Sea Girls, O2 Academy Brixton, review: a Frankenstein's Monster of rowdy indie rock
Sea Girls weren’t the first band to play a long overdue headline show at Brixton Academy in recent months, and they certainly won’t be the last, but that suits them fine. This indie band has never been about forging a new path, instead taking influence from every guitar-led band that’s come before to create a perfect Frankenstein’s Monster of euphoric, rowdy anthems.
Despite the tried and tested pick ‘n’ mix of influences (The Killers, The Strokes, The Vaccines, Arctic Monkeys) there was still something extraordinary about Sea Girls’ gig on Friday night. Rather than a walkthrough of what’s come before, the show felt like the start of something brilliant and modern.
Formed in 2015, the London band unassumingly released their debut album in 2020 after a couple of EPs and a few years finding their feet on festival stages around the country. Open Up Your Head crashed into the top three of the Official Album Charts in August while their November homecoming show at the 1,700 capacity Roundhouse was upgraded to the O2 Academy Brixton before being delayed twice, due to COVID.
That record proved there was more to Sea Girls than being just another indie band. Sure, their name feels like it probably should be a pun, and the four lads write songs made for the Reading Festival main stage, but the album was frank about unspoken emotions and tackled toxic masculinity. Rather than trying to capture the same youthful nostalgia as a majority of the derided indie rock scene, Sea Girls challenged the idea of always looking back – “best time of your life, how s--- if that’s right”, frontman Henry Camamile sang on Ready For More?.
Across the record, Camamile came across as a flawed individual – jealous, petty, heartbroken – but he was ready to take the blame and there was an honesty in him wearing his heart on his sleeve. Despite the break up anthems, he never descended to malice or hate.
It’s perhaps why their shows feel so relatable. Camamile is an everyday rockstar and the band’s journey from basement shows to Brixton Academy has never looked so achievable as it did on Friday night, as they threw themselves about the stage with the sort of moves practiced in front of bedroom mirrors. Sea Girls were here to inspire the next generation, just like they were inspired by the bands that came before them. They never said that out loud though, too busy blasting through an 18-song-set that already felt like a collection of greatest hits.
From the first moment of the electro-pop leaning Call Me Out, Sea Girls’ headline show felt like a celebration. A lad instantly clambered onto a mate’s shoulder, a bottle of WKD clutched in his outstretched arms, and the room sang every word louder than the band. Every song caused a similarly physical reaction; the stadium pomp of Forever, the 2000’s influenced Closer, a cover of Adele’s Someone Like You and the millennial breakup anthem All I Wanna Hear You Say.
“I think the chorus is f----- easy,” said Camamile before he taught the room the hook from new love song Lonely. As promised, it was instantly memorable, as were the two other songs aired from Sea Girls’ upcoming second album. So confident are they in their new material, the recently released Sick closed the show. A nostalgic, emotional song about how terrible the modern world is, it still managed to feel like a party, helped along by a burst of confetti. Based on the reaction, their assurance was well-placed.
Sea Girls aren’t the most complex of groups, but there’s power in that simplicity. Lyrics like “I’m a baby when it comes to my thoughts” from the thunderous Lie To Me hit harder than any abstract poetry, and the band’s jangly anthems were clearly written to cause maximum excitement.
On the surface, Sea Girls are like so many other guitar bands, but their ability to get straight to the point and their unashamed desire to inspire a good time makes them very special indeed.
Touring until Oct 21: seagirls.net
