Words: Madeline Montisano

It’s about time the Brighton based four-piece, Lime Garden, was thrust into the limelight (pun fully intended). Debuting their first single, ‘Surf and Turf’, only a few weeks before the world was thrown into Covid chaos, the band have persevered and will only get bigger. From Lime Garden’s humble 2017 formation covering songs by the Arctic Monkeys, they all bring their own musical tastes to the table, culminating in the unique sound they rock now. Lead guitarist Leila Deeley sums it up: “We all come from quite different musical backgrounds that it took so long to find a sound that really resonated with all of us. For the first two years, it was trial and error and a hodgepodge of everything.” This hodgepodgerie of influences still dominates the multifaceted genre-jumping music that’s being put out to this day. With guitar riffs ranging from surfer rock to disco to full electronica, their hi- and lo-fi beats keep the songs highly danceable.

This writer was first introduced to Lime Garden when they supported FUR at Oslo in Hackney in November 2021. What immediately stood out was the combination of aesthetics in the band members’ outfits, equally as eclectic as their songs. We arrived for the end of their five-song set but promised ourselves to see them again at their next London show. As ‘Clockwork’ played, the relatability of the repetition of overthinking mixed with delayed vocal distortions had us hooked. Ending the night on the high energy ‘Pulp’, the catchy electronic bass line paired with a combination of live and synthesised drums had the entire crowd sad to see them leave when they finished. After FUR finished, we went out for a smoke and chatted with vocalist/synth player Chloe Howard and felt cool by proxy, profusely thanking her for playing after being thanked for coming. We checked their socials pretty frequently to see when they’d play London again and that’s where we found the unfortunately sold-out Dork’s Night Out.  

We joined the waitlist on a pure whim only a day prior to the gig and thought there would be no way we’d get a ticket since Swim Deep was headlining. On the day of the concert we woke up to a pleasant text from DICE saying we had less than an hour to claim the ticket and paid as quickly as we could.

The atmosphere and crowd at the Oxford Street’s 100 Club are fantastic, fit with stunning outfits and with people willing to chat between bands. As Lime Garden come on, we notice that the drummer Annabel Whittle is wearing the same exact trousers as us. We obviously had the best style in the whole venue.

Kicking off their set with ‘Fever’, the snappy disco guitar line keeps us grooving to one of their less electronic songs. Both Leila and Chloe have a captivating stage presence with Chloe’s head boppin’ with her beats, clearly enjoying the vibes of her music. Leila looks ethereal in her gown with her hair completely covering her face and swaying like the guitar possesses her. Tonight, bassist Tippi Morgan is seated, Chloe revealing that she’d recently broken her ankle and wasn’t just being lazy and sitting on her ass. ‘Sick & Tired’ comes with a muzak introduction, then repeats a harp line that shouldn’t work in this neo-psychedelic song but blends beautifully. ‘Surf And Turf’ makes us appreciate how well Lime Garden is able to transition from electronica to a more natural indie surfer rock sound, especially with Leila giving a killer solo; LDN is also a huge sucker for the nonchalant opening line, ‘I’m sorry, I ate some cheese’ that segues into talking about a toxic lover.

Before their last song, Chloe mentions how it’s an honour to support Swim Deep as seeing them a few years back inspired her to start Lime, their previous band name. They finish their set with the high energy ‘Pulp’, that makes even the most apprehensive of the audience bounce about to the infectious beat that acts as the pulse of the song.

Lime Garden are well on their rise in the new wave electronica scene. Keep them on your radar and catch them with us next time. 

What to learn more?

Check out their Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube channel.