‘VARIOUS ARTISTS’, ‘MUTATIONS FESTIVAL’ – BRIGHTON 4.11.22 (DAY TWO)
The 850 capacity ‘Mutations Festival‘ is brought to us by FORM and One Inch Badge and they are making use of 8 Brighton music venues across the 4 days. The previous festivals were in 2015, 2019 and 2021 and hopefully will be an annual affair in the gig goers calendar. It’s fair to liken Mutations to a compact version of The Great Escape, as both events feature exciting up-and-coming artists, for those punters that are hungry to uncover the unknown and the unexpected. There are around 75 acts to choose from and those selected to play are a very good snapshot of the buoyant music industry.
Today is Day Two ‘The Friday’ and takes in 22 live music performances spread across 4 Brighton Grassroots Music Venues, those being Chalk, Patterns, Latest Music Bar and The Hope & Ruin.
Here are the acts that we witnessed today………………..
NAKED LUNGS 3:20-3:50 The Hope & Ruin
Naked Lungs are a four piece from Dublin comprising Tom Brady on vocals, Ryan Mortell on bass, Andrew Connaughton on guitar, and Matt Pyper on drums. They are responsible for some very visceral noise rock. Mortell and Connaughton are clearly influenced by their compatriots Gilla Band in terms of their playing style. Indeed, there isn’t really that much in the way of conventional playing, especially so in the song ‘Relentless’.
At one point during The Hope & Ruin concert Brady gets his foot trapped in his mic lead. He manages to extricate himself whilst keeping singing. Debut single ‘Database’ is faster than the rest of the set. All in all they’re an exhilarating live band. Certainly worth watching out for.
Naked Lungs:
Tom Brady – vocals
Ryan Mortell – bass
Andrew Connaughton – guitar
Matt Pyper – drums
(Mark Kelly)
YABBA 4:20-4:40 Latest Music Bar
Scottish newcomers YABBA brought their punk dance music to the Latest Music Bar. From Dumfries, YABBA are a 5 piece band whose music is based around heavy drum beats from Max Thomson and bass synth sounds from Nick Farrell. Fronting the band is Josh Kirk, who has an angry vocal delivery with generous use of the echo effect. The line-up is completed by guitarists Korey Patterson and Elias Muusavi.
YABBA launched straight into their set with ‘Big Joint Skins’, followed by their debut single ‘Get By’ both delivered at speed. Amid the dark bass synth and fast guitars, at times, some of Max’s drumming had hints of Sweet and T Rex. Throughout the set, singer Josh paced the stage looking very edgy, which matched his singing. As a contrast there was one slightly slower song mid set, after which singer Josh observed “That was a bit sad. Let’s ramp it back up.”, which is exactly what they did. What the set may have lacked in variety, it more than made up for in energy and anger. The full paced set went down well with the packed Latest Music Bar crowd. The calls for “one more song” did get an encore (unusual for a festival with so many bands playing one after the other). Not only were YABBA buzzing during their set, by the end so was the very appreciative crowd.
Yabba:
Josh Kirk – vocals
Korey Patterson – guitar
Elias Muusavi – guitar
Max Thomson – drums
Nick Farrell – synth
(Peter Greenfield)
GHUM 4:40-5:10 Patterns
Ghum are London based and comprise Laura Guerrero on vocals, Marina MJ on bass, Jojo Khor on guitar, and Vicki Ann on drums. Their debut album ‘Bitter’ was released in June this year. Their music is very atmospheric, with clear Joy Division and New Order influences. The band are backlit for most of their first song ‘California’, but this seems to be by accident rather than design, as the spotlights come on about three-quarters of the way through the song. Second song ‘Some People’ is much punchier than the first: a bit like Hooky and co on speed.
Guitarist Jojo frequently uses feedback. She may not like me saying this, but her playing style is very similar to The Edge from U2 during the early 1980s. She’s similarly incisive. Jojo has a double coil pickup at the bridge end of her Stratocaster. As the owner of a standard Stratocaster, I’m a tad jealous. Vocalist Laura is Spanish, and the song ‘Perro’ (which is Spanish for “dog”) is all in Spanish. Laura puts her hand in the air at one point and accidentally wallops one of the stage lights. Maybe she’s used to playing bigger stages…. Closing song ‘Saturn’ is the fastest of the whole set. Ghum are a great live band, and they’re playing at Hackney Oslo on 29th November. Check ‘em out.
