SMALLTOWN TIGERS + TUPPENNY BUNTERS + PORCELAIN DOLL – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 30.3.25
Rimini punks Smalltown Tigers made a welcome return to Brighton’s Prince Albert this afternoon courtesy of ‘An Alternative Gathering’ promoters, who specialise in putting on gigs of a punk rock nature.
The Smalltown Tigers were last in action at The Prince Albert on 10th February last year and prior to that they were here on 10th September 2023. That September concert was rather special on account of The Damned’s Brian James RIP blessing us with his attendance as he watched Valli, Monty and Castel, (who are the Smalltown Tigers), from the comfort of The Prince Albert bar area. His interest in the band was already secured on account of the Italian trio opening for the original Damned lineup at their special Eventim Apollo London show on 28th October 2022 – Review HERE. It’s clear that the Smalltown Tigers are a likeable bunch as this afternoon’s matinee performance is of note on the account of Brian James’s Finnish born wife Minna and their son Charlie have come along to check them out. Not only that but The Damned’s Captain Sensible’s wife Mayumi, is also here to give the girls some support and she has come over from Portugal.
The Smalltown Tigers have made inroads on the Euro garage-punk scene having initially dropped their debut single ‘Just Friends’ which was then followed by their 8 song mini-album ‘Five Things’ which came out just in time for the first Covid lockdown in spring 2020. Check it out HERE. Then last year they released their 10-tune ‘Crush On You’ album, which you can enjoy HERE. They are working on new material and their next album is scheduled for release in February 2026, and so in the meantime they are playing a trio of UK gigs and this afternoon is the final one of them, having played London and Southend-on-Sea over the past two nights.
The all-girl trio of Valli on lead vocals and Legend bass guitar, Monty on Squier Telecaster guitar and backing vocals, and Castel on drums and backing vocals, take to the stage at 4:22pm and perform for 40 minutes and in that time we are rewarded with no less than 15 tunes! Yep that’s right, they don’t hang around! Their material is sharp and to the point and best of all, it’s really enjoyable. Today is my fourth encounter and hopefully they will be back when they drop their as yet unnamed new long player next year.
They, as always, are showing their togetherness by sporting the same “stage costumes” with this afternoon’s choice being silver dresses and black tights, and they commence with a handful of tunes from their ‘Five Things’ mini-album, the first of which being ‘Find Myself Another Name’, which is speedily followed by ‘Runaway Gal’. There’s a definite Ramones vibe going on with their sound, but I guess this is to be expected on account of Valli and Monty having played together in ‘Rockaway Bitches’, a Ramones tribute band, which is still resurrected from time to time. ‘I Want It Now’ is up next and it’s a fruity tune with a decent drumbeat. ‘Just Friends’ is choice four and stomps their Ramones-esque sound. After this Valli informs us that the next track can be found on YouTube, it’s ‘Darling Please!’ and it has a surf vibe going down. They play just one more tune from their ‘Five Things’ mini-album, but this comes later in the set.
The trio now switch to a New Bomb Turks cover called ‘Girl Can’t Help It’ which they recorded for the ‘Defiled! A Heavy Medication Tribute To New Bomb Turks’ compilation album. This starts with Castel’s drumming, which is swiftly followed by Valli’s bass getting in on the action, and then Monty’s guitar kicks in and I have to say that this is a terrific tune, it’s just so down and durrrty! Valli then informs us that they will have a new album coming out in February 2026, but sadly we do not get any teasers from this. Instead the girls launch into a half dozen cuts from their current ‘Crush On You’ album, beginning with ‘Meet Me In The City’ which benefits from a wicket guitar riff. The ‘Crush On You’ album title track is next and this really could have been written by the Ramones. This is followed by ‘Teddy Bear’ which has a fast guitar riff and drumbeat and it speeds up near its conclusion and almost ends in chaos.
It’s all change next as drummer Castel takes the lead vocals for the only time of the set. She is introduced by Valli as “Serena” which confuses me somewhat, so after some deep digging I strongly suspect that their full names are Deborah Valli, Giulia Monty and Serena Castel, not that they ever use them in interviews etc. They play ‘Maybe’ from the latest album, which again has the Ramones vibe and this has two brief stops for which they are all on-point. I was pretty sure that the next track of their set was going to be the standout tune of the set, on account of it being my favourite tune of theirs, this being their fastest track, which is called ‘Monster’ and indeed it’s a monster of a tune. The beat was taken back down with the arrival of ‘Dressed Right And Skinny’ which was their final tune from their latest record.
