Next Wednesday (19th December) at Mono (Glasgow), Spite House presents a double celebration: get giddy as the mighty Trash Kit celebrate 10 years of being a group (how is that even possible?!) and go crazy as Current Affairs launch their storming debut single, "Breeding Feeling", which is, of course, Not Unloved Records' second release. As if that weren't delights enough, Marc Riley faves Irma Vep will bring their hang dog observations and mysterious new group 2-ply will play their first show. Bring yourself and bring a friend. It'll be great! Copies of the 7" will be available to buy on the night.
Palmshave long been one of my favourite Glasgow groups. Whenever they play, I try to be there as their PJ Harvey by way of Babes In Toyland brand of creeping ferocity is always exhilarating, always welcome. Until now, their recorded output has been modest: a split cassette with Aggi Doom and some wonderful tracks on the lush Some Songs Side-By-Side box. Thankfully, the astute Watts of Goodwill Records and RE:PEATER Records - both of whom do sterling work in documenting Glasgow's current vibrant music scene - just added to that slim list by releasing their debut 7”, “Wolf”. As expected, it’s another catchy but ominous smash. It’s not quite as wild as, say, “Blood” from the box but it still has considerable bite. There's an unmixed demo of it here. "Ghosts I've Known" on the flip is a menacing creeper (there's a live version here) with a great rusty guitar sound that churns you up inside. Fabulous!
At present, I don't believe"Wolf" has distribution so your options for getting a copy are:
The recent launch gig at Mono for "Wolf" was a tremendous affair. The sound was clear and trebly and the group played with a triumphant glint in their eyes. It was on a Friday night and it felt like everyone was in a good mood and willing Palms to do well so it was so great that they did. It was a timely reminder that Sinead is a wonderfully versatile singer who can go from sweet to snarling in an instant. It was a reminder, too, that their outrageously good drummer, Julia, has the most animated, charismatic hairdo in the whole of Glasgow!
After two essentiallps and a couple ofcassettesof uncluttered, super-crisp guitar pop, any news of activity on the Sea Pinks front is cause for celebration so it's exciting to note:
a) They've released a new song which (generously!) is free to download at the moment:
b) They're playing at Mono (Glasgow) next Monday (May, 6th):
Finally, I get to see Sea Pinks! It's sure to be an evening to savour with Sacred Paws' appearance coming hot on the heels of last Friday's triumphant set at The Glue Factory where their hyped-up township punk set the dancefloor alight. Coming at the end of a Bank Holiday weekend, it'll help beat the back-to-work blues.
Very few music videos I've seen in recent years have had any staying power. I watch them for a few minutes, primarily on YouTube, and then, well, forget them almost immediately. Seldom have they added anything to the music. This was certainly not the case, however, with The Creeping Ivies' video for "Ghost Train":
I've returned to it again and again and each time it seems better and better. For what is essentially just a performance video, it's remarkably inventive and makes the music seem that bit more unhinged and jittery. If I'd wandered into a room in the Tate Modernand seen it playing, I would've been transfixed and wouldn't have questioned whether or not it was deserving of its place there. Events have conspired to prevent me from witnessing their thunderous mania in person but they're making the trip from Dundee on April 9th to appear at Monowith notoriously rude crash helmet wearer Bob Log III. I recently likened the experience of watching Fritz Lang's "Woman In The Moon" with a live soundtrack by Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills to being shut in a metal bin and dragged along winding country roads behind a Land Rover. I've a hunch that the evening of April 9th is going to be similarly bruising!
Way back when fanzines seemed like the only way to express just how much you loved a group's music, I wrote that if The Aislers Setever came to Glasgow, I would arrange a ticker-tape parade in Amy Linton's honour. Of course, that was the hollow rhetoric of a boy with a deep love of Amy's previous group Henry's Dress who never expected it to actually happen. When, miraculously - or so it seemed at the time! - The Aislers Set showed up in Glasgow, first with Stevie Jackson at Nice'n'Sleazy and then with The Tall Boy at The Woodside Social, I was there each time, grinning like I'd just had my teeth whitened and was mad keen to show them off. I didn't, however, throw a ticker-tape parade for Amy. To tell the truth, I've always felt a bit of a fake for not doing so - I hate it when, as is so often the case, my words aren't backed up by actions. Luckily, I've got another chance to arrange a ticker-tape parade as, in a remarkable turn of events - I'd thought the group to be defunct! - Amy and co. are about to hit Glasgow once more:
Surely gig poster of the year so far! It looks set to be another of those unmissable Mono evenings that warm you to your very core and fortify you for the days and weeks ahead. Revisiting The Aislers Set's music since it was announced that they would be coming to the UK has been one of the purest joys of recent months and, as expected, it transpires that I still love Amy's music with every part of my heart.
