THE MEFFS + JACK LEFT – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 8.5.23
Punk music has always been a glorious insight for me; way back when its affiliated movement stormed across the UK, parents and the older generations were not happy. Some fifty years later, the people it was destined for have carried that spirit to our current generation. The post-punk of groups like IDLES and Fontaines D.C. found a new home within their love and appreciation for punk music and its ethics, effective for our current climate of a brand new king and a Conservative government. However, this present state of affairs continues to upset people living in Broken Britain… all the way from Colchester, Essex, The Meffs entered the second show in their ‘Broken Britain Tour’ at the beloved Prince Albert in Brighton on Tuesday night courtesy of promoters JOY.
The Meffs formed only four years ago in 2019 and have already made a significant splash in the modern punk world. Following a couple years of live shows that created a lot of high musical interest, the duo consisting of Lily on electric guitar and vocals and Lewis on drums caught the attention of one Frank Turner who invited them along to perform at his ‘Lost Evenings Festival’ at London’s Roundhouse in 2021.
Their self-titled 2020 demos album, which features 10 songs ranging from one to three and a half minutes in length, showcases the duo with a strong presence as a punk unit with outspoken vocals from Lily and solid drumming from Lewis! This is something that carries over to new heights on their next two EPs, ‘Broken Britain Pt. 1’ and ‘Broken Britain Pt. 2’, both of which were produced by Frank Turner himself! Now, The Meffs have commenced a ten-date tour across the UK, starting with Bury St. Edmunds last week, with their final show at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch on 18th May.
The half-full crowd at the Prince Albert awaited with keen excitement for their new favourite duo, however, first came a real treat: Jack Left. Originally from Stockport and now operating in Brighton, Jack finds himself in front of a completely different audience lifestyle against his homegrown pop songs that tackle modern day pressures and social issues that he often comes across. We are introduced to Jack by his opening crunchy guitar chords, drowning out the background music demanding attention from the crowd on ‘All My Life’, which surprisingly feels very lively and punky, perfect for a night like this! Following this we get to the song ‘Listen’, which, while slightly slower here, feels full of momentum nonetheless. Here, we’re treated to Jack’s rapping, a lyrical delivery that remains a mainstay of his set.
After a brief welcome and introduction to the crowd, we are treated with ‘Fill Up My Cup’, one of my personal favourites in the set, primarily due to Jack now being full of smiles at the audience’s rapture. There’s a slight reminiscence of easy life’s Nightmares, not surprising considering that Ben Matravers, brother of easy life frontman Murray, has been known to work with him on Jack’s recent releases!
By the time we get to the song ‘Pressure’, Jack’s vocals have become more emotionally dynamic, and on a song that discusses troubles surrounding job satisfaction and the cost of living crisis. ‘Easy’ postludes Jack questioning the audience, “Can I just stop shouting for a bit?”, leading to the calmest song of the set, but the emotions he delivers here are stronger as a result.
His set kicks back into gear on ‘Chain Reaction’ which comes equipped with an authoritative request for the audience to sing along before the final song, ‘Poison’, showcases Jack’s rapping in full form against a slower groove. A joyous applause is handed to Jack as the song finishes and he departs the stage to some devoted and supportive mates who pretty much sang all the songs along with him!
Jack Left’s setlist:
‘All My Life’
‘Listen’
‘Fill Up My Cup’
‘Pressure’
‘Easy’
‘Chain Reaction’
‘Poison’
Some 35 minutes pass before The Meffs take to the stage… but what’s this?! Technical difficulties on Lily’s guitar halt the introduction somewhat, however the crowd cheer the duo on nonetheless. This brief hiccup is quickly resolved and with a hearty “Hello Brighton, welcome to broken Britain!” from Lily, the show is well underway with the song ‘Broken Britain, Broken Brains’. Already the sound and imagery of the Sex Pistols comes to mind in this ode to the current state of our country as Lily struts across the stage.
