PUBLIC BODY + PORCHLIGHT + TOAST – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 29.1.22
Triptych is an annual series of three music events and three EP record releases brought to you by Brighton’s finger on the pulse label and promoters ‘Love Thy Neighbour’.
This year is ‘Triptych V’ and after a 2021 sabbatical due to Covid, the promoter, venue and bands taking part this time around are all raring to go! These events are all held at The Hope & Ruin which is located on Queens Road in Brighton and the selected 2022 dates were eventually finalised as Thursday 27th, Friday 28th and Saturday 29th January.
Over the past four Triptych’s, Love Thy Neighbour have carefully selected a trio of their favourite artists and bands who all performed showcase sets on the night in question to eager Brighton music lovers who gathered on the first floor of the venue. The artists have always greatly varied in style, but have one thing in common, namely, they are all on the way up!
To accompany the event, each night has carried a vinyl record release featuring a chosen number from each of the acts performing on that evening. These vinyl releases have immediately become seriously collectible as they have been limited to a mere 15 copies available for purchase each night! Yes, that’s correct, just 15. So across the three nights there are only a total of 45 pieces of yummy vinyl, so collectors take note! Triptych 2022 is no exception and this year’s are all three track 7” clear vinyl offerings.
The nine acts included are:
Night 1: Thursday 27th January – Lambrini Girls | Sit Down | Wife Swap USA
Night 2: Friday 28th January – Spang Sisters | Hutch | Lucy Feliz
Night 3: Saturday 29th January – Public Body | Porchlight | Toast
So this evening it’s the turn of Public Body, Porchlight and Toast.
First up this evening to grace The Hope & Ruin stage for the final day of ‘Triptych V’ are Toast, who arrive at 8:35pm and perform a half dozen tunes for us over the next 23 minutes. They refer to themselves as “Best thing since sliced bread”.
Toast are the local quintet that has Annabel Whittle (drums) and Leila Deeley (guitar) from Lime Garden amongst their ranks. That outfit is doing very nicely thank you at the moment as there’s quite a buzz about them, so much so that the band of the moment ‘Yard Act’ have invited Lime Garden to play a couple of gigs with them this coming September.
Completing the Toast quartet are Owen Bullock (vocals) and Dan Cox (vocals/bass) and also this evening they are joined by Tom Coram on second guitar, who is playing the first of two sets tonight as he is a member of the following band, ‘Porchlight’.
This evening it is apparent that their whole sound is superbly cemented together by Annabel’s fine drumming. It’s fair to say that this outfit is an off beat combo that offers up quirky little numbers delivered with deadpan vocal delivery that Mark E. Smith of The Fall fame would very much approve of he was still with us. There’s a true feel of the work of Gang Of Four as well in the Toast sound.
The already packed crowd were most certainly enjoying what their ears were hearing and it was a credit to have been present at all three days of ‘Triptych V’ whereby the venue was packed out on each occasion.
Of their six tunes, my standout track must surely be their penultimate number, which was a fuzzbulicious gem going by the name of ‘Packaged Sandwiches’. This saw Leila rockin’ out with her Fender Stratocaster, accompanied by Tom’s Rickenbacker which was being given a good seeing too, as well as Dan’s Squier bass seeing some decent action. The Korg was also brought into play during their set by mainman Owen.
They concluded their compact set with yet another food orientated number, ‘Chips!’ which can be found on the limited edition 7” clear vinyl single which was launched this evening as part of the event. At two minutes to nine, they were done!
I hear that there are more tunes in the pipeline from this band. I wonder if any of these will be food related?
Toast this evening are:
Owen Bullock – vocals
Dan Cox – vocals/bass
Leila Deeley – guitar
Annabel Whittle – drums
Tom Coram – second guitar
Toast setlist:
‘I’m A Celebrity’
‘Mice In Suits’
‘Pet Shop Boys’
‘Tyres’
‘Packaged Sandwiches’
‘Chips!’
Check out Toast’s linktree HERE for more information.
After a break of 19 minutes, Tom Coram was back at it again. This time with his Porchlight chums for a 28 minute set, which finished at 9:45pm.
Their blurb reads as thus: “Five piece post-punk outfit hailing from various towns across the south coast, currently residing in Brighton. A group of exquisitely boring blokes drivelling on about migrating from towns to cities, and how sh*t it is to wake up on a Monday morning and find that you’re still unshaven and poor. Another local band birthed out of the Covid Lockdown who – as well as being happy just to be able to leave the house – welcome any of those wishing to have a lairy boogie with long, skinny, open arms”.
This evening we were being given a really decent nine tune set by this upwardly mobile quintet. In fact they are already booked to appear at this year’s Great Escape new music festival which is a most encouraging signal, as it will be gathering together circa 450 acts across multiple venues throughout Brighton and Hove this coming May. I shall endeavour to catch them again for that.
