March, 2009

Friday’s Pin Up Nights at Glasgow’s Flying Duck played host to a selection of some of Scotland’s most talented young groups.

The French Wives, have certainly earned their place as a home grown outfit worth paying attention to. Their extensive collection of instruments come together flawlessly. Each sound, charismatic and cleverly worked, stands out and by now fans definitely have their favourite songs. With guitarist Scott Macpherson back in June, we can look forward to some new tunes and some festival appearances over the summer, including Glasgow’s West End Festival and strong rumours of an appearance at Stag and Dagger.

Headliners, Woodenbox with a Fist Full of Fivers are the the product of early career success from front man Ali Downer. Having written his first song back in the early 90’s, now 25 his achievements to date seem almost inevitable. The Edinburgh troubadour moved to Glasgow in 2007 and formed Woodenbox. An interesting mix of seemingly forgotten instruments by today’s standards helps to achieve what can only be described as ‘delicious’ tunes. The highlight of tonight’s set was ‘My Mule’ with trumpet player Phil stomping his way into the crowd.

New single ‘Hang the Noose’ is released June 15th on King Tuts Recordings and launched at the home of said label on the 13th June, tickets here!

hang the noose
draw a line
Besides the point
twisted mile
tomorrow man
my mule

Words: Ashten Macdonald
pics: Martin Craig

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Edinburgh’s plush Voodoo Rooms provided the scene for the homecoming of Edinburgh’s very own Come On Gang! after their stint at the SXSW festival. Their was a lot of talk of jetlag kicking in, but they still managed to rip their way through the sort of set which will surely have sent the journos and bloggers into a frenzy back in Austin.

The band’s trademark mix of punchy, aggressive guitars and drums set against fine, lilting vocals was on show, and the live performance showed off an extra urgency and fire to the songs which hasn’t fully yet transferred into their studio tracks.

A lot has been written about Sarah Tanat Jones’s vocals, but they really are a wonder. At times willowy and graceful, and at others soulful and tender, they twist and turn like a folk singer possessed. The fact that all the while she is beating seven shades of shit out of the drums just adds to the feat.

Watching them rattle through each three and a half or so minute track, you realise how lean and stripped the songs are. Nothing is wasted or extraneous. Their lyrics consist of the simplest of rhymes, but the band seem to revel in that. They have even found space for cowbells on new track ‘Red Thread. And’ cowbells can never be a bad thing surely.

This was a fine outing from Come On Gang, who were clearly still riding the wave of their Texas adventure. Not even technical problems during their pop-tastic single ‘Wheels’ could dampen that. The only people who seemed to be suffering jetlag were the crowd, who didn’t seem to want to take up the offer of dancing to the final song ‘Spinning Room’. It will be interesting to see how 2009 treats Come on Gang, but for the moment we can be happy that they’ve returned in one piece from the Lone Star State.

Come On Gang! played:

Both Ends Burning
Out of Control
Coffee Shop
Start The Sound
Red Thread
Fortune Favours the Brave
Wheels
Spinning Room

Words: Graeme Jarvie

This week’s Limbo features Glasgow’s mighty ST DELUXE, the act Oasis svengali Alan McGee recently described as ‘a Scottish Nirvana for the 21st Century’. They headline the club this week with support from exciting new bands TEAM TURNIP and FRENCH WIVES.

For reduced entry this Thursday only, mail the names you want on the list to: contact@rokbun.com

San Francisco’s 15 piece supergroup Still Flyin’ release their debut album ‘Never Gonna Touch The Ground’ on the 6th April through Moshi Moshi Records. In addition, Still Flyin’ have just played a series of shows at SXSW which are being raved about by New York’s essential free paper the Village Voice.

