BEIGE BANQUET + THE LEANING + NUMSKULL – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 29.3.24
Beige Banquet are a London-based five-piece playing a bleak yet high-powered style of dark punk. The project began in 2020, initially as a solo project, as Tom Brierley (vocals, Fender guitar) layered unquestioning drum machines, tight and anxious vocals lines and wiry guitar in his makeshift bedroom studio to produce Beige Banquet’s debut album ‘Beta’ (2021). Soon after, the band expanded into a five piece with the additions of Ian Crafter (drums, Roland drumpads), Joe Munsey (guitar and vocals), Danny Gillies (Fender bass), Blake Carlson-Joshua (Korg synth, cowbells, tambourines and backing vocals) and spent the next two years doggedly touring Europe, transforming the drum machine driven recordings into an unrelenting, feverish and intense live show. Bringing their unmistakable and frenetic energy to festivals such as ‘End Of The Road’, ‘Left Of The Dial’, ‘Into The Great Wide Open’, and ‘Misty Fields’, they found themselves sharing stages with contemporaries such as Crack Cloud and Preoccupations.
Underpinned by a propulsive and motorik rhythm section, they combine robotic and percussive vocal deliveries with industrial textures and abrasive guitars to create frantic and driving sound. On 13th March the band released their sophomore album, and first as a full band, ‘Ornamental Hermit’ via Swish Swash Records (Rennes). The band are out on tour promoting their new release with the opening night being last night at the Avalon Cafe in London and this evening they are headlining at The Prince Albert in Brighton (courtesy of local promoters and record label Love Thy Neighbour) which is their only other UK performance. From here they head on off to Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and France.
Beige Banquet grace the stage at their allotted 10pm time slot and segue through no less than 13 tracks across the next 45 minutes. The venue is now full and filled with anticipation, as no doubt several of those present have attended the previous Beige Banquet Brighton concerts, these being 13th May 2022 at The Grand Central on Surrey Street opposite Brighton mainline railway station, no doubt as part of an ‘Alternative Great Escape’ event, and prior to that at The Hope & Ruin on 8th November 2021, however tonight is our debut encounter with the band.
The quintet opened with ‘Substance (Sustenance)’, which is the first of seven cuts played off of their new ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album. This version is given a long drawn out intro with Ian’s drums sounding like the intro of ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’ by Bauhaus and the guitar parts feeling like ‘It Must Have Been Years’ by Tubeway Army. Unusually, the band’s founder frontman Tom is actually standing stage right (our left) instead of centre stage. He does not address the crowd at all during the performance bar a single “Thank you”. It’s a case of less is more and so letting his compositions do all of the talking, which is just the way I like it. None of this “Hi Brighton, we love you, you’re our favourite city, thank you all for coming, the next song is about my pet dog Brian who got lost in a forest once whilst chasing a deer, blah blah blah!”.
The jaunty post punk angular tunes continued with the arrival of the Gang Of Four-esque ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album title track, which accurately sums up the band and the deadpan vocal delivery, which is accompanied with a glazed stare to the back of the room stance. The much faster ‘Cold Yoghurt’ found on their 2021 ‘Beta’ album is up next and is a mashup of Devo meets Joy Division….tuuuunnneee! This segued straight into track four their 2022 ‘Acid Bath’ single, which was equally as urgent and great, especially Ian’s metronomic drumming. If only John Peel was still with us as he would absolutely love Beige Banquet. In fact they honestly feel as though they come from the 1979-1981 period and jumped into Dr Who’s TARDIS in order to be with us tonight.
The jaunty post punk numbers were coming at us fast and furious with the arrival of the stop-start beat sub 90 seconds ‘What Is Going On?’, which was the second of four songs found on their 2021 ‘Beta’ long player. A handful of tracks from their new LP came next, the first of which being ‘Collapse/Crisis’. It’s evident that someone is clearly a Spizzenergi fan, as it’s not that too far away from ‘Where’s Captain Kirk?’, especially the guitar notes. Tom’s vocal delivery on this number gets more intense and is just like a combined version of a talking robot meets Cal from Ditz. It’s a fabulous track and might have just sneaked in as track of the night for me!
