Bands featured are: Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power, The Tenderfoot, Actress Hands, Clearlake, Restlesslist and Brakes You'll be hearing more about these bands in the coming months. The links will take you to their Myspace pages where you can hear their music. I couldn't find The Tenderfoot's, their website's here Warning: Myspace can be rather addictive... Clearlake @ Domino Records Hear new songs from Amber (scroll down to find them) Read a recent interview at tunetribe.com Article originally printed in the Irish Post (click link for the online version) This is how it appeared in the newspaper Ask a music fan to name a band from Brighton and more often than not they’ll come up with The Levellers. Being Brighton’s most well known musical export this is understandable, but it also goes to show that when it comes to bands, Brighton has never really had a great deal of musical success outside of the local scene. During the 90’s, dance music and club-land culture was the major influence in a lot of places and Brighton was no exception, with local DJ and producer Fatboy Slim gaining a somewhat superstar status. The live music scene was always around but it was hardly in a great state, with more and more people seemingly wanting to spend their weekends getting off their faces and dancing all night at clubs. Live music needed a new lease of life and some new and exciting bands to lead the way. Little did people know that it wouldn’t be long before the live music scene in Brighton was well and truly buzzing again. In 2000 Brighton was officially awarded City status, which seemed to make people more aware of the place and what was going on in the new City by the sea. Some big named bands began adding Brighton to their touring schedule with the likes of Shane MacGowan & The Popes and Joe Strummer both playing gigs there, as well as the then up and coming American bands such as The Strokes and The White Stripes also paying a visit. Around 2001 a real buzz began in the music press surrounding a new breed of young Brighton bands making fresh, new and exciting sounds. One such band being the Electric Soft Parade. Formed by brothers Tom and Alex White upon leaving school and college, their sound was a psychedelic mix of indie and rock amongst other influences. The band puts it better themselves, "We're not the kind of band where one word or one genre describes what we do... we are always open to listening to new things and experimenting with new ideas" After numerous gigs in some of Brighton’s smaller venues (such as the famous Freebutt and a monthly residency at the Pressure Point) they signed a record deal and released a couple of singles that won them radio play by the likes of Steve Lamacq on Radio 1. Music paper NME also named them one of the British guitar bands to watch in the coming year. On the back of the release of their brilliant Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album they promptly sold out two nights in a row at the Concorde 2, Brighton’s premier alternative music venue, as well as playing the likes of Glastonbury, Reading festival and successful UK tours. Since then there’s been a number of other exciting guitar bands to emerge and there’s plenty more to come. As Verity Susman of local band Electrelane puts it. "Right now, there is a bit of a buzz in the UK music press about Brighton, as there are several bands here who have recently started releasing records and getting noticed. Of course, some people are trying to call it a scene, but we are all pretty different musically. The music scene here in Brighton is good - there are lots of bands and clubs, and we get a lot of touring bands coming here" The most recent success story is undoubtedly the quirky indie sounds of British Sea Power. Word soon spread of their now legendary monthly ‘Club Sea Power’ shows at the Freebutt which became famous for the use of foliage and stuffed animals on the stage, as well as the crazed antics of front-man Yan. It wasn’t long before the band outgrew the confines of the venue and the residency had to come to an end. After plenty of UK shows the band signed to Rough Trade records in London and have since released two critically acclaimed albums, headlined one of the stages at the Reading festival and are now well known up and down the country. Despite some of the local bands becoming better known they all still tend to play Brighton on a fairly regular basis and always get a great reception when they do. Band members have also been known to lend a hand and stand in for one another if one of the bands is ill or can’t make it. Mutual friendship and a love of music has also brought members of three bands together to form a Brighton ‘supergroup’ as they’ve been called. Brakes comprise of Tom and Alex White of the Electric Soft Parade, Eamon Hamilton of British Sea Power and Marc Beatty of The Tenderfoot. They recently released their debut album, a total of 16 tracks in 29 minutes that sounds fresh, exciting and a bit on the crazy side. The sound of a group of mates playing together has never sounded so good. March this year saw the cream of the Brighton band scene come together for a benefit gig in aid of the Asian Tsunami. British Sea Power were joined on the bill by the Electric Soft Parade, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster, The Mutts and Chris TT for a hugely successful sold out evening at the Concorde 2 which highlighted the real diversity and talent of some of the local bands. On the same note, October 3rd - 9th saw Brighton Live A week-long music festival featuring free gigs every night of the week with the likes of Clearlake, Actress Hands and Electric Soft Parade (amongst many others) taking part in what proved to be a hugely successful week for the local scene. So, the Brighton live music scene is truly alive and rocking once again. If it’s diverse and interesting music you’re after then go and check it out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed. BRIGHTON BANDS ELECTRIC SOFT PARADE: electricsoftparade.com Formed by brothers Tom and Alex White, this four-piece band play psychedelic indie rock, which is a cross between early era Verve, Teenage Fanclub and the Boo Radleys. Tom, Alex and bassist Matt also play in other Brighton bands Brakes, Actress Hands and Restlesslist. Recommended Listening: ‘Holes In The Wall’ (2002) BRITISH SEA POWER: britishseapower.co.uk "Fully waterproof and with many useful pockets, this band are all you’ll need this winter". This is just one of the many odd phrases which has been used in the past as people struggle to describe British Sea Power. Unique, eccentric and complete with naval uniforms, twigs and a stuffed heron on stage... I’m sure you get the idea by now. If not then go and listen to their own brand of epic English guitar pop and find out. Recommended Listening: ‘The Decline Of British Sea Power’ (2003) THE TENDERFOOT: thetenderfoot.co.uk Five piece band comprising guitar, bass, drums, lap-steel guitar, keyboards and melodica. Their songs can be simple ditties, a sole verse and chorus, while others sprawl restlessly, verses and bridges escalating as songs develop, leading to peaks that reach dizzying crescendos. Member Marc Beatty also plays bass in other Brighton band Brakes. Recommended Listening: ‘Save The Year’ (2004) ACTRESS HANDS: actresshandsmusic.co.uk This up and coming four piece blend vocal melodies and harmonies with crunching guitar riffs to form their catchy songs. Have been described in the past as sounding ‘like Coldplay on prozac, trying to play like The Pixies’. Singer / guitarist Matt Eaton was once a member of cult Brighton band Brighter Lunch. The band is yet to release a record, but look out for a debut album sometime soon. CLEARLAKE: clearlake.uk.com Clearlake play atmospheric music whose lyrics are clever observational tales about everyday English life (boring Sunday evenings and jumble sales anyone?) Their sound may come across as charming and quaint on first listens but soon you’ll find there’s something very odd besides. Can hear Pulp and early era Blur as some of the more obvious influences. Recommended Listening: ‘Lido’ (2002) RESTLESSLIST: restlesslist.co.uk Five piece band featuring Tom White and Matt Twaites of the Electric Soft Parade. They play sample heavy instrumental music using synths, looped guitars, keyboards and turntables as well as the usual drums, bass and guitars. The band recently headlined their first ever gig at local venue The Freebutt. Currently there’s only two limited edition EPs available but there’s sure to be some new material following in the not too distant future. Recommended Listening: ‘Eyes Are On Your Hands EP’ (2005) BRAKES: brakesbrakesbrakes.com Formed by Eamon Hamilton of British Sea Power who roped in his mates from the Electric Soft Parade and The Tenderfoot to help record his songs, which range from country tinged numbers through to short and sharp punk type tunes. Add to this variety some clever and often witty lyrics and you have yourself an eclectic and mighty interesting band. Recommended Listening: ‘Give Blood’ (2005)