LIVE REVIEWS
For Good Neighbours, everything started when they found their rhythm on social media. The project of songwriters Oli Fox and Scott Verill – who have previously released spritely indie-pop under various monikers – has maintained momentum on TikTok this year, via a lengthy roll-out of demos and behind-the-scenes footage. It’s a savvy, if slightly fatiguing tactic: the duo teased debut single ‘Home’ in dozens of videos, tagging each clip with general statements like ‘POV: you’ve found your roadtrip soundtrack’ or encouraging listeners to indulge in a main character moment.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that the loudest audience ovation is reserved for when Fox makes mention of the platform tonight (April 24). “Some of you may know us from TikTok,” he says knowingly. “And we took a bit of time to release an actual song.” The band are self-confessed super fans of Bleachers, and their blueprint is clear: big, washed-out, atmospheric tunes with lyrics about life-changing friendships that could find a place in Spotify’s Gen Z-targeted Lorem playlist.
This seamlessness is not lost on stage. When played live, ‘Home’, recent single ‘Keep It Up’ and a handful of unreleased tracks slide and swirl into a bright, easy-going pop haze. Beyond giving the former some extra gusto, replete with a multicoloured light display, there’s little to differentiate some of the newer material: Fox’s delivers ‘Ripple’ with a high-pitched cadence, occasionally straining to be heard atop a three-piece backing band.
With a silver chain lightly bouncing atop his graphic t-shirt as he wiggles around, Fox is an affable performer – and it would perhaps be churlish to put Good Neighbours down for the cheerfully uncomplicated mood that their melodies inspire. The energy in the room is very much ‘good times, all the time’, with music that you could call warm and familiar, buoyed by some big-chorus magic (a Grouplove redux, even).
Fox and Verill’s vision translates best during a more freewheeling ‘Daisies’, during which they rip into guitar solos and leap about joyously. It sparks the question: with a little more grit and wonkiness, could Good Neighbours, like their peers Royel Otis, make the leap to festival stages? Having successfully made an impact in an oversaturated online space, there’s enough here to suggest that they’ll soon take the next step.
LIVE REVIEWS
Slayyyter played her take on Turnstile’s ‘Birds’ onstage for the first time in Atlanta. You can watch footage of the performance below.
Slayyyter is currently touring with her ‘Wor$t Girl In The World’ show. She added the cover to her set at The Eastern on Monday night (September 21).
She sang ‘Birds: Slayyyter Version’ near the end of the main set, following ‘Brittany Murphy’. She then came back for an encore featuring ‘Brand New Chanel$’ and ‘Beat Up Chanel$’.
It was her first live performance of the song. She originally recorded it for Turnstile’s ‘Never Enough: Versions’, a collection of reworked tracks released on August 28.
The 22 track release brings together new interpretations of songs from Turnstile’s fourth album. Contributors include Elton John, Hayley Williams, Blood Orange, A. G. Cook, Faye Webster, Four Tet, Oklou, Floating Points, Nourished By Time, Alex G, Julien Baker and Mustafa.
Panda Bear recorded a new take on ‘Magic Man’, while Dying Fetus gave ‘Birds’ another interpretation rooted in death metal.
See Slayyyter perform the track live and listen to her studio recording here:
Slayyyter trades the original song’s hardcore intensity for a bigger electronic sound that feels at home alongside her latest album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’.
Turnstile first released ‘Birds’ on their 2025 album ‘Never Enough’. The song won Best Metal Performance at the 2026 Grammy Awards, where the album also won Best Rock Album.
In its five star review of ‘Never Enough’, NME pointed to ‘Birds’ and ‘Sole’ as reminders of Turnstile’s hardcore beginnings. It also praised the album for “furthering their unique, pop-facing take on hardcore”.
Slayyyter will join Turnstile on another stage next month. She and Die Spitz are set to support the band at the University of Kansas in Lawrence on October 6 for the ‘Never Enough Tour Pt. 2’.
It has been a big year for Slayyyter. Her third album, ‘Wor$t Girl In America’, came out in March, and NME’s review highlighted its mix of “brash, sleazy pop” and late 2000s indie sleaze sounds.
Last month, she performed Hole’s ‘Violet’ for triple J’s Like A Version. Courtney Love called the cover “a delight” and encouraged Slayyyter to “keep wiping the floors with us”.
A few weeks later, Slayyyter took ‘Wor$t Girl In America’ to Reading Festival. NME’s live review declared that there was “undoubtedly a star before us on stage” and praised her “rasped, rocked-up delivery” and growing confidence as a performer.
