BACCI POUCH + BIGHEAD TEA DRINKERS + SCATTERED ASHES – DALTONS, BRIGHTON 19.7.24
Friday night was very much a partying night here in Brighton, especially near to and down on the beach where BICEP were entertaining an army of fans with their dance tunes which was aided by fabulous lights and lazers. At Chalk in Pool Valley opposite the beach Kid Creole & The Coconuts are offering up their Latin vibes, and located in between these two events is Daltons which is under Brighton Zip. It’s here that we find ourselves based for the night in order to take in a trio of decent up-and-coming bands who were plying their wares. Tonight’s headliners were Bacci Pouch and they were supported by Bighead Tea Drinkers and Scattered Ashes.
Bacci Pouch are an unsigned indie band from Brighton, who sound not unlike other locals Shady Baby, and are composed of James Neighbour (guitar and vocals), Sam Raymer (bass guitar) and Charlie Heasman (drums). Thus far they have self-released a couple of singles, these being 2023’s ‘Learn To Love’ and this year’s ‘When The Lights Come On’. They are set to drop their third instalment this coming August with the arrival of ‘Normal People’.
Before they took to the Daltons stage, I took the opportunity to chill out with a beer on the beach and absorb my surroundings with the full moon casting a long bright shadow on the sea and the boats moored just offshore, the BICEP lights and lazers filling the night sky and the pier’s adjacent illuminations shining bright, and the zipwire above my head shining out like a welcoming beacon. It’s a hot summer night and a great day to be alive!
Suitably invigorated, I re-enter the venue as Bacci Pouch take to the few centimetres high stage at 10:20pm and entertain us with ten tunes across the next 37 minutes. James is to our left (stage right) with his Fender Telecaster, Charlie is seated in the middle behind the drumkit, and Sam is on our right with his Squier Jaguar bass. They kick off with the unreleased decently punky ‘She Said’ which sees James putting his Fender through its paces whilst delivering the vocals. This goes down well with the punters present, it’s not a sold out gig but there’s a fair few in! Next up is another as yet unreleased tune in the form of ‘By My Side’ which is less intense than the opener but it still had a pop punk vibe which like a majority of their tunes reminded me of the long forgotten Northern Irish outfit The Moondogs. Selection three was the unreleased ‘Dilute’ which was delivered nice’n tightly and this very much sounded like heyday Buzzcocks material, both vocally and musically which is a massive plus in my world!
The crowd were well behind the trio as they set about playing their forthcoming single, ‘Normal People’ which benefited from a catchy opening bass riff which leads into a twangy guitar and drums combo, and this was again very much like The Moondogs and a great selection for a single, the best thus far! After this track has concluded, James informs us that they are now going to play ‘Someone Else’s Clothes’ which they haven’t played for a long time. It’s a slower, almost psychedelic number. Not many pop punk acts would think to cover Fatboy Slim’s ‘The Rockafeller Skank’ but the Bacci Pouch lads did and they made it sound as if it was always a rock number. The trio were certainly on a roll now and attempted to speed things up with the unreleased ‘Corsa’ which we are told about people who drive Vauxhall Corsa’s. This contains the comical line “put him down” and sounded as though it totally belonged on the famous ‘Spiral Scratch’ Buzzcocks EP, especially on account of Charlie’s drumming. A few seconds in though and it was evident they weren’t in sync and so called a halt and they set off again and this time successfully made it to the end.
It’s now time for the lads to play their debut single from last year, titled ‘Learn To Love’, which is a decent pop punk Buzzcocks sounding tune that benefits from Sam’s meaty sounding bass which kicks it off with a decent rumble and was another slice of happiness for me. More Buzzcocks sounding elements were displayed in the following number, the unreleased ‘It Ain’t Pretty’ which contains the catchy line “and if you’re lonely”. After some guitar retuning from James, Bacci Pouch signed off with recent single ‘When The Lights Come On’ which was another earworm and at three minutes to eleven that was our lot for the night. Great work fellas…when’s the next gig?