From here, we lead directly into the next cut, ‘Budget Luxury’, with its cries of “Money!” shining a light on the oft-forgotten Oi! sub-genre. The song ‘Dead In The City’ is preluded with a query from Lily on people who hate Tories (insert distinct and sizeable cheer here). This track is grittier and somewhat heavier compared to the previous two cuts, with a sound not dissimilar to Brutalism-era IDLES. Another unfortunate technical difficulty cuts the song short, leading to Lily switching from her wireless plug to a good ol’ trusty guitar cable. The following ‘No’ features punk rhythms that shift tempo by half and double time, not to mention some intense stares from Lily that are a key component of the duo’s stage presence. The crowd engages in some vocal participation on the track ‘Stand Up, Speak Out’ in that typical Oi! fashion before leading into ‘“Your English is Great”’ where Lily’s vocals are surprisingly on point for a punk band…!
“That was a very old one of ours, we’re gonna play one we haven’t recorded yet,” Lily states to the crowd before she plays ‘I’m So Modern’, possibly my favourite track of the night! This song is a glorious statement on modernity becoming mundane with each new passing thing (in Lily’s case, she mentions getting fresh haircuts and drinking alcohol-free beer…!). A solid tom-filled intro leads us into ‘Wasted On Women’, a song centred around women being told how to dress, act and behave, by men of all things! The song also makes use of great cymbal syncopation, making a great change in the set punk rhythms of most of the songs.
Before heading into the next track, ‘Get Real’, Lily invites two individuals onto the stage and splits the crowd in two, to see who can yell the title lyric the loudest. With me standing just to the right of the crowd, our side won (and the “team captain” was handed a Meffs-branded Pot Noodle!). The set shakes up a fair bit with a extremely effective cover of The Prodigy’s ‘Breathe’, a cover which followed marvellous banter among the crowd and the band as Lily asked “Who’s the second best band from Essex?!”, to which one unfortunate bloke proclaims Blur… not the best move for this crowd.
The one-two punch of ‘Look At You’ and ‘Sex Sells’ demonstrates both band members incredible musicianship and instrumental abilities as the former sees Lewis engage in some frantically fast drumming strengths while, in the latter, Lily exercises some truly stellar guitar work. Our special support act Jack Left is welcomed back to the stage with a friend to dance and sing with the song ‘You’ll See’, where the crowd are as vocal as they can be in the chorus’ sing-a-long. Here on this song, and across many in the setlist, the songs often switch between single note riffs or power chords for them to be built upon, a variety which works in The Meffs’ favour.
Before the duo head into their penultimate song ‘No Future’, they inform the audience of a flag that’s placed in the corner of the venue where they’re invited to write their thoughts on the government before the flag itself is posted to them… a power move, I must say! Now, we come to the final song with no encore, ‘War’. This track sees The Meffs at their most hellish, with several groove changes and those classic Lily stares becoming the most confrontational of the evening! The song eventually climaxes and the show ends on a high… “see you at the merch stand in 25 seconds”, Lily states before they leave the stage.
If this show has proved anything for The Meffs, it’s that they’ve continued to move from strength to strength since forming only four years ago: they were in incredible command of the crowd and played with punk finesse, whilst carrying across strong messages for our current socio-political British climate. While I was not able to get through the crowd to contribute to their flag, I can only imagine the overwhelming response handwritten by many Meffs fans. However, that flag will surely be carried over for the rest of their tour, which continues in Glasgow on Thursday. UP THE MEFFS!
Check out The Meffs on Bandcamp.
The Meffs’ setlist:
‘Broken Britain, Broken Brains’
‘Budget Luxury’
‘Dead In The City’
‘No’
‘Stand Up, Speak Out’
‘“Your English Is Great”’
‘I’m So Modern’
‘Wasted On Women’
‘Get Real’
‘Breathe’ (The Prodigy Cover)
‘Look At You’
‘Sex Sells’
‘You’ll See’
‘No Future’
‘War’
Remaining tour dates:
11th May – King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
12th May – Zerox, Newcastle Upon Tyne
13th May – Bootleg Social, Blackpool
14th May – Star & Garter, Manchester
16th May – UEA Waterfront Studio, Norwich
17th May – Asylum, Birmingham
18th May – The Old Blue Last, London
