HEAVY WILD + ALPHABET + QUAKING ASPENS + WEAKDAY – THE HOPE & RUIN, BRIGHTON 12.2.25
It’s that time again for the monthly Hidden Herd new music bash at The Hope & Ruin in Brighton. This time around the acts on offer are Heavy Wild, Alphabet, Quaking Aspens and Weakday. We almost always review the bands in performance order, but this time around for just a change, we are going to begin with the headliners and work our way back to the beginning of the evening.
Tonight’s headliners are Heavy Wild, an act that we have not seen live before. By all accounts, they arrived on the UK scene in summer 2022 and have quickly gained attention with a string of impressive singles. These being ‘Angel Falling’ in 2022, ‘Death Dreams’ in 2023, ‘Dope Gods’, ‘Machete Romance’, ‘Black Summer’ and ‘Truelove Deathwish’ from 2024.
The band’s sound veers between the dreamy, grungy synth-rock of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the gothic, lo-fi post punk of Joy Division, while also echoing atmospheric contemporaries like Beach Fossils and Wild Nothing. Fronted by Wolfgang Harte – a co-founder of indie favourites Swim Deep – the band have already amassed hundreds of thousands of Spotify streams and caught the ears of tastemakers at Clash Magazine and Notion. They’ve headlined across London and Brighton at Green Door Store and performed twice in Paris at Supersonic Club, sharing stages with kindred spirits like HighSchool as well as bands like Dog Race, Humane The Moon, Sloe Noon, Van Houten and bloody/bath.
It’s been inferred that they offer up a captivating live show and so we are about to find out during their 35 minute 8 tune set that ran from 10:08pm to 10:43pm.
Centre stage, not surprisingly, is the band’s founder Wolfgang Harte who is welding an impressive Ibanez RD bass and looking after the lead vocals. To his left (our right) is Magdalene on Korg synth and backing vocals. Behind Wolfgang is Carys on drums and Roland sampling pads, and completing the quartet (on stage right, our left) is Luis on Fender guitar.
There’s no announcement as the quartet simply wade into last year’s ‘Black Summer’ single. In the main they visually appear as though they are going to take our ears off with metal or industrial energy, but this is simply not the case! I hear a nod to New Order on Wolfgang’s bass and Luis’ guitar and they are much more melodic than they visually look. Another single from last year is up next in the form of ‘Dope Gods’, which sees some rather decent Korg action from Magdalene and the standout line being “Where are you now?”. It’s a great track! After this Wolgang informs us that the next song was “a recent single” and a sampled intro rings around the room, followed by some bass guitar action, and then the keys, drums, guitar, pre-programmed backing all interplay in harmony and this track is the best thus far..it’s title ‘Machete Romance’.
Wolfgang then introduces the next track as ‘Truelove Deathwish’ and informs us that it was their last single. Magdalene gives us some great Korg action and at the same time Carys repeatedly taps the cymbal and it’s easy to see why this composition was selected as a single! On conclusion, Wolfgang informs us that they are “going to play some new songs now” and he picks up his Ibanez RD bass, which had been rested for the last couple of numbers, and they give us ‘Wasteland’, which notably sees his vocals brought to the fore in the mix. The next new track is ‘Hurricane Wings’ and it’s fair to say that it’s a decent toe-tapping number.
There’s another sampled intro on their penultimate selection, ‘Deaths Dreams’, which again sounds not that far away from early New Order or even late Joy Division. They bail out with ‘Smoke & Blue’ which sends us on our merry way! Overall, it’s been an enjoyable debut encounter, despite an occasional drift of beat by one or two band members. But having said that, I’m sure as the quartet sat on the Brighton to London train after their performance that they would be dead chuffed with how it all turned out!
Heavy Wild:
Wolfgang Harte – vocals, bass
Luis – guitar
Magdalene – keys, backing vocals
Carys – drums, sampling pads
Heavy Wild setlist:
‘Black Summer’ (a 2024 single)
‘Dope Gods’ (a 2024 single)
‘Machete Romance’ (a 2024 single)
‘Truelove Deathwish’ (a 2024 single)
‘Wasteland’ (unreleased)
‘Hurricane Wings’ (unreleased)
‘Deaths Dreams’ (a 2023 single)
‘Smoke & Blue’ (unreleased)
The penultimate act of the evening are Alphabet, who as far as I can recall are another new act to us! With roots tracing back to their time in Brighton, where they first crossed paths playing in different projects, Alphabet (stylized as alphabet) have emerged as one of London’s most exciting new alternative bands. Inspired by icons like The Cure, Slowdive and Sonic Youth, the four-piece, composing of Lena Pilshofer (vocals, bass), Milo Mcnulty (vocals, guitar), Tom Sullivan (guitar) and George Miles (drums), bring a fresh shoegaze-esque sound, defined by punchy and ethereal co-lead vocals and guitars that are both melodic and abrasive. Since playing their debut show together just over a year ago, Alphabet have been making waves, landing support slots with the likes of Egyptian Blue, Sunken, Humour and Splint, and being championed by post-punk powerhouses Fontaines D.C. and Shame. Their stellar debut singles, ‘Artificial Light’ and ‘Colour Fade’, have also received the backing of So Young Magazine and EARMILK and featured on Spotify’s Hot New Bands playlist.
