With what seemed to be one of the wettest, coldest, windiest days in recent history, a mega slice of fiery high energy live music was what I longed for. The Pipeline was the place to be! It was the first time I had been there since the re-fit. A bit more room, some top lighting for such a small room, and a kick ass sound system. Anyway, tonight four bands – giving us surf, garage, punk and rock of the highest calibre. 4 bands for £5 – each top band laying it on for the packed in crowd at The Pipeline in Brighton. Each band pushed the volume to building shaking levels. Bravo! And so, in reverse order dear reader, dig in! If you want to start reading this in running order – scroll to the bottom and work up.
Los Pepes – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex: Ben Perrier: Vocals/Guitar
Los Pepes
After the hot ‘n’ happy revellers returned from a short break of a much needed blast of 60 mph fresh air outside, the high-tempo all rocking Los Pepes immediately threw us right back into the fray with a flurry of frenzied all out mega volume foot-stompers.Ok, hands up! I am a huge fan of these guys and it was a real thrill to spend some time with them pre gig as the set-list was crafted for the coming gig and find out what they had been up to since the last time we met.
From left to right: Guilherme, Adam and Jimmy
The Band
Now the line up has not changes changed since we last met:
Ben Perrier: Vocals/Guitar
Guilherme Rujao: Guitar and vocals
Adam J Smith on Bass Guitar
Jimmy Jones on Drum
Los Pepes – The loudest powerpop band on earth…the Motörhead of powerpop! No hit wonder 60s and 70s garage pop melodies drowning in a wall of punk rock guitar. Good Vibrations records served up with a Testors punch in the face. Songs about love, antipathy and getting up to no good. They’ll stick in your head and leave your ears ringing. Cutting out a reputation for being a relentless high-energy punk rock whirlwind live, Los Pepes have also left a bunch of 7”s and four LPs in their wake. Formed in London by Ben Perrier some years back, Los Pepes is an international organisation. Made up of a strange bunch of misfits from the four corners of the world, from the UK to Japan to Brazil to Poland. Born thousands of miles apart but all with the shared experience of growing up hooked on punk, Los Pepes is living proof that rock and roll is a global force of nature. So, if you too like rock and roll, get with it and join Los Pepes whenever they hit town. You need it!
Los Pepes – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
Los Pepes, as Ben cranked up the amps after two songs, now were producing a sound moshed-up with attitude and ferocity packed punk and rock. The upped volumes gave us a punch in the face “we’re back!” statement, Ben seemed happier as he hit the next chords. What these guys give you is akin to an overwhelming adrenaline rush you don’t want to end! I swear I felt The Pipeline shaking!
Los Pepes – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
I most certainly think this may have been the last time we see these guys play a venue of such a size – and I simply can’t wait to see them scale even bigger heights! Chatting with the guys outside during a hail storm with a ciggy and a beer in hand, they were clearly looking forward to the up and coming tour of Japan.
They crammed in as much as possible and as loud as they could. Guilty Pleasures, Still Belong To Me, Positive Negative, Anyway, Unknown, The Trap, Mean It At The Time, Automatic, Let Me Tell You, Let’s Go!, Too Late, Too Late, and I Ain’t The One. Two covers deliver the final coup de grâce, the all out and out rocker Action and winding things up with a sublime rendition of Situations. Both songs given a Los Pepes makeover. All in all that was one hell of a list and one hell of a set! A strong mix of material from the four albums these guys have under their belts, and powered it up with a fist full of tracks from their latest album Positive Negative.
Los Pepes – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
The rockin’ guitar genius of Ben and Gui certainly get the crowd going real fast and some with quite breathtakingly fast solos are tucked in there. There is of course a strong backing for the front, there needs to be! We were treated to some pretty hefty heavy bass lines from Adam and everything is backed with the heavy pounding rhythms from Jimmy on drums. These guys explode with sound. Make no mistake Ben fronts the band with a lot of charisma, presence and some huge vocals to boot. What a mix! I simply cannot speak highly enough of this band. They have to be experienced live to understand their full power and magnitude. Did I mention they are loud?
Dig in and touch Los Pepes on Facebook now.
Young Francis Hi Fi
By now The Pipeline is equal in space to a full can of sardines, with gig-goers crammed in and bunched up tight, side by side. The night is a sell out and with good reason. Perhaps a bigger venue should have been chosen for a line-up of this calibre, but then nothing compares to being so up and close with a band that is about to unleash a potent live show like only Young Francis HiFi can.
Young Francis – Young Francis was born in Germany and learned punk rock by watching Ramones videos on TV. He was a true one man outfit playing guitar by hand, drums by foot and singing by mouth. No effects, no pedals, no loops, no tricks. From 2016-2019, Young Francis played as a One Man Punk Band, playing DIY Lo Fi shows and putting out trash records. Young Francis has opened shows for many, many bands including NOBUNNY, The Flaming Sideburns, Baby Shakes, Guitar Wolf, The Schizophonics, Bob Log III, Dead Elvis & His One Man Grave, UK Subs, Colleen Green, Tall Juan, Sham 69, The Cavemen and a lot more. I think I have been to a good few of those shows armed with a camera.
Young Francis HiFi – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
Young Francis sings 2 minute songs about girls and hanging out. He still does that – but now has a full on band behind him increasing the audio firepower considerably!
The Band
Young Francis – Guitar + Vox
Jimi Dymond – Guitar + Back Ups
Mac Daddy – Bass + Hand Claps
Danny Joe Handsome – Drums
I guess some bands tend to lose that “steam” as rock and roll time passes by. These guys have been together for a short while and the freshness and vibrancy is most definitely still there. It bites you, grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let go until they have finished playing. They are a breath of fresh air on the scene – and no covers.