It was the turn of bass introed ‘Animals’ next, which followed along the same lines as the previous track, and from ‘Animals’ they moved on to ‘People’ which was their next selection, with its “People want too much” repeated chorus. The faster ‘Parasitic Energy’, again with a repeated “Parasitic Energy” chorus was blasted at us next and we loved it! The mosh pit was starting to build. The final ‘Ornamental Hermit’ track of the night was their next selection, this being the keyboard friendly ‘Mind Lapse’ with its Siouxsie & The Banshees guitar vibe going down. At this point I realised that I hadn’t knowingly heard a single keyboard note this evening, which was a shame, but I guess standing at the very front with my hand on Tom’s speaker would probably negate this, maybe those stage left (one the right) would hear what Blake’s up to.
The quintet were now on the home straight with one last burst of energy for the last trio of tunes, beginning with ‘Welcome To Rock Music’ from their 2021 ‘Beta’ album, which again has a repeated chorus, this being “Rock music” and being another sub two minute delivery. This segued into their penultimate number which was ‘Wired/Weird’ which benefited from Ian’s frenetic drums along with the wall of noise bass and guitars courtesy of Danny, Joe and Tom. The most pit was now (respectfully) in full flow and there was even some crowd surfers, one of whom had a very narrow escape having almost fallen headfirst from above head height down to the floor, but thankfully those around him grabbed literally him inches from the floor, he might have even broken his neck, so well done to those on the ball folk around him.
Beige Banuet signed off with ‘Awake’ which comes from their 2021 ‘S/T’ EP. The drums on this reminded me of the UK Subs ‘Stranglehold’, although it doesn’t really on its released version. And that was it a quarter to eleven and 15 minutes for the eager punters to hit the merch stall at the back in order to snap up some vinyl, tapes and t-shirts. This had been a fabulous performance and I would without question go and see Beige Banquet live and in the flesh on several more occasions if they gave me the opportunity of a return to Sussex. Check out Beige Banquet on their Bandcamp page HERE.
Beige Banquet:
Tom Brierley – vocals, guitar
Ian Crafter – drums, drumpads
Joe Munsey – guitar, vocals
Danny Gillies – bass
Blake Carlson-Joshua – percussion, synth, vocals
Beige Banquet setlist:
‘Substance (Sustenance)’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Ornamental Hermit’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Cold Yoghurt’ (from 2021 ‘Beta’ album)
‘Acid Bath’ (a 2022 single)
‘What Is Going On?’ (from 2021 ‘Beta’ album)
‘Collapse/Crisis’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Animals’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘People’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Parasitic Energy’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Mind Lapse’ (from 2024 ‘Ornamental Hermit’ album)
‘Welcome To Rock Music’ (from 2021 ‘Beta’ album)
‘Wired/Weird’ (from 2021 ‘Beta’ album)
‘Awake’ (from 2021 ‘S/T’ EP)
The band who were entertaining us prior to the arrival of Beige Banquet were The Leaning who we last caught at the beginning of the month at the ‘Hidden Herd All Dayer’ event at the Green Door Store on 9th March. With a sound that reverberates between psych-noise and surf pop, The Leaning’s music pays homage to modern romantic songwriters and the eerie dawn of synth music. The band is led by Sam Jordan, an ex-ballet dancer, and Ez Stone, a tattoo artist – the pair met while digging a hole during a long summer of manual labour. Sam, his focus on lyrics and songs, and Ez, an emotive guitarist and arranger, began recording music at Sam’s flat, perched on the edge of Portslade Harbour.
This evening is actually the band’s second gig of the day having previously performed an instore set at nearby Bella Union Vinyl Shop and it’s clear that they have brought along several Bella Union friends with them, including Lily Wolter from Penelope Isles, as the venue is now virtually full. Tonight’s lineup comprises of Sam Jordan (lead vocals and C. F. Martin & Co acoustic guitar), Ez Stone (lead Fender guitar, vocals), Fred Helmer (Squier Jazz bass and backing vocals) and Declan Haughian (drums, drumpads, chimes, tambourines and backing vocals). Their 29 minute five tune set ran from 9:13pm to 9:42pm and kicked off with their shortest number of the handful of songs this being the cowboy style crooning ‘Lovers Rock’ which only featured the vocal talents of Sam plus his guitar along with drummer Declan who was simply running one of his drumsticks across the edge of the large cymbal for atmospheric effect.
Selection two was ‘Surf And Destroy’ which has seen a few releases including on the 2022 ‘Long Lost Lagoon Collection’ EP. It’s here that I note that Sam plays his acoustic guitar on a short strap and thus has the visual effect of him featuring in a mariachi band. There’s a definite Gordon Lightfoot feel about this tune and it appears that each time I see them playing live, I enjoy them more and more, guess I’m coming around to their way of thinking! I reckon these guys would be the perfect openers for a Richard Hawley tour, or even John Grant, via their Bella Union connections!