Ghum:
Laura Guerrero – vocals
Marina MJ – bass
Jojo Khor – guitar
Vicki Ann – drums
(Mark Kelly)
LAMBRINI GIRLS 5:00-5:30 Latest Music Bar
There was a real sense of anticipation in a packed Latest Music Bar for Brighton three piece Lambrini Girls. Lambrini Girls are Phoebe Lunny (vocals/guitar), Catt Jack (drums), and newest member Lilly Ava-Adore (bass), who combine the riot grrrl delivery of the likes of Bikini Kill with their own tongue in cheek style. Delivering fast tempo music with a sense of fun, in which they appear not to take themselves too seriously, Lambrini Girls have a good following on the Brighton live music scene.
They opened their set with a pounding almost rockabilly drum beat from Catt and Phoebe announcing “We love pretty girls and you’re f*cking welcome”. Gender politics and sexual identity feature prominently in the Lambrini Girls’ lyrics and the band’s whole character. While some singers leave it until later in the set before going into the audience, Phoebe wasn’t waiting. She was off stage and onto the bar within the first song ‘F*ck Myself’. Phoebe seemed to spend as much time in the crowd as on stage. Audience participation featured strongly in Lambrini Girls’ performance at Mutations, with Pheobe seeking out “gay legends” in the crowd. Halfway in, water and beer were passed on stage for the band. Phoebe, who by this point had already stripped off her dress, simply poured the beer over herself, starting a playful drinks fight among the band. After successfully pleading with the venue staff for an extra song, Lambrini Girls played the call and response crowd favourite ‘Craig David’ to end their very lively entertaining set.
Lambrini Girls:
Phoebe Lunny – vocals, guitar
Lilly Ava-Adore – bass, vocals
Catt Jack – drums
(Peter Greenfield)
HIGHSCHOOL 5:20-5:50 Chalk
Highschool are from Melbourne, Australia, but are now London based. The core band consists of Rory Trobbiani on vocals and guitar, Luke Scott on bass, and Lilli Trobbiani on keyboards. Since moving to London they have acquired a second guitarist and a drummer. I’d heard some really good things about them, but I must confess I’m slightly disappointed. They are clearly very much in thrall to the 1980s, especially New Order’s output from that era. Although Rory Trobbiani is a far more fluent guitarist than Bernard Sumner ever was.
However, there is a difference between being influenced by a musical era or genre and aping it. Sadly Highschool fall on the aping side of the divide. Luke Scott even wears his bass up high as if he was in Spandau Ballet or similar circa 1980. This is all rather a shame as their playing is good, if their material is a little derivative. A little more imagination needs to be applied methinks.
Highschool:
Rory Trobbiani – vocals, guitar
Luke Scott – bass
Lilli Trobbiani – keyboards
(Mark Kelly)
OPUS KINK 5:50-6:20 Latest Music Bar
Opus Kink are Brighton boys and proud of it. The six-piece got it together in late 2017 with a desire to marry groove-based, jazz-inspired rhythms to an apocalyptic narrative. Clashing guitars, dancing keys and powerful horns sit on top of a formidable rhythm section providing a landscape for a weird lyrical trip. They have just dropped their seven tune mini-LP ‘’Til The Stream Runs Dry’ via Nice Swan Records.
The Jazz-punk sextet offer up powerful jaunty brass sounds in the absolutely rammed (one out one in) Latest Music Bar They get the packed crowd riled up with their driving bass lines that can shake through your core and vocals that are both lyrically dense but also delivered in a quick punchy succession. The instrumental portions of the set are when the jazz in jazz-punk really comes out and when the most musically dense portions are unleashed. These moments are aided by the keys and rhythmic talented drums working in unison and the crowd were certainly bopping along within their confined spaces, especially the left hand side of the room as you face the stage. I unfortunately was squished against the rear wall and couldn’t enjoy the set as much as I should have, and thus I need to give them another go to properly decide if I like them or not.
