Live – thistle. | Goodbye | CARNE | Ain’t at The Hope & Ruin

thistle. | goodbye | CARNE | Ain’t at The Hope & Ruin, 18th June 2025

Last week’s Hidden Herd showcase began with a stripped back performance from Ain’t, missing their drummer and bassist due to illness. Seemingly their usual set would be much louder but that didn’t take away from how good they sounded as a three-piece. With guitar-backed smooth vocals and stories of a goblin man on a mobility scooter, and a lemon drizzle cake on a train, I’m not sure anyone was too disappointed by the enforced change in plans – would be great to see what they can do as a full band if this was anything to go by.

Next up, I suspect CARNE have been listening to Hole with the volume up – a definite sense of indie-grunge throughout their set, and bringing bags of energy.

Following on, goodbye have loads of local support and that’s understandable. I think this was the best set of theirs I’ve seen; everything seemed to flow in a very cohesive trajectory, their alt/dream pop songs sounding effortless. There was even a stop off to have the crowd sing Happy Birthday to bassist Jake (favourite animal at the zoo possibly a lion, and extra points for a MBV T-shirt).

And so to headliners thistle. Talk about ending the night with a bang, the trio wasted no time diving straight into a collection of fast, abrasive tunes that really lifted the room. They reminded me a little of the brilliant TRAAMS turned up to 11. Debut EP it’s nice to see you, stranger is due for release at the start of July and everything points to it being one of the notable releases of 2025. Catch them if you can.

Hosted by Hidden Herd

Ain’t