Post by @nataliagresty

Brighton Psych Fest, Sept 4th 2026, Brighton, UK

Only in its third year of existence, the little southern sister of Manchester and Edinburgh Psych Fest returns to Brighton’s aplenty grassroot venues to gather local and international names from the psychedelic and alternative rock scene. And boy oh boy, did they cook up a storm of energetic tunes, riffs, synths and visuals. The artistic seaside town only added to the festival’s charm; running to and from beachfront venues, overlooking the iconic Palace Pier, past the surreal Royal Pavilion and up into the Lanes, one couldn’t help but feel this town could hardly suit the event better.

Starting the evening right with Automatic: the LA post-punk/ new wave girl band (that’s recently got a male drummer on tour). Izzy Glaudini on synths and vocals and Halle Saxon on bass put on a brilliant high energy show laden with political discourse and a 70s/80s flair. They’re incredibly stylish, cool, calm and collected, despite admitting to stage frights and anxieties in interviews. The venue is buzzing to the rhythm of their mesmerizing melodies, hypnotic visuals and lyrics criticising consumerism and war. Drawing inspiration from early psychedelic rock, krautrock and post-punk, Automatic have firmly positioned themselves as key figures in the contemporary new wave scene. Since their formation in 2017, they’ve opened for bands such as Tame Impala, Bauhaus or IDLES, and have now toured EU and UK with USA and Australia coming up.

It’s only good the show’s bpm was so high, as we’re now running uphill to Komedia to catch the rest of Holy Wave, an Austin, TX psychedelic/ experimental dreampop quartet consisting of childhood friends Ryan Fuson, Joey Cook, Kyle Hager, and Julian Ruiz. The tempo slows down only a little; groove is in the heart and certainly in the Komedia basement too. The boys are playing a mix of tracks from their new album, ‘i’m DADA’, as well as their 8 other records; oscillating between chill, meditative, lingering tunes to faster, rock’n’roll-y, Beatles-y, riffy ones. One particular new song is titled “s33.u.in/HAL”, their witty response to AI: only a human eye can decipher as “See you in hell”. It’s a pleasantly vibrant and dreamy set and it’s only a shame it doesn’t go on for longer than the festival-allocated 45 minutes.

Next up are Allah-Las, a fan-favourite, west-coast USA band, now a household name of 21st century surf-rock, sun-drenched psychedelia. As “Spent two years of my life in a foreign land” comes on, it’s immediately clear no psychedelic rock fest would be complete without them on the lineup. Allah-Las (Miles Michaud, Matthew Correia, Spencer Dunham and Pedrum Siadatian) have been on the scene since 2008 and have maintained their laid-back, relaxed stage presence that transports the Brighton Dome into 1960s LA. We’re treated with hits including Catamaran and Could Be You, as well as tracks from the newest album, Sirenas, combining instrumental, trippy tunes with more garage rock songs. It’s a good time. I mean it’s always a good time.

Last but not least, the journalist’s executive decision to skip the headliners in lieu of a smaller act ends up being a personal highlight of the night. Back at the seafront, in a tiny, hidden dive bar called Volks, a Melbourne-based post-punk trio called Sex Mask turns the room upside down. Is this what early days of the Strokes must have felt like? I kept thinking to myself as I danced to their full volume, high energy set in the middle of the packed small room with fifty or so devoted fans. The frontman, Wry Gray, wearing y2k sunglasses and no t-shirt to reveal an almost fully tattooed torso, half-shouting ironic lyrics, such as ‘How To Be Cool at Parties’ is clearly comfortable in the band’s own skin. Sex Mask are sometimes compared to Bloc Party, and while yes, some similarities could be drawn, they do bring an Aussie punk twist of their own and put on a sweaty show to remember. 

See you next year!

Tickets for Brighton Psych Fest 2027 on sale now.