Following last year’s fantastic celebration of Brighton’s musical underground Sea Monsters is back, bigger and better than ever! Expanding by five extra bands and nearly 40 extra minutes Sea Monsters 2 will be released by One Inch Badge on April 9th showcasing the 23 most exciting bands from Brighton across two fantastic CDs!
It’s been an incredible year for Brighton since the last Sea Monsters: a wealth of new DIY scenes emerged around new venues The Green Door Store and The Haunt; new promoters emerged to bring some of the most exciting and experimental international music to Brighton. The Maccabees, The Kooks, Esben and the Witch, Rizzle Kicks and Gross Magic all released some incredible material proving yet again why Brighton is king of the British music scene.
As always it was incredibly difficult to whittle the scene down to just 23 standout new artists. Across this comprehensive compilation you’ll get to hear the indie-pop perfection of Munich and Black Black Hills; the quirkiness of Restlesslist and Us Baby Bear Bones; the youthful exuberance of Tyrannosaurus Dead and Fear of Men; the electronic assault of DA-10 and The Physics House Band; the balls-out psychjamzzz of Negative Pegasus; and the heavier-than-thou dark-side of Sea Bastard and Plague Sermon; amongst many, many others. It’s an experimental set of music that switches genres more times in the space of two discs than even Madonna dared to, a real testament to the true depth and excitement of the Brighton scene in 2012.
Scoring over 4000 plays in its first week alone you can stream the entire Sea Monsters 2 compilation over at the One Inch Badge soundcloud page.
Tracklisting:
CD1
1. Restlesslist- Magma
2. Nullifier – Canguu Thunderbolts
3. Munich – Hero of Mine
4. Tall Ships – Hit the Floor
5. Soft Arrows – The Arcade Grave
6. Fear of Men – Doldrums
7. Tyrannosaurus Dead – 1992
8. The Physics House Band – Titan
9. Speak Galactic – Long Distances
10. DA-10 – Respirator
11. Squadron Leaders – Brothel Creepers
CD2
1. Sons of Noel and Adrian – Rise
2. Us Baby Bear Bones – Rain
3. Jumping Ships – Talisman
4. Black Black Hills – Celebration
5. Heliopause – Try to Lose
6. Robert Stillman – Impossible Tree
7. Twin Brother – Backseat Routine
8. Cinemascopes – Small Blue Waves
9. Negative Pegasus – Floating Omen
10. I’m being Good – Nanoparty
11. Plague Sermon – Black Sleep
12. Sea Bastard – Taedium
Biographies for the individual bands can be found below:
Restlesslist : Brighton’s surf prog instrumentalists Restlesslist are about to go cataclysmic. Hauled up through 2011 preparing what we can fairly say is the most ambitious sound to come out of Brighton ever since errrrr ever!
Nullifier : Nullifier is the musical experiment of Jim and Todd. Jim, cynically, sees reality as sentimental. Todd drinks beer and dances a lot. Sometimes they get it together & finish a song. They are big advocates of basslines chopped to 1/8, and distorting EVERYTHING. Live they grow 12 extra legs.
Munich : Munich deliver an ambitious stadium sized patchwork of cinematic British anthemic pop. A widescreen guitar based blanket to delve under on a cold and gloomy day, or a super-soaked in the middle of summer.
Tall Ships : Tall Ships combine complex, layered and beautiful soundscapes with intelligent songwriting. Drawing from elements of math rock and angular pop Tall Ships draw influence from Battles, Minus the Bear, Sigur Ros and Prince.
Soft Arrows : Taking the raw, direct energy of a garage band and the expansive, wavering melodies of shoegaze and playing in near darkness, Soft Arrows create big sounds and claustrophobic vibes.
Fear of Men : Fear of Men are undoubtedly one of the key breakthrough acts of the Brighton scene in 2011. Drawing influence from The Chills, Grouper, The Raincoats and Daniel Johnston, FOM create youthful fuzz-pop which instantly caught the ears of both Italian Beach Babes and Sex is Disgusting.