‘Never Gonna Touch The Ground’ was recorded in San Francisco and mixed by members of Architecture In Helsinki. Showcasing rousing brass, hammond organ and layered west coast harmonies, ‘Never Gonna Touch The Ground’ sounds like the album Talking Heads might have recorded under the tutelage of Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Already a San Francisco phenomenon, the band’s joyfully chaotic and infectious live shows are more like huge parties: 15 people in the band playing trombones, saxophones, singing, clapping and dancing like their lives depend on it. Having been joined on stage in the past by the likes of Jens Lekman and various members of Architecture In Helsinki - and as proved by their recent London shows - a gig with Still Flyin’ is very special indeed.

The band will return to the UK to bring the sunshine for the summer festivals. More details to follow soon.

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After a year in the shade, diligently preparing their strangely-strange-yet-oddly-hook-laden pop music for maximum impact, Fanfarlo emerge into 2009 a sleeker more predatory beast, with this first double-A side from the esteemed Moshi Moshi Singles Club to be released on May 4.

A-side ‘Drowning Men’ stands at a lean and agonisingly taut two-and-a-half minutes of propulsive drums, urgent handclaps and tightly circling violins, before the wave breaks and serenity reigns over proceedings in a coda that can only be described as sublimely lovely.

Over on the AA, ‘Sand And Ice’ sees singer Simon Balthazar penning further poems without apparent meaning that nonetheless creep inside your being and build a nest in your heart.

‘Drowning Men’ is taken from the band’s recently completed debut album, ‘Reservoir’, which is currently available here. ‘Sand And Ice’ however is exclusive to this release. Both tracks were recorded by Peter Katis (Interpol, The National) at his Bridgeport, Connecticut studios, but given the crazy high standards of the resultant record, Fanfarlo were in the unlikely position of being able to leave something of ‘Sand And Ice’’s quality off the album running order.

Reservoir is set to be one of the most enchanting debuts of 2009.

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If rumours are to be believed then a mobile phone company already heavily involved in concert venues across the UK and owners of several venues in Glasgow will soon be confirmed as the new owner of the ABC on Sauchiehall Street, looks like free entry and queue skip might prove a little bit more tricky in future!

This Friday come down and say hello at the Flying Duck where we’ll be spinning some tunes and watching some of Glasgow’s best new bands playing at the PinUP Nights with Woodenbox with a Fistful of Fivers, French Wives and The La Fontaines.

The ripples being made on the Glasgow music scene by each of tonight’s bands have crossed more than once. With The French Wives guitarist Scott temporarily in the States, Paper Planes have been so kind as to lend them guitarist Chad from time to time, whilst this is far from the first night they have shared a bill. Two bands, two approaches, but a combination that functions to compliment rather than contrast.

Wasting no time, the Wives lead with ‘Capilano’, rising and falling to perfection from with every searing note from the violin. The emerging reputations are no stroke of luck and the Wives have a sound all of their own. With so many instruments on one stage it can be very easy to veer into over-ambition but the balance here is spot on. Languid notes from the trombone add colour to Small Time Crooks whilst Romeo and Genevieve skips around time signatures and benefits from more glorious violin.

But it’s during ‘Halloween’ that the Wives’ full potential is exposed. There’s plenty going on; vocal harmonies, violin – even a glocenspiel – but the sounds are married to perfection. Things build to a crescendo before fading to the bare bones; just the harmonies, just the melody. It’s a beautiful number, especially so live, and a symbol of what sets the Wives apart.

Paper Planes are a different prospect altogether. The two bands might share a guitarist and a stage from time to time but there are no violins or trombones here. Where the Wives are pleasant the Planes pout, where the Wives smile the Planes snarl, and singer Jen Paley stands in the eye of the storm. There might be a glorious din emanating from all sides but she is undeniably the focus, the epitome of cool amidst the frenzy. The little lady from New Jersey yelps like Karen O and effortlessly demands attention, but this is all about the songs.

The band don’t speak much, there’s little eye contact and even less time between tunes. It’s called confidence, and with such a body of songs behind them it’s something which is well deserved. ‘Diamond Diner’ is a no fuss stomper, a blast of something wonderful that doesn’t outstay its welcome, whilst during Studio 45 Chad really excels and excites. Matisse once said that drawing is the art of omission, and it’s a principle that here rings true with Chad’s guitar. Never is there anything more or less than there should be, everything is poised and everything to point. The effect is slick and the sound spectacular. New one ‘Doris Day’ meets us with a barnstorming riff and feels like it’s been part of their repertoire from day one before the night closes with ‘Permanent Marker’. Two minutes of bliss and then they’re off – talent Plane to see.

