Fust at The Lexington

Fust

Ladylike

Trustpaste 

The Lexington, 14 January 2026

My first gig of the year and it was definitely a great way to start off 2026, with the pure twangy, Americana of North Carolina band Fust, playing their first ever London show, in the always great atmosphere of the lovely Lexington. 

This was another of the Five Day Forecast shows they hold every year at The Lexington, that showcase up and coming bands, which meant that there were a couple of more local bands on the bill too, which can be interesting, and usually they are quite different to the headliners, which definitely turned out to be the case tonight. 

The first band were a youthful bunch called Truthpaste, made up of five friends who met at Manchester University: which explains why one of the members, Claire (the cool violinist) told me she liked my Salford Lads Club jumper (R.I.P. Joanie Clothing). Despite having five people in the band who swapped instruments throughout, none of the members played drums: that was sadly down to a drum machine and I have to be honest, I do think having a drummer would have made a huge difference to their performance. Not that they weren't fun and inventive, but they were also a bit chaotic too. 

The first few songs saw them sharing vocals but I actually thought they became a bit more cohesive when singer Esme, who also plays saxophone, sang the lead: it gave them a little more focus, the best being an almost pop tune where Esme defiantly sang, "I'm never going to give you what you want". There was definitely a jumble of influences making up their sound from folk to indie to jazz and rock. At times melodious at others a bit of a cacophony of sounds, that brought to mind bands like Mr. Bungle funnily enough. 

I actually wasn't quite sure what to make of them, they were certainly oddball. They ended their short set with a song that had Esme bouncing around singing "I am singing to you, you are being sung to", which admittedly aren't the most poetic lyrics, but definitely had a lot of energy and a sparkle in their delivery. 

Even though I had never heard them before, I had been told that the next band, Ladylike, a quartet from Brighton, would be right up my street and they weren't wrong, I was blown away by this young band led by the extremely cool but reserved Georgia Butler on vocals and guitar. 

Although they took to the stage with barely a word, immediately they were completely mesmerising, with a hypnotic and dreamy mix of folk rock and shoegaze, with even a little math rock thrown in for good measure, and Butler's breathy and almost hesitant vocals blending in with this enticing mix. I absolutely loved their set and it felt like I was witnessing a special band on the verge of big things. I hope so anyway! They have released a bunch of singles so far but have their debut EP, It's A Pleasure Of Mine, To Know You're Fine, coming out in March and I can't wait to get it, as Butler told us they were playing the entire EP in full tonight and honestly, it sounded fantastic.

More soon about Fust!