TVAM + MASSIVE LUXURY OVERDOSE – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 10.3.26
Manchester based TVAM are back in Brighton tonight on date 9 of 12 of their UK tour in support of their new ‘Ruins’ record which dropped on 27th February. This follows on from TVAM’s debut Wigan bedroom recorded ‘Psychic Data’ from 2018, which BBC 6Music were very familiar with and single ‘Porsche Majeure’ was also KEXP ‘Track Of The Day’. The ‘High Art Lite’ album dropped four years later and once again BBC 6Music took note and it became ‘Album of the Week’ at Louder Than War. In essence TVAM is the brainchild of musician/producer Joe Oxley, but for live work he brings along his chums Liam Stewart (drums, programming) and Jason Hargreaves (keys, laptop).
I’ve noted a slight shift in the TVAM sound on this new release, where you can arguably add goth and industrial a la Clan Of Xymox, into the already bulging melting pot which features neo-psychedelia, shoegaze, electronica, ambience, Krautrock, and alternative rock. Think of a mixing pot of the motorik beats of Neu!, Suicide, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, plus Boards of Canada and others of a similar ilk and you’re in the correct ballpark.
I’m rather keen to hear the new songs played live this evening, especially on account of them being performed in the corrected running order, bar the one minute three second ‘In Memory’, which is omitted. The set runs for 55 minutes, from 9:31pm to 10:26pm and comprises 10 cuts from ‘Ruins’ plus a trio of big hitters to end with.
Not surprisingly this event is a sold out affair which should please Melting Vinyl promoters who have coordinated this evening’s proceedings at The Hope & Ruin venue on Queens Road, Brighton.
The trio, all clad in black, take to the stage with Joe sporting his trademark Phil Oakey style haircut standing centre front with his Fender guitar and vocals, to his left is drummer Liam, and on the opposite side is Jason on Korg and Behringer synths plus laptop duties. Behind the guys is a video screen that introduces each number and even has the song lyrics in sync with the music. There are a trio of bright white lights on the floor which point up at the trio as they play which is certainly dazzling.
They begin with ‘Ruins’ opener ‘Comfort Collar’ which is virtually an instrumental offering bar the occasional “oooh” and “arhhh” from Joe. His guitar is wonderfully echoey and so you can now add The Cure into that melting pot. The Fender guitar then twangs and there’s solid Korg action as the trio lead into ‘The Gloom’. It’s here that I note the gothic overtones to the sound and The Horrors and again The Cure spring to mind. There’s a click of the drumsticks and they are away with the bouncy reverb laden ‘The Words’, which could have easily sat on The Cure’s ‘Faith’ album. The Beringer keys give off a terrific deep bass sound on the intro of ‘Real Life’ and then the drums and cymbals kick in. There’s some notable screaming Korg synth notes on offer during the track as well, and there are many multi-layered sounds which feels as though there are actually more musicians up on the stage.
It’s the turn of ‘Powder Blue’ next with its skippy drums and cymbal action that is joined by some Fender guitar licks as Joe delivered the vocals at a slower rate to the late 80’s early 90’s Clan Of Xymox sounding beat. This, for me, is the standout tune thus far!
The body rockin’ beats of ‘Follow Me Home’ with its repeated song title lyrics is up next and I must say that I’m really into this new LP and would even say that this tune has eclipsed its predecessor. The intro of ‘Winter Rose’ leads you into a false sense of security before exploding into action and sounding as though Dutch musician Ronny Moorings from Clan Of Xymox had recorded it. The Behringer synth was sounding wonderfully meaty on ‘Love Like Glue’ and the guitar and drums came to the party and the overall sound delivered by the bucket load. There’s again more Xymox in here and it’s my new fave tune.
The lads round off the ‘Ruins’ album with two more cuts, the first being ‘Sweetness & Light’ which sees Joe pass his guitar to Jason to play, as Joe concentrates solely on the vocals. It’s a short number hovering around two and a half minutes and has a slower beat than the previous numbers, with Joe’s vocals wandering near Gregorian chant territory. They then segue into album closer and heavier vibed ‘The Haunted’. There’s more ethereal vocals on offer here which Joe delivered with eyes shut and the drumming is really solid. Gary Numan would appreciate this multi-layered song and I reckon TVAM would be a great choice of support artist for him.
The album has been very well received by the crowd, but when ‘Porsche Majeure’ from 2018’s ‘Psychic Data’ album kicks off, I get a massive wave of goosebumps all over my body, especially when the Numan style keys are played. It’s truly wonderful to be able to hear live music that moves and affects you. The penultimate track is the sole offering from 2022’s ‘High Art Lite’ album, in the form of ‘Double Lucifer’ which has an almost DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) backing beat. It’s meaty and rumbles along nicely. The backing video was interesting as well. I spotted Halnaker windmill in the film, which sits solitary in high open field land overlooking Chichester and off to sea. They round off with ‘Total Immersion’ from ‘Psychic Data’ which really sounds like a Neu! tune with its metronomic drumming as The Modern Lovers ‘Roadrunner’ style beat fills around this. It’s the song of the set to totally lose yourself to. Yes I did, and yes it was the standout track of the night. No songs were verbally introduced throughout the set and there was no pointless idle banter, just the compositions doing all the talking. It’s been pure joy!
