Not Unloved presents a soiree of boss POP! sounds featuring:
Real Numbers (Minneapolis, USA/Slumberland Records) bring their DIY spirit and pristine jangling guitars to Glasgow for the first time. Their Wordless Wonder lp was released through Slumberland Records; if they're good enough for Slumberland, that's recommendation enough for us. Television Personalities/C86 fans: be there!
Vital Idles (Glasgow, Upset! The Rhythm) are longtime crushes of Not Unloved and brilliantly inaugurated our labelat the very end of 2016 (more on what's next for the label very soon!).They just released their ace debut lp, Left Hand, on label of the moment Upset! The Rhythm: 14 urgent blasts of art!pop! joy. Hell, yeah!
US Highball (Glasgow) are Calvin and James formerly of The Pooches and the best band Captured Tracks never signed, Water Wolves. This will be just their second gig. Expect melodies you’ll sing for days!
Doors: 8pm Entry fee: £5 (all pop fans welcome - nobody turned away for lack of funds)
The Facebook event is here
As the years advance, I've become less and less able to make decisions. For example, choosing which record(s) to buy on any given visit to a record shop (or website, for that matter) has become increasingly difficult. The same applies to gigs. In Glasgow, there are often a couple of options to choose from on any given night and I struggle to decide which one to go to right up to doors open time. Given this, choosing what to go to on Friday, 1st June 2018 will be pretty tricky. I mean, just how does a self-confessed ditherer with my musical loves choose between the following?
The Pastels + Modern Studies + Andrew Wasylyk @ The Mackintosh Church
The Shacks @ Broadcast
The Scientists @ Nice'n'Sleazy
Vital Idles (album launch!) + Irma Vep + Current Affairs + Order of the Toad @ Mono
Each of these shows will be special and on any normal evening would be my gig of choice. The Pastels are my favourite group ever so I've seen them many times before (though not enough for my liking!) and they're playing in a beautiful, non-standard venue. That's the obvious choice. The Shacks, however, are fabulous and I've never seen them before thanks to their gig with Khruangbin at the CCA earlier this year having sold out before I was even aware it was happening. It's at Broadcast, mind you, which is not the best venue in town. The Scientists, of course, are garage legends and, being Australian, are far less likely to roll through town again anytime soon. I suspect they'll be a riot in downstairs in Sleazy's, too. Ah, but Vital Idles have a truly special place in Not Unloved's heart and their Mono show is the launch party for their debut lp (out via the smart kids at Upset The Rhythm). They've assembled a great lineup, too. Argh! In terms of dilemmas, it's a nice one to have but it'll take some sorting. If I were deciding purely on the posters, The Pastels show would surely win out as Annabel Wrighthas created this gorgeous piece of art for it:
P.S. How fab is the latest Vital Idles song and video?
Sham Gate: Niall's performances teeter on the edge of total collapse and total euphoria. Expect complete in-the-moment musical freedom!
Pig's Nest: Talked about in hushed tones, these cats are rarely seen live. Musho and David are 40% of the mighty Mordwaffe, the other 60% being 75% of Vital Idles. Yeah!
Finally, the time has come to share the teaser for NUSONIC 001 with the world! I've loved Vital Idles since witnessing their first gig in May, 2015 - I wrote about it here - and that love has only increased with each successive gig and with the release of their demo tapes. If ever a band was suited to 7" vinyl it's Vital Idles so Not Unloved is super-excited to be able to help them onto their rightful format.
Tell the world!
Here's the blurb:
Vital Idles are Jess, Nick, Matthew and Ruari. In 2015 they leapt fully formed from the fertile intersection of Glasgow's visual art and music undergrounds. Their early live shows were a revelation, all ecstatic dancing and incisive tunes that betrayed an affection for the pioneering run of 7"s from the dawn of Rough Trade and the more pop slanted sounds from the worldwide DIY boom that followed. NUSONIC 001, the first release on Not Unloved Records, marks their vinyl debut following two stirring demo tapes and highlights a group equally adept at abrasive postpunk ("My Sentiments") and saucy pastoral pop ("The Garden"). Fans of Kleenex, Primetime and The Smiths are urged to take note!
Scant minutes into the first show by the Good Press Gallery house band, Vital Idles, on Sunday, 24th May 2015 at Glasgow's The Old Hairdressers, I knew they would be a group I would clutch to my heart. Informed by the sounds of the early 80s DIY revolutions in both the UK and New Zealand, they zipped through a succession of ever more adorable songs. 'The Garden' was a high-point. Sensibly, someone saw fit to film it:
Jessica, the singer, is a terrific performer prone to bouts of vigorous dancing and insouciant mic use. Sure, not all the notes she hits are the expected ones, but this ain't opera and sometimes a bit of wrongness makes things right. Each of the elements of their sound is as it should be: rhythms are thumped out unfussily on a minimal drum setup, the bass is tight and propulsive and the guitars have the immediacy of Buzzcocks or Crystal Stilts. Manchester-based label Comfortable On A Tightrope has just released a tape of Vital Idles demos. Get it on bandcamp or from the label. Oh,and if you've ever wondered how the children of Messthetics might tackle The Smiths, then wonder no more:
Their inauguration into playing live was such a blast that I can't wait to see Vital Idles again. Somebody make it happen, please!
