After a heavy summer of playing festival after festival, Sea Girls found themselves in the legendary King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on what was the second night of their autumn tour. The four piece indie rock band, have seen great success since releasing their first single ‘Call Me Out’ back in 2017, following it up with with two EPs and multiple singles.
Sea Girls are known for their high energy performances and aim to create direct, attention grabbing songs that you will want to listen to all the way through. From merely listening to their songs, the sky genuinely seems to be the limit for this quartet and this claim was backed up by their stand out performance in King Tut’s.
Although they were supporting tonight, The Pale White, a Newcastle Trio, have been headlining shows across England for the past year and it’s not difficult to see why. They erupted onto the stage with a commanding drum and bass line, built upon by catchy, Queens of the Stone Age-esque overdriven guitar melodies, which whipped the unexpecting crowd into a frenzy. Bassist Tom Booth rocked the classic Phil Lynott-inspired machine gun bass stance – legs spread, the bass pointing outwards, showing that the band were definitely as into the set as the crowd. Their energy only increased throughout their hit-filled set.
When not bringing compelling harmonies, the upfront duo of Booth and guitarist/vocalist Adam Hope would sing the percussion parts of drummer (and brother of Adam), Jack Hope. The momentum of the set fell into place when they played their latest single ‘Wisdom Tooth’. Lyrically straight to the point: “You’re my wisdom tooth, and I need you out!” the song highlights all that is good about the band that NME called, “one of UK rock’s most thrilling newcomers.”. A soaring guitar solo, a bassline you can dance to and drums you can feel in your chest, this band is worth keeping an eye on. They’re good in the studio, but they’re thundering live.
Anticipation and excitement filled the room as The Pale White finished their support and made their way off stage. As the last few stragglers came in, and the intimate King Tut’s neared capacity, a wave of cheers and clapping began as the band took to the stage. Sea Girls jumped straight in with the easily recognisable guitar intro to ‘Eat Me Whole’. From the start the energy in the room was astounding which makes you think the lead singer, Henry Camamile, would want anything but for “the ground to eat [him] whole”.
Levels of enthusiasm rose throughout the show as the crowd and band began to really let themselves go and enjoy what was going on in front of them. While performing their sixth single ‘Too Much Fun’, Camamile got so lost in the moment he knocked his microphone off its stand, sending it falling to the ground. The look of shock in his face soon turned to one of delight as he watched the crowd take over the singing, giving him a moment to get everything back to working order.
Midway through their set they introduced their latest single ‘All I Want To Hear You Say’, which Camamile has admitted has influences from New York band The Strokes. Camamile has said he didn’t really care about the chords in this song and was purely focusing on getting his emotions through to the crowd via his lyrics, describing them as sounding a “little bit more mad” and “unstable”. As mad and unstable the vocals may be, the crowd loved them nonetheless and danced and sang along with the band.
After the high of ‘All I Want To Hear You Say’ you wouldn’t have been wrong in thinking the night had peaked. However, Camamile and the rest of the band fired straight into their first, and arguably most well known single ‘Call Me Out’. This sent the crowd into hysteria with the catchy guitar solos of the song allowing for plenty of questionable dancing. Sea Girls finished up with one of their tamer tracks; ‘Adored’. With the show nearly at an end; Camamile obviously felt the moment was right, taking the opportunity to hop the barrier and head straight for the centre of the crowd. In the midst of his fans, he was able to enjoy a beautiful moment and dance along as guitarist, Rory Young, nailed the song’s funky solo. As the song came to its conclusion, Camamile returned to stage and joined his bandmates in soaking up the crowds affection before walking off stage.
This, however, was not to be the end as the crowd began to shout, the now mandatory, “One more tune” chant. Of course the band returned to the stage to yet another chorus of cheers and applause. It’s at this point Camamile takes the opportunity to thank everyone and describes the crowd as “F***ing awesome!” and compliments the “sick” energy. They play “Lost” as their encore before taking their final leave from the stage having clearly gained more than a few new fans.
With their style, songs and overall amazing attitudes there is absolutely no reason why these guys can’t make it big. They are definitely a band with shed loads of potential and who’s praises cannot be sung highly enough.
Watch. This. Space.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
By Callum Ogilvie and Sean MacDonald
