It was an unseasonably rainy night for Flash Bang Band’s album launch at The Green Door Store on Sunday so I was tempted to remain cosy at home, but if I started the autumn that way I wasn’t going to get to many gigs and the line-up looked fantastic so I forced myself out into the bleak night. I arrived a couple of songs into P For Persia’s set, and I could hear them from halfway down the road. I’d seen the name around a lot but never heard them, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. P For Persia are the loudest 3-piece I’ve seen in a long while! They comprise of a drummer, assisted by a drum machine and electronic pads; a guitarist, running some insane sounding effects; a synth-player, with some of the dirtiest bass sounds I’ve ever heard; and two exuberant vocals (from the mouths of their guitarist and synth-player). The music was crazy, bombastic and hard for me to pin down on the first listen. They stood out from many experimental electronic rock groups by performing with smiles on their faces and an infectious sense of enjoyment that was perfect for setting-up the rest of the evening’s entertainment. I look forward to seeing them again sometime soon.

 

Next up were Clowns, who I have seen before and like very much: a 4-piece garage rock band possessing, perhaps, the finest rhythm section in town, a phenomenally inventive guitarist and a vigorously buoyant front man. Miles Heathfield spends the entire set alternately pacing and bouncing in front of the stage, dressed in an all-in-one bottle-green military jumpsuit. The performance was flawless but I felt the energy in the room didn’t catch up until midway through their set when ‘Love Vigilante’ forced any un-tapping feet into submission. A relentless and irresistibly muscular groove pulsating beneath one of the poppiest numbers in their set; it had me thinking of The Stranglers swapping tips with New Order, and from that point on the swelling crowd were putty in their hands.

 

The heroes of the night though were always going to be Flash Bang Band, launching their debut album ‘Bite Your Tongue’, which has been receiving positive reviews left, right and centre. The band decided, bravely, to play the full album, in order, including some songs I suspect they’ve never attempted in front of an audience. I particularly enjoyed some of these more obscure album tracks, like ‘Rooting For The Underdog’, delivered almost apologetically, it is one of the songs that stayed with me on my walk home. They had attracted the support of a rowdy group dressed as the cast of Star Wars. Personally I found their light-sabre rattling antics a little over-bearing at the front, so moved to a quieter corner of the room to enjoy this charming and inventive group doing what they do best: rocking and smiling. I’ve known about FBB for a few years, and it’s great to see how much they’ve matured from the days of promising early single, ‘I Want To Better Myself’ (which did get a chanted request from Princess Leia, despite their announced plan to play the album in its entirety). This three-piece plays grungey post-rock or psyche-pop, depending on who you ask, but the thing that always grabs me about them are their melodies, brimming with anthemic choruses that come out of nowhere in atypical arrangements. Latest single ‘If You’re Driving’ is a case in point, I always feel like the hook, “Don't leave me here alone/ I'm not as cool on my own,” has snuck up on me:- it is such an earworm it will stay with you for days. At times tonight the band sounded even better live than on record – seeming to conjure an extra ounce of power to really hammer home a chorus; but you ought to be disappointed if that is not the case, a band should be able to give you more live or what’s the point, right!? At the end of the set I am suitably impressed and, having only checked out singles to date, dutifully pick up a copy of ‘Bite Your Tongue’ on my way out the door. I listened to it in full as soon as I got home and I’m glad I did: I give it a big BrightonsFinest thumbs up and suggest you pick yourself up a copy too!
Terry Moore