Supergrass
Pumping On Your Stereo (Parlophone) ***
Only Satan himself would recommend a record for sounding like Elvis Costello, but this is exactly that and, bizarrely enough, proves something of a winner. Really just a hook and some handclaps, 'Pumping . . .‘ is slight but contagious. Not as forgettable as 'Going Out'. Not as good as 'Caught by the Fuzz'. You do the math. (PW)
Earl Brutus
Larky (Fruition) s it at it
Earl Brutus return with their patent- leather toilet-bowl concoction of Gary Glitter, Alice Cooper and The Fall; bolder, bolshier and better than before. They're just too damn ugly and frightening to ever be successful, which is sad, for here fries a truly fine, funny pop group. Dang good stuff. (PW)
Gay Dad
Joy! (London) *-
As if their debut wasn't proof enough that journalists should never make records, here comes ’Joy!’. Clearly Cliff Jones, like dismal early 90s techno- rockers Jesus Jones before him, feels that this is the sound of 21 st century rock ’n' roll. In fact, it is the tinny metal sound of those old 805 Transformers cartoons. (PW)
Super Furry Animals Northern Lites (Creation) tr it s Sunny, delightful bossa-nova fest from one of pop’s most distinctive voices. A shuffling cousin of Madness' ’Return Of The Los Palmos 7’ replete with rippling marimbas and sangria-soaked trumpets, like most SFA songs it sounds initially aimless, only revealing its true colours after a couple of listens. A song for the massive frilly-sleeved Spaniard within us all. (PW)
Rico
Attack Me (Chrysalis) r
Hideous funk-metal with some of the worst lyrics ever written. So consumed with rage is Rico, that he has failed to notice that it's no longer 1992 and that
this sort of righteous rubbish doesn't wash with da kids no more. (PW)
Regular Fries
King Kong (JBO) x at
Smoky, heard-it-all-before, near- horizontal groover consisting of an 'Oh, do we have to?’ chord sequence and a stoned vocal which is repeated endlessly until the engineer falls asleep {and accidentally fades it out. Somewhere in a skunk-stunk studio in Rhyll, they're still playing this, their brains so fogged that they've forgotten how to stop. (PW)
Johnson
Savoury Body Show (Play) it e r Hunkered in the same dank corner of the pop-sphere as such baroque-pop luminaries as Belle and Sebastian, Tindersticks, Jack and early Pulp, Glasgow’s Johnson make a nice, nasty, inky black sound. No real tunes
to speak of mind, but at least they've got the right idea: grim Lee 'n’ Nancy-style duets, seedy trumpets and foggy London violins. Lovely. (PW)
Toploader
Achilles Heel (52) it t
Frowning, Verve-ish rock done on piano with a caterwauling Dark Side Of The Moon-style female soul-rock backing vocalist for maximum ‘transcendental' effect. An exercise in aimless bluster, Toploader go nowhere slowly with an entirely gratuitous amount of cheek-puffing humph. Like a dyspeptic Brian Blessed jogging in a concrete nappy. (PW)
Hepburn
I Quit (Columbia) "k it
The name suggests, at the very least, a glitter-varnished, vodka 'n' coke tongued antidote to lad-rock drudgery; a smart, saucy girl-pop collective to fill the cavernous gulf left by the untimely disintegration of the much-missed Kenickie. Sadly, ’I Quit‘ is an anaemic kid-sister to Natalie lmbruglia's 'Torn'. (PW)
Fabulous
The Daniel Ten air it
This is such a thumpingly average, resoundineg unadventurous white-boy indie guitar record that boffins and eggheads at Rocksbridge university could study it as a perfect example of the form. Perfectly adequate, competent and professional it may be, but no one ever changed the world that way. (PW)
Smog
Held (Domino) * it Bill Callaghan-aka Smog is at his best when languishing in a pit of near- comical gloom. When attempting to rock however, as on 'Held', he sounds as dull as every six cent alt-rocker from Seattle to the moon. The acoustic 8- sides, meanwhile, are so somnambulistic as to be almost non- existent. (PW)
Garbage You Look So Fine (Mushroom) s w
The 103rd single taken from Version 2.0 and, whaddyaknow, more of the same ol' windy cyber-goth nonsense. The piano-led Fun Lovin‘ Criminals remix is a vague improvement, though exactly why Garbage felt it necessary to have it done in a style so far divorced from the remixers usual sound is anyone’s guess. (PW)
Cinema
They Nicknamed Me Evil it ir
The one-eyed gore-child of Glasgow groove-robbers Gregor Reid and Crawford Taite, this is twinkling, horror soundtrack music and nothing more. Apart from the interminable techno- groove on the B-side, this is in no way different from the sort of sepulchral instrumentals you'll find on those old jumble-sale Twenty Ghoulish Greats LP’s. (PW)
REVIEWERS TillS ISSUE
David Keenan, Hannah McGiIl, Alan Morrison, Mark Robertson, Fiona Shepherd, Peter Ross, Rory Weller, Paul Whitelaw
o concerts can be bought, from the
rock & pop
listings
Gigs are listed by date. then by ci . Performances wrll be listed, provi ed that details reach our offices at least eight days before publication. Rock and pop listings compiled by Fiona Shepherd (Glasgow) and Rodger Evans (Edinburgh).
'-_‘ Ticket information - Ticketsformost mediumllarge following:
%
Virgin, Argyle Street. 204 5l51 Tower Records'Argyle Street. 204 2500.
Credit card bookings from: Ticket-Link: 287 551 i.
