REVIEW INDIE
MALCOLM MIDDLETON King Tut’s, Glasgow, Sun 28 Jun em
Welcome back, Malcolm Middleton. Now with added Jenny Reeve on guitar. violin and gorgeous. elfin vocals. and Johnny Lynch (the Fence Collective's Pictish Trail) in charge of yet more guitar. harmonies and — we kid you not — rapping out the entire theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air during one instrumental break. At least he had the good manners to look embarrassed.
Lynch and Reeve are such large talents that you almost suspect that ‘Malcolm Middleton' has become the name of a new Scots supergroup. But then, that doesn't do justice to the talents of Middleton himself, who has quickly developed into a truly first- class songwriter, lyricist and a performer of quiet modesty. Evidence of this was abundant here. from ‘We're All Going to Die' (not really a Christmas song, so perfectly acceptable here) to the bittersweet ‘Speed on the M9' and new album Waxing Gibbous' lovely ‘Don't Want to Sleep Tonight'. The entire audience were sworn to secrecy on his and Reeve's closing duet. but let's just say it involved a the words ‘to'. ‘Run' and 'You'. (David Pollock)
I w. ma/co/mmidd/eton. co. uk
ofithough.
REVIEW INDIE
JOCASTA SLEEPS Nice’N’Sleazy, Glasgow, Sun 28 Jun I...
It could be said the Scottish alternative music scene is threatening to become over-saturated with Biffy Clyro clones. accent and guitar attack in tow. so where are the bands capable of transcending this rut? Well, we may well have just found one. Glasgow's Jocasta Sleeps ascend onto the Nice‘n'Sleazy stage amidst the buzz of a single launch night and the trio waste little time catapulting into their set. To some. the likes of ‘Baggy Needles' and ‘I Am Alive' may sound unfamiliar. but to this attentive crowd they are skin-curdlingly passionate anthems. And this band are atmospheric, too. as well as raucous, with the homesick qualities of 'Old Ideas' taking the emotions up a notch. But what about the single? The snaking ‘Crayfish Cocktail' is named after the Greggs sandwich being consumed at the time. and with a driving sing-a-long chorus and dynamite musicianship, it's a blast. But who wants a measly two-song single? This band deserves a full album and it's about time they deliver one to the masses. After this showing, this crowd awaits with baited breath. (Chris Cope)
I w. m yspace. com/jocastas/eeps
Tomorrow '3 music today. DEAD BOY ROBOTICS
Edinburgh based duo Dead Boy Robotics used to be, by their own admission, pretty terrible. They haven’t even released an EP yet, but have been selected to play the T Break Stage at T In The Park. Multi instrumentalist Gregor McMillian explains how the band have gone from making noise, to making songs
Tell us how DBR came into being DBR came into being as a vehicle for late-night noise experimentation. We had the sole interest of making guitars sound like Gameboys. putting broken synths through delay pedals and tinkering with Casio keyboards. We wrote some songs, made a myspace page and somehow managed to get gigs. Those early gigs were pretty terrible. we didn't really know what we were doing. I think we just wanted to make as much noise as possible and shut people up.
How would you describe your sound? We take the band more seriously now. Our sound has evolved: gone are the under-two-minute- what-the-fuck’?-auraI-assault type songs, for a more spacey delayed feel. We still scream our tits
REVIEW POST-PUNK BATTANT
Optimo at the Sub Club, Glasgow, Sun 28 Jun ”0
Signed to Paris” Kill the DJ label, sometime home of Optimo's own How to Kill the DJ (Part 2) mix, Battant are a class above most other bands of their ilk. Look to lead singer Chloe Raunet for the reason why, her jeans, plain white T-shirt and cropped. androgynous hair trying and failing — like Hilary Swank in Boys Don 't Cry — to disguise a model '8 cheekbones and complexion. A most un-Optimo request for her to remove her top was met with the politest putdown in memory: ‘There really isn't much there — yours look bigger.‘ What a lady.
Like an analogue Ladytron or a Long Blondes who are more concerned with the music than their clothes, the London-based trio (Joel Dever and Tim Fairplay do the hard work in the background) combine austere electronica with ragged guitars to create an archetypal Optimo live experience. Raunet herself sings like Ari Up. dipping in and out of an overdramatic baritone which doesn't quite suit her voice but which complements the music perfectly. giving songs like ‘Radio Rod' and ‘Kevin 1989' a mix of youthful vigour and period grime. (David Pollock)
I www.myspace.com/battantbattant
You beat 1400 other hopeful bands to play on the T Break stage this year. How did you feel when you got the news? it came as quite a shock actually. We had totally forgotten we'd submitted an application. We hadn't heard anything so just assumed we hadn't gotten through. It will be our biggest show yet. Hopefully we'll turn a few heads. Maybe get some heads nodding too.
(Rebecca Moore) I Dead Boy Robotics play the T Break Stage, T in the Park, Fri 70 Jul.
REVIEW ROCK
AC/DC
Hampden, Glasgow, Tue 30 Jun mo Crashing through the back of the stage on a full-size locomotive is one hell of a way to make an entrance, as the opening chords of ‘Rock'n'Roll Train' blare out across a sweltering Hampden. The atmosphere is electric as AC/DC are greeted as all conquering heroes proceeding to lay down a masterclass in rock. Brian Johnson delivering his full frontal gravely vocals all backed by the untouchable guitar stylings of Angus Young replete in school uniform (and soon stripped to the waist with a striptease during ‘The Jack' to much cheering and IaUghter from the crowd).
That they can dash out ‘Back in Black' as their third song just shows the embarrassment of riches in their back catalogue. 'Dirty Deeds Done Dirty Cheap'. ‘Thunderstruck', 'TNT’, “Whole Lotta Rosie' (complete with 50 foot inflatable ‘Rosie' straddling the aforementioned steam train) and ‘Let There Be Rock' (with an extended solo from Angus) are highlights in a set that never lets its foot off the accelerator. They may be rock dinosaurs, but long may they roam the earth. (Henry Northmore)
I www.acdc.com
9—23 Jul 2009 THE LIST 65
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