BEACH Riot’s music has been described as Fuzz Pop, a term of the band’s own invention that refers to the heavy use of distortion pedals reminiscent of 90s grunge music, put alongside catchy songs with pop sensibilities. Nirvana and Queens of the Stone Age are clear influences

“Sexy fuzz pop,” Rory corrects me with a laugh. “Everyone wants to think their music is sexy.”

The band began in 2017 when Argentinian guitarist and singer Cami Menditeguy met similarly-minded Rory O’Connor in London. After discovering several shared passions, including one for Brighton beach, the seeds of Beach Riot were sewn.

“I already knew Jim and Johnny, but we were living in London at the time and were looking for people to play with up there,” says Rory.

When the search for players in London proved unsuccessful, Rory and Cami turned back to Brighton and joined up with drummer Johnny Ross and bass player Jim Faulkner to form Beach Riot.

In 2018, Beach Riot played a sold-out show at Concorde 2, played at Reading and Leeds festival, had their first live session with BBC Introducing, and still found time to launch their self-titled debut EP.

So far in 2019 they have played at Brighton’s Bad Pond Festival and released two singles, Robot, and Stuck Inside. The music video for the latter shows the band patrolling the streets and seafront of Brighton.

I am speaking to Rory and Cami at the Coffee Shack in the courtyard of the Brighton Institute of Modern Music on West Brunswick street. Drummer Johnny Ross is a former student at BIMM, while singer and guitarist Rory O’Connor is well-known to students of the institute as he runs the coffee shack.

Rory tells me that he has run the place for over two years now, originally there was just a cart here. Now there is a permanent structure with a seating area out front. Hanging down one side of the area are T-shirts for local bands, including one for Beach Riot themselves.

“There’s a real Brighton scene here,” says Rory. “Bands like Tigerclub and Gaffatape Sandy who we know and love.”

This idea of supporting other emerging bands and acknowledging that you are all in the same boat has been the Beach riot attitude since the start.

The band began playing at bars and parties along the South Coast. Their good spirits were well rewarded when a connection with fellow Brighton-band, Strange Cages, resulted in Beach Riot signing to Vallance Records.

Single Good to Know (That I’m Still on Your Mind) soon followed and showcased the band at their best.

Rory has described the song as “the emptiness of making that tough decision, the upside-down, gut-wrenching feeling of walking away from something that clearly doesn’t work anymore.”

Now, the band have just returned from their debut headline tour and seem invigorated by a new awareness that their music is successfully getting out there.

“I’ve never been to Guildford, but when we got there the show was so busy,” says Cami. “Everyone knew the words and was singing along. I was just like: ‘How do you know about us’?”

The eventful tour included having their van broken into in Manchester and a particularly good show at Brighton

“Brighton was amazing, but London was also great,” says Cami. “It was a bigger venue and was even busier than the Brighton show.”

Rory agrees: “For some reason I sort of expected people in London to stand there, arms folded, saying ‘impress me.’ But it wasn’t like that at all. People were moshing, there was so much energy.”

Listening to the Beach Riot’s recorded songs does not immediately bring mosh pits to mind, but then the band have spoken before about the difference between their singles and their live shows, which employ feedback loops and pile on the distortion. The band are developing a reputation for their raucous live shows.

“There is definitely more energy in the live performances,” says Cami now. “We put as much as we can into the records, but it’s hard to recreate the feeling of playing live.”

And what’s next for the Brighton band? Can we expect to see a full length album released soon?

“We would love to do an album,” says Rory. “It’s definitely steering that way.”

An album to follow then. But for now, the band’s latest single, Stuck Inside, is out now with another to follow in the new year and they will play at the Hope and Ruin in January 2020.

This is certainly one Brighton band to look out for.