Opus Kink:
Angus Rogers – guitar, lead vocals
Sam Abbo – bass
Jazz Pope – keys
Jed Morgans – saxophone
Johnny Giles – trumpet
Fin Abbo – drums
(Nick Linazasoro)
BODEGA 6:15-7:00 Chalk
I’m in Chalk to catch New York art rockers BODEGA. I enjoyed their recent album ‘Broken Equipment’ and was very much looking forward to seeing them. I’m not disappointed. Starting with a group join hands, they launch into a bouncy set that’s both artily cool and groovily fun all at once. House left on guitar and lead vocals, songwriter and filmmaker Ben Hozie looks serious, while his collaborator in both ventures, Nikki Belifiglio is contrastingly animated, combining a retro kookiness with hyper-sassy posing. There’s plenty of stick pointing and eye contact amongst her freaky dancing, as she pounds a hi-hat and works a control surface in between vocal duties. The rest of the drums are provided by a stand up kit. The drummer, possibly a dep, looks like he’s enjoying himself, his long hair flying around as he pounds the toms. The bassist has the chiselled look of a young Iggy Pop, whilst crazy-legged guitarist Dan gives the impression of a snake-hipped variant of Andy Warhol. His playing is a gorgeous range of new wave clipped trebly sounds, from angular to choppy to wailing synthy howl. He manages to dance vigorously whilst looking effortlessly chic too, no mean feat.
The music starts off great and just gets better. If you need to imagine it, try a combination of Talking Heads, The B52s, and The Velvet Underground, then make it faster. There’s an obvious cinematic link to the insistent clang of ‘Jack In Titanic’, and an intense urgency to ‘No Vanguard Revival’. ‘Thrown’ is utterly sublime, with a naggingly catchy backing vocal, and an irresistible throb and twang that has the crowd bouncing enthusiastically. I’m dancing like a lunatic. Nikki takes the lead vocal for a particularly brisk romp through ‘Statuette On The Console’, and ‘Doers’ is another standout number with its triumphant chant: “This city’s made for the doers, the movers, the shakers…” Hell, yeah! A most enjoyable set.
BODEGA:
Ben Hozie – vocals, guitar
Nikki Belfiglio – vocals, percussion
Dan Ryan – guitar, vocals
Adam See – bass
(Richie Nice)
POZI 6:50-7:20 Latest Music Bar
POZI are an unusual post punk trio from south London who aren’t afraid to embrace the avant-garde and defy convention. This guitarless trio of drums, bass and violin have over the past four years adopted Nu-wave thinking to expand their sonic palette beyond run of the mill, and it is one of many things that helps separate them from other bands. Back in the day, I’m sure that POZI would have been asked by John Walters to record a John Peel Session for BBC Radio 1. They dropped their debut album ‘PZ1’ back in 2019 and their latest tune ‘Slightly Shaking Cells’ was released 1st November. I had seen this trio back in May at The Great Escape at Revenge and the venue’s sound was truly pants. Back then, I promised myself that I needed to see POZI again, to truly hear what they sound like. Today is that day.
The basement of the Latest Music Bar is packed and deservedly so. The trio take to the barely raised stage. Rosa Brook, who is all mic’d up, puts her violin through an impressive array of pedals. Toby is seated behind the Gretsch drums and deals with programming and is arguably their lead vocalist. Tom Jones (not that one!) is taking care of bass and vocals. All three members of the band share lead vocals, but the real star of the show is Rosa, whose violin playing is, quite literally, electric. She is also very mobile onstage, whirling like a dervish and sounding like Satan’s violinist. Thankfully the post punk sound is miles better than my previous encounter. The hip shaking tunes with a drum-cymbal-drum-cymbal beat keep flowing nicely. The violin was plucked by Rosa’s finger at times, which gave an echo effect which added to their sound. Lead tune from their ‘176’ EP with Rosa on vocals was a set highlight, and latest release ‘Slightly Shaking Selves’ obviously got played as well. It was an absorbing set.
Pozi:
Toby Burroughs – drums, programming, vocals
Tom Jones – bass, vocals
Rosa Brook – violin, vocals, cowbell
(Nick Linazasoro)
CROWS 7:20-8:00 Patterns
When I previously saw Crows at ‘Rockaway Beach’ festival in January this year, I was somewhat underwhelmed. I just had the feeling that I’d seen all this before. I could appreciate that they were a good band, but there was somehow something missing. I felt that they deserved a second look, and the ‘Mutations Festival’ gave me a prime opportunity.
From the off Crows were far less formulaic than I remembered. Vocalist James Cox occasionally uses a 1930s style mic that makes him sound oddly like John Lydon. Cox is a frontman to the power of ten. To say that he is in your face doesn’t even begin to describe his onstage persona. He gives a whole new meaning to ‘up close and personal’. He makes multiple forays into the audience and continues singing whilst joining in the moshpit. The performance today is far more energised than at ‘Rockaway Beach’. Possibly this is because since then they’ve released a new album: ‘Beware Believers’. They have completely changed the opinion I had of them previously. This was an electrifying performance bolstered by top notch material. Nice one.