Paper Planes played:

Diamond Diner
Divine Lorraine Hotel
Studio 45
Horror
The Sway
Doris Day
Disconnected, I Know
Permanent Marker

Words: Alastair Mitchell

An exciting new talent, Johnny Vulgar and the Additional Pylons played Untapped Talent @ Teviot Underground. Already attracting a dedicated following, Johnny Vulgar are a band to watch in the coming year.

The delighted whooping coming from the audience set the tone for an enthusiastic performance. Lead guitarist Kapil Seshayasee has developed an intricate guitar sound, overarching the rhythm bass that is reminiscent of Mogwai. Vocalist Chris Charles has a light and almost feminine voice that gives the band a softer edge: an interesting twist to the music that keeps the audience listening.

The highlight of the set was ‘Space Heater’, a melodic track laced with a slightly heavier drumbeat and a neatly contrasting, clear flute melody.

Recording a demo set for this summer, Johnny Vulgar and the Additional Pylons are an interesting and engaging talent that have the potential for great success.

Review: Claire Cameron

WINTERSLEEP have been confirmed as support for WHITE LIES on their Sold Out shows in Leeds, Glasgow and Manchester in May 09. Until then they will be playing two weeks of shows around Europe before heading to the US for dates including a SXSW gig with ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN. They have also rather excitingly announced a solo show for the 8th of May at Edinburgh’s Wee Red Bar.

Invisible. Now there’s an apt word for describing support bands. Often, it’s the word used in describing the crowd, and even more frequently it can be the defining characteristic of their talent, but this only serves to make the exceptions all the more sweet.

The Invisible step out before a healthy audience at the ABC and it’s immediately clear that there is nothing of the invisible about them. Let’s start with the lead singer. He is quite clearly wearing a jacket formerly owned by Prince; a gleaming leather number which screams in flamboyance. The drummer is straight from Madness and the bass-player has a glorious, Archie Bronson Outfit of a beard, but the mystery in how the four ever came to be in the same room, let alone form a band, dissolves as quickly as they start playing. The only thing that is invisible is any resemblance of a genre. Which is wonderful.

For a moment its dance beats, but then comes a screamer of a solo, and then we settle on funk, only for a mellow, mid 80s, Sade at her finest, passage to grasp the middle and lead, seamlessly, into a rambunctious clatter of chords. And that’s just one song. It’s a bit like being punched in the face by a complete stranger and then handed a cheque for a million pounds. I’m not quite sure what happened – but it was fantastic.

As Doves singer Jimi Goodwin takes his place behind the mic he smiles and declares that it’s been a while. All has been quiet on the Doves front since Some Cities was released in 2005 and four years can be a long time in music. The band are back, with new album Kingdom of Rust on its way in April, and the reception they receive from the sold out venue validates this as something of a return.

Bedding in new tracks whilst keeping the crowd happy is always a tightrope and Doves slip us new ones in between classics as if to soften the blow. It works. The pace never flags in almost two hours worth of set and the songs have lost none of their luster. ‘Pounding’ and ‘Black and White Town’ in particular make you wish they’d never gone away but praise is a little more muted for the new ones.‘Kingdom of Rust’ itself is an odd concoction, a Western soundtrack gone wrong. It, along with the others, go down fairly well but just pale a little when buried amongst the rest. ‘There Goes The Fear’ closes the night though, and for those seven minutes little else matters. Full set list below:

Words: Alastair Mitchell
Pics: Bart Photography

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Currently in Austin Texas at the South By Southwest festival and moving back to London to live after shows in New York, Los Angeles and huge festival appearances in the southern hemisphere, Temper Trap Scottish dates look good for later this year.