FIDLAR @ The Haunt, Brighton. 27/02/2013

FIDLAR love drugs. They love alcohol, partying, surfing and skateboarding. It might all sound a bit cliché for an LA band that play feelgood stoner beach punk in a way that The Ramones might have if Dick Dale was their lead guitarist, but FIDLAR are one of the best bands to come out of SoCal in a long time.

Their shamelessly open approach to getting as messed up as possible and generally not giving a fuck is actually quite admirable. Because it’s not as if their tendency to smoke a lot of weed and take acid (or whatever they can get their hands on) has affected their ability to write super catchy party anthems that you can’t help but want to dance to. If that’s how they roll, then so be it, because FIDLAR’s self-titled debut is one of the best releases of the year so far and tonight the Haunt is buzzing with anticipation.

They take to the stage and already one of them has jumped into the crowd before anybody has even played a note. This gives us a pretty good idea of how the show’s going to go. They open with ‘Cheap Beer’ and the lyrics “I drink cheap beer! So what? Fuck you!” are screamed back at them. It’s rather ironic that this is happening in a venue that sells cans of Red Stripe for £4 – but since it’s a 14+ show a good twenty per cent of the crowd probably weren’t drinking it anyway.

They continue with ‘Stoked And Broke’ followed by ‘White On White’ and the constant, messy crowd-surfing leads them to tell us that we “rage harder than any American city” before giving us their formal introduction – “We like to drink and we like to do cocaine. We are FIDLAR. F-I-D-L-A-R. Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk”.

After thanking local boys Gnarwolves for introducing them to ‘K’ cider before the show, they crack on with ‘Max Can’t Surf’ during which the stage is excitedly invaded and the drummer loses his sticks, the only two he has, and the bouncers are forced to usher everybody back into the crowd.

During the set the bouncers end up having to clear the stage at least four times, there are bodies flying everywhere, there is somebody in the venue definitely smoking a joint somewhere (unless this is just the scent the band give off), and the younger members of the crowd are given the kind of advice their mothers would certainly not approve of: “If you play an instrument then you don’t have to go to school, you don’t have to have a job. Shit, if we can start a band then so can all of you guys”.

The whole room is bouncing when they play ‘Cocaine’, a song recently covered by their close friend Kate Nash – check out the less drug-related ‘Girl Gang’. She also features on their track ‘AWWWKWAARRRDDD’ (you have to wonder how some people become friends).

‘Wake Bake Skate’, ‘Paycheck’ and a cover of The Descendent’s ‘Suburban Home’ are other highlights of a sweaty, beer-soaked night of fuzzy guitar and smiling faces. It’s easy to see why this band are getting so much attention lately, and we’re sure the Brighton crowd will welcome them back with open arms and open cans.

Haunt, Wednesday 27th February 2013
Words by Chris Biggs

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