Crows:
James Cox – vocals
Steve Goddard – guitar
Jith Amarasinghe – bass
Sam Lister – drums
(Mark Kelly)
WARMDUSCHER 7:40-8:30 Chalk
Warmduscher are a band I’ve been wanting to see for ages, and I finally get the chance to catch them in Chalk. The place is absolutely buzzing as they take the stage clad in white boiler suits emblazoned with the band’s logo. Vocalist Clams Baker Jr (they all have silly stage names) sports a white tracksuit and a baseball cap. His jacket is quickly discarded as the band launches into a blistering set. There’s a connection to Fat White Family: Lias and Saul were previous members, and Adam J Harmer is the current guitarist, known here as Quicksand. You might imagine it would all be a bit chaotic, but this outfit are deadly serious, and bang-on tight. The music is a mighty wall of sound: a roaring chug of post-punk, melded with a bit of psych, funk and 80s electronica. The vocals are a drawling rap in an American accent that reminds me of Huey from The Fun Lovin’ Criminals. Personally, I’d like the voice slightly higher in the mix, but the thundering overall sound has got the packed crowd dancing energetically from the off.
The sleazy disco bounce of ‘Midnight Dipper’ is particularly impressive, punctuated with jarring rhythmic stabs. Clams has a vocal effects unit on his mic stand that generates some freaky noises. The bassist, Mr Salt Fingers Lovecraft, has a lovely clipped funky groove, and I’m quite mesmerised watching him play. Quicksand lurches around like a demented stick insect, and the bearded longhair on drums batters the kit in an ecstatic frenzy. Kid Whispers looks slightly worried, but deftly fills the soundscape with retro synth squawks. The set gets better and better: freaky, dancy and trippy. ‘Disco Peanuts’ is superb: Mr Salt Fingers alternating fingerstyle snap and pop with plectrum chug. Clams is down on the crash barrier, getting up close with the front row. The twangily funky ‘Standing On The Corner’ is total joy, and the insistent riffing of ‘I Got Friends’ is a superb conclusion to a fine performance. They certainly have made some friends tonight.
Warmduscher:
Clams Baker Jr (Craig Louis Higgins Jr) – vocals
Lightnin’ Jack Everett – drums
Quicksand (Adam J Harmer) – guitar
Mr Salt Fingers Lovecraft (Ben Romans- Hopcraft) – bass
Kid Whispers (Marley Mackey) – keyboards
(Richie Nice)
COUPDEKAT 7:45-8:15 Komedia Studio (non ‘Mutations’ event)
You know how busy Brighton can be with many gigs planned on the same night, well tonight is no exception, and thus we go off-piste and head to the Komedia Studio Bar to catch a couple of young acts in action courtesy of promoters JOY. First up is Coupdekat aka singer/songwriter Katherine Reilly, who was born just outside of London and began writing songs at the tender age 15 years old. Her first headline show was on 15th October at Peckham Audio, and before then on 24th June, the first Coupdekat EP was released. It’s titled ‘Imaginary Girls’ and although it contains 8 tunes, its length comes in at under fifteen and a half minutes.
On arrival, we note that the Komedia Studio stage was made to feel homely as it had a range of plants dotted around the edge of the stage area. Katherine took to the compact stage and was accompanied by Maddie Corleone who was on sound, namely Pioneer electronics. We were given eight bouncy dance numbers in total, which began with ‘CUT IT OFF!!!’ and ‘Love Online’ from the new EP. These were a most promising start, and the young crowd certainly appreciated these early numbers. The unreleased ‘Girls Want Girls’ followed, and then another two from the EP, namely ‘Lost In Translation’ and ‘My Complete Reinvention’. Katherine then explained that the next tune was penned about lockdown as the only place her and her friends could go was ‘Little Tesco’s’. The penultimate number was the unreleased semi drum and bass number ‘Superglue’. The best was saved for last in the form of ‘FYEO’, which means “For Your Eyes Only”. This last track was catchy as hell and the whole crowd shouted “FYEO”. An enjoyable uplifting set!
