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.

Butler, looking effortlessly cool in her knee length skirt and long socks under fur-lined boots, seemed a quite shy frontwoman, but to be honest it kind of worked with their slightly shoegazey sound and, more importantly, she was a fantastic guitar player, switching between an acoustic guitar, on which she expertly showed off her superb finger picking, and a Fender Stratocaster. The final songs where the four piece (that also includes James Ely on drums and Archie Sagers on bass) seemed to expand the songs into droney guitar jams, with extended instrumentals and Butler and fellow guitarist (and synth player), Spencer Withey harmonising on hushed vocals, sounded absolutely incredible.  

Their songs were quite slow-burning and atmospheric and there was definitely a bit of a Big Thief influence in there but they certainly seemed to win over the crowd, as audiences can often be quite noisy during support acts, even at showcase shows like this, but they remained respectfully hushed throughout, which certainly helped their quiet/loud aesthetic. I absolutely loved it and I'm looking forward to catching them again in the future!

The main event for this sold out show though was southern country rockers Fust, from Durham, North Carolina, who I only discovered due to their excellent recent album Big Ugly (certainly one of last year's best) but have actually been around for a few years, their latest actually being their third album release. That said, this show tonight is their not just their London debut but their UK debut too. The signs were good though as their seemed to be a lot of people here excited to finally see the band live and there was even one guy next to me who pushed his way to the front (he kind of looked like a more hipster Matt Berry) who went absolutely nuts during every song, even annoyingly singing every word really loud! 

The Lexington has a small stage but I could tell it would be a good night when I saw the band setting up, filling every inch with instruments:  there were of course drums (played by Avery Sullivan) and guitar (John Wallace), but also keyboards (Frank Meadows), bass (Oliver Child-Lanning) and, best of all, a fiddle played by the very cool Libby Rodenbough, and that's not even mentioning Aaron Dowdy, the singer-songwriter and fine leader of this ragtag group of rowdy rockers.

Dowdy, with his glasses, baseball cap and full ginger beard, kind of looks more like he should be working on a farm somewhere in the south rather than fronting an up and coming rock band, but somehow it fits the earthy vibe better than some rock star posturing. After setting up their own equipment they start in the most unshowy way possible, with the title track from their second album, Genevieve, which Dowdy pleads, his eyes closed, "But did I know you Genevieve? I couldn't read your plea, Did your eyes say not to leave?" 

It's a nice start but things really start getting good when they kick up a gear and start with the Big Ugly material, with the instantly recognisable strum of Gateleg and it's singlaong chorus of "You ain't gonna work on the line no more, You're gonna work at Maggie's store" bringing to mind Dylan's Maggie's Farm, yet still totally distinct in its own right.

I can't deny, because I wasn't familiar with Fust's previous work, although it all sounded great, I was more excited when I heard the latest tunes and in particular the fantastic Mountain Language, with its duelling guitars and fiddle and energetic feel, brought to mind fellow North Carolinian MJ Lenderman, which is highest praise indeed from me, while Bleached had a classic, plaintive country sound and lovely harmonies between Wallace, Rodenbough and Dowdy, with the fiddle sounding beautifully bittersweet.

As if this wasn't enough to win my heart, they then randomly threw in a George Jones cover half way through, a gorgeous version of his 1999 hit Choices, giving the introspective tale a bit more of a rough and rowdy feel than the original Jones version. It's always tough to live up to Jones at his best, he is afterall probably the greatest ever male country singer, but I have to say Fust did him proud tonight, and I will never be unhappy hearing his songs being covered well.

It was also great to hear so much of the new record played live and to discover songs from their previous record Genevieve, but near the end I think everyone was aching to hear, Spangled, the opening track of Big Ugly, and certainly one of the best songs from last year. 

The enthusiastic dude next to me even was screaming it at the end but, even though they didn't have written setlists, I think it was all leading up to playing it, so when they played those distinctive chords at the start of the song, we were all ready for it and, damn, did it deliver. Dowdy was really raising the rafters as he sang and Wallace was even giving us a bit of crazy, feedback driven guitar that would make old Shakey proud while Rodenbough went crazy on the fiddle. The whole thing descended into a fantastic chaotic whirlwind of noise and proved a perfect, energetic ending to the night and no encore was needed. 

What an amazing debut for Fust in this country and I'm so glad I got to witness it.