BATHING SUITS + RAGDOLL + DIVORCE ATTORNEY – THE ROSSI BAR, BRIGHTON 12.8.25
This evening’s hot-weathered venture witnesses us on a journey to Queens Road in Brighton to the rockin’ cocktail joint known as The Rossi Bar which is located just a few doors down from The Hope & Ruin. It’s a compact place with the bar on the street level and the performance room being located down the spiral staircase at the front of the building. I’m guessing that the capacity is something like 65 souls, and it’s ideal for new acts to ply their trade. It has an air of being a secret club, where those that are in the know are ahead of the game! This very much feels the case this evening as those present are almost certainly at the beginning of something rather special that could very well explode within the next 24 months.
I’ve amassed a list as long as your arm of those bands that I’ve seen live before they were known and became famous, there are far too many to name-drop here, but having continually gigged since 1978, I’m sure you get the drift. We are in attendance this evening in order to make our debut encounter with Leeds based electro-noise sensations Bathing Suits who are making their Brighton debut. In all honesty they should be based here in Brighton as they totally fit our all-encompassing bubble-scene. The nearest Brighton act they remind me of are Francis Pig, who really should have been on the bill this evening, as there was time for 4 bands.
Watching Bathing Suits in action this evening reminded me of when I first saw Fat Dog at ‘The Great Escape’ a few years ago and since then they have filled Brighton’s Chalk venue and conquered ‘Glastonbury’. I had the same feeling when seeing Sextile at The Prince Albert back in 2018, and now they too have broken through and perform to much larger crowds over the other side of the pond and mainland Europe. Lets face it, there’s a new buzz around Bathing Suits that will certainly grow and grow!
Bathing Suits comprise Freyja Blevins (vocals, drum machine), George Dickinson (guitar), Alex Mulholland (guitar) and Elise Hughes (bass) and they have thus far only released one 4 track cassette titled ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ which dropped in February and they have now followed up on this with new single ‘I Can Be A Freak’ which came out last week. In support of the new release, they have performed a quartet of selected gigs, with this evening being the final one. The other three happened at The Old Blue Last in London on 7th August, Peer Hat in Manchester on the 8th, and Mabgate Bleach in Leeds on the 9th. I’m pretty certain that punters that attended all of these gigs will totally understand the buzz around the band at the moment.
As Bathing Suits are a new band, their material is currently limited, and thus their performance only runs to a compact 29 minutes and that includes an elongated final number, which lives up to its name, ‘Long One’. They grace us with their presence at 10:09pm (until 10:38pm) and as the slightly raised stage area is rather compact Alex Mulholland decides to perform on the guitar with its many accompanying foot pedals next to this this, and Freyja Blevins elects to stand out front with the drum machine, thus leaving space for George Dickinson and Elise Hughes to swing along with their instruments. All four are animated and lively as they deliver each tune, which is infectious, and it’s no wonder that a review I saw of this year’s Liverpool Sound City back on 2nd to 4th May, cited Bathing Suits 3rd May set as “Easily the most energetic set of the festival”.
The Rossi Bar performance room is compact and the ceiling is not that high either and as a result Bathing Suits are ear-splitingly loud with the banging drum machine leading the way, and accompanied by heavy electric guitar feedback. It’s a wonderful mix right from the very start, as they launch into ‘Relay’ from their 2025 ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ EP, which has a banging dance beat, rumbly bass and jagged guitar action. Next up is the new earworm ‘I Can Be A Freak’ single, which really needs to find itself on BBC Radio 1’s A, B or C list! As has been the case all night, the vocals are relatively down in the mix, which is a shame, as with all three bands the instruments took control.
