With an outrageously interesting name like ‘Together PANGEA’ – you can’t help but stand up and take note with a sincere level of intrigue as to what and who they are. This gang of four play quick and brutal garage punk that leaps at you like some rabid wolf in search of prey. There’s no getting away from it, it’s caustic and comes at you straight and hard from LA. The band are signed to California’s Burger Records – this giving away a large part of their sound, the label is home to the likes of La Luz, Hinds and FIDLAR. Burger Records have recently been taking over the lo-fi, rock’n’roll world and unless you've been living under a rock in Brighton, it’s fairly obvious that they have had a large influence on much of Brighton’s music culture in the last year or two. Each of the bands mentioned above have recently played in Brighton or are scheduled to do so in the coming months.

Inside The Hope & Ruin, bodies bustled around as support band, FLESH, took to the stage. Wrapping up warm in their Mancunian swagger, the band confidently drove the audience about through an interesting mix of Britpop, punk and grunge. It sounded similar to the NME starlets circa-2011, Viva Brother, whilst taking roots of US 90s pop-punk, something in the vein of Sum 41. A weird combination on paper it sounds but they really pulled it off. They mixed onstage theatrics with music that is exceptionally hook driven, songs like these deserve to be played headlining stages around the country. Listening to the likes of ‘Vauxhall Cassanova’ live was intriguing, there was an underlying grit to it that really made it sound distinct. There was little polish to the set but this added to their sound as a band. Storming off the stage after their set, you could of been forgiven for thinking they were the headline band. Afterwards, mooching about outside, I got chatting to a few punters, a couple of which stating that they were there to see FLESH regardless of the headline act.

Together PANGEA sprung up onstage at about half past 9 and with them they brought outrageous moustaches and a fashion that suggested they had just catapulted themselves straight from the garage rock music scene; half mast, frayed jeans blended with tattered Converse and trucker caps. The band showcased three minute wonders in the form of ‘Looked In Too’ and ‘If You’re Scared’ off their latest release, The Phage EP, these were quick and to the point songs. The set was outlined to be an interesting, raucous affair as bodies collided and others surfed on top from early on. It was initially captivating from the off however, by the 5th song, you began to wonder where set dynamics would come into play.

The set coursed through hits off their debut LP, Badillac. The title track was aired early on and it does a great job of screaming it’s own name through the chorus, elsewhere ‘Does He Really Care’ and ‘River’ carry with them an addictive, class-A melody that teases you to jive along with it. The crowd responded well to a band that desperately wanted to generate an atmosphere, you got this impression that they really cared about crowd enjoyment, this is completely to their credit. It’s not always you find a band that really play for the audience. The issue was, the whole affair just grew tiresome by the end. The songs were too similar, the set was too relentless and their was no point for a breather, for a chance to take a back seat. The storm went on, their was no calm before, or calm after, it just flew by at a million miles an hour. I can’t help but feel this is a tendency with music in this vein, it’s not a point stapled to every band from that scene, however, it can be done tastefully. The likes of Growlers and Black Lips do a fantastic job of taking elements of garage, rock, punk and psychedelia and combing them in a dynamic manner. It just seems that when it is done with such torrential fury, it can become a desperate attempt to make every song as trashy and quick as the next. On an album, it can work. Live, it can just grow too much and when this is spread across the best part of twenty songs, an hour or so set can seem too much, too long.

Ultimately, Together PANGEA tried to make a point tonight. It’s completely in credit to them that they tried to put together a set that revolved around fun and a fantastic time, if it was a sightly shorter set, I get the sense it would have been more engaging, more appealing. When it is spread over a longer time period, it can drag. Nevertheless, the band have a great ability to write catchy melodies and hooks that really want you to play along with them, they really want you to party and engage with them.
Tom Churchill

Website: http://togetherpangea.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/togetherpangea/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/togetherpangea