HINDS + CLUTTER – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 17.2.25
I’ve been a keen fan of Madrid based Spanish chicas Hinds for an amazing 10 years now and have witnessed the various ups and downs of cheeky Carlotta Cosials (vocals, guitar) and sassy Ana Perrote (vocals, guitar) along the way. From their original Deers duo incarnation, to the solid quartet of including Ade Martin (bass, backing vocals) and Dutch born Amber Grimbergen (drums), and through to the original duo now with assistance on tours from Paula Ruiz (bass, vocals) and Maria Lázaro (drums).
I first picked up on them in 2014 when they had released just 4 songs on Bandcamp (‘Bamboo’, ‘Trippy Gum’, ‘Castigadas En El Granero’ and ‘Between Cans’) and I really loved what they were doing. However, confusion set in as Deers had to change their name due to another artist of the same name and so being girls, they opted for the female deer moniker of Hinds.
With four acclaimed albums behind them (and all in my record collection), ‘Leave Me Alone’ (2015), ‘I Don’t Run’ (2018), ‘The Prettiest Curse’ (2020) and ‘Viva Hinds’ (2024), Hinds have racked up millions streams worldwide and have gained global recognition for their emotional openness and unapologetically anarchic ways with their honest, fun, charming music always at the forefront. Hinds love to party, playing as hard as they work and never fail to bring all that energy on stage which has led them to play hundreds of shows all over the world including slots at Glastonbury, Primavera Sound, Pitchfork Paris and Fuji Rock Festival.
Tonight, however, they are back in Brighton, thrilling fans at the ever popular Concorde 2 music venue, courtesy of JOY. promoters. It’s the opening leg of their UK tour which from here will see the girls heading off to Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Southampton and London.
We arrive in plenty of time in order to catch the support artists….more on them shortly! Hinds take to the high stage at 9:32pm to the sound of ‘Only A Shadow’ by The Cleaners From Venus on the backing tape. To the rear of the stage behind drummer Maria Lázaro there is a large banner that reads “Arriving from a beautiful place called Madrid tonight we are pleased to introduce Hinds”. We are now in the zone and God I need it, having left the house on a cold Monday night with an accompanying headache, and yet the smiles on Carlotta and Ana’s faces seem to wipe that all away! On previous occasions it has been Carlotta on centre stage, but tonight things have changed and Ana is there throughout their 73 minute 18 song set. She makes use of two microphones during the night, one when she’s playing the guitar and the other (on her left, our right) for when she is standing behind the keyboard. Carlotta is stage right, our left, and on the opposite side of the stage is Paula.
The Hinds songs commence with ‘Hi, How Are You’ from their ‘Viva Hinds’ album and this begins solely with Carlotta singing and playing guitar and then half way through Ana joins in. This more than any Hinds song highlights the fact that the band have technically slimmed back down to just an official duo again and that the completion of their latest album was assisted by external forces. On the release of the album, it was as though Carlotta and Ana had to have a reset and almost start over again. They had lost their bassist Ade and drummer Amber who both had decided to leave the band. They also split with their management team, lost touring revenue due to lockdowns, and came out of relationships and were without a label for the first time. But when Ana and Carlotta got together to write again it became clear that their connection, one so special that they call themselves “millionaires in friendship,” would be all they needed to get them through. But there does seem to be an endearing frailty there these days, especially with Carlotta and I first sensed this when catching them at their intimate comeback low-key concerts at Brighton’s Prince Albert last May – Reviews HERE. But after a couple of songs they really do seem to be back on track!