EDINBURGH
Virgin Princes Street. 220 3234. Ripping Records South Bridge. 226 70l0. ‘
Assembly Rooms George Street. 220 4349
THURSDAY 13 Glasgow I Roger McGuinn and Juliet Turner Cottiei' Theatre. Hyndland Street. 357 3868. 8pm. £I8. One ofThe Byrds' mercurial singers/guitarists. If you can't identify his voice on your beat-up copy of Younger T/ruii Yesterday. he's the one with the strangely alluring whine. Juliet Turner is a rising Irish singer/songwriter whose evocatively-titled debut album Let's Hear It For l’i::u was released on Scottish label Sticky Music. She has played with many of the folk/roots greats like Luka Bloom. John Martyn. Mary Coughlan and David Essex (oh ves). I The Bathers arid The Pearlfishers The Arches. Midland Street. 221 400l. 8pm. £|0 donation tickets. This gig is a benefit concert for Kosovo run by Mischief La Bas. In addition to the live music there will be comedy from Phil Kay. Karen Dunbar of Chewing The Fat. Viv Gee. a 70s disco with Arches company actor Grant Sneaton. and an auction and raffle. Star auction prize: Nick Naii'n will come round to your house and cook a meal for eight to the value of£ 1500 pounds. I Toploader King Tut's Walt Walt Hut. St Vincent Street. 221 5279. 8.30pm. £3.50 (advance). £4 (door). New outfit who are well connected. having played with Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher last year. Their debut single 'Achilles Heel‘ is out to coincide with the tour. I Sunflower, Subrosa, Peri, Appleby and Coaster The Cathoi.se. Union Street. 248 6606. 7pm. £3.50. Local band supcrdupei' quintuple extravaganza. I 52 Pick-Up, The Grisly Ghosts Of Guy and The Social Lepers The I3th Note Cafe. King Street. 553 I638. 8pm. £2. The headliners are a garage rockabilly outfit from Newcastle. supported by Edinburgh punks and local hardcore bunch. both of whom are marking their debut singles for new Glasgow label Bronx Cheer. I Property Of Sound Nice 'n‘ Sleazy. Sauchiehall Street. 333 9637. 9pm. I The Playboys Grand Ole ()pry. Paisley Road Toll. 429 5396. 7.30pm. £2.50 l£ l .50 members). Country grooves. I The Collective Sir John Wilson Town Hall. Stirling Street. Airdrie. ()l236 750 815. £7 (£5 child/Passport to Leisure). Local supergroup whose line-up includes Hue And Cry's Greg Kane and The Silencers' James Giilllt)Lll'. I Jam Session Samuel Dow's. Nithsdale Road. 423 mm. 8.30pm. Free. I Cactus Green and Fuel Bar One. Brandon Street. Motheiwell. ()l698 25l 304. 9pm. £2. I Live Music Kilkeniiys. John Street. 552 3505. 9pm. Free.
rock & pop mus“;
This issue’s best gigs
88C MUSIC LIVE
Various artists Over ‘iOO gigs taking place over six days in Glasgow. Genres range from country to hip hop to metal to druw & bass — there must be SOFTIEIiIl."‘. ‘ - you. See separate feature, page 10. Glasgow: various venues, Wed 26—Mon 37 May.
COUNTRY
Roger McGuinn The ex-Byrds lead singer arrives in Glasgow for two nights of lovely Americana. Support from rising lrish singer-songwriter Juliet Turner. Glasgow: Colt/er Theatre, Thu 73 (3/ Fri 74 May.
POP
Dot Allison The Edinburgh comedown diva has overcome the demise of former band One Dove and a serious car aCCident and is back wrth a new set of swoonsome pop songs. Edinburgh: La Belle Ange/e, Fri 27 May, Glasgow: 92, Sat 22 May.
Edinburgh
I The Producers La Belle Angele. ll Hasties Close. 225 277-1. 7.30pm. £6. Blues outfit on their 'Soiiiewhere Down The Line‘ tour.
I Dog Toffee Attic. Dyers Close. Cowgate. 225 8382. 7.30pm. £3. Garage punk from an outfit described as a fifties Clash playing metal. Strictly hardcore. I Andy Neate Common Grounds. 2/3 North Bank Street. 226 l4 l6. 7.30pm. Free.
? rnioiiv 14
Glasgow
I Roger McGuinn and Juliet Turner Cottier Theatre. Hyiidland Street. 357 3868. 8pm. £ I 8. A few tickets left for this date at time of going to press. See Thu I3.
I ELO Part II Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Sauchiehall Street. 287 55I I. 8pm. £l7.50/£I6/£ l4.5() plus booking fee. Pomp rockers who are celebrating ten years as ‘Part II‘. but they'll never erase the memory of 'Horace Wimp'. as our theatre editor will readily testify.
I The Go-Betweens g2. Sauchiehall Street. 353 31 l 1. 7pm. £8.50 plus bookiitg fee. You can e-mail stevewebbon(0‘alitiaroadcouk and request your favourite (iii-Betweens song
3 to be played at the gig. Grant McLennan
and Robert Forster of the highly influential antipodean iaiigle poppers mark the l'LiCilSC of a retrospective compilation of their back pages.
I KIII II This The (Hilltollsc. Union Street. 248 6606. 8pm. £5 plus booking fee. No age restriction. New Mancunian quartet who have been heralded in the metal press for their crossover style (btit hasn't every new rock hand these days'.’). utilising sampled operatic vocals and soul and hip hop influences. Confused? You will be.
Continued over page
is»); May I999 TllE usns