ROCK Pilotcan
We've all been there, hugging the dancefloor walls, scooping too much Dutch courage while eyeing up the talent. Then it’s time to scrum up and make a slam-happy clown of yourself with the lads before the evening ends. This is the Social/y Inept Disco, a fashion-defying gaff which takes on all comers whatever the weather. It’s also the name of the rather splendid debut album by Edinburgh n0iseniks Pilotcan, surely in the running as the hardest working band in town. ’We want our titles to be funny, and to grab people’s attentron,’ says frontman and driving force Kieron. 'That's why we named the LP after a place where people go who can’t deal with relationships and can't talk to women.’
Funnily enough, Pilotcan named themselves after a Flaming Lips song, and made their debut supporting Boss Hog. Since then, their left-field guitar assaults have graced more stages than most bands at a similar level. Even now though, Pilotcan are in a bit of a hurry. ’We recorded the album in six days,’ says Kieron, 'Now it sounds dated to us, because we’ve developed so much.’ This might acc0unt for its 57 varieties stylee, which veers between the splintered singalong pop of soon- to-come single Losing More Than My Fingers to the full-throttle freakout of Decaying Orbit Around A Dying Sun, 'We can't play some of the slower stuff
Pilotcan: raw to the core
live simply because we can’t keep a straight face,’ he says.
The album's also far smoother than their ferooous live shows suggest, though the rough edges are something Kieron intends re-instating by the time the next album comes around. 'Half the material’s there already, and when we record it we want a much rawer sound.’ Whatever, Socially Inept Disco should set Pilotcan even further apart from the puritanical indy mire Kieron so clearly despises. 'I want to appear on TV, have huge riders, and have teenagers screaming at us. That’s what it’s all about.’ Not so socially inept after all, eh? (Neil Cooper)
I Social/y Inept Disco is out now on E vol,
ROCK The Wannadies Glasgow: Arches, Mon 19 May.
'The Swedish are coming’ may, or may not, be the title of some popular if unsavoury underground skin flick from Stockholm but it cOuld also apply to a recent upsurge in the nation‘s pop fortunes At four letters long, Abba may not be the biggest name around, but they have proved to be a large ScandinaVian albatross round the necks of any band trying to make it big outwith those borders. The Wannadies, alongside The Cardigans, have done more than most to break the mould, haVing stormed the indie charts before charging into the mainstream psyche With their kooky brand of guitar pop. But try telling that to their fellow Swedes 'We sell about 20,000 copies in Sweden which may not sound much, but is considering there are about 8 million people in Sweden We're about as big as you get if you’re a guitar band singing in English,’ claims frontman Par WikstrOrn, whose
flowmg black mane is another Jolt to those who believe all Swedes drive Volvos. 'What actually sells loads is the eguivalent of Phil Collins or Eric Clapton singing in Swedish. In British terms they're about ten years behind.’ Luckily, The Wanndies are a band for their times. Their latest album Bagsy Me continues their seam of flawless
pop constructs With singles like '
'Someone, Somewhere' and ’Hit’. The latter underwent a 3 Colours Red remix. ’We know them from gorng out and it was suggested they do a remix. lt's gurte a punky song and they obViously are, so it wasn't exactly the biggest experiment in the world,’ claims Wikstrom. 'It might have been more interesting to have a techno or dub version but it would have been crap.’ Fair do’s, '
And the album title 7— what the deVil is that all about,7 'lt's JUSI a translation of something we used as kids - it's a very uncool thing to say, therefore cool ' Which is as neat a summing up of The Wannadies as any.
(Brian Donaldson)
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16-29. May i997 TIIELIST 45