Peace & Splashh at The Pyramids, Portsmouth

Peace are definitely one of inSYNC’s favourite bands, and you can always rely on the indie four-piece to deliver something great. Last week, in Portsmouth, was no exception, and Peace gave a solid hour and a half performance reeling off songs from their debut and second albums. Not to mention, despite being October, throwing in their lively cover of ‘Last Christmas’, which somehow went down a treat.

This was our second visit to The Pyramids when Peace were on, but this time they bought with them a new, London-based band. I’d not heard of them before, but few young bands can boast such a latitudinal span as Splashh can. The band is fronted by two Australians who relocated to London last year. The four-piece recently announced their upcoming second studio album, and made it a perfect time for them to join Peace on tour. The band’s oddly spelt name suggests a ‘breeziness’ in keeping with their upbeat, mangled sound. Splashh have a grunge-y sound, yet sunny and warm, and is interlaced with lead singer Sasha Carlson’s reverb vocals.

Splashh’s crowd was reasonably big for a support act, and their single ‘All I Wanna Do’, a woozy love song mounted on the robust chassis of a New Order bassline, went down well. Splashh have been called psychedelic in the past, and while they sound a little less cosmic than their Antipodeam associates Tame Impala, they certainly have a dexterity for the hypnotic. The band’s 2013 album barely reaches 33 minutes, and so their brief set is just enough to give us a taste of what the band is like. But its definitely enough time, though, that will make you want to watch them on their own headline tour.

Venue – 7/10

DJ/Band – 9/10

Music – 9/10

Overall – 8/10