Being located at the very front of the crowd, I can easily read their setlists, which unfortunately have 4 tracks crossed off due to time constraints…sob sob… and so there are just two more songs to go…..and then all of a sudden Valli (or should I say Deborah) says “This is for Brian!” and they launch into The Damned’s ‘New Rose’ and this immediately gives me goosebumps! It’s the song of the set! I do hope that Minna, Charlie and Mayumi approved! Their penultimate song was the title track from their ‘Five Things’ mini-album and it’s a decent rocker and the trio know they are on the 5pm curfew, but this doesn’t stop them segueing straight into the Motörhead homage that is ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S’. At 5:02pm the ladies were finished and my soul had once more been enriched by these signorina’s.
Smalltown Tigers:
Deborah Valli – bass, lead vocals
Giulia Monty – guitar, backing vocals
Serena Castel – drums, backing vocals
Smalltown Tigers setlist:
‘Find Myself Another Name’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Runaway Gal’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘I Want It Now’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Just Friends’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Darling Please!’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘Girl Can’t Help It’ (New Bomb Turks cover) (from ‘Defiled! A Heavy Medication Tribute To New Bomb Turks’ compilation album)
‘Meet Me In The City’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘Crush On You’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘Teddy Bear’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘Maybe’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘Monster’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘Dressed Right And Skinny’ (from 2024 ‘Crush On You’ album)
‘New Rose’ (Damned cover)
‘Five Things’ (from 2020 ‘Five Things’ mini-album)
‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S’ (Motörhead cover)
There were two support acts this afternoon, on first were Porcelain Doll and they were followed by Tuppenny Bunters, neither of which had I seen before.
Porcelain Doll are a female fronted bubblegrunge band from Brighton. They deliver fuzzy guitars, primal drums and hooky choruses. Singer Freja’s lyrics are catchy and relatable, covering the challenges of navigating romantic relationships and a sense of being out of place. Her vocals are slightly dreamy yet almost powerful and fuse with the band to create dynamic and emotive songs.
We get a sizeable 10 tune set from the quartet which this afternoon comprises of Freja Watts (vocals), John Near (guitar), Marlie Fancourt (bass) and stand-in drummer James Southard as we learn that their drummer Josh has had an accident. They take to the stage nine minutes later than their allocated 2:15pm slot, which might have had a knock-on effect for the Smalltown Tigers set, with their four crossed off tunes on their setlist. Porcelain Doll still play all the songs shown on their own setlist and entertain the punters from 2:24pm until 3:02pm.
The first thing I notice after Freja’s striking pink attire, is that guitarist John is left-handed. They commence with a couple of songs from last year’s ‘Teeth’ EP, these being ‘Everybody Wants Me Dead’ and ‘Paranoid’. Their sound is melodic DIY indie with punky elements. ‘Everybody Wants Me Dead’ has that 1977 punk vibe going on and ‘Paranoid’ offers more of the same but with a decent choppy bass sound. The slower ‘Vampires’ single from 2023 with its solid drumming is their next choice and this was followed by ‘Smoke’ which is found on their ‘All In My Head (A)’ EP from back in 2022. There’s a twangy guitar intro for ‘Bruise’, which is another cut from their ‘Teeth’ EP and this is one of their quieter numbers, which is rammed full of lyrics. Another slow tempoed tune arrived in the form of ‘Space Boy’ from their 2022 ‘All In My Head (A)’ EP.
Thankfully things got a little more urgent with the arrival of ‘Butterflies’, which is the only tune culled this afternoon from 2023’s ‘All In My Head (B)’ EP. This tune was the best received thus far. Freja then informs us that they will be dropping a new EP in September and a new single from that EP will appear in May. The track they play from this unnamed forthcoming EP is ‘Apocalypse’ and it’s their most urgent number thus far and has some serious oomph! The single that will be dropping is May is their next choice and it’s called ‘Self Destruct’ and the guitar intro and drums backing felt like early 1970’s Roxy Music. The beat then changed to the normal Porcelain Doll style, but mid-tune there was a drumming section of note. They signed off with ‘Breakdown’ from the ‘Teeth’ EP, which has a drums and vocal beginning, before the rumbly bass kicks in. The lighting engineer was turning the stage lights on and off in quick succession during this track and the experience was all the better for it. The punters loved them, although I feel it’s still work in progress. Maybe you can decide for yourself as Porcelain Doll will be returning to The Prince Albert on Sunday 27th April where they will be sharing the bill with Erotic Secrets Of Pompeii and Wall Frog. Find your tickets HERE.
