Live – Sex Mask | Humane | BARBADOS99 | Minor Dents at The Hope & Ruin

Sex Mask, Humane, BARBADOS99 & Minor Dents at The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, 10th September 2026

Another busy night at The Hope & Ruin for Hidden Herd’s latest showcase last week, the evening kicking off well with locals Minor Dents, a three-piece whose ‘kosmische music’ provided an intriguing start. Haunting vocals from Holly floated over electronic textures and hypnotic rhythms, while the instrumental sections occasionally veered almost into prog territory. There’s nothing particularly straightforward about their sound, but that’s part of the appeal – musically clever for sure.

Minor Dents

A last-minute substitution brought BARBADOS99 to the stage next, the side project of Opus Kink brothers Fin and Sam Abbo. With a set made up largely of unreleased material, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and there were continual surprises. Each song seemed to take a different route, flitting between genres with an almost gleeful disregard for settling on a sound. It shouldn’t really work, but somehow did, and the room responded accordingly. There was a sense that we were watching something being figured out in real time, which only added to the fun.

BARBADOS99

Humane followed with a more recognisable dose of indie rock. After the musical curveballs of the previous two acts, their relatively pure guitar-driven approach felt like a change of gear, but they brought enough energy to keep things moving and provided a solid bridge into the final act. Their songs have a directness and immediacy that makes them easy to pick up with accessible hooks.

Humane

Last up came Sex Mask, the Melbourne three-piece who have been racking up gigs at an impressive rate. I’d heard mixed reports from people who’d caught them before, so I was curious to see which side of the divide they’d fall on. Whatever your expectations, they certainly brought the most visual excitement of the night. There was a restless, unpredictable energy to the set, with the band throwing themselves into the performance and keeping the room engaged on and off stage. Post-punk feels like a much overused phrase these days but they certainly embodied the musical style and vitriol that it suggests, and made a strong impression with the most hectic performance of the night.

Sex Mask