The sound this evening is fabulous and not overly loud (as we are standing by the speakers) and the lighting is also rather good. There’s no dry ice to hide behind with these chicas! There’s even an electronic fish tank on stage behind Carlotta. Moving on, and tune two, ‘The Club’ from 2018’s ‘I Don’t Run’ album has more of the trademark Hinds oomph! This is followed by their ‘New For You’ earworm which is also found on ‘I Don’t Run’. The performance has now become happy and energetic and is especially so when both Ana and Carlotta sing in harmony. The love they have for each other really shines during these interactions. ‘Boom Boom Back’ and ‘Coffee’ both from ‘Viva Hinds’ fly by, as do a couple of numbers from 2020’s ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album, these being ‘Burn’ and ‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’, with the latter featuring Ana on keys.
It’s then the turn of ‘Riding Solo’ from 2020’s ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album, and this oozes guitar loveliness and is one of their set highlights. ‘Stranger’ from the latest album is next and this sees Paula getting in on the vocals action and very enjoyable it is too. After this we are informed that the next selection is the only Valentine’s Day song on the new album, it’s a quieter affair called ‘The Bed, The Room, The Rain And You’ and features Ana on keys and the line “Took my doggy for a walk”. The music mood then changes with the arrival of ‘Good Bad Times’ which is found on ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album, and this more than any other Hinds track has a real 1980’s pop vibe going on.
It’s all change again with the arrival of the first of three covers of their set, this being their rendition of ‘Spanish Bombs’ from the legendary ‘London Calling’ album by The Clash, which Hinds released as a single in 2020. Tonight’s rendition was absolutely fabulous and was aided by the use of green lazers as well as the normal lighting – easily another set highlight! However, ‘Superstar’ from ‘Viva Hinds’ came next with its earworm “One tune to the people I thought I knew; Specially you” and this was the best cut thus far! Ana and Carlotta jointly shouted vocals knocked the ball out of the park! It was worth coming out just to hear this track!
Personal fave ‘Castigadas En El Granero’ from ‘Leave Me Alone’ was up next and Carlotta climbs on Ana’s shoulders with Paula crouching in front of them and it looks like a three tier Hinds sandwich. The punters were crazy for this and the atmosphere was electric and vintage Hinds. The slower ‘Bon Voyage’ from the latest album with Ana on keys was their next choice and after which they briefly left the stage, but immediately returned to give us their surprising take on ‘Girl, So Confusing’ by Charli XCX. It’s a way of expanding their outlook I guess, but I would have much preferred it if they had kept ‘Bamboo’ from 2016’s ‘Leave Me Alone’ album in the setlist as it’s always a mainstay of their performances and a brilliant tune!
I’m not sure of the significance of this, but all four girls then put on different boiler suits and they performed their Spanish vocal single ‘En Forma’. Maybe a clue can be gleaned from the opening lyrics translated into English “I have to get in shape, I have to sweep”. Although the words were in a different language, the crowd were seriously up for this one and a fair share of them were jumping up and down with their hands in the air. Before they signed off with their final number, they invited both girls from the support act on stage to join them for a blinding rendition of Thee Headcoatees mega-earworm tune ‘Davey Crockett’ which Hinds released back in on 2015 on the ‘Hinds ♡ Parrots’ split single. During this tune Carlotta stepped across from the high rise stage and onto the top of the crowd barrier and held on to fans hands as she walked her way along its length and then she literally dived into the crowd! What a way to end the gig! Magic! They then said “We will be back!”, which made the evening even better. They then danced on stage to ‘Hello’ by Martin Solveig & Dragonette and left everyone feeling elated. Such is the healing power of Hinds, that going from feeling cold with a headache I left the venue on a euphoric high! Muchas gracias chicas x
Hinds:
Carlotta Cosials – lead vocals, guitar
Ana García Perrote – lead vocals, guitar, keys
Paula Ruiz – bass, vocals
Maria Lázaro – drums
Hinds setlist:
(Intro tape: ‘Only A Shadow’ by The Cleaners From Venus)
‘Hi, How Are You’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘The Club’ (from 2018 ‘I Don’t Run’ album)
