SWALLOWTAIL – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 2.7.25 + FAST MONEY MUSIC – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 2.7.25
Brighton is always a popular destination for touring live bands to play, and add to that our superb local scene, and the outcome is quite often gig clashes! We almost always, without fail, cover all of the bands on the bill when reviewing proceedings, but tonight we decided to mix things up for once! We were able to do this on the account of the venues being located across the road from each other, and thus we began our night out at The Prince Albert and then went onto the Green Door Store.
We arrive at The Prince Albert, purchase our liquid refreshment, share some banter with the pleasant managerial staff and head on up to their first floor music room. This evening’s concert, according to the tour flyer I saw on social media, is actually a sold out event. Headlining proceedings tonight are Tempesst who have selected Brighton as one of their 16 dates of their world tour in support of their latest ‘Forbidden Fruit’ album. However, we aren’t here to see them, but rather fancy making amends of having missed Fast Money Music at this year’s Great Escape festival, when Nick Hinman and his chums rocked on up at Dust in East Street on Saturday 17th May from 8:30pm to 9:00pm. At that time I wasn’t that far away during that set, as I was at Daltons which is under the zipwire on Brighton Beach, enjoying a superb set from the rather wonderful Baby Berserk (Reviews of that day can be found HERE).
Fast Money Music is the solo project of American-born and East London-based musician and producer Nick Hinman, who draws upon no wave, proto-punk and pop in equal measure. Fast Money Music have thus far released two EP’s. The first, ‘Strange Moments’, delved into the trials and tribulations of grief, sorrow, hope and redemption, receiving spins from DJs at BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music in the process. The second, titled ‘Rouge’, was a stroke of raw power and cheeky realism. The project mixed a broadening shade of red into Fast Money Music’s palette of playful vocals, pulsating synths, jagged guitars and wailing saxophone. It also featured contributions from George Daniel and John Waugh, both of the 1975, on drums and saxophone respectively. The two EP’s have been combined together for a 10 track 12” vinyl release, which can be purchased HERE.
Moving forward, Nick Henman has been teaming up with Grammy Award-nominated Mikko Gordon (IDLES, The Smile) in a London studio and they are working towards delivering the first proper Fast Money Music album which is expected to arrive next year, and is simply titled ‘Fast Money Music’. In the meantime, lead vocalist and Fender Jazzmaster guitarist Nick and his band, John Waugh (saxophone), Joshua Scarratt (Fairlane Zephyr guitar), Joe Lyons (Fender Precision bass) and Stefan Halperin (drums, presets) and out on 4 of the Tempesst tour dates. Tonight at The Prince Albert is their first night and from here they travel to Hare & Hound in Birmingham on 3rd July, The Wardrobe in Leeds on 5th July, and The Globe in Cardiff on 6th July.
This evening’s set at The Prince Albert is an all-too-short 8 tune affair that runs for 33 minutes from 8:30pm to 9:03pm. They commence with ‘Hot Melt Glue’ which is the first of four of the five cuts from the recent ‘Rogue’ EP. Immediately their absorbing retro sound is evident and the tune benefits from a brief saxophone break as well. Selection two is ‘Lover Boy’ which is currently unreleased, but I suspect that it will be turning up on the forthcoming ‘Fast Money Music’ album. This song has more urgency than the set opener and is notable for a rather wonderful bass riff throughout, as well as the earworm lyrics “I wanna be your lover baby”. On first hearing, I was expecting Hinman to add “I Wanna Be Your Man” as the next line, but this isn’t a cover of the Beatles penned number that interestingly was first released by the Rolling Stones. On the tune’s conclusion, it’s blatantly obvious that the quintet are going down very nicely indeed with the crowd.