Young Francis HiFi – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
Young Francis is a great frontman / showman and delivers a top performance of his own compositions, now with a band, made up from local, now gone but not forgotten, outfit Rotten Foxes. He has an electrifying set. These guys got a fantastic reception even for a couple of less familiar tunes to our ears. They were swiftly followed by the much more familiar tones of Girls Like You that had those in the know chime in with the words to this incredibly craftily written Ramones – esque tune, along with Suzie. Cheers erupt, from the crowd but mainly from the band, as Young Francis unashamedly stripped down to a cut away white T.
Young Francis HiFi – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex.
The songs played tonight in an incredibly entertaining tight set: Julia, Gimme A Kiss, Jealous, I Want You To Know, Same Old Story, Suzie, Bad Attitude, Do You Like Good Music, I Wanna Hold Ya, Short Hair Girl, Girls Like You and 101.
They have grown, as has their reputation, due to both their on stage energy (not quite as riotous as Rotten Foxes) and their distinctive sound that infuses fiery punked up anthems and melodies with twists of far-flung corners of the USA punk flavours. The fabulous Young Francis is still there, but with the musical muscle provided from the bad, they created a storm equal to the one blowing outside. This is a band to watch out for. They deserve a bigger stage. These guys are fast catching Los Pepes on intensity and err… volume. Brilliantly played guys.
Young Francis and his HiFi –ers can be found on Facebook here.
Rex Speedway and the Denim Avengers.
photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
These guys got things kicking off in front of a crowd that was quickly filling the space upstairs at Pipeline. I hadn’t seen these guys before but had a quick swot up on Facebook. They seem to have gone through a few name changes. And this present incarnation kicks butt big time. They naturally seem to capture rock & roll’s raw potential and engaging charm. But… the attitude on display tonight was pure garage rock and roll. The songs were fast and at times furious and delivered by the masked singer Rex Speedway. Space was tight and Rex consistently cracked his elbow on the edge of the keyboard and by the end of the set blood was streaming from the wound. Yeah – rock and roll! A constant drive from a brilliantly retro sounding keyboard added a whole new level and texture. It almost starts tipping the whole sound over into a racket infused psychedelia rush. The crowd loved it! A thumbs up from the band was returned en masse from the crowd.
Rex Speedway
Rex Speedway photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Hotrod Garage Heroes – from the sewers of Brighton.
The Band
Rex Speedway-Fuzz/vocal
Thee Buffalo-Bass Fuzz/vocal
Honkey Joe-Skin Slapping Freak
Thee Organizer-FuzzKey
Rex Speedway photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
They gave us a superb garage themed racket. And top marks for the appearance of what, I think I counted correctly, was an outing for the triple denim look. Their shows have been notable for some terrific songs and performance but also cheese, lots of cheese and varieties of the stuff was thrown into the crowd as the set closed.
The set made up from finely crafted lunch box sized cheese varieties – Pocket Full Of Corned Beef, Double Vision, Coo Cool Mumma, El Quiver, Brown Kicker Blues, Queen Kong, Fist Full Of Cheese and Denim Eyes.
Rex Speedway photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
And with the consistent loud volumes and lots of noise, these guys actually provide you with a surprisingly enjoyable performance coupled with a real diverse sound. Most enjoyable!
Get more from Rex Speedway – with or without cheese – here on Facebook.
The Atom Jacks
The Atom Jacks – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
Duck and cover! The Atom Jacks are a Civil Defence detachment formed to spread information to the general public on action when under atomic threat. Through music. For science and your own safety.
Nuclear Power Surf. Kaboom.
With not a single lacklustre tune in sight from these guys, the energy in the room was palpable and there seemed to be a sense of pride in being able to witness a band with so much crowd-pleasing potential up close. I had not seen these guys before, but fell in love with their surf – sci fi – space themed performance. They seem to have put in some well received gigs in the last few months.
Band Members
Jamie, Josh, Sam
The Atom Jacks – photo by Ian Bourn for Scene Sussex
It wasn’t long after the “invention” of rock ’n’ roll that artists started making their own styles of rock, including the reverb-heavy surf rock, made most popular by Dick Dale and later, the Beach Boys. These guys have a great look, they have a great sound and they are as tight as a nuclear atom. The trio mix up contemporary pop and heavy chords to form a unique sound, revamping the surf genre and tonight they confidently made it their own. They gave us a lesson of surf at its best. The bass with its array of peddles and buttons mixed in with guitar and drums creates a sound like no other, reminiscent of the past while staying 100% true to the latest music trends.
The Set tonight was made up from freshly gathered frothing waves: Detonation – a great opener BTW!, Man From Lox, Berliner, Dead Mans Mirv, MX Ultra, Mirage IV, Fission Mission, Dead Hand and Seb Tropicana.
The Atom Jacks are high in energy and just plain fun. Smooth chat between songs, and the classic surf riffs are strong enough to have you wanting to dance on the beach. They have played Brighton a few times, but sadly we have missed them. Now, when my Geiger counter has calmed down, I can’t wait to see them play live again.
More Atom Jacks goodness here on Facebook.
A stunning set from all of the bands tonight – awsome stuff.
Congrats to those loveable Apocalypse Dudes Present for laying this one on. Great bands – great value – loved every damn minute – yeah!
The Pipeline has a Facebook page, a little nugget of a venue with great friendly staff.
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All original pictures / video – copyright to IANB/MEDIA WORKS/ SCENE SUSSEX – Ian “The Lens” Bourn 2019.
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