The Bathing Suits sound, like Fat Dog, is an amalgam of different genres and styles, it comes together in one gloriously wonderful clash. You have those banging drum machine beats which conjure up thoughts of Sextile, early Sheep On Drugs, the electroclash of Fischerspooner and the aforementioned Fat Dog, plus the booming vibe of the latter half of K-Pop’s Blackpink’s ‘Jump’ with its hard style dance pop, which has seriously dipped into the Scooter back catalogue. Tune three, ‘Weight’ from ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ EP and the unreleased ‘Swan’ are fine examples of this. In fact, near the end of the performance there was also a rhythm on the drum machine that was a virtual carbon copy of Giorgio’s awesome ‘From Here To Eternity’. These Bathing Suits sounds are mixed with the wall of gritty music you get from the early recordings of The Jesus And Mary Chain and Brighton’s forgotten heroes Morning Smoke, most notably when Alex plays the guitar at one stage with the side of a glass which still has drink in it and the screeches remind me of IDLES.
Bathing Suits offer up these sounds in a new modern presentation that is ready to be discovered further afield. There’s an underlying punk feel to their energy as well, plus visually Freyja owes a lot to David Bowie’s androgyny of the past with a modern day take. Visually, if you saw the quartet walking down the street you might not guess they are in the same band, as is exactly the case with Fat Dog.
Suffice to say we are rewarded with their released material, including penultimate tune, ‘Lousy Havoc’ from the EP, as well as others that will hopefully see the light of day in the not too distant future, especially final number ‘Long One’ which concluded the performance with a crescendo of noise and distortion. Bathing Suits are an exciting act for your ears, eyes and especially your feet. I was endeavouring to take notes throughout the performance, but this proved rather difficult as I honestly couldn’t stand still and several lines I had typed out on my phone were just gobbledygook which isn’t really ideal for a review, but hey when you’re seriously in the zone nothing else really matters. In short…Bathing Suits…check them out and go see them live!
Bathing Suits:
Freyja Blevins – vocals, drum machine
George Dickinson – guitar
Alex Mulholland – guitar
Elise Hughes – bass
Bathing Suits setlist:
‘Relay’ (from 2025 ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ EP)
‘I Can Be A Freak’ (a 2025 single)
‘Weight’ (from 2025 ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ EP)
‘Swan’ (unreleased)
‘Lousy Havoc’ (from 2025 ‘Lousy Havoc’ / ‘Relay’ EP)
‘Long One’ (unreleased)
The three bands on this evening’s bill were a diverse bunch and so first up this evening were local experimental art-rockers Divorce Attorney who we last caught up with at the multi-venue ‘Homegrown Festival’ in Brighton on 12th April this year, when they were performing live here at The Rossi Bar. This was the final gig with their original lineup which featured Nathan Key (vocals, electric guitar), Alex Lemonidis (Roland AX-Edge keytar, Nintendo DS), Owen Flood (drums), Harvey Allen (bass) and David Swenzen (saxophone, guitar). Since then the band have regrouped after the departing of Harvey and David, and they now feature Tanya Sitotombe on lead guitar plus backing vocals, as well as Charlie Chatfield on bass. Unfortunately drummer Owen is unavailable tonight and so the band have called on the talents of Stewart Copeland lookalike Theo Power for this evening, who certainly lives up to his ‘Power’ surname.
They take to the stage at 8:08pm and perform a seven song set across the next 28 minutes until 8:36pm, commencing with their 2024 jazzy vibed ‘Blessing’ single, which segued into their 2023 ‘Mothballs’ single, which is a more rockier affair. As far as I’m aware these are the only tunes thus far to have been released and so the band begin with their familiar material, before performing their handful of yet to be released compositions. As was the case with the headliners, Divorce Attorney also could not all fit on the stage area, and so Alex decided to wield his impressive Roland AX-Edge keytar at the side area. I must also add that I was particularly intrigued by Charlie’s violin shaped bass guitar, which looked seriously cool.
