YARD + POLITE BUREAUX – VOLKS, BRIGHTON 3.9.26
It’s not very often that we get to go to Volks on Madeira Drive in Brighton for a standalone concert. We usually find ourselves popping in and out of the 30 year old venue as part of the annual Great Escape new music festival. But now the compact venue has been tarted up somewhat and now benefits from a slightly raised stage for the musicians and a green room for them to prepare themselves and to wind down afterwards, which is on the western side of the venue.
It’s conveniently located right opposite Brighton Beach to the East of Brighton Pier not far from Daltons and along from the Concorde 2. There certainly is some Brighton history going on here, and their website informs folk thus:
“The Colonnade where The Volks is located was built over 100 years ago when the nearby Aquarium extended its sun terrace above. The venue’s had a few names over the years including The Chain Pier Bar, as it is situated directly below where the old Chain Pier used to be. It’s currently named after the inventor of the first electric railway in this country, Magnus Volk”.
To yours truly, Volks has always appeared to be a venue for Mods and their accompanying scooters to hang out, or for the many club nights that have been going down there over the past years. Keep your eyes peeled as I’m informed that there is going to be a real push to stage many more music concerts at this venue. Tonight’s is the very first one with the updated new-look Volks.
The style of music on offer tonight is arguably vastly different, from those mentioned above! Ourselves and local gig-goers in the know have made a beeline here this evening in order to catch the electrifying three-piece electropunk band from Dublin who go under the banner of YARD. The trio comprise George Ryan (beats, synth), Emmet White (beats, vocals) and Daniel Malone (guitar).
They expertly bridge the gap between electronica and post-punk, by creating an auditory onslaught that leaves audiences sweaty, energized, and strangely unnerved. It’s fair to say that YARD are rapidly carving out their own niche in the UK, Irish and European music scene, and they are deservedly known for their intense and immersive live shows! A prime example of this is their in-yer-face live performance at the l’Antipode in Rennes in France for KEXP on 6th December 2024 – Watch and enjoy it HERE.
I’ve been continually gigging since 1978 and YARD are the only act that I’ve managed to catch live on three separate occasions in one single day. This was of the fact that they were performing as part of the aforementioned Great Escape.
YARD released 9 tracks across their ‘YARD’ & ‘YARD II’ EP’s last year, these being truly solid bodies of work comprising true fan favourites. The tunes were also released as a limited 500 ‘Dinked Edition’ run on white marbled vinyl, a copy of which now proudly sits pride of place in my treasured record collection.
YARD were last plying their wares in Brighton at the Green Door Store on 25th March this year. Such is the magnetism of the band that one female punter had specifically travelled from her home in Singapore in order to catch the band at that very gig as well as YARD’s previous night’s hometown Dublin gig. She informed me that Brighton was the better of the two! Let’s hope that tonight’s performance is just as great!
As you would expect, tonight’s YARD one hour concert is very well attended and the lads kick off (at 9:01pm) the only way they know how….“Looking For Trevor”. I’ve heard contradictory statements as to who or what Trevor actually is or was, but suffice to say that this opener seriously lays down the ground rules of what we are about to experience. From the off, Emmet (who is centre stage) is already doing his own style of intense dance as he shouts into the microphone whilst also taking care of his Moog and Roland Instruments keyboards. Dan is stage left (our right) and his job is to make his guitar to not sound like a guitar at all, courtesy of no less than 13 foot pedals. To our left (stage right) is George who is operating Novation keys and M Audio electronics. One tune down and the venue is literally already buzzing!
Although Volks has had a special birthday refit, I’m starting to ponder whether they have actually forgotten any air conditioning or whether it’s just turned off, as it’s a total sweatbox. The lady next to me can’t wave her fan fast enough, and near the end of the performance, decides to call it any early night and to go outside and gasp some air. The longer YARD play, the hotter we all get. I’m actually starting to get a little uncomfortable and even contemplate talking off my t-shirt, but somehow manage to refrain from doing so and thus adverting a crowd chant of “You fat bastard!”.
Anyway, back to the live music, and offering two is their 2024 ‘Bend’ single, with its Front 242 sounding slower gritty beat and screamed vocal delivery. I note that Emmet’s vocals are nearly always altered in some form or another via a Roland unit I believe, which adds to the otherworldliness of their sound. The very meaty deep electronic beats of ‘Appetite’ from 2025’s ‘YARD’ EP comes next and suffice to say, it’s bloody epic! Selection four is ‘Essential Tremor’ from 2025’s ‘YARD II’ EP, which has a slow intro and great use of the M Audio synth and backed up by some notable Novation knob twiddling, prior to the beat kicking in. There’s more bangin’ beats appearing on ‘Slumber’ from 2025’s ‘YARD’ EP as well as some impressive Fender guitar action and guttural vocals.
The music up to now has been a constant barrage with hardly any time for us to come up for air (literally) whilst having an enjoyable bop, but we do get literally a second or two’s gap, before the trio again let loose on ‘Auto Erotic’ from 2025’s ‘YARD II’ EP, with its screeching guitar sounds, as well as some more Moog action. This is a real hypnotic instrumental tune, and I would hate it if the lads dropped it from their set. The slower unreleased ‘Voodoo’ is up next, and hopefully a tune that will be appearing on the band’s next vinyl release, that I’m informed they are working on! This is a tad more melodic than all of the previous tunes, but there’s absolutely no signs of mellowing to be had!
