POZI + FOR BREAKFAST + BIG LONG SUN + SPEEDIAL – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 6.6.25
The last time that I saw Pozi at The Hope & Ruin was in 2021, their set was marred somewhat by a rather self-important couple who took to the stage uninvited and proceeded to dance through the latter part of the band’s set, to Pozi’s obvious annoyance. Hopefully their performance at tonight’s Hidden Herd Presents event will be uninterrupted.
Before we find out whether that is the case, we are to be entertained by three (count ‘em!) support bands. First up is Speedial, who are a London-based four piece consisting of a guitarist, bass drums and a sax player. I’ve seen them described as being noise rock and shoegaze, but this complex music is essentially jazz. Okay, it doesn’t sound like jazz per se, but with its free-form nature and constantly changing time signatures, not to mention the advanced level of musicianship and imaginative compositions, jazz is what it is.
This is by no means obvious when the band start, as guitarist Serena Garrod manipulates her pedals to make one hell of a cacophony. That’s the nearest that they get to the description of ‘noise rock’ though. There are some wonderful harmonies from Serena and bassist Millie Anna Kirby. The saxophonist Joe William Killick hits some deliberately discordant notes. In the first two songs (both from their EP ‘Light Of The Late Night’) there is more variety and invention than many bands fit into their entire set, or indeed their whole careers in some cases. There’s certainly no way that you’re going to be bored watching or listening to this band. The level of musicianship on display is quite staggering. I can’t identify some of the time signatures that they’re using. They’d make a brilliant support act for Black Country, New Road when they tour later in the year. Are you reading BCNR?
At the beginning of ‘I’ve Watched You’ (which is a working title) the sax player’s amp makes a horribly loud electronic farting sound, which is clearly not intentional. He soon recovers himself with some glorious soloing though. Monarch Vaverechka’s drumming is awesome. He really drives the music. During ‘Perfume’, bassist Millie plays a riff that many other bands would foreground as a solo. She’s also drinking a glass of wine onstage – very refined! There’s lots of light and shade throughout the set. The band clearly have a fine sense of dynamics. Final song ‘Rot’ is also the last song on their EP, which was released two weeks ago. Millie fingerpicks her bass as if it were a guitar. The song is really quite mesmerising. Speedial have apparently not been together that long, but it has to be said, they are wildly impressive. They have a couple of London gigs coming up: Stoke Newington Waiting Room on 12th June, and Twickenham High Tide on 27th July. Might be as well to see them in a small venue while you can.
Speedial:
Serena Garrod – guitar and vocals
Millie Anna Kirby – bass and vocals
Joe William Killick – drums
Monarch Vaverechka – saxophone
Speedial setlist:
‘Tourists’
‘An Altar’
‘I’ve Watched You’ (working title)
‘Perfume’
‘5,000 Lumens’
‘Rot’
Next up we have some psychedelic head music from Big Long Sun. I think that this is the fourth time that I’ve seen them in about a month, and each time that I’ve seen them I’ve really enjoyed them. Not only do they make really interesting music (for money and for broken loners and stoners, amongst many other reasons according to their manifesto) but they’re a lot of fun too. Tonight’s proceedings commence with ‘Orpheus Wakes Up’, which is ethereal to begin with, and then kicks off for the chorus. Violinist Alexandra is missing tonight, but she does play with at least one other band (Van Zon) so is probably busy. Jamie Broughton is already becoming the master of gnomic stage announcements a la Ian Brown and Jimmy Pursey: “that was a song. This is another one.” Well, he’s right isn’t he? The next song is actually ‘Homme de Plus’. Pretty much every song in the set is a highlight, which is some achievement. ‘Love In A Day’ features an awesome guitar solo. ‘The Sound’ develops into an early Floydian maelstrom. ‘Heaven Is By Your Side’ ends with the two guitarists duelling. On ‘Between The Air And The Water’ Jamie joins in on drums and he and the drummer deliver an impressive drum duet. As always Big Long Sun’s set is a sonically cosmic experience. I’m looking forward to the next time.
Big Long Sun:
Jamie Broughton and a load of his friends.
Big Long Sun setlist:
‘Orpheus Wakes Up’
‘Homme de Plus’
‘Love In A Day’
‘The Sound’
‘Ad Domanum’
‘Heaven Is By Your Side’
‘Between The Air And The Water’
So, what’s next??? For Breakfast are. They’re a London-based seven piece of whom I was completely ignorant until tonight. So this is a bit of a voyage of discovery for me! The opening song has quite a slinky start, and has something of a Jefferson Airplane feel, especially bearing in mind how the song builds, and the freak-out guitar solo from Omar Zaghouani. Vocalist Maya Harrison has a very rich, luxurious sounding voice, and a very strong voice too. Saxophonist Eden Harrison and flautist Gail Taskers’ instruments harmonise together beautifully. There are interesting tempo changes too. So much of interest to enjoy – and this is only the first song!