Coupdekat:
Coupdekat (Katherine Reilly) – vocals
Maddie Corleone – electronics
(Nick Linazasoro)
PIRI & TOMMY 8:45-9:37 Komedia Studio (non ‘Mutations’ event)
Remaining in the Komedia Studio and staying off-piste, our night of excitement continued with headliners Manchester based dance music duo Piri & Tommy who I have seen live before on a couple of occasions and have thoroughly enjoyed them. The pair were one of NME’s 100 essential artists for 2022 and were also recently in action in Brighton as support act to Charli XCX at her very intimate performance at the Concorde 2 on 2nd September – Review HERE. Sophie McBurnie aka Piri was studying Chemistry at University and met Tommy Villiers on a date and they started making music together straight away. Their sound is a fusion of disco, rave, and old school soft vocals. Two of their songs went viral on TikTok: ‘Words’ and ‘Soft Spot’. To say I was gobsmacked that they were playing live in the Studio Bar is an understatement, as I reckon they would have easily sold out the main concert room downstairs. Thus tickets apparently sold out in a matter of minutes! Their brand new 12 song debut mixtape titled ‘froge.mp3’ dropped on 21st October.
The sound in the venue is crisp and the atmosphere was great and the crowd were really up for it despite being packed in like sardines. Piri and Tommy took to the stage along with a drummer who I thought was called ‘Boo’ at 8:45pm and they thrilled us for 52 playful minutes until closure at 9:37pm. Various blow up beach balls and green frogs were added to the set’s decoration in order to add to the party vibe. Indeed we did have a party, as everyone bopped and jumped along to their very enjoyable trip hop drum and bass tunes. Piri was in control of her TC Helicon vocal effects processor, Tommy the two guitars, bass and backing vocals, and Boo on drums, plus there was a laptop in action as well. Piri’s vocals are sugar sweet and it’s impossible not to love their tunes. A few tunes in and we are treated to their take on ‘Gypsy Woman’ by Crystal Waters, which is followed by an unreleased banger called ‘Up Down’. Chic’s ‘Everybody Dance’ was given the P&T treatment next. It’s truly amazing to hear the young crowd singing along to a tune their mums would have danced to decades ago. A trio from the mixtape followed in the form of ‘Silver Lining’, ‘Slowly But Surely’ and ‘Settle’ which says “Loser” on the auto tuned vocals. The shuffling beat of new tune ‘Nice To Me’ was next and followed by ‘SeeSaw’. The final numbers being ‘On&On’ and the absolutely brilliant ‘Soft Spot’. I danced myself silly….enuff said!
Piri & Tommy:
Piri (Sophie McBurnie) – vocals
Tommy Villiers – guitar, bass
Boo – drums
(Nick Linazasoro)
SQUID 9:00-10:00 Chalk
Squid formed in Brighton, and went on to have considerable success with their 2021 hit album ‘Bright Green Field’. Broadly described as post-punk, they are tremendously adventurous musically, incorporating elements of jazz, prog, psych and Krautrock into a genre-defying mix that can be a challenging but usually satisfying listen. A five-piece, with drummer Ollie often taking lead vocals, there is much swapping of instruments. It’s generally a fairly serious affair, with the energy channelled into sonic creativity rather than physical exuberance, although Ollie spends much of the set grinning and gurning.
Tonight at Chalk their cause isn’t helped by coming on straight after a couple of lively and infectiously danceable acts, but it’s an impressive set, nonetheless. The newer material is rather noodley and experimental, and doesn’t elicit much more than appreciative nodding from the audience. The livelier and more familiar album tracks are another matter, with plenty of bouncing and jostling down the front. By the set climax of ‘Narrator’, there’s even a bit of crowd surfing. Who’d have thought?
Squid:
Ollie Judge – lead vocals, drums
Louis Borlase – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Arthur Leadbetter – keyboards, percussion
Laurie Nankivell – bass, brass, percussion
Anton Pearson- guitar, bass, vocals
(Richie Nice)
ME REX 10:30-11:00 The Hope & Ruin
There’s a relaxed vibe and cosy atmosphere upstairs in The Hope And Ruin, and I’m here to check out indie rockers Me Rex, who are from London and Brighton. They incorporate members of Fresh and Happy Accidents, and clearly have a fondness for dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals, naming their records after these long-extinct denizens of bygone eras. The band are no fossils though; they are lively and fun. I was expecting a four-piece, but there are three players tonight. Myles is on lead vocals, doing a pogo-style dance behind a keyboard, whilst wielding a Jaguar guitar. Bassist Rich is tall, thin, and bespectacled, the very epitome of geek-chic. Behind the kit, Phoebe has a beaming smile and seems to move her whole body whilst generating an infectious shuffle beat.