Track eight is ‘Big Shoes’ from their ‘YARD II’ EP with its heavy dance/trance beat. Somewhere in the depth of this track I swear I’m picking up the feeling of OMD’s ‘Messages’ the 10” single version, which is a great thing to have, as that’s my favourite OMD track. Emmet’s shouty vocals are back for their 2024 booming ‘Call’ single, after which they offload the faster skippy beats and intense guitar action of the unreleased ‘Dr.Crow’, which also has a Nitzer Ebb feel to it. Emmet is really in the zone and he’s got that thousand yard stare going on as he beats his hand against his chest. George kicks off ‘Friction’ from ‘YARD II’ EP and the vocals remind me of Fad Gadget (Frank Tovey RIP) for the first time. It’s another set highlight!
The boys slow the beat right down with their Belgian New Beat-esque ‘Suzuki’ an unreleased tune which benefits from vocals akin to early Tubeway Army tracks. Emmet finally addresses the punters and tells us that they are glad to be back in Brighton as it’s always absolutely rockin’. This is especially the case this evening, as the punters have really been up for it from the get go! Southerners being reserved….my arse! The jagged guitar laden penultimate offering is ‘Lawmaker’ from their ‘YARD II’ EP, which is a cocker, and the trio sign off with ‘Sunlight’ from their ‘YARD’ EP, with the whispered vocals reminding me of Mexican electro-industrial duo Hocico. There’s copious amounts of guitar foot-pedal action going on here. It’s 10:01pm and that’s the end! No fake encores with this lot! Suffice to say it’s been a seriously brilliant set and everyone is soaked through with sweat. No doubt this will be in my Top 5 Gigs of 2026 at the end of the year!!!!!
Yard:
Emmet White – vocals, synth, laptop
Dan Malone – guitar
George Ryan – electronic drums, synth, backing vocals
Yard setlist:
‘Trevor’ (from 2025 ‘YARD’ EP)
‘Bend’ (a 2024 single)
‘Appetite’ (from 2025 ‘YARD’ EP)
‘Essential Tremor’ (from 2025 ‘YARD II’ EP)
‘Slumber’ (from 2025 ‘YARD’ EP)
‘Auto Erotic’ (from 2025 ‘YARD II’ EP)
‘Voodoo’ (unreleased)
‘Big Shoes’ (from 2025 ‘YARD II’ EP)
‘Call’ (a 2024 single)
‘Dr.Crow’ (unreleased)
‘Friction’ (from 2025 ‘YARD II’ EP)
‘Suzuki’ (unreleased)
‘Lawmaker’ (from 2025 ‘YARD II’ EP)
‘Sunlight’ (from 2025 ‘YARD’ EP)
Support this evening comes from Polite Bureaux which is the brainchild of Bradford born Joseph Smith, whose background comprises Irish and Filipino Malay roots.
His debut confrontational 12 track longer-player ‘C*NT MONDAYS’ set the tone back in 2024 and last year’s ‘Except Your Skint’ and updated ‘Skint C*nt’ carried the baton further!
Polite Bureaux have not played at Volks before, so now Joe can add that to his portfolio, which includes previous Brighton gigs at The Hope & Ruin, Green Door Store, Alphabet, The Prince Albert, Dust, The Bootlegger, East Street Tap, The Pipeline and Chalk to name just a few that our team have witnessed.
Tonight Joseph ‘aka Joe’ has flown over from France as he is building a studio there, so I guess he’s not Brighton based anymore? Joe takes to the stage at 8:06pm and it’s a short but sweet set from him. It lasts a mere 19 minutes, but he somehow manages to shoehorn no less than 7 tunes into the performance. It’s just him this evening. I’ve witnessed him with band members before, which adds some depth, but let’s see how he gets on.
The vocal barrage commences with ‘Mift’ from 2025’s ‘Except Your Skint’ and ‘Skint C*nt’ albums. It’s very easy to pick up his Bradford accent as the tirade of words burst out of his mouth, as the prerecorded backing tracks offers all of the beats that get the punters bopping along. One down and 6 to go, but there’s still time to tell the punters that the local press must keep behind the local scene and emerging talent and not to put them down….no name’s mentioned!
The title track of 2024’s ‘C*nt Monday’ album is up next, and swiftly followed by the faster booming beats set highlight of ‘Dollars And Dimes’ from the same record. Joe is a very animated character and the whole room cannot fail to see what he’s up to, as he offloads his penned lyrics with pure from-the-heart feeling. Staying with ‘C*nt Monday’, Joe next delivers ‘BodyRocker’ with its heavy bass synth intro, followed by skippy beats. It’s yet another enjoyable tune, which is as though the Sleaford Mods have discovered heavy dance beats.
The title tune of ‘Except Your Skint’ is delivered next with great aplomb in an Acid House meets Underworld stylee. This mutates into ‘Scratchcard’ from ‘C*nt Monday’ album, before signing off with ‘Broke Biscuits’, which is also found on ‘C*nt Monday’. Tonight’s version has a slower start and the beat reminds me of the 1992 forgotten epic that is Cicero’s ‘Love Is Everywhere’. This being the most melodic of the set in a retro synthpop kinda way. It’s 8:25pm and he’s done!
It’s been another enjoyable encounter! So let’s see what fruits Joe conjures up in his new French studio! Can’t wait!
Polite Bureaux:
Joseph Smith – vocals, laptop
Polite Bureaux setlist:
‘Mift’ (from 2025 ‘Except Your Skint’ album)
‘C*nt Monday’ (from 2024 ‘C*nt Monday’ album)
‘Dollars And Dimes’ (from 2024 ‘C*nt Monday’ album)
‘BodyRocker’ (from 2024 ‘C*nt Monday’ album)
‘Except Your Skint’ (from 2025 ‘Except Your Skint’ album)
‘Scratchcard’ (from 2024 ‘C*nt Monday’ album)
‘Broke Biscuits’ (from 2024 ‘C*nt Monday’ album)
