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|Nl)lE POP THE BE BE SEE Spies in the Wires @ Cabaret
Voltaire, Edinburgh, Thu 12 Apr 0...
Delivering further sad proof of the old ma><im that Scottish bands need to go to London to really get on. The Be Be See (formed by two Scots. singer and songwriter Kevin O'Donnell and bassist Philip Collinsi got together in the capital and seem to be doing rather well. Their second single 'Disney Eyes' is out soon on an Elvll subsidiary and they're picking up good press all the time.
Which is only right. because they're a great band. even cut down to a trio here by the temporaiy loss of their regular keyboard player and playing to a modest early-doors crowd. They take the key elements of C86 and shoega/e. and feed them through a literate. pop ctMture-obsesserl filter «as well as the name. they have great songs called "You K Gold' and 'Discover E'i. The live set itself is exciting and personable. aitd calls to mind My Bloody Valentine ‘.'.'ere they to reform and tn, to write the perfect pop single. iDavid Pollocki
62 THE LIST ' .77. 3.1a,
(.ZOME..DY POP
DULOKS
Dolly Mixture 2nd Birthday @ Barfly, Glasgow, Fri 27 Apr .0000
Having almost been driven to throw himself out of a moVIng vehicle by all girl London trio the Duloks prior to this gig ilong story). it's your List correspondent's duty to inform you that the band do come With a health warning. They're crude. They're loud. And they're very. very irritating.
When unleashed on an unsuspecting audience. however. their calamitous mess of electronic drums. tacky synths and comedy lyrical stylings makes for about one of the damn funniest musical spectacles you'll ever witness — part The Frogs. part Mighty Boosh. Duloks song titles speak for themselves: ‘Help! I'm Turning Into Mick Jagger' and ‘Bad Vegetarian' l‘l saw you eat the fish It was a Christmas dish'i being particular standouts.
Throw in the fact that they dress like X-rated tennis elves and specialise in audience heckling banter bordering on the sadistic. and you've got the quintessential opinion polarising pop band. So. while fame is perhaps unlikely. notoriety is as good as a certainty. ilvlalcolm Jackl
lNDlE
STOPSTARTS 0000
LR ROCKETS coco
KID CANAVERAL oooo Subway, Edinburgh, Sun 29 Apr
First rule of gigging: make sure y0ur guests don't steal the show. Kid Cananveral are in danger of doing just this. It's amazing how even their brand new pop-punk songs embed themselves in the brain, while single ‘Smash Hits‘ could easily be just that.
Not that LR Rockets need worry — the night is ostensibly the launch for their single on Greenock's Grace Records. While the London-based boys may be far from home. their tongue-in-cheek guitar posturing — think At The Drive-in with a sprinkling of Dick Dale — soon wins over a crowd largely encountering them for the first time.
Fifers Stopstarts are the local attraction. and may carry the most descriptive band name ever. Their tunes' titles — ‘Short Breaks'. 'Metronome'. ‘Digital' — describe their jerky rhythms and insistent guitars perfectly: with audience heads and feet set a-nodding and a-tapping. it might be LR Rockets' party but it's Stopstarts who lead off the dancing. (Stuart McHugh)
WORLD
ORKESTRA DEL SOL
The Caves, Edinburgh, Thu 3 May 0...
They say this was the launch of Orkestra Del Sol's new EP The Road to Thermosa. but copies of it were being dished out free at the front door to anyone who did a silly dance for the staff. It was that kind of a night. and one suspects the EP launch was just the best excuse for a party Orkestra Del Sol could think of.
With ten Edinburgh based members and two guests onstage (including percussionists. an accordionist. a fiddle player, a singer and various brass instruments including a massive sousaphone). it's a wonder they get everyone playing in time let alone creating such an inspired blend of music. They take their cues from Eastern European gypsy polkas. Caribbean calypsos and South American samba to make a unique. high-tempo sound that inspires a wonderful carnival atmosphere.
From students and scenesters to the dreadlocked hordes on a Beltane comedown, the crowd did seem to love it — as might anyone who catches this most summery of bands live over the next few months. (David Pollock)
Tomorrow's music today: this issue: The Wombats
The Wombats are three indie-pop lads who met at Liverpool’s Institute For Performing Arts. Sunny, hyper hits like ‘Backfire at the Disco’ and ‘Moving to New York' - full of three part harmonies, frantic tambourines and bouncy guitar riffs — won support from DJs Zane Lowe and Colin Murray. Their tales of botched dates, strippers and caravans have earned them fans in Canada, Europe and China where they recently played to crowds of 20000.
Lead singer Matthew Murphy describes their sound.
lt's upbeat pop with a slightly dark edge. The lyrics talk about heartbreak and messing things up with girls — I write from a mix of real life and my imagination. We try and add humour and not take it too seriously. We love strong melodies from 605 bands like The Beatles and The Beach Boys. so you could say we're updating that
With an indie edge. Why The Wombats?
Dan (drums. vocals) and I call each other ‘stupid wombats' and it stuck. We have a Cuddly toy wombat. Cherub. that we bring onstage. But he was kidnapped by a fan when we played Koko in London. Now they post photos on MySpace of Cherub in front of the Eiffel Tower and stuff. We need him for our UK tour. so we've
asked fOr him to be Fed-Exed over.
What goes on at a Wombats live gig?
Random st0rytelling and hopefully the crowd singing along at the top of their v0ices. Maybe moshing. crowd surfing. People need to bring their dancing shoes. We've got slower songs too — they could be good for listening to in a bubble bath. We try to cater for all occasions. (Claire Sawers)
I King Tuts. Glasgow, Mon I4 May; Cabaret Voltaire. Edinburgh, Tue 75 May. New Single Kill the Director is released on 25 Jun on 7 4th F/oor.