PENELOPE ISLES + ATTICOMATIC – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 31.10.26 (MATINEE SET)
I really don’t know where the time goes these days! I’m struggling to comprehend that it’s been 11 years since indie rock and noise poppers Penelope Isles started their journey.
Formed in 2015, the group is centered around sibling songwriters Jack and Lily Wolter, who originally hail from the Isle of Man but subsequently (and luckily for us) established the band here in Brighton. Known for their distinctive blend of dream pop melodies, shoegaze, and fuzzy indie-psych textures, they balance fragile songwriting with ferocious live noise walls. For at least a couple of years I’m pretty sure that I saw Penelope Isles live in action more than any other act. I’m even a proud owner of their handmade early days CDr, which contains raw versions of tunes that would eventually surface as tracks on the Brighton based Bella Union label.
I sense that Penelope Isles have done a Kraftwerk and initially “forgotten” (or disowned) their earliest recordings, thus their 7 tune debut long-player ‘Comfortably Swell’ from 2015 on the Wavey Head imprint, seems to have fallen by the wayside, and their Bella Union opener ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ from 2019 is arguably now considered their first proper album. It established the band’s signature DIY sound and led to extensive global touring. ‘Which Way To Happy’ followed in 2021. This being a lush, melancholy second album produced by Jack Wolter and mixed by legendary alternative rock producer Dave Fridmann.
Impressive standout live gigs at sizable venues followed in 2022 with appearances at the Roundhouse in London at Chalk here in Brighton signalled that the brother-sister duo had arrived. The lineup for these concerts featured Jack on vocals, guitar, shaker, with Lily Wolter on vocals, keys, bass, and xylophone. They regularly were accompanied by Becky Redford (bass, guitar, backing vocals) and Jack Sowton (drums, backing vocals). But then things went deadly quiet and other priorities came into play.
After a while, solo projects came to the fore with the siblings. First was the release of Jack’s 10 tune purple vinyl ‘Underfold In The Sky’ album under his Cuboza banner in October last year, and Lily’s 10 tune long-player ‘A Moment In My Eyes’ under her My Precious Bunny, both naturally released via Simon Raymond’s Bella Union. Thus two solo records were released into the world, and tours with other artists came and went; most notably Jack as CMAT’s guitarist and Lily working with Orbital; but the magnetic pull back toward each other couldn’t be ignored. Normality on the Penelope Isles front was achieved and their unmistakable fuzz-drenched, melody-rich, tunes charged with feeling, came together nicely with the unveiling of ‘3’ which was released on 25th September (via Bella Union, naturally) – Order yours HERE. This marks a sun-and-salt-drenched return and it features a bigger, looser live sound recorded straight to tape in Scotland (first they’ve ever recorded live). For this record Jack and Lily called on the services of their close friend Joe Taylor (Anna B Savage, Iona Zajac) who joined on drums and Penelope Isles are now a trio.
The record is unmistakably a Penny Isles disc that features guitars that shimmer and collide, harmonies ache and lift, and drums that crash. The themes are still obsessed with love, heartbreak, and what lingers after, and it’s fair to say that everything feels like it’s moving again.
In support of the release, live dates were announced including two sets today at The Hope & Ruin which have been put on by Love Thy Neighbour promoters. We opted for the matinee performance, which freed us up to toddle along to the Green Door Store’s Halloweiner immediately afterwards.
Lily, Jack and Joe take to the stage at 5:54pm and are loosely dressed as the ‘Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’. We are in their company for 53 minutes and during that time we are rewarded 11 select cuts, with no less than 7 of these appearing on the new LP. Jack is to our left (stage right) and taking care of vocals and guitars, Lily is to our right (stage left) and flitting between bass guitar and Yamaha Reface CP synth, and centre-rear is new boy Joe on drums and drumpads.
Things get underway with a quiet guitar strum intro from Jack for ‘Three’ from 2019’s ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ album, which sees Joe’s slow drumming adding to the beat, and then Lily’s bass guitar kicks in. It’s a sedate start, with joint dreamy vocal choruses being a highlight, for a perfect sunny afternoon. The tune had cleverly lulled us into a slight state of melancholy, as the longer the tracks goes on for, the more urgent it becomes. It’s a good start and judging by the packed crowd’s response, they are already onto a winner!
Selection two is the first cut from ‘3’, this being the head-bobbing ‘Thinking Seat’, with its U2 style guitar sound intro and three-way harmonies. After which Lily references their fancy dress and an impromptu Isle Of Man Halloween Trick Or Treat Childhood ‘Jinny The Witch’ rhyme is recounted and delivered by the siblings, and adding that there would have been no sweets or candy for any child that hadn’t sung it back in the day. Sing along kiddies:
“Hop-tu-Naa, My mother’s gone away,
And she won’t be back until the morning.
Jinny the Witch flew over the house,
To fetch the stick to lather the mouse.
Hop-tu-Naa, My mother’s gone away,
And she won’t be back until the morning.
Hop-tu-Naa, Traa-la-laa!”
Back in the room… they perform the jaunty ‘Chlorine’ from ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ which sees Jack taking the vocal lead. After which they hit the new album big time and offload a handful of tunes. The first of these being ‘Birthdays’ with the standout line “Cat goes meow” – Are we still on the nursery rhyme?.
Jack then tells us that on their records they enjoy throwing in an old track, and this next one is one such case. He goes on to reminisce when he taught his younger sister Lily to play bass in their grandparents living room on the Isle Of Man when she was around 13 years old. They then formed a band called Your Gold Teeth, so it’s likely that ‘Moonwalker’ from the ‘3’ album is a Your Gold Teeth composition. Suffice to say, it’s played very tightly, well they’ve had years of practice haven’t they!