This evening we are to receive a 33 minute set comprising of eight compositions, running from 9:19pm to 9:52pm. The instruments of choice are Fender Jazz bass, Fender Telecaster guitar, Fender Jaguar guitar and drums. We are immediately informed that they “used to be based in Brighton” and scanning the faces of the quartet, my mind is set racing as to where I may have previously seen any of them. Whilst the cogs are turning, they kick off with ‘All The Words’ which is their brand new single. This features a clever vocal interplay of alternating line deliveries from Lena and Milo, along with some jangly guitar action with drums backbeat. My brain tells me to write down that Milo’s vocals sound exactly like those that I used to enjoy hearing from forgotten Brighton based icons Morning Smoke. It turns out that I was indeed correct! Around eight years ago they were quite possibly my favourite local act – check out their tunes HERE.
The second Alphabet tune is the unreleased ‘Rearview Mirror’, which sounds not to dissimilar to the tracks found on New Order’s debut ‘Movement’ album, and this witnesses much Fender Jaguar action from Tom, in fact, so much so that his chrome tremolo arm whammy bar goes flying off onto the floor. I’m trying to figure out if I’ve seen Tom before and consult the oracle and it throws up that last year my colleague reviewed an outfit called Media Giant at The Prince Albert and they have a Tom Sullivan – review HERE. Back to tonight and it’s another unreleased track in the form of ‘Pressure’ which commences with some Fender Jaguar action, then drumming and the others follow suit to create a decent constant beat, thus creating a decent tune.
Their 2024 ‘Colour Fade’ single comes next and features a decent triple vocal delivery for the line “I don’t want to wake up” and is another pleasant number. The unreleased slower more reflective ‘Man In Mind’ is their next choice, but this does feature some enjoyable Fender Jaguar guitar shaking from Tom. The tempo increases again with the arrival of the yet to be recorded ‘Your Everything’ and this has serious nods to Morning Smoke, New Order and The Cure and I’m sure John Peel would have loved them…what more could a man want? Their penultimate selection is ‘Motion Sickness’ which again witnesses an enjoyable alternate vocal delivery from Milo and Lena. After consulting the oracle again I note that both Lena and drummer George were in a band called Happy Couple that my colleagues reviewed at tonight’s venue but five years ago – review HERE. Alphabet sign off with their ‘Artificial Light’ single from last year, which has a decent drum intro and some quality fuzzing action and this sees the band at their most solid and as a result is their best track of the set and a band I would dearly love to see in action again.
Alphabet:
Lena Pilshofer – vocals, bass
Milo Mcnulty – vocals, guitar
Tom Sullivan – guitar
George Miles – drums
Alphabet setlist:
‘All The Words’ (a 2025 single)
‘Rearview Mirror’ (unreleased)
‘Pressure’ (unreleased)
‘Colour Fade’ (a 2024 single)
‘Man In Mind’ (unreleased)
‘Your Everything’ (unreleased)
‘Motion Sickness’ (unreleased)
‘Artificial Light’ (a 2024 single)
linktr.ee/alphabet_alphabetalphabet
The second act on the bill this evening are Quaking Aspens who are an ethereal alt-rock outfit carving their name into Brighton’s vibrant music scene. Since relocating to the city in 2022, they’ve swiftly established themselves in the local music scene and beyond, lighting up stages at festivals like The Alternative Escape and Homegrown Festival, as well as appearing in more intimate settings for Sofar Sounds and at the Bella Union Vinyl Shop’s Sandwich Sessions. Their sound is a lush collision of electric guitars and intricately layered vocals, weaving together influences from alt-rock, folk, slowcore and shoegaze. Underpinned by driving rhythms, their music has been described as both visceral and evocative.
This evening is our third encounter with the band, who are Carla (vocals, Fender guitar), Sam (vocals, Fender guitar), Louis (Squier Precision bass) and Louie (drums), with one of our previous encounters being when a colleague reviewed them last June at The Folklore Rooms. Tonight we are given a half dozen tunes during their 26 minute set which ran from 8:32pm to 8:58pm.
