So I'm back again at that little high street pub ready to be rocked by this month's offering from the Littlehampton Alternative Rock Society. There was quite a lot of buzz surrounding this Punk a Palooza as we had 2 Littlehampton grown bands playing , one fairly newish, although this was the first time they had played The Crown, and the headliner, a band that's been going for a while but not played The Crown in a long time.
So first up we had Gloo. A three piece band based right here in Littlehampton. The guys were really enthusiastic about performing for us as they love the fact that the local music scene is on the rise again. Their sound is definitely rock but with punk twists to it, so a lot of their tracks are lively and upbeat but with a gritty, raw edge to them, which really comes out in the lyrics. Drawing inspiration from life in general, but not in too deep a way as they want to keep it light, they all have their part to play in the writing of their songs, and they all have their favourites to perform.
On stage their energy and enthusiasm is endless, playing to the crowd but having fun at the same time. The tracks I really enjoyed had very chunky guitar riffs to them, the kind that you can't help but move too, that coupled with the pounding and driving back beats from the bass and drums made for a real listening pleasure. You can absolutely see the passion these guys have for their music in their confidence on stage. Their whole set was amazing, definitely a band I'd see again.
Next up we had Brighton/Littlehampton based Negative Measures, a four piece punk/ hardcore band. Not having played The Crown before in this band, the guys were really pumped to be here as they normally perform around Brighton way. Tommy even stated that it was nice to see the other members who are Brighton based play over this way for a change on his home turf. Their sound is described as punk/hardcore but they are definitely on the heavier side of it which is nice to see in the punk genre as mostly when you think punk, you think of the classic old school sound i.e.: Sex Pistols etc. so they actually add a new perspective to this. Drawing their inspiration from topics such as the E.U., anti-UKIP and being sick of it all , they all contribute to the music in various ways with various ideas and not just relying on one person to write the tracks.
Various punk/metal tones can be heard in their tracks but they also tell me they try to draw some inspiration from the L.A/ New York scene in the late 70's early 80's so involving a little hip hop to their tunes as well. Their set was fantastic to watch, I swear they had springs in their shoes as they did not stay still the entire time! It's great to see passion manifest itself in this way because you can tell it comes from the the love of what they do and therefore draws in the crowd at the same time. Their tracks are definitely fast paced, deep dark riffs, passionate lyrics and kick ass drum beats especially on tracks like Sup.
So lastly but by no means least, we had our headliner; Atombuzz. These guys are based here in Littlehampton and have been going for around 20 years, and havent played The Crown for about 10 years so it was great to see them back performing to a fresh audience and some original fans too. They were also stoked about being back here headlining as The Crown holds good memories for them and the lure of "new locals to annoy" was not to be ignored for the drummer...
Their sound is definitely your more classic old school punk sound but they make it their own by adding in humorous twists in some of their tracks and generally having fun on stage and with the crowd. Pulling inspiration from (more recently as they couldn't recall what it was originally ) society, politics, anarchy and kicking against the norm lyrically, and musically making a noise ( as they told me) and just having good fun, they really are something to listen too and watch on stage.
Their tracks I really enjoyed were the more upbeat, slightly humorous ones featuring toe tapping drum beats and catchy guitar riffs. The track 'Chav Scum' Is one of these, lyrically about the topic of chavs and their stereotypical habits about town, it has a fast paced beat and guitar riff but is also catchy. 'Cheese' is a song about cheese... fantastically humorous and a crowd pleaser, it's not as fast as some of their others but absolutely toe tapping and you'll find it sticking in your head and you'll be joining in. 'Box clever ' has a slightly more chunkier guitar and bass riff to it making it again one you want to move your feet too.
The driving rhythm of the drums and raw vocals of this one keep it an absolute punk track and make it another crowd pleaser. The whole set was so much fun and definitely over way too quickly. These guys absolutely know how to put on a show. So when it was all over and we were kicking back to Metal Meyhem Radio, I was well and truly punked out! Thanks to all the bands for their amazing sets, Thanks to The Crown for hosting, Massive well done to the Littlehampton Alternative Rock Society for another fabulous event, and Thanks to Metal Meyhem Radio for live streaming the event and allowing me to interview the bands and write this blog. Rock on!
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Siobhan Trigg x
This Article was writen by Siobhan Tigg from our partner Metal Meyhem Radio.
The original article can be found here. Article ©Metal Meyhem Radio 2017.