The unreleased ‘Blind Eye’ was their next selection and this commences with a quiet bass and drums intro before rockin on out and setting the punters toes tapping and heads bobbing along. Divorce Attorney then certainly showed their statement of intent with the arrival of ‘Align Me’ which upped the ante with this quirky changing beat rock theme, which was held together by Alex on his keytar, and then he made a point of showing us his micro keypad on his Nintendo DS and he switched to that for a short while. ‘Duality’ came next and this certainly allowed drummer Theo to show us what he has to offer. They completed their set with ‘Got Lost’ and ‘Eulogy’ and sadly both Nathan’s lead vocals and Tanya’s backing vocals are still lost in the mix. It’s fair to say that Divorce Attorney certainly keep you guessing as to what sounds are going to be coming at us next. One thing is for sure that repetition of sound doesn’t feature in their repertoire and thus they certainly aren’t working off the Ramones songbook.
Divorce Attorney:
Nathan Key – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Tanya Sitotombe – lead guitar, backing vocals
Charlie Chatfield – bass
Alex Lemonidis – keytar, Nintendo DS
Theo Power – drums (depping for Owen Flood)
Divorce Attorney setlist:
‘Blessing’ (a 2024 single)
‘Mothballs’ (a 2023 single)
‘Blind Eye’ (unreleased)
‘Align Me’ (unreleased)
‘Duality’ (unreleased)
‘Got Lost’ (unreleased)
‘Eulogy’ (unreleased)
The middle act this evening are Brighton based noisy duo Ragdoll which comprise Tamblyn Sturgess on vocals and guitar along with Freddie Haggar on drums. We last caught up with them at The Hope & Ruin 10th Birthday bash on 15th February this year, and prior to that in April 2024 also at the same venue when supporting Cowboyy. Last year witnessed the release of their debut single ‘Track One’, which this year was followed by their self-recorded debut album ‘Medley And Anthology’ which they have been brewing on since lockdown. They recorded every song as one take consisting of guitar, vocals and drums and there were no overdubs and they kept the production minimal in most places, and there lies the band’s philosophy, and the fact that they very much plough their own furrow, and invite others along for the ride.
Tonight the duo offered us 8 varying length compositions that ran across their 31 minute set from 9:00pm to 9:31pm, with the first half dozen being found on the album and the final two are as yet to be released. They tentatively begin with ‘Elden One’ which is sedate for them and gives over an air of freeform, and the wonder of whether this is actually the start of the song or are they tuning up. Yet again the vocals are hidden in the mix and there’s just two of them, but we just have to live with it. That is until Tamblyn unleashes the screams which take some unaware. As the song concludes there’s clearly a loose connection from the guitar lead to the amp, which is immediately fixed and they plough on with ‘Track One’, this being the song’s title. This too has a quiet beginning and then half way through we get our first taster of screechy guitar treatment and shouty vocals. But as soon as it arrives, it dissipates, but then returns with a vengeance including Tamblyn foot stomping. ‘Moss’ from the same album follows and after which Tamblyn flags up the release and reminds me speech-wise of Marc Bolan.
Selection four is the brief ‘Elden Two’ which lasts not much longer than a minute and this features some off kilter vocals and foot pedal action for the echoey guitar effects. ‘Selling You The Idea That Selling You Ideas Is Wrong (Is Wrong)’ is introduced as the next track, and after which we are given their shortest tune, ‘Consumed!’ which hovered around the 45 seconds mark. They leave us with two unreleased tunes, ‘Bulb’ an ‘Itsalltemporaryforever’ which both feature higher pitched vocal deliveries, as well as the slow drumbeats and heavy guitarwork. Ragdoll are an acquired taste and my mother would have hated these, but I guess that’s the whole point!
Ragdoll:
Tamblyn Sturgess – vocals, guitar
Freddie Haggar – drums
Ragdoll setlist:
‘Elden One’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Track One’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Moss’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Elden Two’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Selling You The Idea That Selling You Ideas Is Wrong (Is Wrong)’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Consumed!’ (from 2025 ‘Medley And Anthology’ album)
‘Bulb’ (unreleased)
‘Itsalltemporaryforever’ (unreleased)