Second song ‘Don’ (as you may have guessed – this is a working title!) has a laid back jazzy feel, which is occasionally shattered by Omar’s viciously distorted Gibson SG. Meanwhile guitarist Joe Thompson is tapping on his decidedly more mellow sounding Fender Telecaster. Omar elicits feedback from his amp as the song unexpectedly heavies up. I like tunes that pack a surprise. Song number three features a sax and flute duet followed by a flute solo. There’s a spiky guitar intro from Omar on the fourth track. My only criticism of tonight’s gig is Omar’s guitar sound. His playing is ace, but his guitar sound is trebly and tinny throughout. As the set progresses it becomes ever so slightly grating. It would be cool if he could vary his sound a bit. The final song has a sax and flute intro together with some awesome drumming. Maya’s vocals are occasionally reminiscent of Anna Calvi. Otherwise she sounds very individual. For Breakfast have provided a very enjoyable half an hour, and are an interesting band who I would like to hear more of.
For Breakfast:
Maya Harrison – vocals and synth
Sam Birkett – bass
Joe Thompson – guitar
Omar Zaghouani – guitar
Gail Tasker – flute
Eden Harrison – saxophone
Will Eckersley – drums
For Breakfast setlist:
‘Skylark’
‘Ian’
‘Don’
‘Tummy’
‘Salt’
‘Little Bird’
(All but ‘Skylark’ and ‘Salt’ are working titles as none are released yet).
Pozi are a band that you simply can’t ignore. From the time that I first saw them at the End Of The Road festival in 2019 it was clear that they’re a band who make you stand up and take notice. Initially they reminded me of Magazine, but with a violinist rather than a guitarist. However, there’s far more to them than that. It’s immediately obvious that Rosa Brook is a born star. Just in case you hadn’t noticed the violinist with an array of pedals and who is also co-lead vocalist, she’s wearing a red jumpsuit and red (I’m assuming fake) snakeskin boots which make her look ever so slightly satanic. Indeed, I’m reminded of ‘The Devil Went Down To Georgia’ by The Charlie Daniels Band, which is a track I’ve been working hard to forget for some decades. Actually it’s not that bad. Probably.
Understandably, half of tonight’s set is taken from their last album ‘Smiling Pools’, which is fine, because it’s their best work to date. However, they kick things off with ‘Detainer Man’, which was released as a single in 2021, so I guess is an oldie. As a marker of their identity it works well, with its post-punk feel and motorik drumming. I’d forgotten how much drummer Toby Burroughs contributes in the way of lead vocals. I clearly wasn’t paying sufficient attention last time! I used to know somebody who thought that drummers who sang were “unnatural”. Apparently there is something wrong with somebody doing five things at once, which of course is what singing drummers do. She didn’t use the word ‘witchcraft’, but she might as well have done. Still, Toby Burroughs looks quite normal to me (well, at least to a degree) and I really don’t believe that he’s in league with Satan.
Debut album ‘PZ1’ is barely represented tonight. The band probably believe that they’ve outgrown it, which is probably correct. We do get two songs from it though: ‘Watching You Suffer’ and ‘Engaged’. The latter stands out somewhat as it is surprisingly jaunty. It has to be said, Pozi don’t exactly make party music. ‘Pest Control’ from the new album is notable in that the song itself is quite manic, whereas the violin sounds quite serene. Putting it through a wah-wah pedal probably helps. It presents an interesting juxtaposition anyway.
In between their debut album and the current one, Pozi issued a number of singles and EPs, which are well represented in tonight’s set. ‘Whitewashing’ from the ‘176’ features a Jean-Jacques Burnel influenced bassline from Tom Jones (no, not that one). Rosa Brook meanwhile brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘lead violin’. I really don’t think that there’s anybody else doing what she does. The EP’s title track is greeted as if it were a hit single. It has a pizzicato intro from Rosa and has more swing than most of their songs.
In case anybody was under the impression that Pozi have been standing still since their last album was released, they play a new song: ‘Hungry’. It has an ominously plodding intro, but soon loosens up, with Toby Burroughs throwing in the odd roll on the snare. The song gradually increases in intensity, in a controlled way, until the end. It’s a keeper guys!
For ‘Through The Door’ Rosa sets up a violin drone before she plays cowbells and shares lead vocals with Toby. Tom’s bassline would do Peter Hook justice. They finish with ‘Shut Up’ from the new album, which is suitably fast and motorik. With ‘Smiling Pools’ the band have grown quite considerably, but that growth has been evident from the singles and EPs that they’ve released over the past four years or so. Hopefully the album will be successful enough to provide them with a step up to playing larger venues. They’re a cracking band, but nobody seems to know who they are! Hopefully that will change.
All in all this has been an excellent gig, with four very interesting bands. I don’t know whether Pozi or the promoter Hidden Herd were responsible for putting the bill together, but whoever it was did a fine job.
Pozi:
Rosa Brook – violin and vocals
Toby Burroughs – drums and vocals
Tom Jones (not that one) – bass and backing vocals
Pozi setlist:
‘Detainer Man’ (single 2021)
‘Watching You Suffer’ (‘PZ1’ 2019)
‘Cover It Up’ (‘Typing’ EP 2021)
‘Pest Control’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
‘Whitewashing’ (‘176’ EP 2020)
‘M6 Toll’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
‘176’ (‘176’ EP 2020)
‘Hungry’ (new song)
‘Through The Door’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
‘Slightly Shaking Cells’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
‘Failing’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
‘Engaged’ (‘PZ1’ 2019)
‘Shut Up’ (‘Smiling Pools’ 2023)
