REVBEW NO WAVE 8. POST ROCK STAGE BLOOD ROADS TO sum AND mvbncE
Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 12 Dec on.
Divorce have clawed the title of ‘most exciting group in Glasgow' from the cold, dead hands of whoever held it before.
Having brought Optimo to its knees back in November, the four-girl, one- man group's live show includes. repetitive sloganeering, screaming walkabouts in the audience and, in bassist Vic Strap-On (ex-Pro Forma) and drummer Andy Brown (once in Bricolage), the most brutal rhythm section in the west.
After such brilliance. almost anything would appear tame, but Roads to Siam face up well enough. Their sound's rooted in textured, proggy psychedelia. and sounds more mature than you might expect from a band whose pedigree includes The Supernaturals and AC Acoustics.
Live debutantes Stage Blood. on the other hand, bear a certain weight of expectation, given that their number includes Mogwai's bass demon Dominic Aitchison and Eska's Colin Kearney. Again, their rough-edged post-rock with tunes and lyrics might well have stolen the show on any other bill, but just can’t overcome the thrilling memory of Divorce.
(David Pollock)
HARDCORE ROLO TOMASSI King Tut's, Glasgow, Tue 16 Dec
With the current trend for turning any conceivable subject matter into a feelgood singalong musical, it seems only fair and logical that Linda Blair's most famous film role should be immortalised in song eventually.
Or so it would seem according to the bloodcurdling yelps of unrestrained Satanic horror emanating from the angelic—looking petite frontwoman Eva Spence throughout the half hour, wholly hellish, Rolo Tomassi set.
They do seem to be enjoying themselves though, and amusingly, keyboardist James Spence's between-song announcements, thanking the audience for coming along, are delivered in a polite, quiet speaking voice, which falls into sharp relief against his group's caCOphony of white noise. Spence even ignores the perils of gravity and gets up onto the barrier and appropriately enough the crowd's physical lack of inhibitions perfectly mirrors the five—piece‘s lack of musical structure.
So you can't fault their enthusiasm. And God loves a trier, as they say. But the Devil can prove to be a tough opponent to beat, as The Exorcist proved. (Emma Newlands)
EXPOSURE This fortnight: Little Joy
How come?
songs. (David Pollock)
ROCK RESIDENCY
IDLEWILD
King Tut’s, Glasgow, Thu 18 Dec ””0
This was always going to be a sentimental trip, Idlewild revisiting each of their albums over consecutive nights. In my case, seeing the band for the first time on the 700 Broken Windows tour in 2000 and now again, eight years later playing the same record, has a real emotional resonance. They've changed since then. The hair is still straggly, the guitars charged, but they've grown more comfortable in their owns skins.
Tonight is split into two. The album — played in order — first, contains some of their finest moments: ‘Little Discourage'. 'Roseability' and ‘Bronze Medal' sound as impressive as they ever have, proving that despite its untidy origins, 700 Broken Windows remains one of their most cohesive and compelling statements to date.
For the second half of the set they take requests from the crowd. ploughing through a ferocious salvo including ‘Modern Way', ‘Paint Nothing', ‘ln Competition for the Worst Time’ and breathtaking closer ‘I Am What I Am Not’. Idlewild may been looking back tonight but on the quality of this show there's still a wealth glorious possibilities ahead of them. (Mark Robertson)
l
For those who’ve been wondering where The Strokes have been hiding since 2006, here’s one of five answers. Little Joy is drummer Fabrizio Moretti, alongside Los Hermanos’ Rodrigo Amarante and Moretti’s girlfriend Binki Shapiro. Their self-titled debut album appeared late last year on Rough Trade, and is an very different proposition from The Strokes’.
Rather than a spiky, urban thrill, Little Joy are a more pastoral, laid- back experience. Amarante and Shapiro split vocals throughout the album, with the former contributing a twanging Latin feel and the Iatter's smoky, girlish tones falling somewhere between Kimya Dawson and Beth Orton. The Brazil-born Moretti, meanwhile, provides much of the music. including folk-rock and reggae.
How did they all meet?
Moretti and Amarante met at a festival in Lisbon where their respective bands performed. When the Brazilian Amarante travelled to America to work with Devandra Banhart on his 2007 Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon album, he and Moretti met up again, and they were both introduced to Shapiro by mutual friends. What's next for Little Joy?
A hiatus of their own, when The Strokes reconvene in the spring. Until next time, thOugh. they've made a lovely record which goes a little way towards dispelling the myth that drummers shouldn't write
I Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 7 7 Jan.
METAL SLIPKNOT SECC,Mon 9Dec me
For any rock band worth their salt. it's all about the guitars. BIG. HEAVY. GUITARS. Slipknot have their fair share of shredding riffs and six string belligerence, although the first thing that hits us tonight, aside from the explosions and flames from the stage, is the drums. The 7000 or so folks assembled for Slipknot's first Scottish appearance in over three years cannot help but feel the sheer power of the Iowan nontet. And when it comes to keeping a beat. Joey Jordison is pretty much as good as it gets. battering into a humongous kit with black cymbals (yes. he's that metal). Jordison is the driving force behind the band; his incessant, but dextrous playing underpins the fury unleashed by the rest of his squad. while vocalist Corey Taylor — showing up tonight up in a kilt — is always on hand to deliver a big, soaring chant-a-long chorus amid the melee.
It's a fitting finale when during their closer ‘(SIC)‘, Jordison's entire drum kit rises 15 feet into the air before rotating on its side 360 degrees. He never misses a beat. Beneath the choreographed mayhem beats a lean metal machine that can crush all comers. (Mark Robertson)