If there’s one band in Brighton guaranteed to host the best Great Escape after-party, as well as be a consistent burden to plasterers in the area after causing ceilings to cave in with their uproarious sets, it has to be Demob Happy.
Due to the sheer quantity of bands in the city, you have to be a cut-above to get noticed and Demob have rattled enough cages and massacred enough nights at Brighton’s Late Night Lingerie club to warrant this attention. Grotty, feral and lucid, ‘Succubus’ is the debut single to be released from Milk Parlour Records, the band’s own label, on November 17. These boys are a clan, you can tell they live out of each other’s pockets and this consequent camaraderie and brotherhood brings unmistakable cohesion to their sound and chemistry to their live set, facets that reinforce their ability to carry the same intensity in any live setting. Whether playing live out of the back of their van, at a student party or at Concorde 2, Demob Happy should not be missed.
Starting with the distinctive DH fuzz bass sound, the opening riff makes you feel uneasy but wanting more, like there’s a devil on your shoulder licking your face with its sandpaper tongue. Complemented by ‘Era Vulgaris’-era QOTSA-like guitar tones, ‘Succubus’, dissected by frontman Matt Marcantonio as being a “love-sucking demon who leaves your front door open but your mind on pause" delivers enough promise and excitement to justify Demob as being one of the most lauded new bands in NME recently.
Marcantonio wields his bass with the same vigour and demeanour that would make The Datsuns smile, and this aptitude is backed up with enough songs, in the same calibre as ‘Succubus’, that’ll make you crave their debut LP.
Succubus is a female demon or supernatural entity in folklore and is derived from the late Latin term succub which means to ‘lie under’, the polar opposite of what Demob Happy will be doing next year - they have the potential to be one the best breakthrough bands of 2015.
'Succubus' is out on Milk Parlour Records on November 17
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See Demob Happy live in October
5: Manchester, Eagle Inn
6: York, The Duchess
7: Hull, The Adelphi
8: Sheffield, Southsea Live
9: Guildford, The Boileroom
10: Maidstone, The Rafters
11: Sunderland, Independent
13: Newcastle, Think Tank
15: London, Birthdays
17: Brighton, Bleach
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