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Talk of hot high school chicks, rude words and Sonic Youth? No
wonder David Pollock has fallen for the unsubtle charms of Giant Drag.
musingl} enough. the lirst line of the
first cutting to be transmitted from (iiant
l)t'ag\ press office in London. under the
heading “The last tithe I broke the law “as . . .'
contains this ans“ er from .\licah ('alahrese: 'l
smoked some of a cigarette backstage at a \entie in Scotland No da} \ ago‘. (‘all the cops?
It‘s not a \er} rock'n‘roll response 7 (‘alahrese
shtltlltl ha\e been at Bah} shambles' last gig up
here; the} prohahl} got through about a carton of
Regal on stage. liortunatel}. the (‘alil‘ornian duo tnake tip for it as the old adage goes \\ ith the music. The band \\ rite antliemic indie-rock torch songs in the win ol the l’i\ies or Sonic Youth at their most popp_\. soaked in a snug .\l_\ Blood} Valentine squall and re\elling in the Alpha (irrrl Vocals of singer and guitarist Annie llard}. She's the rock'n‘roll one. as }titi'll see.
The best thing about them (aside from amusing ll]-j0l\L‘_\' titles which ha\e nothing to do \\i[h the song: '.\I} Dick Sux‘; 'Kex'in is (itn': 'You l5uck like .\l_\ Dad) is that all of the aho\e comparisons reall) do hold water. and not just in that \aguel) straw—clutching \\‘;i_\. which is an unfortunate necessit) of describing sound in \xords.
20 THE LIST c; c t
A kind of anti—White Stripes. \\llll the gu} sitting in the background on drums (and \L‘tlllL‘llc‘L‘l‘l \\ hile the girl shous oil out limit. the pair \\ ere initiall} matchmade b} llard_x\ mum. \\ ho \torkcd \xith (‘alahrese l'sing that particular intuition that onl} parents ha\e. Hard} Snr thought the pairs interest in music tneant the) just had to know each other: _\et \\ hen the No actuall_\ met properl} through mutual friends
the_\ got on \\ ell. ()ne semi-jammed ccht' ol‘
‘\\'ho\ ('1‘) ing Now." h} .lourne} and a ll'tllllc‘ss search l‘or a bassist later. (iiant l)rag \\ ere horn.
So mm the hand are gathering acclaim on both \ltlL‘\ ol' the Atlantic in no lc‘ss trendsettng organs than Spin and All/Ii. A lot til it centres on their co\ct‘ ol‘ ('ht‘is lsaak‘s ‘\\'ickctl (iatttci. much to the band's mild displeasure. alter it \Vtts shoehorned onto the release of their debut album. llt'urtx init/ ('iii'i'orm. but the song itself is a sterling re-imagination. as grim} and brooding as _\ott could hope liot'.
llar'tl}\ reaction to their encroaching fame is t}picall} straight-donn—the-line. l‘or she's a singer \\ ho doesn't seem to trade on niceties. ‘\\'e “ere that hot girl at high school'. she told [Hunt/(7' maga/ine. ‘\\ ho was just like. 'I don‘t need a dude. I'm so hot. I‘m just here going to high school. And then all the tllltlc‘s just totall) named to t'uckin‘ hang her hard.‘
\Vitlt chat like that. it'll be \Hll‘llt itjtist for the gaps hc‘lu c‘c‘l] stings.
Giant Drag play the Futures Stage on Saturday.
IF YOU LIKE THIS, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
I Pretty Girls Makes
Graves 22' Jenny Lewis. Lorre" heating friei' genres minute rot k and frantic.
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VOX POP
Veterans and virgins alike share their festival experience
THE DIVINE COMEDY'S NEIL HANNON TELLS OF HIS ADVENTURES AT T IN THE PARK
'l always remember donng ‘Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count' [in 1906], and 15,000 people at a beautiful two o'clock in the afternoon dorng the clapping bit. Fantastic; I felt like Freddie Mercury. My manager. Natalie ~- that was the first time we met. at T in the Park, when she came to lead me to some lOUrlTéillSIS. because she was domg my radio at the time. I always take the practical View of festival sets — said there's no point in trying desperately to show all the sides of your art. Much better to do the more upbeat ones. really. and try to give everyone a good ‘10 minutes.
I also recommend taking along a good book. Maybe The Ancestor Tale, by Richard Dawkins. I'm sure festivals wrll put you in mind of the dawn of creation, and how on earth we got to this pomt. hahaha. I enjoy festivals when I'm on stage — the rest of it I'm not very fond of, I have to say. | only went to one festival as a punter; that was when I was 20. It pissed rt down and it was very cold. I'm JUSI being an old misery guts. of course, but the food's not very good, the booze generally a bit pissy — well, it's JUSI so outSidey. and I'm not an outsidey person.’ Pet Sounds Arena, Saturday.
PAOLO NUTINI HAS BEEN THROUGH THE T IN THE PARK WRINGER ENOUGH TIMES TO KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO SURVIVE.
‘The most important thing when it comes to survivmg festivals IS to be realistic. Don't make huge plans to see 80 bands in a day as you'll only get frustrated. Don‘t get your hopes up. Spend the weekend haVing a good time With your pals and if you happen to hear some good leUSlC then all the better. If you plan it like a military campaign you'll come a cropper as there's so many thousands of people trying to do the same. Pick a few you really want to see and you won't be disappomted.‘ T Break Stage, Sunday
ALEX MILLER FROM THE UPPER ROOM ANTICIPATES LOSING HIS T VIRGINITY.
‘I have never been to a festival in my life before. SO I am being thrown right in the deep end. We're really chuffed to be playing the main stage and to be on the same bill as The Who. We're a bit gob smacked to be playing the same stage as our heroes. My adVice for festival goers is make sure you bring a top sheet for your tent. Jim Our lead gurtarist forgot his one year and had to weave together a collection of plastic bags and bin liners to avoid being drowned in his sleep. His tent looked like a rubbish dump.’
Main Stage, Sunday.