CUCAMARAS + SHADY BABY + WONDERBUG + M. WOODROE – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 29.1.25
Wednesday night at The Hope & Ruin saw another quality and diverse lineup of new and upcoming artists from local promoters Hidden Herd. Their latest event featured local Brighton bands M.Woodroe and Shady Baby, and the exciting Londoners Wonderbug. It was headlined by Nottingham’s indie/post-punk quartet Cucamaras.
Opening at Hidden Herd Presents were M. Woodroe, a young emerging Brighton-based alternative indie band consisting of ‘M’ on vocals, ‘B’ on guitar, ‘J’ on bass and ‘O’ on drums.
They started their set with ‘What A Shame’ a slow building tune which then exploded and fell back before its dramatic conclusion. After a few technical issues that were quickly fixed, they then performed ‘Brazen Bull’ which featured stunning vocals from M. She added real emotions ranging from pained to angry, that reminded me a little of Porridge Radios’ Dana Margolin.
On ‘A Veil’ M sang beautifully almost unaccompanied on this slower softer song, switching to a very powerful vocal at the end. The tempo and volume increased on ‘Sweetness, Sweetness’ with more of a spoken narrative mixed into the vocals.
M showed many sides of her quality voice on ‘Stalactites’. She started by portraying sadness, then adding some amazing high notes before a dramatic change to screaming. On the instrumental parts singer M and guitarist B performed with their heads pressed together and then resting on each other’s shoulders. The band went straight into their final number ‘Carte Blanche’ with its modern post-punk sound. Guitarist B mixed it up at times by playing into the speaker in their final number, as did J with some faster bass lines.
M. Woodroe were a late addition after Oslo Twins unfortunately had to pull out, and they certainly took their opportunity with a quality performance.
M. Woodroe:
M – vocals and maracas
B – guitar
J – bass
O – drums
M. Woodroe setlist:
‘What A Shame’ (unreleased)
‘Brazen Bull’ (unreleased)
‘A Veil’ (unreleased)
‘Sweetness, Sweetness’ (unreleased)
‘Stalactites’ (unreleased)
‘Carte Blanche’ (unreleased)
Wonderbug are a grungy indie rock band from London, which is made up of Edie Chesters (vocals and synth), Ollie McDaid (vocals and guitar), Otto Fitzgerald (bass), and Ben Chesters (vocals and drums). Their music features catchy melodies paired with introspective lyrics, exploring themes of friendship, love, and the complications of modern life.
Even from the soundcheck the quality and impressive range of Edie’s voice was evident and gave a taste of the very special set which was to follow. Their opening number ‘Stolid’ showcased the power of Edie’s voice; while the following song ‘On The Outside’ with its atmospheric start saw her softer side, before her screamed vocals at its close. It wasn’t just Edie’s voice that shone, but how the dual vocals of Edie and Ollie contrasted each other so well on many tracks within their set.
Before ‘Slowly But Surely’, the band told how it took them over 2½ hours to get to the gig from London. ‘Slowly But Surely’, while it could have described their train journey, was how the cleverly constructed song started, with Edie singing to minimal accompaniment. The song had sharp changes in tempo with slower quieter moments combined with loud piercing staccato sections. The juxtaposition in their music was a standout feature across their set. Many of their tracks began low-key but soon built in intensity. Their clever quiet, loud, quiet song structures kept the audience guessing as to where the songs would go next.
‘Hiding In Plain Sight’, their debut single, had a beautiful laidback, almost shoegaze feel with Ollie taking the lead vocals. A new song, ‘Heartracers’ had more of an alt-rock sound and a dancier feel about it. The pace of the song picked up more subtly on this one. Edie was more animated by this stage of the set as she danced along between her vocals.
Wonderbug closed a wonderfully varied and captivating set with ‘What A Waste Of Time’, the three way vocals between Ben, Ollie and Edie worked so well as each took turns on lead starting with guitarist Ben and Edie’s back and forth call and response.
From their performance at Hidden Herd, it was clear why So Young magazine have labelled Wonderbug as “part of a golden new troop of indie talent in the capital”.
Wonderbug make a quick return to Sussex, playing La Havana in Chichester on Thursday 6th February (tickets HERE) and Brighton’s The Prince Albert on Friday 7th February (tickets HERE).
Wonderbug:
Edie Chesters – vocals and synth
Ollie McDaid – vocals and guitar
Ben Fitzgerald – vocals and drums
Otto Chesters – bass
Wonderbug setlist:
‘Stolid’ (unreleased)
‘On The Outside’ (from 2024 ‘Scrap’ EP)
‘Answers’ (from 2024 ‘Scrap’ EP)
‘Slowly But Surely’ (from 2024 ‘Scrap’ EP)
‘Hiding In Plain Sight’ (a 2022 single release)
‘Heartracers’ (unreleased)
‘What A Waste Of Time’ (from 2024 ‘Scrap’ EP)
Next up were Shady Baby, the garage rock brainchild of Brighton-based Sam Leaver, who formed in 2022. There was an old school post-punk sound to Shady Baby, which was played at a lively fast pace.
