SEXTILE + DITZ – HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 19.9.18
OK I confess, I really really love Sextile. Sounds a tad rude doesn’t it? But actually sextile comes from the Latin sextīlis one sixth (of a circle), from sextus sixth. It also refers to an aspect or position of 60° between two planets or other celestial bodies. But in this case I am referring to the Los Angeles based duo of Brady Keehn and Melissa Scaduto, otherwise known as Sextile.
The guys have flown back to the UK from the States and were heading back to Brighton in order to plug their terrific new 5 track EP entitled ‘3’, which was unleashed to the world 5 days prior to their Hope & Ruin appearance.
Sextile were last in Brighton on 27th January this year when they appeared at The Prince Albert – read our review HERE.
Sextile came into being in 2015 when Melissa Scaduto (drums/vox) and Brady Keehn (vox/guitar/keyboards) were originally living in Brooklyn, New York, but then on a whim they took a punt and moved to Los Angeles, California. Within a relatively short period of time they got together with some guys and formed the band. Sextile have always been and are still now essentially just the duo of Keehn and Scaduto, with the assistance of acquaintances along the way.
Tonight at the Hope & Ruin they are joined on stage by a charming blue-haired young lady called Quincy (guitar/keyboards/drums). Scaduto is clearly a Tears For Fears fan as she was sporting the exact same t-shirt that she was wearing on her last Brighton appearance in January. So my recommendation for her is to bring Sextile back to Brighton in early February 2019, to ideally to play another gig on Tuesday 5th February, as the day before Tears For Fears are appearing at the Brighton Centre. Melissa, grab your tickets HERE. (Note to band – Please don’t book a gig on Sunday 3rd February as VNV Nation are playing London).
So what exactly do Sextile sound like? Well, the band boldly throw convention out of the window to create a genre-bending imprint that combines the raw energy of 70’s punk with the intricate and sophisticated structural elements of 80’s post-punk and retro/modern EBM/synth-wave.
When reviewing concerts I type a few words on my phone as a reminder for when I come to write-up the reviews. For tonight’s Sextile concert I simply started with just three letters – DAF. Thus referring to the influential German electropunk/Neue Deutsche Welle band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft who formed in 1978 in Düsseldorf. DAF are best known for their European smash ‘Der Mussolini’ and you can get the essence of what DAF and Sextile are all about by watching this rare live video. As you can see there’s the raw punk energy but perfectly executed with thumping rhythms and hypnotic bass sequences – just perfect!
When listening to Sextile’s captivating EBM/punk 14 song set this evening, I totally get the DAF thing. In fact when talking to Melissa and Quincy after their performance, Melissa informed me of their DAF influences. I immediately called up my notes and showed her that I had already typed out DAF. Both her and Quincy were more than pleased as I totally got what they were all about. But it’s not all DAF, as there’s gritty elements of Skinny Puppy, Psyche, Nitzer Ebb, elements of early Killing Joke, The Buzzcocks, Suicide, Sheep On Drugs, Front 242, The Ramones and of course Sigue Sigue Sputnik.
You should seriously checkout Sextile’s musical output HERE. The guys not only sound cool but look cool too especially as singer Brady’s stance at times was culled from the mid 70’s book of rock a la Iggy Pop and Joey Ramone (RIP) and it felt like 1976/7 all over again, but with a modern edge – Lush!
Tonight’s setlist was:
‘Current Affair’ (taken from 2018 ‘Current Affair’ single)
‘Drop You’ (taken from 2018 ‘3’ EP)
‘Ripped’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘Spun’ (taken from 2018 ‘3’ EP)
‘Situations’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘Mental’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘Sterilized’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘AVC’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘Paradox’ (taken from 2018 ‘3’ EP)
‘Disco’ (taken from 2018 ‘3’ EP)
‘Deadly Class’ (unreleased?)
‘Crisis’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
‘One Of These’ (taken from 2017 ‘Albeit Living’ album)
(encore)
‘Hazing’ (taken from 2018 ‘3’ EP)
For more info on Sextile, click HERE.
The support act for tonight’s Hope & Ruin concert were 5 Brighton based geezers (Cal – vocals, Anton – guitar, Caleb – bass, Jack – drums and Archie – guitar) going by the name of DITZ. You could argue that they are purveyors of the slurred New York’s noise rock (pretending to not be arsed) brigade. In fact the guys have recently released the powerful 97 second ‘Seeking Arrangement’ single. Check it out HERE.
If you enjoy synth music like the Sextile, then the chances are that you will also enjoy the bands listed below. Simply click on each of the names and they will take you to our concert reviews on those bands:
Fröst, The Human League, Blancmange, The KVB, Digitalis, Battery Operated Orchestra, Halo Maud, Vile Electrodes, Gary Numan, Orbital, Pinkshinyultrablast, B-Movie, Covenant, AK/DK, Blue Hawaii, OMD, The Fin., Heaven 17, Austra.
