Menace Beach come to Brighton having released one of the best albums of the year so far – a stupid statement to say so early, but Lemon Memory has the legs to stay current throughout 2017. After their much celebrated debut Ratwork, the latest offering from the Leeds band see more fuzz, angst and attitude enter their sound – which can only mean good things for the Menace Beach live show one assumes.

Kicking off the event was local three-piece Nature Channel. Their ferocious punk rock was a beautiful noisy onslaught. Drums were deranged, the bass was aggressive, and with an unhinged guitar and manic vocals, the intensity of Nature Channel’s set left you with a rotten feeling in your stomach that you immediately wanted more off. Next act, The New Tusks, thankfully gave more of the same. You had the sentimental melodies of Dinosaur Jr. mixed with the hardcore intensity of At The Drive In, all delivered in The New Tusks endearing punk style. The Brighton trio have got themselves a tidy outfit; strong guitar hooks, incredible basslines and compelling drums – I honestly can’t wait to see them again.

However, the main event was still to come and that was from one of the best UK bands currently around – doing rock’n’roll music right. Menace Beach started with one of the many strong singles from Lemon Memory in ‘Give Blood’, setting the pace for the rest of the show. Then by the time ‘Sentimental’ came in a couple of songs after, the crowd were smitten to the serious groove coming from the heavy bass rhythms and dominating drums. Like their records, Menace Beach are far more than just a one trick pony, going from intense rock numbers to more downbeat emotional cuts. Tracks like ‘Lemon Memory’ or ‘Watch Me Boil’ were testament to this, where the bands scuzzy well-crafted pop toe-tappers were a brief but welcome release from the near lethal amounts of energy coming from the band. Menace Beach new fondness for creating satisfyingly dark and grunge tainted tracks ruled their set, with ‘Maybe We’ll Drown’ being the perfect emotional escape from a world full of hopeless turmoil.

One of the many highpoints from their emphatic set came just before the halfway mark – ‘Suck It Out’ showcased the powerful hypnotic harmonies that come from the combination of Lisa Violet’s fragile vocals and Ryan Needham’s woozy tones, in an anthem that perfectly combines catchy pop hooks and sleazy psych rock. In a set that flew past, Menace Beach left The Hope & Ruin with a mesmerizing version of ‘Can’t Get A Haircut’ – leaving the audience wishing the gig was more towards the end of the week so they could have let loose, instead of the civilised motoric head nod that enveloped the room.

Their records sound great, but live it really is next level. Through the immediately raucous sound you get from Menace Beach, you are conscious that each musician is fully aware of every little detail they are adding to each song. It gives their music a smooth and extremely impressive sheen which so many bands search hard for but never quite find, and ultimately puts them ahead of the rest.
Iain Lauder

Photo by Michael Hundertmark  

Website: menacebeach.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/menacingbeaches
Twitter: twitter.com/MENACE_BEACH