‘New For You’ (from 2018 ‘I Don’t Run’ album)
‘Boom Boom Back’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘Coffee’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘Burn’ (from 2020 ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album)
‘Just Like Kids (Miau)’ (from 2020 ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album)
‘Riding Solo’ (from 2020 ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album)
‘Stranger’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘The Bed, The Room, The Rain And You’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘Good Bad Times’ (from 2020 ‘The Prettiest Curse’ album)
‘Spanish Bombs’ (The Clash cover) (a 2020 single)
‘Superstar’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘Castigadas En El Granero’ (from 2016 ‘Leave Me Alone’ album)
‘Bon Voyage’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
(encore)
‘Girl, So Confusing’ (Charli XCX cover)
‘En Forma’ (from 2024 ‘Viva Hinds’ album)
‘Davey Crockett’ (Thee Headcoatees cover) (from 2015 ‘Hinds ♡ Parrots’ split single)
(Outro tape: ‘Hello’ by Martin Solveig & Dragonette)
Support tonight came from Swedish band Clutter who hail from Stockholm and they comprise of Hilda Ander (vocals, guitar, bass), Emma French (vocals, guitar, bass), Ville Scott (drums, keys) and Ove Jerndal (guitar, keys). They released their critically acclaimed ‘Jesus’ / ‘HoIy Brother’ 7″ splatter vinyl single last November and the band will be dropping their much-anticipated debut 6 song EP titled ‘Loves You’ on 11th April. According to their Bandcamp page these “Six tracks that channel the spirit of grunge and post-hardcore through distorted guitars and fuzzy vocals, blending the tones of 90s rock into their post-modern indie core. A band that comes close to chaos but just holds on, Clutter’s electricity is built around their own crackling potential”.
This evening Clutter take to the Concorde 2 stage at 8:30pm and we are informed that they are supporting Hinds on all of the gigs of their UK tour. They commence their 24 minute 7 song set with ‘Jesus’ which was half of their 2024 ‘Jesus’ / ‘HoIy Brother’ single and the tune will also be appearing on their forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP. They are a young band who are learning their trade and so everything is work in progress. After Emma had finished the vocals on ‘Jesus’, Hilda takes to the mic and says “Hello we’re Clutter, this one’s ‘Brainiac’” and she has the lead for this tune which is from their forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP. They appear to be going down rather well and the crowd are pleasantly responsive, even with some screams from young ladies standing by us.
The indie post punk sounds continue with the arrival of ‘Geeks’ which is also from the EP. My colleague then informs me of his observation that guitarist Ove is looking rather like Richard Anthony Hewson of The RAH Band did for their famed ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearance where he too was wearing a Ninja Mask Balaclava whilst performing the legendary hit ‘The Crunch’ back in 1977. No songs in their set are introduced save the exception of ‘Brainiac’, but the fact is that they actually performed all of the tracks from the forthcoming EP as well as their debut single release. ‘Pretty’ from the EP was next and after this we had ‘Holy Brother’ and their penultimate selection was ‘Kraut’ which is the lead single from the forthcoming EP. Vocal duties flit between the two girls and Hilda’s delivery differs from Emma’s in that she (Hilda) articulates each word almost as a seperate entity. They sign off with ‘Brideshead’ from the EP and this sees some tremolo action from Ove and their overall sound on this track is fuller and more in depth than any other of the numbers this evening. It’s our set highlight and a clear indication of someone’s been listening to Sonic Youth and The Jesus Lizard. This band would be an ideal act for ‘The Great Escape’.
Clutter:
Hilda Ander – vocals, bass
Emma French – vocals, guitar
Ville Scott – drums
Ove Jerndal – guitar
Clutter setlist:
‘Jesus’ (from 2024 ‘Jesus’ / ‘HoIy Brother’ single & from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
‘Brainiac’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
‘Geeks’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
‘Pretty’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
‘HoIy Brother’ (from 2024 ‘Jesus’ / ‘HoIy Brother’ single)
‘Kraut’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
‘Brideshead’ (from forthcoming 2025 ‘Loves You’ EP)
