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Hollow Point

Dec 02, 2024 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive

The Prince Albert is one of my favourite venues in Brighton. I like it because it reminds me of a better version of a pub in Poole I, practically, lived in from 2004-2006. It was called The Central in Ashley Cross. It no longer exists. The owners thought it was better to sell it than offer a beacon for the arts, local bands finding their feet, a place for up and coming bands to come and visit while honing their craft (65daysofstatic played there in front of a rabid pack of 80 fans) and a place where 20-something alternative pissants could call their own without the threat of a kicking from the marauding population of Poole at the time. Anyway, The Albert is something special. The gig venue is upstairs and holds about 100, 150 if the person on the door doesn’t mind taking a few risks for a few extra quids. I remember a Great Escape long gone where Kelly Lee Owens packed it out at 11 on a Sunday morning. I also remember seen an known Canadian singer songwriter pull in less than 20 midweek. But tonight, I was there to see Hollow Point, Lana Death Ray and Slouch.

Slouch took to the stage first and delivered the kind of set I would have loved in 2005. Their sound was a mixture of grunge and US-Alt rock. You know what I mean. Huge riffs, slightly sloppy and with vocals that are more bellowed than sung. It was class. What was more impressive was that it was also a sellout. Not bad for a local band on one of the coldest, and wettest nights of the year. Standing at the back the crowd were very much into the sounds the guitarists were contorting from their axes. As with a lot of first bands it was all over too quickly, but the night was off to a great start.

Next up were Lana Death Ray. In the summer I had seen them headline a gig at The Green Door Store where Slag and Rottweiler had supported. That night I hadn’t been as blown away by them as I had been the openers. I was hoping this time I’d get it as much as the crowd had. Sadly, it wasn’t to be. First up let me say that of the three bands Lana Death Ray were the most proficient and technically gifted. They were also trying the most interesting music of the night. Not satisfied to write songs in the standard 4/4 beat they went a different way. Hypnotic guitar riffs. Drone like keyboards. Massive basslines and soaring vocals featured heavily, but their set was also the most static. The first three songs sounded very similar. Annoyingly. However, as the set progressed the songs got stronger, yet stayed in a similar dynamic range. The best track of their set was “Bleed”. Here they let ripped and really showed what they could do. Seeing them for a second time and not headlining, they clearly have something. The crowd was very into their music; they’re just missing two, or three songs that will blow away any other band they play with. They reminded me of a mixture of Pure Reason Revolution and Temples. Which isn’t a bad mix, but somehow, the first half at least, sounded flat. Saying that the crowd was lapping up their songs with wild abandon after every song, so what do I know? After a brief break Hollow Point took to the stage. They were the heaviest band of the night. Really leaning into their grunge influences. After a few songs they started playing something I recognised, but I couldn’t place it. This was an odd feeling because I hadn’t seen Hollow Point before, so I thought that maybe it was a song I’d played a few days ago, but it wasn’t that. It took until the chorus to realise it was a cover. The song in question was “When the Sun Hits” by Slowdive. The way they skewed a, largely, shoegaze song into something heavier was a masterstroke. Also, who covers Slowdive these days? Whether the sell-out crowd recognised the cover, or not, was slightly immaterial as they threw themselves into enjoying it. After about half an hour their set came to an end with calls of “One more song!” from the sweaty throng. They were met with a reply of “We haven’t got any left! We played them all!”. Then the house lights went up and we were filing, as one, down the stairs.

On the train ride home I replayed the bands in my head. Slouch need a couple of strong songs and they’ll be a band to watch for the future. Lana Death Ray need to mix up the songs a bit more. Emphasising the heavier/more intricate bits to make the songs more dynamic. Hollow Point need one killer song and they’ll be, almost, untouchable. Despite the awful weather The Albert was heaving with a portion of Brighton’s gig going population. For the record there were also four other smaller gigs in 100-200 cap venues going on and Beabadoobee was playing at The Dome. So the sun is really shining on Brighton’s music scene at the moment!