POP EXPERIMFNT SUPERGROUP
Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 14 Oct and Sat 15 Oct
DAY ONE
Supergroup: eight bands. two nights. one venue. Day one: four bands play a straightfonvard showcase of their own tunes. Day two: four groups comprising randomly selected combinations of members of the preVious night's featured bands perform sets thrown together Challenge Anne/(a style — in one day. Truly a premise capable of striking terror into the heart of even the most adventurous gig goer.
It's probably for the best that an act as air—tight as Mother and the Addicts 0... should settle some nerves by opening proceedings. kicking up a nasty groove that's part Roxy Music. part Rocky Horror Picture Show. Settle them. at least. until the slippery proposition that is Trout .0. take over, With a deranged punk dirge so uncompromising it'd probably rather run head-first through a brick wall than change for anyone.
TWO- piece Elements of the Seventies 0. could play to an empty room and still have just as much fun. their introverted instrumental ia/x prog» rock flair being put to use entertaining themselves more than anyone else. How to Swim COO. . meanwhile. Will be huge. Or rather are, rammed ten strong onstage in a flagrant disregard of all laws of physics/health and safety. leaVing Just enough room for spiky riffs, Tom Waits wailing and the odd orchestral freakout.
DAY TWO
New hori/ons in experimental sound or live car crash entertainment? The Alan Rickmans COO aren't too concerned which, haying spent more time in the pub than any state of panic-induced productivity. Still. With
instruments apparently purchased at Poundstretcher. they cobble together something reminiscent of well-driven Fiat Panda: largely fucked. but maintaining a vague charm.
Also havuig used a little liquor to Oil the creative cogs are the gayest pirates on the seven Captain Pugwash O... are. Incredibly. Ouite. Good. 'I Forgot l was Cra/y' has to go down as the shortestlived a\./ant-punk supernova in musical history. Imagine the Ramones spooning l ulu. Sorry. don't.
And Tonight Matthew 0.. fall into the trap of actually trying to make genuinely decent music. To be fair. they don't fall far short. exhibiting a primitive artistic sensibility on a par With a 'My First Art Set' period Brian Eno. Thank God Love Attack 0 pop up late on With a mini pop opera about a boy named Hokie Pokie. to satisfy some expectations by boing utterly shite.
OtherWIse. largely impossibly a roaring success. But bear in mind that l slow down for accidents.
(Malcolm Jack)
INDIF ARCTIC MONKEYS
The Exchange, Edinburgh, Wed 19 Oct 0000.
The sly grin on Arctic Monkeys' gob in chief Alex Turner's face seemed to be telling us he knew something we didn't as his band walked on stage. Perhaps it's that then first single proper ‘I Bet You I ook Good On the Dancefloor' had jllf§i made number one in the midweek and was bound for glory that very weekend. Maybe he suspected they .vei'e about to see the place go apeshit as they started With that very track. only to crank up the excitement even further With a set carved of illschooled punk pop perfection.
Or probably they're Just a bunch of Wide o Sheffield kids who know lust how bloody good they are. They write songs ab0ut irate bOuncers ('From the
Tomorrow Int/Sic today This issue: Cut Copy
Then debut album Bright Like Neon Love is undOubtedly one of the best of the year. mixuig the groove laden electroindie of prime—era New Order with helpings of Sonic Youth and Giorgio Moroder. and they're also a premier-league live band. 80
why isn't Cut Copy's Mercury Music Prize in the post? Because the trio — multi-
instruiiientalists Dan Whitford and Tim Hoey. and drummer Mitchell Scott — are ‘ from Melbourne. Australia. Here we get to know Whitford.
How did Cut Copy start?
Originally it was an electronic home studio protect for me. but once I'd written some
songs I wanted a less clean sound for them. So I got Tim in on guitar almost as a ' lOkC. to see how it sOunded. and then when it worked Out Mitchell followed. You pull a lot of diverse influences together on the album... how did
you manage it?
I've always been a big fan of people like Sonic Y0uth and Guided By Veices, but when l was making the record I got really into things like ELO and Fleetwood Mac — people who are back on the ‘cool list' after being seen as stuff only your parents liked for so long. It's like finding a little piece of songwriting and production history
that hasn't been touched in a while.
And you’ve supported both Mylo and Franz Ferdinand? ‘ Yeah. I think we've been pretty lucky with the tours we've done. we've gotten on
well With everyone. The Mylo guys were awesome — I actually met Myles before
when friends of mine DJed With him in Australia. and now on this tour of the States With Fran/ Ferdinand we found out that Nick from Han? used to stay next door to
l ()WlS from Mylo's band in Glasgow. Pretty small world. huh? (David Pollock) l
I ABC. G/asgow, Fri 4 Nov.
Rit/ to the Rubble') and chancmg scenesters i'Vaiiipires is a Bit Strong But . . .'i. and they're reminiscent of the Streets iii the way they tell the tale of life near the bottom With a kind of straight talking poetry. A band to love. even after you've stopped hanging about round the chippy.
(David Pollock)
Fl FC'TRONICA MANGOMAD
Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, Fri 21 Oct 000
Even though it was teatime on a rainy Friday evening. the one-man band turned four-piece rock show of Mangomad deserved a better audience than it had. Still, as word of these free early evening, end of week gigs in their union spreads. hopefully more Edinburgh College of Art students Will make it a regular port of call. Once upon a time the place was packed out as soon as the weekend started. and surely their lack of knowledge is more feasible than the thought that they've collectively decided to go teetotal.
Anyway. the Mangomad experience was a perfectly pleasant way to see off the week. The solo protect of Yummi Records co-founder Kelman Greig. the dense electronica s0unds like the work of a man who spends far too long on his computer. Were it not. that is. for
the inspired deCision to appoint ex- members of the Silver Pill and ' Bombskare to guitar and drumming duties. (lashing out the beeps with a satisfyineg psych-country ambiance. (David Pollock)
ROCK
THE DEADSTRING BROTHERS AND ALAN ORANNEY AND ; THE SOUND ' King Tut‘s, Glasgow,
Wed 12 Oct 0000
Recognition by the masses. it seems. is something beyond any artist ‘8 control. So it's very interesting to note that tonight Alan Cranney and his cohorts pack Tut's way tighter than the headliners. His fisherman's cap is as good as indicator as any of his musical influences. conjuring up mid-903 bluesy power rock from the likes of Richard Ashcroft. John Power, and ; most evidently with every forcefully delivered line. Liam Gallagher. His exit stage right to deserved Whoops of applause leaves the floor clear for the Deadstring Brothers. who take the top slot.
Ouite why the audience dwindle so rapidly in the face of a perfectly respectable countrified Stonesesque . sound is the latest addition to life's great mysteries. Slide guitar and boy- girl vocals have often proved a potent combination; that the lively Detroit combo virtually outnumber the audience by the closing bars is an IHJUSilCO that deserves to be reversed sharpish. (Emma Newlands)
‘9 ‘« W ' w’,
The Dvadsitmu lirothms
3— 1 7 Nov 2005 THE LIST 83