Lambrini Girls delivering a sizzling set of 13 songs as headliners in a totally rammed Chalk venue in Brighton; the penultimate gig of this completely sold out 12-date UK tour – with London’s Electric in Brixton to come on 17th April.
They then set of on a mammoth trek across the USA, before festivals in the UK – including Reading and Leeds – Ireland and Europe. Then nine UK dates in November and December, before back to Europe for 10 shows.
Support on the current tour comes from Alien Chicks in Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham, and Birkenhead, CLT DRP in York and Leeds, and then Loose Articles for Glasgow, Manchester, and Nottingham. Support for the London show will be M(h)aol.
Seven of the 13-song set taken from their hit debut album “Who Let The Dogs Out”, which was released in January this year. It landed at #16 in the UK chart – only one of three new albums in the Top 20 – and was #1 in the Rock and Metal chart, #2 in the Independent Albums chart, # 3 in Physical Albums, and #3 in Vinyl releases.
There are a few young UK bands currently tipped as the next big thing and who we have championed, such as Dirty Blonde, Baby Said, The Molotovs, and leading the charge is the fantastic Lambrini Girls – shooting stars on a speedy ascent and a decent international presence too.
The Brighton-based duo of Phoebe Lunny (vocals/guitar) and Lilly Macieira (bass) have spent the last few years on a tear in more ways than one. Making a reputation for themselves as one of the best live bands to come out of the UK this side of Idles.
Their combination of blunt-force punk, scathing social commentary and barbed humour has garnered comparisons to Bikini Kill and Huggy Bear, and seen them share bills with Gilla Band, Shame, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Iggy Pop and more.
Released in 2023, their critically acclaimed EP “You’re Welcome” harnesses that live energy into six incendiary tracks that tackle everything from lad culture to transphobia. Encapsulating their approach in a single image, the cover art features a cartoon pile of sh*t on fire.
There’s also been a slew of accolades along the way, including a nomination for the “Rising Star” at the Rolling Stone UK Awards, and a score of international festival appearances from Glastonbury to Iceland Airwaves. When it came to writing their debut album, then, time wasn’t exactly forthcoming. “We literally had none,” Phoebe laughs. “We’ve been in the arse end of the Netherlands in the back of a van.”
Written in two short bursts in rural Oxford against the clock, their full-length debut “Who Let The Dogs Out” is a raw distillation of Lambrini Girls’ anger, energy, and charisma. They got the bones of it down in the first session, which saw them lock into a routine of waking up, going for a run, writing until 7PM, then cooking and eating dinner together before going to bed and doing it all over again.
The second session was arguably more chaotic. “We had something like 48 beers, a bottle of vodka, six bottles of wine, two bottles of Lambrini, rum and tequila…” Phoebe recalls. “During the first session we ran out of booze, which is obviously illegal, so for the second we did a big shop and stocked up. We somehow managed to drink through all of that in a week.”
Despite being a high pressure situation, the combination of Dutch courage and a ticking clock helped play into their strengths. The end result is raw, instinctive, and straight from the gut. “Because we had such little time, I had this switch in my brain that just went ‘I’ve just got to let these songs be what they want to be’,” Lilly explains.
“In the first session it was very much like, ‘no, this has to be really thought out,’ but by the second I was like, ‘I’ve got to let go a little bit, see what comes out and just see it through.’ Trust the process kind of thing. That was a really big part of writing this album. It’s also a big part of why the energy is similar to our live shows, because it’s just how we are.”
Live and on record they are political, angry, punky, razor sharp and witty lyrically, they leave it all on the stage and perform like their lives depend on it. They are also bloody great fun. First two songs tonight – “Big Dick Energy” and “Help Me I’m Gay” – at their home town gig, lead singer Phoebe decides to jump down into the pit and clamber up onto the barrier…
There she spends some time on her guitar and singing into the mic held up for her, before launching herself into the crowd. Still singing she directs the crowd to part and create a big circle of space and from there she sings and dances and looks as happy as Larry. The fans love it. The band plays on from the stage.
Who Let The Dogs Out tracklist:
1. Bad Apple
2. Company Culture
3. Big D*** Energy
4. No Homo
5. Nothing Tastes As Good As It Feels
6. You’re Not From Around Here
7. Scarcity Is Fake (Communist Propaganda)
8. Filthy Rich Nepo Baby
9. Special, Different
10. Love
11. C*ntology 101
Lilly is a superb bassist and the new album relies on her skills throughout as the “melodic and sonic foundation of Lambrini Girls”. Phoebe also commands the fans to sit down on the floor while she is on her walkabout and everyone does as they are told, and then she joins them. One day she may well be doing the same in a sold out arena.
This band is very likely gonna blast off in the near future and anyone at this Brighton gig will be saying, I was there, I saw them before they were really famous. £50 on it or a case of Lambrini…
- An early start tonight with two support acts: Rizzas @ 7pm and Human Interest @ 8pm. East London alt-rock four-piece band Human Interest is led by Cat Harrison and Tyler Damara Kelly, signed to cult label Nice Swan Records (home to Sports Team, English Teacher, Pip Boom, Sprints) and recently dropped their follow-up EP to their 2022 debut, “Desire Paths”. They delivered a very strong set in Brighton and the crowd responded warmly.
- Prior to Human Interest, the first support on stage was young local band The Rizza. Their first big gig they told the crowd, having never played for more than 30 people before. This was their second gig of the day though, as they had played the “Homegrown” festival in the morning as a warm-up to this one.
Photos by Manja Williams [Not the album cover image]
Words by Steve Best
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