Review by Tony Rounce
On May 20 2019 I saw Lime for the first time, in a tiny room above a not much bigger pub in Brighton, at the recommendation of my pal Hannah of ARXX. “Do not miss them, you will like them a lot” was Hannah’s directive. She was not wrong either. Just as I had with ARXX, I began an immediate audio love affair with Lime, and put them on my ‘Must See Whenever Possible’ list right away.
Over the past 9 months I have seen almost all of Lime’s gigs. Sadly there haven’t been as many as I would have liked, but that will surely change with the release today of ‘Surf ‘n’ Turf’, as dynamic a track as you’ll hear anywhere, and from anyone, this year.
If you like ARXX and other bands that operate in a similar musical environment, such as Genn and underrated Reading duo Wolfs, you will like Lime – I guarantee that. Fronted vocally by the tall and charming Chloe Howard (who sounds a little but not too much like a gutsier version of Altered Images’ Claire Grogan), powered by the impressive, robust guitar work of Leila Deeley and solidly anchored by a tough rhythm team in Tippi Morgan on bass and drummer Annabel Whittle, they are a young band both in age and in existence, forming barely 18 months ago.
At the start of 2019 Lime released their first, digital-only single ‘Welcome To The New World Order’. The ethereal, slightly shoegaze-y elements of that debut have been supplanted by something with so much more power that ‘Surf ‘n’ Turf’ barely sounds like the work of the same group. A glorious headlong rush into full-on sonic satisfaction, hard, fast and full of confidence, it’s been Lime’s set closer in recent times – and rightly so. Not that they don’t have other great songs – they have loads – but the relentless up-tempo drive of this one makes it a tough act to follow ‘live’. Dollars to doughnuts the studio version will leave you wanting more, too. Hopefully there will not be too long to wait before there IS more.
I truly believe Lime are on course to be THE breakout act for 2020. Here you have the evidence to support my beliefs. Buy it now, play it often and check them out while they’re still playing smaller rooms; it surely won’t be long before bigger venues beckon…
‘Surf ‘n’ Turf’ is released digitally on today and on vinyl shortly thereafter. Lime are playing a sold out show at Brighton’s Rossi Bar the previous night to officially launch it. They will also be playing The Carlisle in Hastings on February 23rd as part of BBC Introducing’s ‘Under The Radar’ all-dayer, with more gigs lined up for March in Brighton and London. Follow Lime on Facebook for further news!