What a bill! Were I still a teenage popkid, the names Sea Lions, Golden Grrrls and Aggi Doom would surely be scrawled extravagantly on the anaglypta covering this year's school jotters so the line-up for next Wednesday's (11th, July) gig at Monocouldn't come with a stronger endorsement from me. Sea Lions' righteously jangling debut lp on Slumberland occupied one of the top slots in Not Unloved's best of 2011 list and both Golden Grrrls and Aggi Doom have had the thumbs up on this blog in the past. If you can't be in Glasgow to dig the new breed, maybe one of Sea Lions/Golden Grrrls' other dates will suit yr needs:
5th JULY - NOTTINGHAM INDIETRACKS EVE WARM UP SHOW:
SEA LIONS / ORCA TEAM / JOANNA GRUESOME / SEPTEMBER GIRLS (GOLDEN GRRRLS are NOT playing this show.) The Chameleon, 8pm.
6th JULY – CARDIFF
BUFFALO BAR, 11 Windsor Place, CF10 3BY
Doors 7pm.
Sunday night gigs are a tough sell. Some really great groups have played to fairly sparse crowds on recent Sunday nights in Glasgow so it was a great relief to see a healthy crowd for the launch of Aggi Doom's (link below) tremendous debut single. The group looked amazing, especially drummer Scott in his turban and black robe (dress?) ensemble, and delivered their glamourous gloom pop with verve. The highlight of their set was the single, "Bring Me The Head", for which they were enhanced by bassist Joan's dad on sax and a friend (whose name I didn't catch - whoops) on clarinet for added No Wave power. Palms were as full on and as shouty as I could have wished and Northern American War rocked angularly for maybe just a little too long. The Soft Power Records kids were kind enough to let me dust off some of my 7" vinyl collection and share it with their public. Here's what I played:
Virginia Astley Love's A Lonely Place To Be (Why Fi?) The Revolving Paint Dream Sun, Sea, Sand (Creation) The Snowdrops Mad World (Tears For Fears cover) (Matinee) Taken By Trees Lost and Found (Rough Trade) The Jasmine Minks Cold Heart (Creation) Unrest Yes, She Is My Skinhead Girl (K) Sunray Baby Honey (The Pastels cover) (Strawberry) Swell Maps Let's Build A Car (Munster) Beat Happening Zombie Limbo Time (K)
Lush Sweetness and Light (4AD) Stereolab The Light That Will Cease To Fail (Big Money Inc.) Beach Fossils Plastic Flowers (The Wake cover) (Captured Tracks) The Champagne Socialists The Young Runaways (Slumberland) The Chalfontes He Loves Me (Mercury – 70s reissue) Thee Headcoatees My Boyfriend’s Learning Karate (Vinyl Japan) Bratmobile Cool Schmool (K) – for Angela Lung Leg Theme Park (Guided Missile) French Kissing Wild Woman (Croque Madam) Black Time The Girls In The Garage (Bancroft) Big Maybelle 96 Tears (? and The Mysterians cover) (Rojac – reissue/grey area) The Delmontes So It’s Not To Be (Rational) The Bodines Paradise (Creation) The Babies Meet Me In The City (Make A Mess) – for James in honour of his lovely Babies tee! The Rosehips Room In You Heart (The Subway Organisation) The Gentle Waves Weathershow (Jeepster) The Flips I Just Don't Know Where I Stand Anymore (Hozac) My Favorite Go Kid Go (Swingset) A Certain Ratio Do The Du (Soul Jazz)
Bush Tetras You Can’t Be Funky (ROIR – reissue) Grass Widow Disappearing Industries (M’lady’s) Olympic World of Pastelism Hot Wheels (Domino) Kleenex Beri Beri (For Us) Kleenex Ain’t You (For Us) Wax Idols All Too Human (Hozac) Bleached No Friend Of Mine (Ooga Booga) Bubblegum Splash Plastic Smile (The Subway Organisation)
The Shop Assistants Safety Net (53rd & 3rd) Catatonic Youth Control My Gun (Almost Ready) The Caravelles Lovin’ Just My Style (Dionysus) Le Tigre The Hot Topic (Wiiija)
Mika Miko Forensic Scientist (Post Present Medium) Marlena Shaw California Soul (Jazzman – reissue) Lightships Sweetness In Her Spark (Geographic) Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers Rollercoaster By The Sea (Beserkley) Barbara Mercer Hey!! (Golden World) The Chesterfields Ask Johnny Dee (The Subway Organisation) Chin Chin We Don't Wanna Be Prisoners (Mississippi) Hurrah! The Sun Shines Here (Kitchenware) Sweater Girls Pretty When You Smile (Happy Happy Birthday To Me) The Tartans West of La Brea (Yay! Label)
Gentlest:
Noisiest:
Big thanks to David Barbarossa for letting me use his needles. Much appreciated, sir!
