such an excellent front-person, giving a good 150%, that her performance makes the lack of live instruments seem not quite so important. She is goth-metal in excelsis.
The Brighton & Hove News were at their debut live performance which took place on 3rd October last year – read our account of that night HERE. Find them on Bandcamp HERE.
fakeyourdeath setlist:
‘consume’ (a 2023 single)
‘hell’
‘broken’
‘humanity’
‘truth’ (a 2022 single)
Next up are Brighton based El Moono. They are signed to Lockjaw Records, and were Metal Hammer’s ‘ones to watch’ in 2022. They comprise Zac Jackson on vocals and guitar, Jamie Haas on guitar and backing vocals, Harry Logan on bass and Chris Cartwright on drums.
They have quite a varied collection of influences, which very much gives them their own sound. There are elements of death metal and grunge, but there are also moments of unexpected subtlety that can take you by surprise. The singer has what appears to be an eight string guitar, but that might just be my eyesight. Before the last song the bassist plays a jazz riff, but the band don’t head off down that particular route. Anyway, they are indeed definitely ones to watch.
El Moono recently released their bone-shaking new record ‘Temple Corrupted’, following Small Pond released single ‘Thanks For Nothing’ in 2019. Give them a listen on Bandcamp HERE.
El Moono setlist:
(Intro tape) ‘The Wild Hunt’ (from 2022 ‘Temple Corrupted’ album)
‘Final Execution’ (from 2022 ‘Temple Corrupted’ album)
‘The Charm’ (unreleased)
‘Requiem’ (from 2022 ‘Temple Corrupted’ album)
‘Miseria’ (from 2022 ‘Temple Corrupted’ album)
‘Chains’ (unreleased)
‘Forced To Smile’ (from 2022 ‘Temple Corrupted’ album)
Finally we get to the main event, The St Pierre Snake Invasion. The Bristol based four piece comprise Damien Sayall on vocals and bass, Carl Foulkes Jones and Szack Notaro on guitars, and Sam Forbes on drums. Damien Sayall is also the main songwriter.
The band have recently released their third album ‘Galore’, and the reviews give the impression that it is a challenging listen. Good – challenging in my book equates to ‘interesting’. A band should always have faith in their new music, and The St Pierre Snake invasion certainly do, opening with ‘Kracked Velvet’ from the new album. It has hints of rap, some pleasingly complicated time signature changes, and something of a funky edge, and that’s just the first song! Additionally, it’s not just the first song of the set, it opens the album too.
However, there’s faith and there’s faith. The first five songs are from the new album. Indeed, over the course of the set, we get the entire opus. There’s a three song sop from previous album ‘Caprice Enchante’ in the form of the title track, ‘The Idiot’s Guide To Music’ (something that this band absolutely don’t need) and ‘Remystery’, before there’s another four from ‘Galore’.
In general this seems to be going down pretty well, indeed it’s being received rather enthusiastically. Apart that is, by the friend I’m with who complains that the material isn’t as accessible as “the old stuff”. Well, I don’t think that these are songs that anybody is going to be bored with anytime soon. Even the penultimate song is from the new album, indeed it is the title track, just to ensure that you don’t forget. That, my friends, is faith.
The St Pierre Snake Invasion don’t ignore their past though, goodness no. As well as the triumvirate of songs that I previously mentioned, there is another nostalgic threesome in the form of ‘David Ickearumba’ (still one of the funniest song titles around) and ‘Thanks But The Answer’s No’ from the first album ‘A Hundred Years A Day’, and ‘Carroll A Deering’ from the second album. Having said that though, tonight is really all about ‘Galore’. Playing an entire new album only shortly after it has been released can be a risky move, but I do believe that The St Pierre Snake Invasion have managed to pull it off, despite Damien confessing that he’s “sh*tting himself” before one song. He tells us early in the set that from 2023 the band “only deal in bangers”. Well, judging from tonight’s performance, that much is self-evident.
Check out their music on their Bandcamp page HERE.
