MUSIC LIST
Victoria Street. 220 1708. 10pm. Free. Rock and blues.
0 Loo-Aka-Bop Boston Bean Co. St James Centre. 55601 1 1. 8.30pm. Free. Alter egos ofThe Peristalsis Brothers.
THURSDAY 8 _ .-
Glasgow
0 Stranger Shadows. Bath Street. 9pm. Free. Competent rock/progressive band from Greenock area.
0 Triffids/Jack Rubies Fury Murry‘s. Maxwell Street. 221 651 1. 10.30pm. The Triffids. along with the Go Betweens and Hoodoo Gurus rank among Australia’s finest. and of course were responsible for the wonderful Born Sandy Devotional LP on the indie Hot label. They have now signed a major deal with Island. and have their first major single Bury
Me Deep In Love in the shops on Oct
5. Capable support from the Jack Rubies.
O Deacon Blue Strathclyde University Union. John Street. 9pm. Hometown gigs for Deacon Blue are always a special event. and this should be no exception. Students and friends only.
0 The Kritics Platinis at Furlongs. West Nile Street. 9pm. Free. ‘Alternative pop'. Their word. not mine.
Edinburgh
0 The Big Wheel Fresh. Waterloo Place. 556 2839. 9pm. Free. See Fri 7
0 Future World Moves Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. 10pm. Free.
0 Raider Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free.
0 Los Supremos Canny Man‘s. Morningside Road. 447 1484. 8.30pm. Free.
FRIDAY 9 Glasgow
0 The Thieves/River Detectives/Tender Mercy Cumbernauld Theatre. Cumbernauld. 7.45pm. £1.50. 0236-732887. Interesting bill. as The Thieves and the River Detectives are two of the best unsigned bands around at the moment — Tender Mercy 1 know nothing about.
0 Love and Rockets/The Lorries QMU. University Gardens. 9pm. £3.50. Potentially interesting evening for all indie pop fans.
0 No Shame Rooftops. Sauchiehall Street. 10.30pm. They might just be goths -— but then again they might not.
0 The Thanes Boulevard Hotel. Great Western Road. 9pm. Free. Promoting a new single ‘Hey Girl‘ on DDT Records.
0 Jamie Barnes and Cochise Platini‘s. West Nile Street. 9pm. Free. Friday wouldn‘t be Friday without Jamie Barnes and Cochise — would it‘.’
Edinburgh
0 5 Star Playhouse Theatre. Greenside Place. 557 2590. 7.30pm. SOLD OUT.
0 The Triffids and The Jack Rubies The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 7.30pm. Excellent beat group from
l
BAND PROFILE: SPLASH ME I’M DRDWNING
Although seven in numberwhenl dropped into their Edinburgh practice room,
PDPU UST-
around a core of three: drummerJohn Mathieson, keyboard player Ranald McPherson and Neil McCallum, who plays bass, sings and writes the band's material, which is full-sounding, chart-aimed pop, played and produced to a classy standard on their excellent demo.
‘We think of all our songs as singles,‘ Neil tells me. “That’s not to say I approach songwriting as “Oh, I think I’ll write a single", but there are no fillers. We try to make sure that everything stands up on its own.‘
The name came to Neil while watching a film called Splash, and the silliness of it is intended to carry a melancholy undercurrent- making a joke out of a bad situation is often the only way of coping with it. The band admit they're not crazy about the name, but it’s stuck, and having a memorable name is no bad thing.
The influence that Chic have exerted overthe sound of Splash Me shows in their stylish arrangements (and in the ‘Good Times‘ riff, which surfaces a little too often in the set— my only complaint), but Neil is at pains to point out that a lot of care is taken overthe
the Antipodes. Moments of compelling weirdness.
o The Wedding Present and Jesse Garon and The Desperadoes Mandela Centre. Potter Row. Strong possibility that this is a Freshers-only gig. but those who can get in to see it should be impressed by the best of Edinburgh‘s post-Velvet Underground scene supporting indie chart and John Peel regulars The Wedding Present.
0 Swamp Trash and Good and Gone Assembly Rooms. George Street. 225 361-1. Swamp Trash. all sons of the great bluegrass player Papa Scritton (what d‘you mean. you‘ve never heard of him'.’). and play a great mixture ofstyles from the southern states in a way that makes it hard to keep the feet from twitching. Good And Gone are a bit more challenging. but their scratchy and compelling track on the ‘Wide Open' compilation grows in stature with each hearing.