Bacci Pouch:
James Neighbour – guitar and vocals
Sam Raymer – bass guitar
Charlie Heasman – drums
Bacci Pouch setlist:
‘She Said’ (unreleased)
‘By My Side’ (unreleased)
‘Dilute’ (unreleased)
‘Normal People’ (a forthcoming August 2024 single)
‘Someone Else’s Clothes’ (unreleased)
‘The Rockafeller Skank’ (Fatboy Slim cover)
‘Corsa’ (unreleased)
‘Learn To Love’ (a 2023 single)
‘It Ain’t Pretty’ (unreleased)
‘When The Lights Come On’ (a 2024 single)
Kicking off proceedings this evening were Scattered Ashes who are an abrasive Dublin four-piece consisting of Robert Dalton (vocals and rhythm guitar), Ben Downes (lead guitar), Cillian Sheil (drums) and Gerry Sheil (bass). The band opened up 2024 embarking on a mammoth UK tour with Meryl Streek, along with being named as one of Louder magazine’s ’10 Irish Artists You Should Be Listening To In 2024’. In April the band released their sophomore five track EP ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ via Blowtorch Records, which is very solid indeed and contains their ‘Kingdom’ and ‘Ether’ singles which have already received support from BBC Introducing, Radio X, and XS Manchester. The remaining trio of tunes being ‘They Can’t Divide Us’, ‘Love Is Not An Option’ and ‘I Will Be King’. Musically to me, then remind me of some ‘Good Vibrations’ records, this being the Belfast label which was founded by Terri Hooley originally who put out The Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ and other releases by Rudi, Outcasts, and The Moondogs, plus many of a similar ilk. But there’s also that U2 guitar twang and lashings of The Horrors in there as well which is a perfect blend!
This evening we are to be given eight tunes during their 31 minute set which ran from 8:16pm until 8:47pm. This is the quartet’s debut Brighton performance and one which the lads will remember for a very long time, as they take to the stage the first thing vocalist Robert states is that they can see the sea from the stage, as opposed to being in some cellar somewhere. They’ve got that to come, he said knowingly!
The lads are almost all dressed in black and are ready to do business and Fender being the tools of the trade, as in two of their guitars and a Mustang bass. They kick off with the first of all five from their ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP, this being ‘They Can’t Divide Us’ which is a solid rockin’ number and highlights that aforementioned The Horrors meets U2 vibe. This is very well received by the punters and I can confirm that after every tune, the audience got more and more excited with what they were hearing, which certainly pleased Robert and his chums and they seemed to feed off of it.
Selection two was their ‘Battles’ single from last year which sounded really solid. After which Robert informs us that they are going to play a new one that is yet to be released. This is called ‘The Tide’ with its “it only takes a minute” repeated line, had a full on sound with distinctly Irish sounding lyrics with U2 sounding guitar. It was the turn of ‘I Will Be King’ from their EP next, which is another decent slab of rockin’ twangy guitar which witnessed Gerry taking on the final few lines. Their recent ‘Kingdom’ single was their next offering, and immediately you can see why the lads chose it to be one, on account of Ben’s decent guitar top string plucking and foot pedal work.
It was a treat time as Robert informed us that they were now going to be giving the next track its first ever live performance, this being ‘We Sell Silence’ and highlighted Gerry’s decent backing vocal contribution. They played it so well that no-one would have ever guessed that it was its premier outing! Their penultimate number was ‘Ether’ which is also found on their EP, and is the one track where Cillian’s drumming was at its height. The repeated song title in the lyrics, making this an earworm tune. They signed off with ‘Love Is Not An Option’ which originally was on their 2021 ‘Parallel Lines’ EP, and then again on the 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP. I can see why they have given it two releases as it’s a corker with a Gen X ‘Dancing With Myself’ style drumming backbeat, which is then accompanied by screeching guitars. Quite simply putting it Scattered Ashes are a must see new band! You’ll get the chance too as they will be supporting Polite Bureaux at the Green Door Store in Brighton on Tuesday 24th September, grab your tickets HERE.
