The good folk at Brixton Hill Studios, who also run the excellent Brixton Hillbilly Records, know a good band when they hear one, so a full day of their favourite acts was too good a chance to turn down.
Gaygirl, who featured on the debut Brixton Hillbilly split 7″, wowed us once again with their lush indie rock.
Hot Sauce Pony, who count members of several of our favourite South London bands amongst their number, have broadened their sound since we last crossed paths at our To Hell With Good intentions night in Croydon. Bigger, nastier guitars add depth and heaviness at one end, while some delicate dynamic shifts keep us on our toes.
Ham Legion deal in rock theatrics, vaulting from skronky oddness to prog-metal episodes.
Mega Emotion provide a break from the guitar dominated line-up with a set that mixes stripey ceremonial robes, buzzing synths, vocals that veer wildly from harmonious to unhinged and on-stage hair cutting.
Hurtling were one of the few bands playing today that we’d lot seen live before, and if you’re in the same position, put it on the top of your to do list. With the three members having lent their musical talents to the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Graham Coxon, Shonen Knife and Jim Bob over the years, you know they can play, but their crunchy alt-rock sound is entirely of their own making and leaves a packed Windmill baying for more.
To be honest, I’m starting to run out of words to describe just how good Frauds are. Creating far more noise than a two-piece has any right to, but crafting songs far more twisting and intricate than their surface heaviness and foul-mouthed humour might suggest, their forthcoming debut album is going to be something special.
Next we head off to the ‘House of Seamus’, an acoustic stage set up in a shed round the back of the venue and named for the establishment’s landlord, where we find Keith TOTP with a scaled down version of his Minor UK Indie Celebrity All-Star Backing Band, who spark a cosy sing-a-long version of ‘Two of The Beatles Are Dead’, complete with actions.
The job of wrapping of tonight’s proceedings is left to The Scaramanga Six, who, being possessed of huge, dramatic guitar epics and the most terrifying scowl this side of the Yorkshire Dales, are more than up to the task. Many of the tracks are taken from their forthcoming double LP opus Chronica, which the band are crowd-funding for here.
Words and Pictures by Paul Maps
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