CRACKED LIME + VCSB + BLITZER – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 29.9.26
This evening’s entertainment comes courtesy Love Thy Neighbour promoters who have curated a FREE ENTRY show at The Hope & Ruin on Queens Road, Brighton and features three new bands on the block, these being Cracked Lime, VCSB and Blitzer.
It’s encouraging for the local music scene when promoters and venues get together in order to assist the grassroots music business. You can quite often catch free entry concerts which are held on the street level bar at The Hope & Ruin, but this evening’s gig is being held on the first floor music room, which is where the paid events are held, so tonight is a special occasion, so it would have been rather rude not to have made our way to the premises to check out what new blood is on offer.
So without further ado, let’s get down to business, and give you a taster of the bands in the order they played:
First up are Blitzer who are playing their first Brighton gig this evening. This is not the shoegaze-inspired band from Hull, but they are a Brighton based post-punk three-piece comprising Nat Bartholomew (lead vocals, bass), Sam Doyle (left-handed guitar, backing vocals), and Riley Woodgate (drums, backing vocals). The band as it is now was formed in the autumn of 2025, with Nat, Sam and Riley having played together in various guises since they were young teenagers.
This evening as the lads grace the stage, they have the look of babyfaced assassins and are ready to take no prisoners. Looking around the venue, it’s literally full of folk of the same age as the Blitzer boys; they’ve clearly brought their mates along for the ride!
At 8:20pm their 7 track set commences and the venue is quite literally buzzing from the off. There’s so much positivity floating in the air, that you know that the lads are gonna nail it and indeed they do!
The young outfit either have really cred parents who have brought them up listening to the likes of Magazine, Buzzcocks, Public Image Ltd, or maybe the teens have themselves discovered She Wants Revenge. Either way, if you’re a fan of post-punk then Blitzer are for you! Nat’s bass pumps out notes akin to Jah Wobble and Sam’s guitar-work is Steve Diggle-esque, especially when using the tremolo.
After every tune there are screams and cheers of approval from virtually everyone in the crowd, who I’m guessing a multitude are their mates, but having said that, there are questions to ask:
“Have they got the tunes?”…tick
“Have they got the looks?”…tick
“Have they got the stage presence?”…tick
So in conclusion, expect more good things from this new trio! Find out for yourself by catching them at The Rossi Bar on 8th October with Wasabi and Darcy (Tickets HERE) and also as part of the Goo Records showcase on 25th November at the Green Door Store where they are playing alongside The Mink, That Band Called Susan, and Lana Death Ray (Tickets HERE).
Blitzer:
Nat Bartholomew – lead vocals, bass
Sam Doyle – guitar, backing vocals
Riley Woodgate – drums, backing vocals
Blitzer setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Trip And Fall’
‘Generals’
‘Change Your Rights’
‘Feel It Too’
‘Your Secret’s Safe With Me’
‘1987’
www.instagram.com/blitzer_band
The second act of the night are Brighton-based VCSB who are purveyors of experimental pop rooted in synth-pop and post-punk minimalism, shaped by melodic synths and a sharp post-punk edge. They combine melodramatic and tongue in cheek vocals with angular, distortion drenched guitar and sputtering vintage synthesizers. We are in the company of Saul Bazley (lead vocals, keys, laptop), Tris Houseman aka Vivian Clarke (guitar), and Ronan Goron (drums, backing vocals) for 29 minutes from 9:05pm to 9:34pm. During this time we are rewarded with a half dozen excellent cuts.
To date the trio have released two singles, both of which have come out this year; these being ‘People’ and ‘Face’ which both saw the light of day back in February. To be totally honest, the initial prime motivation for being here tonight was to catch VCSB for the first time, as I very recently stumbled across them on the tin-ter-web thingy whilst checking out Berlin-based synth bands, and my journey down the rabbit hole, suddenly brought me to VCSB, where I had the joy of discovering that not only are they not German, but and UK based, and better than that, they reside in Brighton…result!