Next up are a couple of cuts from 2023’s ‘Strange Moments’ EP, with the first being the title track with its “Ooooh but that’s just life” chorus, where the “Ooooh” sounding not too dissimilar to the anthemic way Gary Numan delivers it. The second is ‘Probably Finally’ which has a Lou Reed vocal style intro accompanied by just a cymbal and electronic backing, it has the vibe of the Velvet Underground. There’s some funky guitar interplay between Hinman and Scarratt at the beginning of ‘Hunky Dory’ from the ‘Rouge’ EP and a likeness in sound shoots into my mind as an amalgam of Orange Juice and INXS, whilst the title of the tune worms it’s way into your subconsciousness. There’s some notable deep bass guitar notes and enjoyable Roland presetting going on for ‘Space Opera’, which is also from the ‘Rouge’ EP. I was almost expecting Hinman to sing “Spanish stroll” (Mink DeVille) and “You Get What You Give” (New Radicals), if you catch my drift.
The penultimate selection was the as yet to be released ‘Los Angeles’, which hopefully will turn up on the forthcoming album, on the account of it having a faster beat than their previous songs. There’s a real post-punk feeling to this one and it’s like playing a Talking Heads album at 45rpm. It’s their most into it tune….That is until the arrival of closing number ‘Polar Bear’ from the ‘Rouge’ EP, where Halperin leads the way on the drums, followed by Lyons on bass and then Hinman on vocals. This is a really solid number and they know it, and Hinman is truly animated during the track, as he crouches down and goes at it with his guitar. Whilst watching this, it bemuses me as to why Fast Money Music aren’t courting the main stages of well known festivals, and then I decide that it’s just a matter of time!
Fast Money Music:
Nick Hinman – vocals, guitar
John Waugh – saxophone
Joshua Scarratt – guitar
Joe Lyons – bass
Stefan Halperin – drums, presets
Fast Money Music setlist:
‘Hot Melt Glue’ (from 2024 ‘Rouge’ EP)
‘Lover Boy’ (unreleased)
‘Strange Moments’ (from 2023 ‘Strange Moments’ EP)
‘Probably Finally’ (from 2023 ‘Strange Moments’ EP)
‘Hunky Dory’ (from 2024 ‘Rouge’ EP)
‘Space Opera’ (from 2024 ‘Rouge’ EP)
‘Los Angeles’ (unreleased)
‘Polar Bear’ (from 2024 ‘Rouge’ EP)
We say our goodbyes to folk that we know and head on down the stairs and across the road to the Green Door Store, where Gutterly are already in action. We decide to chill out in the outside seating area instead of endeavouring to write a review of a partially heard set. Jimmy was the opening act or artist of the night at the Green Door Store and we had missed him or them as well. We are here in order to catch another headline set from the rather wonderful Swallowtail. They are a quartet comprising Katie Prescott (vocals, Fender Telecaster guitar), Caleb Ryde (Fender Telecaster guitar), Drew Vickerstaff (drums) and Fred Ford (Squier P bass) and they are I believe still WaterBear students who are filling the scene with new blood. In their own words “Swallowtail are a Brighton based 4 piece, originally from Nottingham. Combining the eeriness of The Twilight Sad with the ambiance of Just Mustard they blend the fuzzy aspects of shoegaze with the intricate melodies of post-punk, creating an elegantly gritty soundscape”. Swallowtail’s debut release was their ‘Spring Guillotine’ single which was followed by second single ‘Drift’ and then ‘Seesaw’, with these being the lead-up to their debut self-titled 6-track EP which dropped on 2nd May.
We saw them headlining The Pipeline on 10th April this year and were truly blown away! I ended the review of that night by exclaiming “My debut encounter with Swallowtail has to be honest totally blown away both myself and photographer Sara. Swallowtail are a must see band and I might have just discovered my new favourite local band!!!”. Will this evening’s performance at the Green Door Store be just as thrilling? Let’s find out…..