The Hidden Herd monthly new music events are regularly like a pick’n’mix whereby you’re not quite sure what you are going to get, unless you investigate the acts beforehand that is. Inevitably you are going to enjoy some bands more than others, but you just go along with the flow and give them all a listen. I can’t recall seeing Quaking Aspens before and I opted to see another act during last year’s inaugural Homegrown Festival where they played at The Rossi Bar, but my colleague did cover them and stated…
“Quaking Aspens are a Brighton based duo who are half American, half English and were formed in Denmark. They both play lead guitar and tonight are joined live by a bassist and drummer. No names I’m afraid – they all seem to be bound by the Official Secrets Act, or something very similar. Their music is ethereal shoegaze influenced slowcore. For ‘Electric River’, which is quite early in the set, the vocals are a little indistinct. This is a pity as what I’m able to make out sounds really lovely. Any sound problems are soon sorted out however. One of the guitarists has a Bigsby tremolo on his Telecaster, which is something that I hadn’t seen before. ‘What You Need’ features both guitarists fingerpicking together with some beautiful harmonies. Apparently all of the songs played tonight will be released this year. I very much look forward to hearing the studio versions”.
Back to tonight and Carla, Sam and Louis are lined up and all have matching white bodied guitars and bass with dark red pick guards and Carla informs us that their opening number, ‘Flume’ will be released this summer. It’s a floaty almost folky affair, with a Slowdive vibe going on and a skippy drumbeat. She also tells us most of their set will be consisting of unreleased numbers. With a countdown and they are off again with ‘Waterline’ which also features a skippy drumbeat and dreamy style vocals. Selection three, ‘Dragon’ is mellow but echoey and is followed by ‘Black Marrow’ which has more folky sounds. Interaction between the tunes is kept to bare minimum as they tune up and some might say feels a tad awkward. Moving on, their penultimate choice is ‘Where You Go’ which benefits from more energy than its predecessors. They signed off with their recent ‘Passages’ single and by now have won over a majority of the crowd, but in all honesty, I’m sure they are lovely people, but their sound didn’t grab me.
Quaking Aspens:
Carla – vocals, guitar
Sam – vocals, guitar
Louis – bass
Louie – drums
Quaking Aspens setlist:
‘Flume’ (unreleased)
‘Waterline’ (unreleased)
‘Dragon’ (unreleased)
‘Black Marrow’ (unreleased)
‘Where You Go’ (unreleased)
‘Passages’ (a 2024 single)
The openers for this evening were Brighton-based Weakday (which is stylized in capitals). They were initially conceived as a solo project and have since grown into a dynamic five-piece band, comprising Henry Wood (vocals, Roland synth), Fraser Cox (Fender rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Finnian Davidson (Fender lead guitar, backing vocals), Nathan Key (Squier bass, backing vocals) and Theo Williams-Burchill (drums). They draw from a wide spectrum of influences ranging from classic rock icons to cutting-edge electronic artists and they arguably offer something unique in a scene saturated with guitar bands. During their brief existence, they’ve already released a series of stellar singles – ‘Drowning’, ‘Second One’ and recent standout ‘Vienna’ – and have made their mark on the Brighton live scene, supporting bloody/bath (review HERE) and appearing at the recent MumFest charity day-fest.
For my second live encounter with the band, we are rewarded with an eight song 27 minute set that ran from 7:47pm to 8:14pm. They begin with the very first outing of new tune ‘Dreaming’ which immediately reminds me of the Editors, which is a good thing. The unreleased ‘Go’ follows and this benefits from some great constant drumming and some twangy retro guitar. There’s more of the same with the arrival of ‘It’s Not A Case’ with its solid sound and faster beat. Tune four is last year’s ‘Second One’ single which could have been slotted in a choice two for comedy value, but wasn’t. There’s a feel of something like Oasis with this track with its slower start. It’s funky drumbeat and dancing all the way with the unreleased ‘One To Call’ which is yet another solid offering. There’s another great intro on last year’s ‘Vienna’ single, which we are told is “available to stream” and for me was the choice cut of the performance. There’s more evidence of the Editors sound along with a bouncy beat.
Their penultimate track this evening is the unreleased ‘I Don’t Wanna Feel This Way Anymore’, which we are informed will be released this year and it’s another speedy and decent tune with nods to The Wedding Present and The Fall, and so I will be keeping an eye out when that one drops. Their quality remained high as they signed off with last year’s ‘Drowning’ single and it was a more than ample opening set for the evening and I shall hopefully be checking them out again once they get some more local gigs booked.
Weakday:
Henry Wood – vocals, synth
Fraser Cox – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Finnian Davidson – lead guitar, backing vocals
Nathan Key – bass, backing vocals
Theo Williams-Burchill – drums
Weakday setlist:
‘Dreaming’ (live debut) (unreleased)
‘Go’ (unreleased)
‘It’s Not A Case’ (unreleased)
‘Second One’ (a 2024 single)
‘One To Call’ (unreleased)
‘Vienna’ (a 2024 single)
‘I Don’t Wanna Feel This Way Anymore’ (unreleased)
‘Drowning’ ( a 2024 single)
