A 2022 Brighton Single Built on a Heavy Riff, Big Chorus and Ellie Robinson’s Vocal
Sick opens quietly, in an ambient haze, before punchy guitar breaks it open. Around the 2:20 mark a heavy riff takes over and drives the song to its outro. Last Seen Alive formed in Brighton in 2017 as an alternative rock band. They put that riff at the centre of a single released on 7 October 2022.
Last Seen Alive’s Sick sits in the playlist below, next to the grunge this desk plays, and more on the band is collected on their artist profile. The single came to RockRevival.News through PopHits.Co Music Charts, which verifies independent artists and places their releases across its network of music news titles. Press play on the riff, then read on for the Brighton scene around it.
Brighton Put a Heavy Band at Number One in 2021 and Still Hosts The Great Escape Every May
Brighton does heavy music at the top level. In March 2021, Architects took For Those That Wish to Exist to number one on the UK Albums Chart. It was the metalcore band’s first number one. They won the week by just 550 chart sales over Maxïmo Park. Mike Kerr of Royal Blood, the duo from nearby Worthing, also sang on the record.
Meanwhile, the city keeps its small rooms busy. The Great Escape, the new-music festival founded in 2006, marked its 20th anniversary from 13 to 16 May 2026. Over 450 artists played across over 35 venues. BBC Introducing Sussex and Surrey also ran its own showcase of local acts.
That is the ladder a Brighton alternative rock band climbs. First come local shows and showcase slots, then festivals and records. Last Seen Alive have been working that ladder since 2017, and Sick is a song they built on those stages.
Last Seen Alive Road-Tested Sick on Stage Before Finishing the Recording Themselves
Ellie Robinson fronts the band, which released its first EP, Patronage, in September 2017. Their influences run from Paramore and PVRIS to Neck Deep and Tonight Alive. Sick followed an earlier single, Dreams. Since forming, Last Seen Alive have played Y Not Festival, Tramlines Fringe and Together Fest. They were also finalists in HotVox’s 2020 Newblood competition for the Isle of Wight Festival. Our Sound Music reported sold-out shows in Brighton and London. BBC Introducing In The South presenter Melitta Dennett has also praised the force of their live sound.
The song sat in their live set for a while before it was finished. The band told From The Strait that they tracked the instrumental parts in 2021 with their producer, Win. Work stopped when their drummer, Gareth, left. In 2022 they picked it back up, then recorded the vocals and mixed the song themselves. That gave them more control over the sound.
The recording keeps that stage energy. Rock Era Magazine has covered rock from Egypt since 2004. Its reviewer heard a classic alternative intro building into a riff-driven verse with deep bass and sharp vocals. Then comes a heavy, catchy chorus. Our Sound Music heard Robinson’s lead vocal cut through punchy guitar. It also traced the band’s move from pop-punk beginnings to a mid-2000s pop-rock sound. That mix is why the song sits across alternative rock, hard rock and alt-rock pop.
The words stay personal. The band have said their songs come from their own experiences. They prefer not to spell out what each one means, so listeners can read Sick their own way. In 2025 they followed Sick with a four-track EP, Is This What You Wanted?
Yonaka, Wolf Alice and Bring Me the Horizon Are the Closest Neighbours to Sick
Yonaka are the nearest neighbours in every sense. The Brighton trio, fronted by Theresa Jarvis, released their second album, Until You’re Satisfied, on 13 March 2026. Last Seen Alive have named Yonaka as an influence the whole band shares. They point to how Yonaka carry their live energy onto record. Sick chases the same result: a heavy riff and a pop chorus in one song.
Wolf Alice started in London in 2010 as an acoustic duo. They became a rock band once the rhythm section joined. They won the 2018 Mercury Prize with Visions of a Life. Our Sound Music heard their early, rockier songs in Last Seen Alive’s writing. The link is easy to hear: a female lead vocal over guitars that turn loud without warning.
Bring Me the Horizon show where that mix can lead. The Sheffield band moved from metalcore towards alternative and pop rock with That’s the Spirit in 2015. Later, Amo became their first UK number one in 2019. Sick works the same seam at club scale, with hard rock weight under a chorus built to be sung back.
From the RockRevival.News curator team: “Put Sick on for anyone who came up on Paramore and ended up at Architects shows. Around 2:20 the pop song turns heavy. That is the moment a live crowd waits for.”
Listen to Sick and Follow Last Seen Alive
Stream Sick on Spotify. Then follow Last Seen Alive on Spotify, Apple Music, their YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X.
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