My admiration for the music of Aggi Doom is well documented so there was never any doubt as to where I was going to be on the evening of Sunday, May 27th - I was only ever going to be at Mono for this:
When I heard that Palms (another great Glasgow group who deserve to have their music pressed onto vinyl) and Northern American War (who, if I remember correctly, were just grand in support of the insufferable Ut and the mighty Divorce last year at Stereo) were also playing, I was even less likely to be staying in to watch Antiques Roadshow. It's sure to be a memorable evening. Come along, buy a 7" and salute Livingston's Soft Power Recordsfor having the smarts to make an Aggi Doom 45 a reality.
Palms are sure to play this and it's guaranteed to slay:
Those screams: great on Soundcloud but thrilling live!
Tonight's reading/Q&A at Mono with Richard King was really enjoyable. More to follow on that in due course but in the meantime here's what I played (particularly ineptly) this time:
Suicide Cheree (Remix) (Blast First) Dirty Beaches True Blue (Art Fag) Grab Grab The Haddock For All We Know (Cherry Red) The Wake On Our Honeymoon (Captured Tracks -reissue) Aggi Doom Bring Me The Head (Soft Power) The Make-up Pow! To The People (Vesuvius) Amelia Fletcher Can You Keep A Secret? (Fierce Recordings) A Certain Ratio Do The Du (Soul Jazz) The Evolution Control Committee Rebel Without A Pause (Pickled Egg) Sweet Tee I Got Da Feelin' (Cooltempo) bratmobile Cool Schmool (K) Unrest Cath Carroll (Teen Beat) Huggy Bear Her Jazz (Wiiija) Gang of Four I Found That Essence Rare (Peel Session) (Strange Fruit) The Petticoats Normal (Blah-Blah-Blah) My Favorite The Informers and Us (Harriet) The Bats Made Up In Blue (Flying Nun) Silicon Teens Just Like Eddie (Mute) Marie Applebee Toom Toom (Jubilee) Talulah Gosh Bringing Up Baby (53rd & 3rd) Adventures In Stereo Nobody's Scared (Subway Sect cover) (Creeping Bent) Strawberry Whiplash Stop, Look and Listen (Matinee)
Somewhat shockingly for Not Unloved, some of these records were on 12" vinyl (yeah, I know...gasp!). I had planned to work through the likes of MARRS"Pump Up The Volume" and Bill Drummond's "Julian Cope Is Dead" but, somehow it didn't quite happen. It was, however, sweet to hear post-Marine Girls group Grab Grab The Haddock at a decent volume in a nice, airy venue where people were chatting in a relaxed way. It was fun, too, to be able play Aggi Doom's forthcoming single. Thanks for making that happen Soft Power Records!
Diana Meehan from Los Angeles's rather lovely Sweater Girlsis making a rare live appearance in Glasgow this Sunday at an intriguing looking NADFly organised event. In late 2010 Sweater Girls released "Pretty When You Smile", one of my favourite singles of recent years which came wrapped in one of the very best sleeves I will ever see:
It's the kind of sleeve that makes a chap mourn the passing of his Tae Won Yu designed K Records punk boy t-shirt which was illustrated in a similarly adorable style. Anyways, that's not important. What is important is that Glasgow turns up in numbers to welcome Diana. If we're lucky, she may even bust out a version of Sweater Girls' take on The Modern Lovers' "I'm A Little Dinosaur". Full details:
Nadfly presents: Nicola Atkinson Does Fly, Diana Meehan, Emma Peebles, Lee Ivett and special guests 01/04/12 @ 20:00 £3 Nicola Atkinson Does Fly, Diana Meehan (Sweater Girls), Emma Peebles (Viridian Quartet), Lee Ivett (Baxendale) and more very wonderful guests
