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THE KABINS RACE AHEAD: ‘YOU BETTER RUN’ AND A TRIUMPHANT BEAUTIFUL DAYS SET

Aug 2025 by Darren Branch

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The Kabins band take a bow on stage under a patterned canopy at th Beautiful Days Festival

A band who seem happiest with the accelerator taped down

Images: Mark Gilronan

Ever returned from a festival to hear beats in absolutely everything? The washing machine, the shower. A kettle that refuses to stop boiling – steam, rattle, a little danger – and it’s making a tune of it. That’s The Kabins on the Josiah Manning produced “You Better Run”: three minutes that charge at you grinning, then dare you to keep up. Released on 16 August 2025, the eve of Beautiful Days’ Sunday finale, it’s the perfect calling card for a band who seem happiest with the accelerator taped down.

Beautiful Days is home turf and holy ground for Devon bands, which makes The Kabins’ Sunday Little Big Top slot feel like a homecoming with extra voltage. The festival’s a beloved, Levellers‑steered weekender, set among the trees at Escot Park with six stages and a crowd that knows the difference between bluster and the real thing. This year sold out, which meant a sea of faces and fancy dress drifting between tents as the Sunday theme kicked in. The Kabins’ name on that Little Big Top run‑order was so much more than a line on a poster; it was a nudge that their steady climb is turning into a proper ascent.

If you haven’t met them yet, The Kabins formed in 2022 and come from Devon’s winding lanes and loud pubs. The sort of places where a set can be won or lost by the second chorus. Elliott Plance’s guitar rings bright and serrated, Todd Gilronan sings like he’s trying to get a message to someone across a windswept car park, Freddie Clarke’s bass keeps things taut and Fe Randall’s drums have that push‑pull that makes feet go. Alex Turner arrived later on the second guitar, throwing extra spark into the engine. On stage recently, Todd laughed that they’d taken “You Better Run” far faster than on record, a happy accident that suits their habit of barrelling forward. That contradiction, brisk on record, breakneck live – is half the thrill.

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  • Todd Gilronan - singer for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • Alex Turner of The Kabins playing guitar
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • The Kabins' Elliott and Freddie perform energetically on stage under bright yellow lights.
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • Felix Randall - Drummer for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)

The single itself is a neat cocktail: classic Britpop strut, shoegaze shimmer, mixed in with a contemporary indie snap that keeps it from becoming throwback cosplay. The hook lands quickly, the drums jab. It’s catchy without being chirpy; tough without turning mean. You can hear the poster‑on‑the‑bedroom‑wall bands in the DNA. We’re talking Oasis, Blur, the usual suspects, but the Kabins use those flavours like seasoning, then serve their own signature beats.

Which brings us back to Beautiful Days. On paper, the Sunday was stacked; Levellers closing the Main Stage, Spiritualized drifting like a mile‑wide cloud, Shed Seven, Kid Kapichi, The Bluetones and more pouring noise over the park. The Kabins made their case inside the Little Big Top, the festival’s dance‑leaning corner that habitually spills out at the sides when a guitar band with momentum plugs in. For a young Devon outfit, that’s a sweet crucible: a locals‑done‑good feeling mixed with a test in front of strangers who’ll tell you with their feet if you’ve got it.

Elliott Plance and Freddie Clarke of The Kabins
Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)

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“Success” can be a slippery word a day or two after the dust settles, but a few things are clear. First, they were on a sold‑out bill at a festival with a reputation for actually listening (not just posing for photos). Second, they hit the stage the day after dropping a single that’s already drawing first‑wave reactions online. Third, this booking has been on the cards for months and meant something to them; Freddie called it a dream come true earlier in the summer. Put all that together, and you’ve got momentum with proof of concept.

And you could feel that energy around the site. Beautiful Days is the friendliest kind of festival. With its handmade signs, real ale, families in ship‑shape costumes for the Sunday theme, first-time goers and regulars immerse themselves in a sort of civic pride that only happens when a festival has bedded into local soil. Slip into the Little Big Top and the air’s different: bodies moving, lights skimming the ceiling, that moment when a chorus lifts and strangers shout it like it belongs to them. That’s where The Kabins sound most themselves. Three minutes flat feels longer in a tent like that, because adrenaline warps time.

Todd Gilronan - singer for The Kabins
Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)

Because she's cruel and she's kind to the point where you really don't mind

– 'You Better Run' – The Kabins
  • Alex Turner - guitarist for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • Elliott Plance - guitarist for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • Freddie Clarke - bassist for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)
  • Felix Randall - drummer for The Kabins
    Photo Credit: @markg_photos (Instagram)

It helps that the song’s built for it. “You Better Run” is a sprint that somehow leaves space to breathe. The middle eight opens a window; the final chorus kicks it shut again with a grin. It’s the sort of track that sends you out into the twilight keen to find another stage, another noise, another new favourite. That’s Beautiful Days all over.

There are bigger milestones ahead. A whispered‑about debut album, more tents, bigger rooms,  but Devon’s fast risers came home to a proper party and didn’t waste the moment. If the runaway‑kettle thing keeps bubbling like this, they’ll be headlining their own festival before long. For now, “You Better Run” is out there doing the rounds, and The Kabins are where they like to be: moving quickly, smiling hard, and dragging the rest of us along for the ride.

– Darren Branch

Darren Branch’s first love was Heavy Metal, sparked by seeing Iron Maiden live at the Cornwall Coliseum in 1984 at the age of 13. His passion for grassroots music grew after discovering the vibrant local scene around Daylight Recording Studios in Honiton during the late 1980s. Having lived in Honiton and Exeter, Darren now lives in South Somerset and enjoys spending time in South Carolina. He stays deeply connected to the Southwest’s emerging bands—often through families that keep the scene alive. Outside music, he builds websites, reads business books, and participates in English Premier League Fantasy Football.

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