MUSIC LIVE REVIEWS
THE RAINCOATS
The Cathouse, Glasgow, 15 July.
The tervour oi the tow atones tor the non-appearance ot the many. The Raincoats 1994 model - original members Gina Birch and Ana Da Silva, plus Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley on drums and Cauld Blast Orchestra’s mercurial violinist Anne Wood on any instrument she can lay her nimble hands on - lace a small but enthusiastic crowd on their return to the touring iray alter a ten-year hiatus trom being scratchy punk trailblaaers.
Reforming the group may or may not be a direct response to the growth oi the Riot Grrrl underground across the US and Britain which brought about a Ralncoats renaissance, but looking around the room tonight there are a lot ot girls with gleaming eyes irom past. present and iuture Glasgow bands. Some groups are lust destined to inspire: wherever The Ralncoats play these days, they come lace to lace with their handiwork.
The overall impression ot their set is that it’s tar more hesitant than the in- yer-tace records. The deliciously disjointed structures rattle along but without the drive to keep you gasping at their audacity. That task is partly down to Gina’s voice, modulating between low growl and strident yelp, but is mainly shouldered by Anne, who steals the show with her dexterity and ioiky ilourlshes and obvious love oi what she’s doing.
01d and new material sit together as well as instinctive, jarring compositions can. ‘Baby Dog’ is like
Motown punk, 8 lovelorn lyric and melody in the 60s girl group tradition, given the winning discordant treatment and some ettective barking irom Gina. llnlortunately they don’t leave ‘Lola’ at the back oi the closet - it was crap when The Kinks did it and there’s little The Ralncoats have ever managed to do to redeem its tedium. They bookend their set with ‘Falrytale in The Supermarket’, the second rendition as an encore with some ettusive help trom support band Lungleg who bounce and giggle in a state of high excitement, like they’ve been allowed to open all their presents on Christmas Eve. it’s disorderly, it’s all girls together . . . it’s strangely dissatistylng. (Fiona
Shepherd)
mn- DRIVE LIKE JEillJ
The Venue, Edinburgh, 24 July. There are thousands ot young indie bands, but there’s only one A.C. Acoustics. Good stadium chant that, one day. They stand out on the merit at real tunes (remember them?) and searing live perlormances. They wake up a rather sleepy Sunday night crowd and when they iinish their set the audience pauses a little beiore applauding - pleasantly stunned.
In the immortal words oi Beavis and
Butthead, Drive Like Jehu ‘kick ass’. They look like tour quiet college boys, which is more than a little misleading. ‘lntense’ is a word which was invented tor Drive Like Jehu. ‘Psychotic’ is another. From the moment they pick up their instruments the barrage ot noise is relentless - the drums sound like an AK47 on automatic, Rick’s vocals are like a train screaming through a tunnel and John, the
guitarist, looks as though he’s going to snap his guitar in two at any
moment. There’s no banter between songs, no introduction to each number. The only indication a song has iinished is that the howling teedback sounds louder. Then, just when you think that you might possibly live to see dawn, they’re oit again on another hell tor leather trip to sonic overload land.
ilaliway through one song, Rick’s amp, not surprisingly, breaks down. lie disappears oitstage and comes back with another one, presumably with a volume control that goes up to eleven. Shortly alterwards a couple at hardy souls who had attempted to mosh along give up the unequal light and sit, heads bowed, brains liquidised.
Come the end oi the set there’s a strange smell oi sweat and burning plectrums tinged with a hint oi tear. Rick reverts to Mom’s apple-pie mode, grins a big gooty smile and says ‘Thanks ior coming.’ Uh, yeah. (Jonathan Trew)
ROCK & BLUES
Dates listed below are tor one-oil shows: see separate section tor residencies. Gigs are listed by date, then by city. Dates will be listed, provided that details reach our oilices art least one week beiore publication. Rock and Blues Listings compiled by Fiona Shepherd
and Jonathan Trew.
FRIDAY 29
Glasgow
I The Coal Porters and Dust King Tut's Wah Wah Hut. St Vincent Street. 221 5279. 8.30pm. £5.50. Tickets from King Tut‘s and Just the Ticket. Virgin. Union Street. 226 4679. Ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin makes a speedy return to Glasgow after his solo set at The McCiuskey Brothers‘ acoustic Jamjar club. this time with his rootsy band in tow and a new album 111ml Of Hope And Crosby to promote. Support comes from country combo Dust. who were formerly known as Radio Sweetheart.
I The Orchids and Dog Helter Skelter. The Venue. Sauchiehall Street. 353 1927. 9pm. £3. Unforced pop ditties from The Orchids. who along with 18 Wheeler are leading the crusade against the hackneyed hardman image by wearing hearts on sleeves and writing tender melting moments.
I The Moondials and international Steamer Nice ‘n‘ Sleazy. Sauchiehali Street. 333 9637. 9pm. Country-roots- retro-groovy-rockers The Moondials provide the apex of the evening's entertainment with a set that pays homage to the past without sounding tired or copyist. supported by lntemational Steamer. ex-The Road and Linden Tree. Phil Kay will also be making an appearance and the Frenzy Circus Troupe. so who can guess what spectacle lies in store?
