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Totally Psyched: The Great Escape Festival Preview
It’s only a few more days until the UK’s answer to SXSW kicks off – a gigantic roster of bands, a brilliantly weird little town, a few established acts, but a copious number of new bands you’ve never heard of. The Great Escape in Brighton – what’s not to like?
As you can tell, we’re really excited. ‘Psyched’, you might say. So much so we’ve decided to curate our list of bands to check out based on that very genre. Expand your mind and escape your screens. These are bands best seen live.
Of course, this is just a snippet. Add to this the likes of Eagulls, Telegram, and Teleman – and you’ll easily find yourself in a cosmic, seaside adventure. Hate the sound of drone and the sight of long hair? There’s also an array of acoustic, a range of rap and a modicum of metal to set your ears free. If discovering new acts is your thing – then The Great Escape is for you, and if it’s not, why are you reading Glasswerk anyway huh?
Black Honey
Horatios, 10pm Friday 20th May
Wagner Hall, 8.30pm Friday 20th May
Get ready for some Tarantino-esque grooves from these Brighton darlings. Their sound is surfy, poppy, rocky and bundles of fun. With lead singer Izzy B often being compared to Debbie Harry, expect to be mesmerised by a voice that can go from a sultry drawl to frenzied yelp. Their lucky flamingo Jerry should also be making an appearance.
Doomsquad
Sallis Benney Theatre, 8.15pm Saturday 21st May
It’ll be witching hour when Doomsquad take to the stage; the vocals can be haunting, the beats trippy. The Toronto three-piece are made up of Jaclyn, Allie and Trevor Blumas – two sisters and a brother in this musical family. Expect something a bit different here: instruments in their repertoire include flutes and egg shakers.
Jambinai
Sallis Benney Theatre, 7.30pm Saturday 21st May
Jambinai play instrumental music created using a haegum, piri and geomungo. Intrigue? You bet. These are traditional Korean instruments that the band use to create sounds that range from post-rock to Korean folk. The instruments are like a fiddle, flute and zither. Yeah? No? Just see them live and save yourself the googling trouble.
Night Beats
Brighthelm, 8.30pm Thursday 19th May
Get ready for a blast from the past fast-forwarded to 2016. Night Beats play an infectious combination of blues, garage and psych with a sound so retro, yet so fresh, when compared with the masses of samey-psych out there (read: any release on Burger Records). They’ve been riding the wave of their stellar release Who Sold My Generation from earlier this year, so we can expect nothing less but a high-octane, psyched-out performance.
Vodun
The Hub, 12.30pm Saturday 21st May
These London tribal rockers should be playing at 12.30am rather than a midday slot. Nevertheless, these lot will give an audio-energy boost to start your day. Their trademark look is tribal body paint, bright kaftans and all thing Voodoo inspired. And there’s plenty of substance to back their style: expect a heavy dose of afro beat psychedia.
– Jennifer Ho
@jensties