The format for this evening included the use of a Roland SP-404SX Linear Wave Sampler and cowbells courtesy of their lead vocalist Sam, who has a slightly warbly vocal delivery. Oli was in charge of vocals at times as well as an ailing Fender Precision bass, which unfortunately gave up the ghost just before the last number ‘Wives Tales And Hymns Of The Earth’, which was the act’s ska vibe tune. Thankfully a replacement was loaned by one of the other acts. It’s always warming to see acts on the same bill being able to help each other out. Everyone’s goals are the same and they are all in it together! The two Tom’s were both on guitar duty and Mr Coram, who was again sporting his Rickenbacker, was also in charge of the occasional use of the Korg keyboard. The unusually named Criddle is the band’s stixman!
We were given a full set laden with toe tapping indie sounds which at times were laced with a tinge of dances vibes. ‘Drywall’ which was performed mid-set was their selected composition for the Love Thy Neighbour ‘Triptych V’ single release. Everything feels right with these guys and I expect them to progress very nicely thank you. Modern punk rock for 2023 is the order of the day here!
You will be able to catch them next in Brighton when they will be appearing at The Prince Albert on 23rd February when they will be supporting Alcopop Records signings Home Counties. Purchase your tickets for that gig HERE.
Porchlight are:
Sam – vocals
Oli – bass
Tom – guitar
Tom – guitar
Criddle – drums
Porchlight setlist:
‘Country Manor’
‘From Monday’
‘Spin Doctor’
‘Faultless’
‘Blue Chalk’
‘Drywall’
‘Noel’
‘Silver Spoon’
‘Wives Tales And Hymns Of The Earth’
Check out Porchlight’s linktree HERE for more information.
Wind the clock on another 17 minutes to 10:02pm and it was time for the final act of ‘Triptych V’ to grace the stage. Public Body your time is now!
Their blurb states: “From the cradle to a 9-5 job, buried in unread emails and PMQ YouTube alerts, tackling issues such as Question Time Bias and Workplace Etiquette. Public Body formed late 2018 with a clear aim to write the perfect soundtrack to whatever you do whilst procrastinating at your day job”.
Public Body are most certainly on Steve Lamacq’s radar as he has been spinning the brand new single ‘Reset My Password’ on his show and not only that, but Radio 1’s Jack Saunders has given it a spin too!
The tune they released today on the ‘Triptych V’ EP is called ‘Are Warts Sentient’, but they chose not to perform it for us this evening. Instead we had nine other compositions, four of which will be found on their six track extended 12” EP ‘Flavour Of Labour’ is due on 4th March in clear and black vinyl editions (details HERE) and in support of that, Public Body will be back at The Hope & Ruin on 6th March as part of their debut headline tour. The other songs played were previous singles, with the exception of ‘House Keeping’ which I believe may be unreleased. One of their previous singles was their cover of Kraftwerk’s ‘Pocket Calculator’, but sadly they didn’t play this tonight either. Shame!
I’ve got to say hats off to lead singer and guitarist Seb Gilmore, as he turned 30 yesterday and was a tad hungover today, but still got on with it and I only clocked one or two minor mistakes! Well done sir!
Also on stage were Tom Bacon, who was on vocal duty when Seb wasn’t and he played Korg keys and blew his whistle when required. Thom Mills was sat at the back on drums and Theo Verney was on Gibson guitar and backing vocals, and wearing a cap was Silke, who was on Fender Mustang bass.
Their opening number, the unusually titled ‘Presenteeism’, certainly reminded me of Tubeway Army’s very first releases. It was the combined guitar and drum work that did it. A great start and indeed their whole set was very consistent. The highlight being their ‘hit single’ ‘Reset My Password’. I like these guys and I can see why Love Thy Neighbour selected them to play at ‘Triptych V’. This live quintet sound is very now! You should seriously check them out!
And so my friends at 10:33pm ‘Triptych V’ came to a close. Well done to Leon on sound and lights and for The Hope & Ruin and Love Thy Neighbour for putting it all together. Roll on ‘Triptych VI’ in January 2023.
Public Body are:
Seb Gilmore – lead singer/guitar
Silke – bass
Theo Verney – guitar/bv’s
Thom Mills – drums
Tom Bacon – synth/vocals
Public Body setlist:
‘Presenteeism’
‘Flavour Of Labour’
‘Naughty On My Bike’
‘Formica’
‘House Keeping’
‘Hard to Concentrate’
‘Reset My Password’
‘Table Manners’
‘Talking Shows’
Check out Public Bodies linktree HERE for more information.
Read our report of ‘Triptych V’ Day One HERE.
Read our report on ‘Triptych V’ Day Two HERE.
