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Wave Chase

Nov 09, 2023 By Nick Roseblade Photography by Nick Roseblade Web Exclusive

At the moment, it feels like another week, another gig. I’m not complaining. This week Wave Chase, Still Life and Matisse were the bill at Brighton’s Green Door Store. This venue, along with The Prince Albert, The Pipeline and a few others are fundamental to nurturing the next wave of new bands yet offering an intimate port of call for bigger bands on the circuit.

Matisse were up first. This dream pop quintet is fronted by Matisse Moretti. The songs are delicate, but catchy. Moretti is charismatic. He honed this in his previous band FLOWVERS. After this Portsmouth outfit disbanded, Moretti moved to Brighton. The move seems to have worked for him as Matisse is a stronger unit than FLOWVERS. In between songs he engages with the audience “This one is less self-indulgent. Hold on, it’s a bumpy ride” the following songs featured chugging guitars, duelling licks and playful synths. After that finished Moretti jokes “Back to more self-indulgent songs I’m afraid”. The best song of their set was ‘Better than Ever’. Here the band really pulled together and got in the groove and stayed there. The main lyric was “Feels like we’re sticking together. Its going better than ever”. Matisse is playing at The Green Door Store again on 14th November, I’m tempted to go and see if, with a bit more time, they can be better than ever.

Still Life were up next. Not the post-hardcore band from California. They broke up in 2003, but a new quartet from Bournemouth. Rumour has it that this is their fourth gig and first outside of BH1. Singer, and guitarist, Alex Willmott told the crowd “This is the first time playing in Brighton. He really likes your town.” “IT’S A CITY” the crowd roared back “Sorry, we’re country boys. We don’t know anything”. Their music was more of a classic/mainstream indie rock vibe. The guitars were heavier than Matisse, but not to the detriment of the music. They sounded like the Arctic Monkeys covering Bryan Adams. Their next single ‘Party’ was the star of the show. It was catchy and members of the crowd knew some of the words and joined in. Before the set ended Willmott said: “Thank you for having us. We’ve loved being here. The journey from Bournemouth took a while” then he paused and added with a wry smile “But you’ve got shit roads”. On one hand he is correct. From Chichester to Brighton the roads can be shit, on the other Willmott was being a bit of a dick. Which I didn’t mind. I like singers with a bit of churlishness to them. They closed their thirty-minutes set with “Something in the Music”. Big drums, wonky guitars and huge bass was the order of the day. It was a good way to end their set. The crowd walked to the bar happy.

After a short break Wave Chase took to the stage. Weirdly Wave Chase are another Bournemouth band, but now located in Brighton. It’s good to see bands from Bournemouth coming through and playing out of town. When I lived there it was very insular and the band hardly ever got a break to play somewhere else. The band were clearly up for ending the night with a bit of a party and they supplied massive vibes throughout. They sounded like a mixture of The Strokes, Wombats, Vampire Weekend but slightly surf leaning. Singer, and guitarist George Kingman’s vocals were soaring but not as much as Mikey Golicher’s guitar. Riff after riff flew from his fretboard. As the set progressed the crowd danced, hugged and generally had a blast. It was infectious as when I braved the elements to head home, I had a spring in my step and a smile on my face.

All three of these bands were different but they all shared a single thread. Catchy songs. Positivity and, if you wanted, rhythms to dance to. Whether any of these bands will go on to bigger things is still down to them, and us, to a lesser degree. However, if I saw one, or all three, gracing festival stages and UK headline tours I wouldn’t be a bit surprised. They’re on to something and should ride it out to its logical conclusion. My only complaint is that Still Life played it a bit too safe, or safer than Matisse and Wave Chase. Their 4/4 indie rock was enjoyable, but it would be great to see themselves push themselves both lyrically and musically. This might be because they’re still in that Bournemouth bubble and playing more gigs out of time will really help them develop as a band. Then they’d have something really special. I’m probably being a bit over critical but also truthing. At the moment The Green Door Store has one of the best bookers as this was another solid night for only a £3 entrance fee. Next time you feel bored, check your local listings and see something on a whim. What else are you going to do? Netflix and chill…?