Swallowtail kick off their 10 track 42 minute performance at 10pm with an as yet to be released number called ‘Dream It Off’. This notably features Ryde drawing a violin bow across his guitar strings which is very effective in its musical output. But I suspect the more gigs the band plays, the nearer he will be in need of replacing the bow, as many of the 160 to 180 individual horse hair strands have already given up the ghost! Vickerstaff’s drumming is solid on this opener and the longer the performance goes on for, the more impressive and frantic he gets. Prescott’s vocals are at this juncture a tad low in the mix, but with a later request to sound engineer Hanna, all is well in the world.
They segue straight into the first of four selections from their ‘Seesaw’ EP, this being the pretty epic ‘Vega Burns’, which sees some impressively solid, fast drumming, mixed with copious amounts of guitar noise, and bass guitar rumbling, whilst Prescott delivers the vocals in a slow drawn-out fashion. They next play a couple of unreleased compositions, starting with ‘The Bathe’ and then onto ‘Armet’, for which Prescott dispenses with the services of her guitar for both of these numbers. The former has Ford’s bass pattern not too far off ‘Careering’ by PiL, which is certainly a benefit, and the vocals are delivered in a confident manner, in fact, more so than during my debut encounter with the band, which is a good sign of gaining confidence. Siouxsie springs to mind on the vocal front. The latter (‘Armet’) is initially a more melodic affair than the first three songs and the vocals sound not unlike Patti Smith, whilst the echoing guitar and drums work together rather well.
Prescott dons her guitar again and the quartet are off again with a solid wall of noise for ‘Drift’ from the ‘Seesaw’ EP. This is a heavy tune, but when it’s not as intense, Slowdive springs to mind. ‘Strip Tease’, an unreleased song which I haven’t heard before, is up next and features yet more solid drumming, whilst the vocals are offered in a slower manner, and yet they complement each other. It’s another from ‘Seesaw’ next with the arrival of ‘To Trace’ which is quite possibly their best tune! It’s melodic in a ‘Babies’ from Pulp kinda way and I love it! Swallowtail then show us how excellent they truly are by debuting a brand new song that they actually wrote today! How cool is that! Its working title according to their setlist is ‘Squeel’, but that is not likely to be its final title. There’s some deliberate distortion going on here, with hints of New Order hidden deep within the guitar, and then the track races away with Vickerstaff going warp factor ten on the pans.
Their penultimate offering is their longest titled tune, ‘Running From A Swan Song In Red Kitten Heels’ (from 2025’s ‘Seesaw’ EP) and it has a slow melodic echoey guitar start and the vocal delivery sits somewhere around Broadcast and The Sundays, and it’s their ‘Just Like Honey’ moment. They merrily send us on our way with the unreleased ‘Thin’ which calls on the use of the violin bow once more . This has an atmospheric start with dreamy vocals and cymbals, prior to the post punk drums and bass strumming kickin in. It’s a cross between She Wants Revenge, Bauhaus and Siouxsie & The Banshees at their best. Prescott’s vocals are exemplary here and are delivered with angst, as the song builds to its ending. It has once again been a masterclass on how to control and deliver a wall of sound.
Swallowtail will next be in action in Brighton on Wednesday 16th July at Alphabet where they will be sharing the bill with fellow rising stars Moon Idle and Cordelia Gartside – Tickets HERE. The day after, Thursday 17th July, Swallowtail are at The Rossi Bar along with Velvetine – Tickets can be found HERE.
Swallowtail:
Katie Prescott – vocals, guitar
Caleb Ryde – guitar
Drew Vickerstaff – drums
Fred Ford – bass
Swallowtail setlist:
‘Dream It Off’ (unreleased)
‘Vega Burns’ (from 2025 ‘Seesaw’ EP)
‘The Bathe’ (unreleased)
‘Armet’ (unreleased)
‘Drift’ (a 2025 single & from 2025 ‘Seesaw’ EP)
‘Strip Tease’ (unreleased)
‘To Trace’ (from 2025 ‘Seesaw’ EP)
‘Squeel’ (unreleased)
‘Running From A Swan Song In Red Kitten Heels’ (from 2025 ‘Seesaw’ EP)
‘Thin’ (unreleased)
