Lowertown at the Green Door Store, Brighton
Lowertown’s performance at Brighton’s ratty Green Door Store was kind of like finding the soundtrack to accompany that perfectly dated defining Halloween moment that you see a lot in 80s movies. The Dirty Hit signed duo, Olivia O. and Avsha, were joined by their band for a night of spooky goth dancing, outfit hollering and soft rockin’.
The Green Door Store growls from underneath Brighton’s postcard-picturesque railway station, regularly hosting the local’s favourite DIY rock bands. Besides hard-partying and more outfit hollering, it’s known for its disputed 50p return cup policy and golden M arches that babysit the merch corner.
____
Authentically showing us that their hearts are very much on both sleeves, it’s not hard to understand how the crowd becomes more captivated as the show inclines. Olivia’s voice enchants the crowd like a siren calling to her sailors. As though it’s her world and we’re just the ugly gremlins that trash it. Avsha’s guitar takes over his body as he becomes deeply intertwined with his six-string custom tele, back and forthly switching between clean strums and dynamic alternate picking to accompany the band’s depicted universe.
Olivia grabs her Parallel Universe II for ‘Scum’- and both the night and crowd finally start moving. ‘Why won’t anybody look me in the eye // Why won’t they look me in the eye?’ She sings gracefully, and her introspective vulnerability is the result of being honest and angsty with the way their time in life is passing.
As the gig moves on, she falls more deeply and comfortably into character, occasionally flirting with the crowd which goes something like this:
Olivia: “We’ve got two more songs”
Crowd goer: “Three more songs!”
Olivia: “Maybe- if you’re good…” With this expression where she looks seductively into the crowd in a way I have no idea how to put into words because maybe they don’t actually exist.
The tracks saw in and out of one another in a way that constantly builds up to a climax that rarely comes, but they use this to its best advantage in its entirety. Because you know they’ve got it in them and they know you’re gonna go back for more to one day witness the mass explosion.
Avsha’s ‘At The End’ reveals hard and bold signatures of grunge; gravelly vocal yarls and aggressively punkish guitar bashing. The lyricism dictates an interpretative story with a southern twang, as he twists the imagination uncomfortably into the right place where suddenly- he’s a cowboy in a brawl (in my head don’t worry). His song brings such an intensely refreshing sound to the set, it’s as if he’s a special and separate guest for the night and it’s unfortunate we couldn’t experience more of his songs.
The duo are extremely expressive with where their creative and personal values reside in this band, whilst providing an enjoyable and memorable experience for the crowd.
Past albums have projected their frustrating journey of experiencing, acknowledging and then wanting to break bad habits that can keep us low during growth into young adulthood, as they express the difficulties of facing issues that like-minded people will understand; which quickly and strongly became their first staple chapter.
Their latest album, The Gaping Mouth, proves a success with their experimentalism. But their latest EP, Skin Of My Teeth (also their first to be independently released), hints at their growth both musically and personally.
The Lowertown bridge is becoming an exciting journey as they are en route to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow they’ve created, and we can’t wait to see where they evolve.