0 Hold The Frame Lord Darhley. West Port. 229 43-1 1. 10pm. Free. See Mon 4.
O The Big Wheel Cassis. Abercromby Place. See Fri 2.
0 Phil Guy Preservation Hall.
Victoria Street. 226 3816. 8pm. £3. A l
genuine Chicago Blues guitarist.
over from the USA. Should be worth
going along.
0 The Peristalsis Brothers Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. £1 after 9pm. See Tue 6.
o Wasted Days Rolling Stone. Greenside Place. 558 1270. 9.30pm. Free. Appearance depends on availability ofvenue.
o Machinegun Smith Clowns. High
l
. Z1, { » ,
j elodic construction of the songs as well as the rhythmic groove. Although scornful of the limited ‘603-based‘ view of what people think constitutes a ‘songwriter', he'd clearly like to be considered a good one, perhaps alongside Green from Scritti Politti, one of his real heroes. ‘One engineer at one of our gigs said “Aye, they’re a good pop band, as long as they don’t get ideas they‘re any more than that." ‘ He shrugs. ‘If I was a sculptor, say, and I’d made a statue, I’d stand back from it and say, “Aye, I like that. That’s nice." And that’s what I think to myself when I
Street. 556 1830. 9pm. Free.
SATURDAY 10
Glasgow
0 Raymonde/The Bolshoi QMU. University Gardens. 9pm. Raymonde. one of Morrissey‘s favourite bands and top Smiths soundalikes must fancy their chances ofsteppirtg into the bedsit heroes throne now that they are signed to Chrysalis and the Smiths are out of the way. The Bolshoi have improved a lot recently as their ‘TV Man‘ single proved.
0 Wedding Present/This Poison Glasgow College (it"l‘ecliriology. 9pm. £2.50. Indie bands seem to be the in thing for the student unions this month — and you could do worse than this pairing.
0 Jamie Barnes and Cochise Viva's. Union Street. 1pm. And the beat goeson . . . and on . . .andon . . . and on. . .
Edinburgh
0 Wet Wet Wet Playhouse Theatre. Greenside Place. 557 2590. 7.30pm. SOULED ()UT. See feature.
0 The Bambi Slam and The Cateran Speed 3. The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 8pm. £2.50. Noisy indie faves supported by Edinburgh noisemakers. just back from a successful German tour and heading in an unnerving speed metal direction.
0 After Eight Mince Negociants. Lothian Street. 2256313. 9pm. Free. See Fri 2.
0 Bulb Cormorant Lord Darnley. West Port. 229-1341. 3pm. Free. See Sat3.
think I’ve written a good song. But somehow the statue is considered Art, and the pop song isn't.’
To date, apart from the demo, the band's only recorded output has been the theme tune fora Radio Scotland schools’ programme, and the royalties from that are unlikely to make them millionaires. Their eyes are fixed — realistically I‘d hazard - on the big time, but their lack of a manager has so far held them back from blitzing the major record labels in any big way. So get in touch, prospective managers, and stop wasting time. (Mab)
o Toto and The Bostons Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 2pm. Free.
0 Big George and The Business (to be confirmed). Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. Glasgow‘s leading rhythym ‘n‘ blues band.
0 Ransom Clowns. High Street. 556 1830. 9pm. Free.
SUNDAY 11 Glasgow 0 Christy Moore Pavilion Theatre. Renfield Street. CANCELLED I sincerely hope that you are heartbroken too. 0 Bambi Slam/Fizzbombs Rooftops. Sauchiehall Street. 10.30pm. Worth a visit ifonly for the Fizzbombs. who have some idea of what a good song should sound like — even if they are not yet sure how to play it! o The Wollhounds Daddy Warbucks. 46 West George Street. 10.30pm. A return visit for a band who played the same venue last August to a less than packed house. Hopefully recent publicity will boost the crowd for this one.
Edinburgh
, o Ransom Soundcheck Rock Club.
The Venue. Calton Road. 557 3073. 7.30pm. Heavy rock/metal.
0 DC de Souza Music Box. Victoria Street. 220 1708. £1 after 9.30pm. Enjoyable rock band. with a style that is occasionally reminiscent of The Police in some abstracted way. Worth it to hear the Rhodes piano make a return to the stage.
0 Tam White and The Dexters Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 2263816. £1 after9pm. See Sun 4.
The List 2—15 October 29