After a couple of quiet numbers, the lads treat us to the louder Americana vibed unreleased ‘Suburban Heart’. The lead vocals and harmonies from the other trio are crisp and clear and so are the instruments. The longer their performance goes on, the more into it they become and by the time they reach the penultimate selection, ‘Angle Of The Moon’, they are absolutely at the top of their game, or so it seems. Up until now Sam had been playing his acoustic guitar, but for the last two numbers he lays it carefully down on the stage and he switches to vocal only. It’s here his delivery underscores training as a ballet dancer, slowly moving his body as only a former dancer can. Meanwhile Ez is skillfully putting his Fender through its paces. The punters, some of whom were still talking at the start of the set, were all now totally transfixed and silent and you could hear a pin drop during the quiet parts of this lengthy tune.
Prior to their closing number ‘As The Ladies Dance’, Sam informs us that they have today released their brand new ‘The Orange Night’ EP, which would explain their earlier Bella Union instore. Contained on that EP is ‘As The Ladies Dance’ which arguably sees the lads hit even further heights. This lengthy number builds and builds and ends in a crescendo and Sam’s vocals then successfully imitate the smooth faze Roxy Music and Bryan Ferry, so much so, that close your eyes and it’s him! It’s about time they played a headline set with ten or a dozen numbers as they will certainly be able to fill a venue of this size.
The Leaning:
Sam Jordan – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Ez Stone – lead guitar, backing vocals
Fred Helmer – bass
Declan Haughian – drums, drumpads, chimes, tambourines, backing vocals
The Leaning setlist:
‘Lovers Rock’ (unreleased)
‘Surf And Destroy’ (from 2022 ‘Long Lost Lagoon Collection’ EP)
‘Suburban Heart’ (unreleased)
‘Angle Of The Moon’ (unreleased)
‘As The Ladies Dance’ (a 2023 single & from 2024 ‘The Orange Night’ EP)
Kicking off the night with a half hour six tune set (that ran from 8:21pm to 8:51pm) to a sadly sparse crowd were local outfit Numskull, who I last encountered at The Brunswick Basement Bar on 4th October last year. They are a trio consisting of Dylan Harris on lead vocals, Ibanez GIO 5-string bass and harmonica, Ralph Foster on Fender guitar, and James Bish on drums.
They kick off with a couple of unreleased numbers, these being the psych instrumental ‘Turned Worm’ followed by the more urgent jazzy rock ‘Mousetrap’. After which, Ralph decides to do a card trick (as you do!). He comes into the crowd and entices local character and premier grassroots music supporter ‘Two Beers Jules’ to join him on stage and pick a card, which Jules shows me, it’s a Queen Of Spades, which then gets integrated back into the full pack. Ralph then came back into the crowd and performed a cartwheel and placed a card onto the floor face down and then he revealed that it was the Queen Of Spades! Some may infer that the whole pack consisted of the Queen Of Spades, which would be an expensive purchase! Meanwhile, whilst these shenanigans are going on, both Dylan and James are jamming on.
Clearly things were hotting up for Dylan as he took off his Little Miss Bassist t-shirt, which revealed a crop top underneath. Back on the music front, the trio next performed their 2019 ‘Quaaludes’ single, which we are informed can be streamed on Napster, I had no idea that this was still a thing! ‘Japanese Cheese’ was selection four with its 1980 Killing Joke meets Monakis vibe. We are told that this will be coming out next week and then showman Ralph again leaves the stage and prefers to come and join us punters where he creates a space where he lies belly down on the floor and does some floor exercises…Random!
Their penultimate number is ‘Unexplored Map’ which we are informed is a cover of a Wand tune. They then signed off with their 2022 single ‘Am I Awake?’ which initially witnessed excessive use of foot pedals and was their foray into punk and was their most enjoyable tune for yours truly.
It’s fair to say that they were not a massively polished outfit by any means, maybe they aren’t ever, but this Brighton based Psychedelic Fuzz Punk outfit are clearly doing their own thing and enjoying it and if this sounds like your thing then check them out.
Numskull:
Dylan Harris – vocals, bass
Ralph Foster – guitar
James Bish – drums
Numskull setlist:
‘Turned Worm’ (unreleased)
‘Mousetrap’ (unreleased)
‘Quaaludes’ (a 2019 single)
‘Japanese Cheese’ (a forthcoming April single)
‘Unexplored Map’ (cover of a Wand tune)
‘Am I Awake?’ (a 2022 single)
