CHUB + Pussyliquor + Doglung + Triple Drain @The Green Door Store,
BRIGHTON, 25 JANUARY 2025
CHUB Treat Brighton Fans to Their Own Metal-Infused Punk Party
CHUB fittingly describe themselves as “metal-infused party punk”. The band of four lifelong friends from Brighton and Eastbourne, Ben (vocals), Greg (guitar), Kyle (drums) and Zakk (bass), formed the band in 2020. Ok, less of the history lesson, and on with the music.
There’s no messing around with a CHUB live performance and no gentle introduction from this band. CHUB started as they meant to go on with a fast, noisy first number, ‘Quit’. Singer Ben was shouting out the lyrics at the edge of the stage with one foot on the monitor. This was to be his usual position throughout most of the set. While Ben was very front and centre, he was backed up by a musically tight band, with guitarist Greg and bassist Zakk often sharing backing vocals, while Kyle’s drumming never let the pace slip during the set. There was to be no slacking on ‘Company Time’, their next song.
With a rhetorical question, Ben asked the excited crowd if they were ready to party. The unanimous cheer from the audience confirmed they were up for a CHUB-style party. This was the cue if they needed one, for CHUB to go straight into ‘Grade A Bullshit’. The chorus of “Fuck You” was sung and echoed by the audience as the mic was presented to random people to shout the response.
Before their self-titled song ‘CHUB’, singer Ben proclaimed “We are Chub. Here to fuck you up and facilitate a good time.” Afterwards, Ben stated that there are three things you need to know about CHUB. Firstly, they hate fascists and Tories; secondly, they love beer; and thirdly, they are nerds. ‘Gelatinous Cube’ saw the mosh pit expand to most of the Green Door Store.
Audience engagement is something CHUB excel in. A regular feature of their shows takes this a step further than simple banter, that is the beer bong challenge. As people took the challenge in front of the stage, the band blasted out ‘Beer Bong Song’.
The mood gets more serious when the band calls out the vital work of the public sector, declaring, “We’ve had the Tories, but Labour were no better.” A new song was introduced with “Who hates landlords? That’s why we wrote ‘Section 21’. For all their fun persona and banter, CHUB aren’t afraid to address real-world issues.
As mentioned, there was a lively good good-natured mosh pit. But before their dance number ‘All Breaks, No Gas’, Ben observed, “We’ve had lots of moshing, now shake those hips.”
The light-hearted theme returned with a spicy number, ‘Carolina Reaper,’ which saw a member of the audience put on the chilli costume as people danced and moshed around them. This included the singer Ben, who left the stage to join the fun in the mosh pit area for this song. Back on stage, the band encouraged the crowd by “… wanting to see you all bang your heads”, as ‘Second Class’ was an old-school heavy rock number.
Before the last number, the crowd were in full voice chanting “Chub, Chub, Chub”, before changing to “Fuck Donald Trump, And Elon Musk” to the tune of Pigbag’s ‘Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag’. CHUB closed their lively, fun, entertaining set with a song about a local legend from their pub, ‘Microwave Dave’. Possibly the fastest tune in their set, it was clearly a fan’s favourite as virtually everybody was singing along.
Pussyliquor
The main support was provided by Pussyliquor, an all-girl punk band based in Brighton full of pure, uncensored female rage. Their lineup of Ari Black (vocals), Victoria Lewis Piper (drums), Hannah Villanueva (guitar) and Tallulah Turner-Fray (bass) was joined by an additional guitarist, Oshen Dee.
Pussyliquor kicked off in true punk riot grrl style with two unreleased tunes, ‘Boa Constrictor’ and ‘Young Love’. From the start, the band’s fast, energetic sound was built on tight musicianship between Victoria on drums and Tallulah on bass. Also clear was the fun banter within the band and between the stage and the audience, led by Ari and Hannah.
Next up was a Pussyliquor classic, where, as the band said, “You get to go meow”. Many in the growing mosh pit did meow along with ‘Kitty Kitty’. This started relatively slower and more meticulous than others in their set before it exploded mid-song. ‘Pesticide’ by contrast, was full-paced from the outset.
Announcing ‘My Body. My Choice’, singer Ari called out the absurdity of the US politics around gender. The crowd chanted, not for the last time that evening, “Fuck Donald Trump”, to which Ari matter-of-factly replied, “Personally, I wouldn’t.” Ari sang back-to-back with guitarist Hanna, as the two of them seemed to feed off each other’s energy and drive.
Pussyliquor, who never disappoint with their lively, passionate, full-on performances, closed with the typically unsubtle, uncompromising ‘C.U.N.T.’.
DogLung
Four-piece psychedelic punk band from Brighton DogLung were second to take the stage. Their singer had a very relaxed, almost casual style, as he wandered around the stage on the instrumental sections, which contrasted with his extreme focus when shouting out the songs. DogLung’s heavy rock sound included some good bass lines, particularly at the start of ‘Butter Me Up’ and some distorted guitar and feedback on some numbers. Their latest single release ‘Can I Sleep In Your Mouth’ had more variety with some loud quiet / fast slow sections, and was my pick of their set.
Triple Drain
Accurately describing themselves as “post-punk goth sludge”, Triple Drain are an exciting new addition to the UK’s alternative-rock scene. The trio Eva (vocals and bass), Bella (guitar) and Rachel (drums) opened the evening with their art-punk sounds with dark goth influences. Their powerful riffs and hypnotic hooks proved to be an exciting first set. It was definitely worth arriving early to catch their quality performance. Having made their live debut in June 2023, Triple Drain are certainly a band to watch based on their showing at Green Door Store and the previous times I’ve seen them.
WORDS: PETER GREENFIELD PHOTOS: CRIS WATKINS
CHUB+PUSSYLIQUOR +DOGLUNG + TRIPLE DRAIN GALLERY