I La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie Queen Margaret Union. University Gardens. 339 9784. 9.30pm. £2. Students and guests. A band named after a club. or a club named after a band? Whatever. La Pastie . . . are playing a set at La Pastie . . . Theirs is an early 80s. intellectual indie pop sound (Wire. Postcard) and similar discs will be spun. along with Byrds. Beatles. etc.
I B.I.S. 13th Note. Glassford Street. 553 1638. 8pm. Free. The launch of a new fanzine Paper Bullets. featuring the group formerly known as Black iron Skyline.
I Baby Bartok, The Universal Mind and Seven Eleven Arena. Oswald Street. 221 4583. 9pm. £2.
I Redwud Bar Belgo. Candleriggs. 552 3486. 9.45pm. Free. A new name for McCool‘s Ruling Cowboy. Live music is planned for Thursdays through to Sundays every week. Tonight. an all-girl cajun band.
I In Your Face MacSoriey‘s. Jamaica Street. 221 8499. 9pm. Free.
I Lorna Brooks (TBC) Cathedral House. Cathedral Square. 552 3519. 9pm. Free. Gritty. soulful vocalist.
I Angela Cameron After Hours. Cottiers. Hyndiand Road. 357 5827. llpm. Free. I Whiteout and Thrum Area. Bridge Street. Paisley. 848 0885. 9.30pm. £4.50. Two West of Scotland acts to shout about prime their rock 'n’ roll guitars and attitood for their appearances at T in The Park on Sunday.
I Billy Rivers Trophy Room. The
T in the Park, July 30th and aflst at Strathclyde Park
Dugout. Cathcart Street. Greenock. 0475 727918. 9.30pm. Free. Blues.
Edinburgh
I Mexico Party and The oecelvers Subway. Cowgate. 225 6766. 9pm. £2. All the way from East Lothian. UK.
I Waykis Negociants. Lothian Street. 225 6313. 10pm. Free. Peruvian duo using self-crafted Peruvian instruments.
I Kid Charlemagne Preservation Hall. Victoria Street. 226 3816. 9.30pm. Free. Poppy. mainstream with funky lumps and some tinkling on the old joanna. One of six local bands who have tracks on a recent compilation called 6.
I Dear John Platform One. Rutland Street. 225 2433. 9pm. Free. Hot rock with classic covers spiced with some original material.
I Rockville West End Oyster Bar. West Maitland Street. 225 386i. 10.30pm. Free. I Bo Weevil Cas Rock Cafe. West Port. 229 4341. 9.30pm. £1. Cracking R & B ouftt.
I Lo Down Johns Advocate. South Bridge. 229 2094. 9.30pm. Free. Houn’ dawg blues.
I Live music Abbey. South Clerk Street. 667 3023. 8.30pm. Free.
SATURDAY 30
Glasgow
I T In The Park Strathclyde Park. 1 lam. £25 day ticket available on the gate. £45 weekend ticket subject to availability. See feature for line-up details. running order. NC.
I Vapourspace, Taste and Revolutionary Bub Warriors Pure 4. Barrowiand. Gallowgate. 552 4601. 7pm—2am. £12 plus booking fee. Tickets from Just the Ticket. Virgin. Union Street. 226 4679. Themes F mm Vapourspace was much acclaimed when it emerged from a Sheffield bunker dispensing uplifting techno across the nation. See preview for Revolutionary Dub Warriors.
I Global Communications Flow. The Arches. Midland Street. 221 9736. 1.30pm. £3. Tickets from FOPP. Bomba and Rub-a-Dub or on the door. The ace ambient remixers/artistes. AKA Reload. perform an experimental live set at some point during this day event. which marks a Flow collaboration with the Tramway's V- Topia exhibition. See preview. The day's proceedings. which continue till 9.30pm. also includes a musicians’ workshop. video installation. readings and a theatrical work-in-progress. See Clubs for more information.
I Eevo Lute Muzique Flow. The Arches. Midland Street. 221 9736. 9.30pm. £8.50/£7.50. Tickets from FOPP. Bomba and Rub-a-Dub or on the door. The evening event features live performances from Pleasure. Eevo Lute‘s Stefan Robbers and Erwin Van Moll. with guest DJ Lx and a performance reading from Toni Davidson.
I Urusei Yatsura, Reid and Eska Nice ‘n’ Sleazy. Sauchiehall Street. 333 9637. 9pm. £1.50. Kitten Frenzy back another Nice ‘n‘ Sleazy bill of thrusting indie noise. A fourth band may be added to the line~up.
I The Family Blackfriars. Bell Street. 552 5924. 9.30pm. Free. Accessible pop. as audiences came to expect from this band in their former Glass Onion guise.
I Hollywood Rockets Caledonian University Union. Cowcaddens Road. 332 0681. 7.30pm. Students and guests. Jump- jive. swinging early rock ‘n‘ roll and R & B from a goodtime seven-piece who all drive classic. vintage British cars. They like to live what they sing.
I The River Chain Gang Bar Belgo. Candleriggs. 552 3486. 2.30pm. Free. Unplugged session.
40 The List 29 July—ll August 1994
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