TVAM:
Joe Oxley – vocals, guitar
Liam Stewart – drums, programming
Jason Hargreaves – keys, laptop, guitar
TVAM setlist:
‘Comfort Collar’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘The Gloom’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘The Words’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Real Life’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Powder Blue’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Follow Me Home’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Winter Rose’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Love Like Glue’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Sweetness & Light’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘The Haunted’ (from 2026 ‘Ruins’ album)
‘Porsche Majeure’ (from 2018 ‘Psychic Data’ album)
‘Double Lucifer’ (from 2022 ‘High Art Lite’ album)
‘Total Immersion’ (from 2018 ‘Psychic Data’ album)
Support this evening comes from Massive Luxury Overdose who are a Brighton based Coldwave/EBM/Goth duo consisting of Lilya (vocals and laptop) and Caitlin (vocals and bass guitar). They acquired the band name from the title of Swedish Europoppers ‘Army Of Lovers’ 1991 album of the same name. MLO have been gigging since 2019 and have thus far dropped a quartet of EP’s: ‘Work’ (August 2020), ‘Prey’ (November 2021), ‘Climax’ (July 2022) and ‘Electra Complex’ (March 2024), and they are currently working towards releasing their debut album. Check out their material on their Bandcamp page HERE.
We are in their company for a mere 27 minutes, from 8:29pm to 8:56pm, and for me it’s never long enough. Each time they leave me wanting more and they don’t play live that often either, so each encounter is a bit of a treat. We are rewarded seven tunes tonight and a number of these I’m hearing for the very first time. With a simple “Hello, we are Massive Luxury Overdose”, they set about winning over new fans.
The first offering is ‘Drive’ from 2022’s ‘Climax’ EP, which is a bit of a surprise as they closed their set with this the last time I saw them in action, which was 1st November 2024. Throughout the performance Caitlin more often than not plays her bass guitar with the use of a square-shaped white plastic stick, which she runs across all of the strings at once, which adds a totally new dimension. In fact, it totally makes it sound like another instrumental, as opposed to being plucked in the usual manner. Lead vocal duties switch throughout the set, and the laptop is wired up to a Numark mixer which proudly sits on the floor. Lilya busies herself on the laptop and it appears that she’s playing notes on it as well. The sound quality is crisp and clear, especially on the occasional ear-piercingly sharp electronic pulse beats that can be found dotted within banging opener ‘Drive’.
A quartet of yet to be released tracks come next with the first of these being ‘Exposure’, which has a slower pace than ‘Drive’ (featuring Lilya on lead vocals), and ‘Exposure’ reminds me of the Belgian New Beat tunes of yesteryear. Caitlin has lead vocals to start but is joined by Lilya. The tempo increases with the arrival of ‘Watch Them’ with its often repeated song title sung by Lilya. This is bettered by ‘Obscene’ which quite frankly grabs all the best bits of New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’, heyday Front 242 material and acid house bleeps and rolls them all into one, with Caitlin’s talky style vocals atop. The thudding beats of ‘Techno Fetish’ fill the first floor performance room, with more acid bleeps on offer whilst Caitlin delivers “I want power, so give it to me”.
The penultimate offering is ‘In Chains’ from 2021’s ‘Prey’ EP, which sees Lilya on seductive vocal duties that remind me of ‘Sadeness’ by Enigma, with an impressive EBM (electronic body music) beat with glockenspiel style backing. They leave us with ‘Theme From MLO’ from 2024’s ‘Electra Complex’ EP, which has a pounding backbeat and more seductive vocal deliveries that roll out “Sex…cocaine…every night…every day” as the repeated chorus, whilst Caitlin plays her string via a Bigsby vibrato. And sadly that’s it. The punters in the room gave the duo a very warm reception indeed. Job done then! More gigs please x.
Massive Luxury Overdose:
Lilya Vanderbilt – vocals, beats, synths, laptop
Caitlin Horne – vocals, bass
Massive Luxury Overdose setlist:
‘Drive’ (from 2022 ‘Climax’ EP)
‘Exposure’ (unreleased)
‘Watch Them’ (unreleased)
‘Obscene’ (unreleased)
‘Techno Fetish’ (unreleased)
‘In Chains’ (from 2021 ‘Prey’ EP)
‘Theme From MLO’ (from 2024 ‘Electra Complex’ EP)
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