There’s crowd participation handclapping on ‘You Think You’ve Got A Way With Dogs’ (from ‘3’), which is followed by ‘Bon-Bane’s’ (also from‘3’) with its sweetly delivered vocals from Lily. I note that Joe has switched to drumsticks with cotton tops which adds a different feel. It’s a dreamy number, that is, until Jack lets loose on one of his Fender guitars!
After this, Lily invites her bestie “Kam” aka Kamran Kaur from supporting act AtticOmatic to join them on stage. More on their set shortly. Lily explains that Kamran’s band have been touring with the Pennies and that she (Kamran) broke her toe in Manchester whilst apparently putting out the bins after she had drunk quite a bit. Kam takes care of the synth as well as red shakers and it’s another toe tapping tune, except for Kam that is (snigger).
After ‘Another Kind Of Love’ (from ‘3’), two prizes are then rewarded to two punters for the best dressed costumes of the night; second prize being a bottle of Hope & Ruin house wine; and the winner receiving a £25 Pennies gift voucher to spend on their merch stall, which as always is located immediately outside the first floor’s performance room.
Kam stays on stage and kicks off ‘Leipzig’ (from ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’) with her synth playing, after which she carefully vacates the stage, and let’s the trio rock on out to their hypnotic blockbuster ‘Gnarbone’ (from ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’), which in my eyes is a true masterpiece. Previously it’s more often than not been their final number of the night, but the punters won’t let them go, and so the Pennies see us out with the sedate ‘Am I Going Through This On My Own?’ (from ‘3’) for which Lily sings the lead vocals. The time is 6:47pm and that’s our lot! It’s been a great late afternoon/early evening set, and I’m glad the Pennies are back in action!
We must now dash along Queens Road as we have only around 13 minutes before the first act takes to the stage at the Green Door Store. And boy oh boy what did we have install for us…………
Penelope Isles:
Jack Wolter – vocals, guitar
Lily Wolter – vocals, keys, bass
Joe Taylor – drums, drumpads, backing vocals
Penelope Isles setlist:
‘Three’ (from 2019 ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ album)
‘Thinking Seat’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘Jinny The Witch’ (traditional)
‘Chlorine’ (from 2019 ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ album)
‘Birthdays’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘Moonwalker’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘You Think You’ve Got A Way With Dogs’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘Bon-Bane’s’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘Another Kind Of Love’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
‘Leipzig’ (from 2019 ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ album)
‘Gnarbone’ (from 2019 ‘Until The Tide Creeps In’ album)
(encore)
‘Am I Going Through This On My Own?’ (from 2026 ‘3’ album)
As mentioned above, this evening’s support came from AtticOmatic who are a five-piece alternative dream-pop and art-rock collective who formed in a Brighton house-share. Their sound is a DIY fusion blending jazz, post-punk, hip-hop, folk, electronica, and 90s grunge. Their songwriting is shaped directly by late-diagnosed autism and ADHD within the group, resulting in unpolished, non-linear, and emotionally raw structures. They have been fortunate to have had repeated spins on BBC 6 Music (Tom Ravenscroft & Deb Grant), playlisting from Ninja Tune and Rough Trade, and support slots with Nabihah Iqbal and Man/Woman/Chainsaw.
This evening the band comprises Kamran Kaur (vocals, ASM keys, tambourine, triangle), Lorcan Forder (vocals, small bodied red guitar), Ollie White (guitar), Kai Raghunath (drums) and George Lappin (bass). We are in their company for 32 minutes from 4:47pm until 5:19pm. Today they are trailing brand new material on us, in fact the first 4 of the 7 tunes are so new they don’t even have titles yet!
Sadly, when they start playing their indie dreampop relaxing sounds, the room is only a third full, but the longer they play for, the more compact the room becomes. Song one is melodic, with Lorcan on lead vocals. Song two sees a swap with Kamran on lead vocals and the music alternates between melancholic to explosive and back again. Kai kicks off on drums on new track three, with its dreamy vocals from Kamran, and it’s the best received thus far! Kamran and Lorcan then switch places and instruments for new tune four, and there’s a slight echoey delay on Kam’s vocals which adds to the enjoyment. The track gains in its intensity the longer it goes on for.
For offering five, Kam invites her bestie Lily Wolter on stage in order to lend some backing vocals on ‘Lewin’ from 2026’s ‘Between Two’ EP. We are informed that it’s a tune about friendship, which seems very apt. Kam is still on lead vocals and her ASM synth with its slide controls certainly comes into play. Loran and Kam switch back places and they tackle ‘Wait’ from last year’s ‘Fold The World’ EP. The synth opens this track and initially sounds not too far off The Beatles ‘Strawberry Fields’, that is until the other 4 come in and then it becomes a totally different beast. Maybe Kam was just twiddling at the start? ‘Wait’ is a stop-start loud-quiet affair with alternating lead vocals. They bid us farewell with ‘Burrow’ from their ‘Between Two’ EP with its quiet slow strum and joint vocals prior to Kai’s drums coming to the party. The venue is now reasonably full and those present show their appreciation. For me, it’s the best AtticOmatic set I’ve heard thus far!
AtticOmatic:
Kamran Kaur – vocals, keys, tambourine, triangle
Lorcan Forder – vocals, guitar
Ollie White – guitar
Kai Raghunath – drums, drumpads
George Lappin – bass
AtticOmatic setlist:
“Unnamed 1” (unreleased)
“Unnamed 2” (unreleased)
“Unnamed 3” (unreleased)
“Unnamed 4” (unreleased)
‘Lewin’ (from 2026 ‘Between Two’ EP)
‘Wait’ (from 2025 ‘Fold The World’ EP)
‘Burrow’ (from 2026 ‘Between Two’ EP)