The quick tempo and sharp delivery were set from the opening numbers ‘Lonely Town’, and ‘Feel It’. A new song ‘Surrender’ had a marginally slower tempo, and went down well with the crowd judging from their response. ‘All To Late’ had a more nostalgic feel with a fresh rock n roll touch. There were soon several people bopping and singing along to Shady Baby.
Sam was backed by a very musically tight drummer and bassist, whose contribution should not be overlooked. They were often seen playing facing one another, most notably on ‘Come To Life’ with its strong drumming on its introduction, and picking up the pace on ‘Let It Slide’.
One of the highlights for me was an unreleased track ‘Under Duress’. Sam’s softer vocals contrasted well with the starker edge to the music. ‘Held In’ was another lively energetic song which was a fitting way to close Shady Baby’s set.
Although for me, Shady Baby didn’t have the same level of variety across their set as the other bands, there was no denying that their dynamic performance created an excited atmosphere and The Hope & Ruin crowd really enjoyed it.
Shady Baby:
Sam Leaver – vocals, guitar
James Devine – drums
Sam Dembo – bass
Shady Baby setlist:
‘Lonely Town’ (from 2022 ‘Come To Life’/’Lonely Town’ double A side single)
‘Feel It’ (a single 2024 single)
‘Surrender’ (unreleased)
‘All Too Late’ (a December 2023 single)
‘Come To Life’ (from 2022 ‘Come To Life’/’Lonely Town’ double A side single)
‘Let It Slide’ (unreleased)
‘Under Duress’ (unreleased)
‘Held In’ (a October 2024 single)
www.instagram.com/shadybabyband
The headliners were Cucamaras, a four-piece band fronted by Olly Bowley with the other band members being Josh Hart (guitar), Dan McGrath (bass), and Joe Newton (drums). They describe themselves as a “Post something band from Nottingham”.
Cucamaras went straight into their fast sharp guitar sound with their latest single release, ‘Laughing’. Olly’s shouted assertive vocals were a feature of this song and across their set. There were also good backing vocals from guitarist Josh and bassist Dan.
Often early in sets, bands ask the sounddesk to tweak the volume in their monitors. Before their second song Josh asked for the guitar in his monitor to be turned down, as he joked, “before it blows my head off.”
Monitor adjusted, Cucamaras proceeded with ‘Greener Lands’. Its intro reminded me a little of Fontaines DC or The Murder Capital. At times during the song, the guitarist and bassist would play facing the drummer, leaving Olly at the front. ‘Greener Lands’, along with many songs, featured great bass lines from Dan.
There was more of a spoken vocal on ‘Wilmslow Storm Warning’ and ‘Death Of The Social’ which both had a fresh new wave sound. The staccato sound on ‘Wilmslow Storm Warning’ worked particularly well with the sharp spoken vocals.
As the set progressed Olly would often play walking around the stage on the instrumental parts. Midway through the set the band asked who had seen their previous Brighton shows. Many had, and after Cucamaras’s performance at Hidden Herd, I think many will want to see them when they next play the city.
The band announced that ‘London Day 2’ would be on their new EP due out in May. It was a more restrained softer song, but still had the same intensity of the band’s other material. It definitely went down well with the crowd. There was a good use of effects at the start of ‘Bleachers Yard’, with the vocals somewhere between Yard Act’s James Smith and Shame’s Charlie Steen.
There was good banter between the band throughout. Later in the set, as the band retuned, Josh joked to his band mates, “Whenever you’re ready. There is a curfew.” There was also great engagement between the band and audience, without the banter ever interrupting the fast flow of their set.
Before their penultimate song, Josh asked “Is this fast enough for you?”, ‘Winners Chapel’ turned out to be their fastest number. It got progressively faster without ever compromising quality.
Cucamaras closed their excellent performance, and a great night of live music, with an unreleased song, ‘Spoken Word’ with the crowd clapping along. Quite rightly, there was huge applause for Cucamaras at the end of their performance.
Cucamaras:
Olly Bowley – vocals and guitar
Josh Hart – guitar and vocals
Dan McGrath – bass
Joe Newton – drums
Cucamaras setlist:
‘Laughing’ (a 2025 single release)
‘Greener Lands’ (from 2023 ‘Buck Rogers Time’ EP)
‘Wilmslow Storm Warning’ (from 2023 ‘Buck Rogers Time’ EP)
‘Death Of The Social’ (from 2022 ‘Soft Soap’ EP)
‘Porcelain’ (from 2023 ‘Buck Rogers Time’ EP)
‘London Day 2’ (unreleased)
‘Bleachers Yard’ (from 2023 ‘Buck Rogers Time’ EP)
‘Western’ (unreleased)
‘Winners Chapel’ (from 2022 ‘Soft Soap’ EP)
‘Spoken Word’ (unreleased)
You can catch more exciting up-and-coming bands and artists, by getting yourself along to the Hidden Herd new music discovery nights in Brighton and their next all day event on Saturday 1st March. Details and tickets available HERE.