Tyrannosaurus Dead : Formed only a year ago TD create a melodic and fuzzed sound unlike anyone else around yet manage to retain a warmth and familiarity owing to the amalgam of their strong Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth influences.
The Physics House Band : Born from a love of classic 70’s fusion and contemporary electronica, PHB make compositions reminiscent of Jaga Jazzist, Yes and Pink Floyd, coupled with the technical tunefulness of The Mars Volta and Battles.
Speak Galactic : Speak Galactic make nonlinear, underwater pop music, using pitch-shifted guitars and reverb smeared tape loops.
DA-10 : Made up of MPC master 10-David and synth genius Danalouge, DA-10 take their name from a mythological piece of hardware with the power to fuse crispy drums, twinkling lead lines and poo-your-pants bass.
The Squadron Leaders : Born out of the ashes of Fission Ignition (an experimental fusion of electro, surf guitar & bebop brass) came The Squadron Leaders, a group of true instro/surf originals.
Sons of Noel and Adrian : Hot off tour supporting Mumford and Sons, the undisputed kings of the folk-noir scene offer up a sneak preview of their forthcoming sophomore album ‘Knots’ which will be released on 12” vinyl via OIB in 2012.
Us Baby Bear Bones : Us Baby Bear Bones are Daisy Warne and Puff Gandolfo. Creating often ethereal sounds, they combine uncomfortably honest lyrics, sweetened vocals and flights of fancy, with sounds akin to Why?/Pinback.
Jumping Ships : Jumping Ships are an alternative rock pop quartet who have just released their second EP ‘Standard Bearer’ (Rocksound 8/10) through Alcopop! Recent shows include supporting Bombay Bicycle Club, Camden Crawl, and The Great Escape.
Black Black Hills : Intricate and complex without compromising their perfectly crafted melodies, BBH create indie pop music at its most intelligent and exciting. 2011 saw Black Black Hills release their two most accomplished singles to date, The Cebration and A Drowning.
Heliopause : Begun as a way of articulating those inexplicable, intimate moments in life, Heliopause produce lush- sounding, understated, cinematic pop.
Robert Stillman : Robert Stillman is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work lives at the intersections of song, sonic arts, and history. Reflecting an awareness of process, location, and medium, RS’s compositions draw upon popular and folk forms – most recently, American pre-jazz and rural music. 2011 saw the release of Stillman’s critically acclaimed album ‘Machine’s Song’ on One Inch Badge.
Twin Brother : Twin Brother is the stage name of 20-year-old multi-instrumentalist Alex Wells. Possessing a strong vocal likened to Nick Cave and Tom Waits, TB will excite fans of Arcade Fire, The National, The Strokes.
Cinemascopes : With a heavy arsenal of kraut rhythmed, pedal ridden, panic stricken jams, Cinemascopes are one of Brighton’s most exciting bands. With their debut record coming in 2012 expect to hear a lot more from these boys.
Negative Pegasus : Neg Peg make hard-psych noise rock from echos, feedback and whispers. All prehistoric rhythms, down-tuned riffs and disintegrated electronics.
I’m Being Good : Brighton bands don’t come much more historic than I’m Being Good. Starting life as bedroom warrior Andrew Clare’s early 90’s guitar-dirge-on-tape steed, TBG swiftly clocked up five LPs of beautiful, ugly, detuned, spitting and spluttering rock as well as an infamous ‘Peel session’.
Plague Sermon : In the 7 years since its inception, Plague Sermon has meandered far from it’s scream roots. Picking up members of Charlottefield, State Icons and Trencher, the band has forged a volatile, unpredictable blend of minimal, hypnotic, cyclical drones, ethereally grinding melodies and deafening sludge riffs.
Sea Bastard : Formed in July 2011 from the ashes of recently-deceased Brighton doom bands, Jovian and Funeral hag, Sea Bastard is a fusion of their two sounds; the uncompromising lethargy of Jovian meeting the groove of Funeral Hag.