As the music commences, I immediately note that the sound engineer has turned up the volume, which I’m certainly not adverse to. There’s also a video screen on the rear wall which adds to the enjoyment. I scan the room behind me and thankfully virtually all of the young audience are still in situ. Their opener ‘I Want It Now’ sees Saul summoning their innermost Rick Wakeman. Tune two is their ‘People’ single and this benefits with a quality synth new wave beat, along with its often repeated title, and the vocals have the style of Pete Shelley’s ‘Homosapien’ era classics.
The sound is full on and it’s hard to believe that there are only three people up on stage. After ‘Only Man In History’, we get set highlight ‘Sally’ which too has an earworm repeated title and fabulous synth beat. It’s here that my mind gets transported back in time to the defunct Brighton label Attrix and their 1980 release of ‘The Russians Are Coming’ by The Red Squares. They were rough around the edges, as are VCSB, but I really loved what they were up to, as I now do with VCSB.
The penultimate selection is ‘Is This What Love Is’ which is a tad heavier than those that have gone before, due to the guitar pedals. They bid us farewell with their other single, ‘Face’ and that’s our lot. At times it did seem that they were momentarily out of synch, and there were a couple of programming issues, but looking past these punk chaos moments, VCSB are a band now very much on my radar, and are certainly well worth checking out! Their next local concert is in the Cellar Bar at The Brunswick in Holland Road, Hove on Tuesday 6th October where they are sharing the bill with Eilis Frawley, and Ahnolog (Tickets HERE).
VCSB:
Saul Bazley – lead vocals, keys, laptop
Tris Houseman (Vivian Clarke) – guitar
Ronan Goron – drums, backing vocals
VCSB setlist:
‘I Want It Now’
‘People’ (a 2026 single)
‘Only Man In History’
‘Sally’
‘Is This What Love Is’
‘Face’ (a 2026 single)
This evening’s headlining act are London based duo Cracked Lime who comprise Nao (vocals, electronics, guitar) and Lucas (vocals, guitar, electronics, laptop). Their project began in early 2025 and the duo have spent the last year touring the city and refining their live performance. We learn it’s a big night for Cracked Lime as tonight is their debut headliner!
It has been said that Cracked Lime have been described as “Portishead with James Bond guitar”, but I don’t get a single hint of this during their 10 tune 35 minute set, which ran from 10:01pm to 10:36pm. What is noted is some hypnotic existentialist spoken words, melodic interventions, noisy texture and a sharp dance-y weird rhythm section.
On their opener, Nao takes the vocal lead, but the lyrics are down in the mix; they sadly remain so throughout the whole set, which wasn’t good. There’s a drum machine sound which is reminiscent of 4AD bands and goth acts from bygone days. We learn that tonight is their debut Brighton concert, but sadly around 60% of the young crowd that were behind the first two bands have pissed off, which in my opinion is a poor show! Annoyingly, some of those punters that have stayed are having a right old natter towards the rear of the room, maybe they should have also left so that the rest of us get to enjoy the music.
The hushed vocal deliveries continue until Lucas takes lead vocals and the music now has a “Madchester” sounding skippy beat. Cracked Lime’s material is quirky and skates across a number of genres, and for yours truly is best enjoyed when their dance beats kick in. Nao informs us that their single, ‘The Idiot’ was released just a week ago. It has a decent backbeat and benefits from dual fuzzy guitar action. It then dawns on me that Cracked Lime would be an ideal addition to the inaugural ‘Shadowlands’ Festival being held next year in Canterbury, which is billed as “The Outside of Everything”, and will feature acts including Foetus, Lustmord, Test Dept, Clock DVA, and The Wolfgang Press – Festival details HERE.
Cracked Lime will be heading back to Brighton next Spring, when they will be returning to The Hope & Ruin on Saturday 22nd May as part of that months Hidden Herd new music lineup. Also on the bill are Black Doldrums, Bloodworm, and Chimer – Purchase your tickets HERE.
Cracked Lime:
Nao – vocals, electronics, guitar
Lucas – vocals, guitar, electronics, laptop
Cracked Lime setlist:
‘Intro’
‘Tacibainr’
‘Taxi Driver’
‘The Docks’
‘Tennessee’
‘Poem 2’
‘Brockwell Park’
‘The Idiot’ (a 2026 single)
‘Spider’
‘Them’