Porcelain Doll:
Freja Watts – vocals
John Mear – guitar
Marlie Fancourt – bass
James Southard – drums
Porcelain Doll setlist:
‘Everybody Wants Me Dead’ (from 2024 ‘Teeth’ EP)
‘Paranoid’ (from 2024 ‘Teeth’ EP)
‘Vampires’ (a 2023 single)
‘Smoke’ (from 2022 ‘All In My Head (A)’ EP)
‘Bruise’ (from 2024 ‘Teeth’ EP)
‘Space Boy’ (from 2022 ‘All In My Head (A)’ EP)
‘Butterflies’ (from 2023 ‘All In My Head (B)’ EP)
‘Apocalypse’ (from forthcoming 2025 EP)
‘Self Destruct’ (a forthcoming 2025 single)
‘Breakdown’ (from 2024 ‘Teeth’ EP)
Tuppenny Bunters are Dave and Fi Dulake and they formed the band in 2012, the same year they got married. Fi had been the Hammond player in Dave’s previous band, The Virgo Intacta, who were on The White Stripes ‘Satan’ tour as first support. Parallel to running a notorious Southend music pub, The Railway Hotel, the duo, after naming themselves after Regency prostitutes, set about capturing the sound they perceived, a piano dripping garage/pop wall of melodies and chord shifts. Their first album ‘A Tuppenny Upright’ was recorded live and they released it on their own label, Dansettual. The follow up ‘The Tuppenny Hangover’ was recorded at Gizzard Studios, and came out in March 2022 on the same Dansettual label. The Bunters songwriting is all the way down the cracks between Pete Ham, Syd Barrett and Lionel Bart, but their live performance sits precariously on a web spun by X-Ray Spex, The White Stripes, Wings and, well, Sparks, I guess – in that, you’re never quite sure who to watch.
It’s another long support set this afternoon and the married duo are mad at it for forty minutes from 3:15pm to 3:55pm. They could make their lives so much easier by readjusting the running order of their set so that Fi plays Korg keys for the first half of the set and then switches to drums for the second half, and then the more mature Dave could do the opposite, in playing drums for the first half and changing to keys for the final half. But that would just be too easy and look a lot less urgent with the continual switching of places throughout their set. They are very much a band that are ploughing their own furrow and are quite possibly the south’s answer to the north’s Lovely Eggs, in that they are fiercely independent, quirky, believe in what they are doing, and yet ooze comedic value.
They begin their fun filled but eventually annoying set with ‘Beer Gynt’ which can be found on their ‘A Tuppenny Upright’ album from back in 2015. It’s the first of I reckon probably thirteen tunes that they played. There was so much going on and so many differing styles being thrown at us that I was beginning to lose the will to live. Anyway ‘Beer Gynt’ had an almost jazz freestyle keys accompanied by frantic drumming. A couple more tunes followed and then Dave told us that the next one is the B-side of their current single, so this is going to be ‘CIVRAY 628’ with its boogie-woogie style keys. It’s difficult to tell as they didn’t have setlists. My attention was grabbed on account of them saying that the next track is an instrumental inspired by Barry Gray, he being the composer of many of the Gerry Anderson marionation puppet shows, including Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, UFO, and Space 1999. Not surprisingly this Tuppenny Bunters tune had a 1960’s vibe going on.
I learned something new next with the arrival of ‘Onychophagia’ which Dave tell’s us is the medical term for nail biting. This track is from their 2022 ‘The Tuppenny Hangover’ album. After this he then informed us that the next one is a song from his previous band and a segment of this sounded not too unlike The Darts No.2 hit from 1978 ‘The Boy from New York City’. At this point Dave was on drums and Fi on keys, but they swapped yet again for the next number which had the vocal delivery and sound as if Billy Joel had taken some speed. After this they swapped around and played ‘Clock Out’ from their ‘The Tuppenny Hangover’ album. The A-side of their current single was next, this being ‘(We All Know) How It Ends’, but for me this was bettered by the next track which benefited from a 1960’s spy theme sound with Poly Styrene (X-Ray Spex) style vocals atop from Fi. For me, I wish that they would go down this route in their sound, with some added surf rock as it would be great, but from here onwards the last trio of tunes in their set were fast becoming a “Gor blimey guvna Sowffend-on-Sea end of the pier knees-up innit” romp. I hadn’t come to see Chas’n’Dave and my teeth started grinding in stress! The punters loved them, but for me they only had one or two bright moments. They should furnish themselves with the ‘No Strings Attached’ album and take it from there!
Tuppenny Bunters:
Dave Dulake – vocals, drums, keys
Fi Dulake – vocals, keys, drums