Scattered Ashes:
Robert Dalton – vocals and rhythm guitar
Ben Downes – lead guitar
Cillian Sheil – drums
Gerry Sheil – bass, vocals
Scattered Ashes setlist:
‘They Can’t Divide Us’ (from 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP)
‘Battles’ (a 2023 single)
‘The Tide’ (unreleased)
‘I Will Be King’ (from 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP)
‘Kingdom’ (from 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP)
‘We Sell Silence’ (unreleased)
‘Ether’ (from 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP)
‘Love Is Not An Option’ (from 2024 ‘All That Is Solid Melts Into Air’ EP & 2021 ‘Parallel Lines’ EP)
Sandwiched in between Bacci Pouch and Scattered Ashes were Bighead Tea Drinkers, who are a young Indie rock band based in Brighton, which is made up of Freddie Brindle (vocals/guitar), Ellie Hart (guitar), Kian Ramsey (bass) and Marshall Tyce (drums). Freddie and Marshall hail from Essex and wrote some material together at the tender age of thirteen. They then relocated to Brighton to study at BIMM Institute, which as an organisation has been turning students’ passions into their career over the past 36 years. Previous alumni have included George Ezra, Fontaines D.C. and Natasha Bent. It is whilst studying at BIMM Brighton that Freddie and Marshall met Ellie and Kian. As a quartet they decided to form the Bighead Tea Drinkers.
This evening the quartet are on stage for half an hour from 9:16pm to 9:46pm and offer us eight tunes, the first of which being ‘Flowers’ which I think is unreleased and contains the line “I wanna give her flowers”. Lead vocalist Freddie is centre-stage and is quite a tall fellow and his head is almost touching the ceiling and so there’s to be no jumping in the air with his Fender guitar. I note that Ellie, who is on our left, is left-handed and admirably puts her Fender through its paces. Kian, who is on our right, meanwhile is in control of a Squier Mustang bass, and to the centre rear is Marshall on drums. At times throughout their set, Ellie, KIan and Marshall assist with backing vocals.
In the main their influences are Stereophonics, Inhaler, Arctic Monkeys and The Jam, and so the Bighead Tea Drinkers are themselves a relatively fast, punchy and confident band, especially Freddie. It’s clear they have brought along a few glamorous fans, who station themselves at the front and heartily sing along with all the numbers. Their next four tunes are plundered from their recent ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ EP, the first of which being the first single from the EP, this was ‘Hours’, which certainly rocked on along nicely in an indie pop way and had chart potential. ‘Hours’ segues straight into ‘Conva’ courtesy of Marshall’s constant drumming and the fans at the front were merrily clapping away. Kian then kicked off ‘Why Don’t I Care?’ on his bass and then at the end he finished it off with his vocal contribution. Freddie then told us the next selection is a “sad depressing song” and it was a quieter much slower tempo tune just featuring his vocals and his guitar. It seems he may have gone off-piste with this, adding The Beatles ‘Twist And Shout’ on to the end.
The band were back in action for ‘Tokyo’, their first ever single. This was much better than the precious strange number and has decent harmonies from all 4 of them and the best thus far. Their penultimate selection was last year’s ‘The Way She Goes’ single which featured some decent guitar playing from Ellie, and the guys rocked on out to at the end. They signed off with ‘This Land Is Hers’ which is currently unreleased, but Freddie informs us that it will be out soon. It’s another decent slice of indie pop. Kian decides to briefly join us in the crowd as he has a small wander with his bass in tow. Bighead Tea Drinkers are an energetic young band that we’re nice and tight in their sound.
Bighead Tea Drinkers:
Freddie Brindle – vocals, guitar
Ellie Hart – lead guitar, backing vocals
Kian Ramsey – bass, backing vocals
Marshall Tyce – drums, backing vocals
Bighead Tea Drinkers setlist:
‘Flowers’ (unreleased)
‘Hours’ (from 2024 ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ EP)
‘Conva’ (from 2024 ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ EP)
‘Why Don’t I Care?’ (from 2024 ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ EP)
‘See U Soon’/’Twist And Shout’ (from 2024 ‘Travel Far, Get Away’ EP / The Beatles cover)
‘Tokyo’ (a 2022 single)
‘The Way She Goes’ (a 2023 single)
‘This Land Is Hers’ (unreleased)