The music is jangly fun, and impressively performed. Opener ‘Stella Abattoir’ is a brisk indie romp, and I’m rather taken with the extracts they play from their album ‘Megabear’. This is a collection of 52 short snippets, all in the same key with a broadly similar beat of bouncing toms. The idea is they can be played in any order, to produce a continuous piece. I must go and put it on shuffle when I get home. I’m very taken with Myles’ rapid-fire vocal on ‘Sacred Cancer’. There’s a brief hiatus to resolve a technical issue, during which Phoebe mischievously calls out, “When Rich says ‘Mute’, you say ‘ations’.” He’s an unlikely and rather reluctant cheerleader, but gets a warm and enthusiastic response from the crowd, who clearly love this band.
Me Rex:
Myles McCabe – vocals, guitar, keyboards
Rich Mandell – bass, keyboards, vocals
Phoebe Cross – drums, vocals
(Richie Nice)
JOYERIA 11:30-12:00 The Hope & Ruin
Joyeria is a Canadian artist based in London. From his recorded output I was half expecting a solo set with a laptop, but I’m very pleased to see a six-piece band take The Hope & Ruin stage, with keyboards, guitar, bass, drums and sax. The main man is on lead vocals and guitar. The sound is artily vibey, lively in parts, sometimes languidly downbeat, and sometimes vaguely trippy. I rather like it.
As someone no longer in the first flush of youth myself, I appreciate the lyric of opener ‘Death’: “My face has changed but my name’s the same, and not in a good way.” I can also relate to the tale of workaday grind in ‘9 to 5’. ‘Colour Film’ has a lovely psych feel, its descending pattern overlaid with howling guitar, before breaking down to an atmospheric sax interlude. ‘Here Comes Trouble’ packs a lot in: an insistent build with a garagey feel, leading to a half-speed breakdown and culminating in a mesmeric Krautrock-style playout. Superb!
Joyeria:
Joyeria – vocals, guitar
Joe – keyboards, vocals
Sam – guitar
Ryan – drums
Johnny- bass, vocals
Harry – sax
www.instagram.com/joyeria.sounds
(Richie Nice)
O. 12:30-1:00 The Hope & Ruin
O. are a very unusual band, a baritone sax and drums duo, comprising Tash Keary on drums and Joe Henwood on sax. To say that I have never seen a band quite like this is something of an understatement. The sax is put through multiple pedals which manipulate the sound unbelievably. So much so that if you were listening to this music on record you would probably have no idea what instrument you were listening to.
The sax sometimes sounds like a guitar, and numerous other instruments besides. Tash Keary is absolutely astonishing on drums. She replicates techno beats on an acoustic kit as if it’s second nature. Their debut single (which they don’t tell us the title of) is released on Thursday 10th November. Additionally they play at Peckham Audio on 17th November. It’s nice to have something that makes Peckham worth visiting.
O.:
Tash Keary – drums
Joe Henwood – saxophone
(Mark Kelly)
PERSONAL TRAINER 1:30-2:00 The Hope & Ruin
Personal Trainer hail from Amsterdam and are the project of singer/songwriter Willem Smit. Performing live they’re a seven-piece. Willem strips to his underpants during the first song. Well, we all need to have a hobby, and I guess exhibitionism is one. The music is punchy, powerful indie and reminds me of The Wannadies. Thirty years ago they would have been having hits if they were around then. Their second song ‘Politics’ is pretty funky. Willem dances very daintily for a man of his girth. ‘Fiddle Funk’ is heavily riffy, and the synth on ‘The Key Of Ego’ sounds like early OMD.
Willem scrabbles in the pockets of his discarded jeans and pulls out a harmonica which he blows once. He now wears his jeans around his neck. Well, why wouldn’t you? There’s been a lot of amusing and eccentric behaviour during this performance, but laughing aside, Personal Trainer are shit hot. They’re good enough to mess about without detracting from the quality of the music. They have a new record out today, called ‘Big Love Blanket’ which has ten tunes on it and might be worth checking out.
Personal Trainer:
Abel Tuinstra – keys, samples, trombone
Willem Smit – vocals
Kilian Kayser – percussion
Ruben van Weegberg – bass
Kick Kluiving – drums
Franti Maresova – guitar
Leon Harms – guitar
(Mark Kelly)
Read our review of the Mutations Festival Day ‘Opening Party’ HERE.
Read our review of Day One of the Mutations Festival HERE.
Read our review of Day Three of the Mutations Festival HERE.
Read our review of the Mutations Festival ‘Closing Party’ HERE.
