REVIEW ROCK
IGLU & HARTLY
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sun 21 Sep .0.
‘Glasgow make some fucking NOISE! We’re lglu 8. Hartly and we're here to panyV
If you'd ever wondered what would happen if a chiselled boy band took a brace of hook-laden pop songs to the wrong side of the tracks. then this was your answer. With the kind of tanned, ripped physiques that rarely make it across the Atlantic, and the nasal white b0y rapping that PJ and Duncan made their own, King Tut's echoed with the squeals of a gaggle of excitable females. Smash hit 'In This City' was delivered with unbridled but slick enthusiasm, and in the encore new material including ‘The Pyjama Song' (don't ask) was. much like their toned pectorals, given an unashamed unveiling.
Mixing the frat-boys-and-melodies shtick of the Red Hot Chili Peppers with the lady-pleasing hummable tunes of Maroon 5 is likely to mean that credibility may be out of their grasp. However. they did manage to get hold of a selection of lady audience members invited onstage. many of whom were given the brief but undivided attention of the nearest band member. (Emma Newlands)
I www.ig/uandhart/y. com
64 THE US? 2—16 Oct 2008
REVIEW INDIE THE STARLETS
Is this music?@13th Note, Glasgow, Thu 18 Sep 0000
They might be clad in jeans and speak (if not sing) with pronounced Glasgow accents, but The Starlets are the model of sophistication, from their choice of covers — a Go-Betweens song ‘to warm up' — to their impeccable arrangements.
Intelligent pop with a Glaswegian twist — referencing F Scott Fitzgerald. writing about what they know — hence, ‘Novocaine'. inspired by a three-day vodka bender. There's even ‘Marie Claire', so drenched in French cool it probably contravenes the smoking ban.
The mystery remains as to how The Starlets aren't bigger. with their full sound. perfect pop melodies and Bacharach-esque flourishes. A clue may lie in the fact that there are only two ‘up' songs in the set. The mournful vignettes never wallow in their own misery. and are never too long — each is beautifully supplanted by mournful cornet and violin which complement singer Biff's knock 'em- dead. show-stopping vocals.
Maybe they are just a little too classy. Biff even tones down the effing and blinding - his parents are there - a show for everyone. (Stuart McHugh) I www. thestar/ets. co. uk
talks.
Edinburgh, Fri 3 Oct.
REVIEW LIVE INDIE ROCK WEBCAST THE DYKEENIES
Red Bull Bedroom Jam @ Lofi Studios, Glasgow, Thu 18 Sep 0..
This live webcast with The Dykeenies is a promo for the Red Bull Bedroom Jam website. which invites up and coming bands to post footage of gigs in their own bedrooms online. Except. erm. we're not in a bedroom. but rather crammed into a Glasgow practice studio. ‘We thOught we'd just be honest about that.‘ admits event publicist Charley. ‘But you get the idea.‘
It's like a cross between a rehearsal session. a video shoot (a disembodied director's voice bellows at people from the adjoining vocal booth) and a micro- gig (there's a small audience of friends present). The Dykeenies seem well suited to the occaSion — a youthful. stylish bunch. who do a shiny line in commercial yet passionate contemporary indie rock. Seeing them play up close, it's apparent just how well drilled they are. as they tightly rattle off four fan-chosen numbers. cracking jokes in between.
Many more similar livecast shows are planned. so check the website. Get a pal to chuck beer over you and scream in your ear while you watch them, and you need never go out to a real gig ever again. (Malcolm Jack)
I www.redbu//bedroomjam. com
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Tomorrow's music today. This issue: Ladyhawke
No relation to the Vancouver indie rock band of the same name, but absolutely related to (i.e. named after) the corny 80$ sci-fi film which starred Matthew Broderick and Rutger Hauer, Ladyhawke is the finest recording artiste to come out of New Zealand since Split Enz. In other words, in our opinion, the finest recording artiste to come out of New Zealand. Gaining attention for the sublime electro-pop of ‘Paris Is Burning’ and standing on the verge of releasing her eponymous debut album, Wellington-born Modular signee Phillipa ‘Pip’ Brown
Are you still based in New Zealand?
No. I only just moved to London. and I lived in MelbOurne before that. I'm kind of a homebird. though. I try to get back as often as I can. Yet New Zealand is so small — it's a little smaller than the UK. but the population's only about four million — that you can't think of each city as having it's own scene. And of course. the whole reggae dub thing with The Black Seeds and Fat Freddy‘s Drop is still going.
We detect a note of distaste in your voice . . .
Oh. you get sick of it. Every cafe you walk into will be playing one of these bands. You just want to find the machine and smash it. You’ve been compared to the likes of Peaches, Goldfrapp and Pat Benatar. Do you agree with any of these?
I prefer people like ELO and Fleetwood Mac myself, but of c0urse. Pat Benatarf She's balls to the wall, one of my heroes. I just wish I had that voice! (David Pollock)
I Ladyhawke plays ABCZ, Glasgow. Thu 2 Oct,“ Cabaret Voltaire.
REVIEW POWER DUO THE FIRE AND I
Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Thu 4 Sep 0000
Congratulations to Bathgate duo The Fire and I. who have managed to strip the whole concept of the rock ‘n' roll band back down to its most basic elements. Essentially a four- Iegged rhythm section, they combine the drumming of Hooligan (we believe his real names Julian) and the bass of Gordon Love. That’s it. It doesn't get any simpler than that. They make the White Stripes look like Yes.
Actually, it's not quite as industrial or as knuckle-headed as it might seem. Through a variety of effects box tricks. Love still manages to make his bass sound like a proper lead guitar. albeit one which feels louder and more calamitous than any others you'll have heard. The effect is great though. and the songs sound raw and urgent. particularly when Love goes stagger-dancing all over the stage and jumping on the drum kit. There is a whiff of Biffy about them. while song titles like ‘Revenge of the Bloody Angel' and ‘The Bullwinged Monster' can just go away — but still, TFAI make an urgent and exciting new noise. One to take notice of. (David Pollock)
I www. m yspace. com/thef/reandi