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DELTA MAINLINE They’ve got eight years of history behind them, but only now do Delta Mainline feel as if they’re hitting their groove. Formed in Musselburgh by childhood friends David McLachlan (singer and guitarist) and Gavin King (bass player), they’ve since grown to an eight-strong outfit. Two months ago the group released their impressively-named EP ‘In a World Full of Madness, the Simple Joy of Melody Can Pull You Through’, and its rootsy, well- executed psychedelia, says McLachlan, is giving them hope for the future. ‘This is our second EP, but it’s the first one that’s really showed us what we’re about as a band. The response that we’ve had to it has probably been my highlight of all this so far, it shows that all the time spent and the studio costs have been worth it.’
Will an album be on its way?
‘Yeah, we’re currently recording at Chem19 in Glasgow, we’ve got one track in the can and we’re planning to go back in at the end of March and do some more. There are other things happening for us too, we’ve got an application in with Creative Scotland and someone from a label down in England is coming to see us at this gig, so hopefully we’ll be able to get enough funding together to push on and finish the record.’ It must be a nightmare trying to get eight people together to play live, no?
‘Yeah, we need to pick venues that can handle us all. But once we’ve recorded something we want to play it as honestly as possible live, so we need the personnel, really. ‘(David Pollock) ■ Limbo at the Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Sat 5 Feb, with The Machine Room and PET.
LIVE REVIEWS
INDIE ROCK MY JERUSALEM Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Sun 16 Jan ●●●●● NOISE POP SLEIGH BELLS Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 22 Jan ●●●●●
Assembled by singer-songwriter Jeff Klein, formerly of The Twilight Singers, supergroup (of a modest US indie pedigree), the other five members of My Jerusalem are variously linked with The Polyphonic Spree, St Vincent and Cursive and they’ve got the bushy beards to prove it. Well, not bassist Ashley Dzerigian, but you get the idea.
It’s back to sparsely-filled basement venues for all – the band’s debut album Gone for Good got precious little exposure and word-of-mouth is yet to spread. But not for long judging by this electrifying set, which couldn’t have been of a higher intensity if it was for 2500 folk, rather than 25.
There’s something Jeff Tweedy-ish
about the way Klein pulls his tunes from such a versatile Americana place then kicks them in any old direction – from laid-back alt-country to off-the- hook rock meltdown – and still creates a cohesive body of songs. The warm horns and cello of ‘Sweet Chariot’ recall The National, while driving, unhinged stomp ‘Bury It Low’ could have been penned by Modest Mouse. You wouldn’t bet against MJ matching either of those bands’ successes given time. (Malcolm Jack)
If you have heard Treats, Sleigh Bell’s 2010 debut LP, you will be able to easily imagine what the Brooklyn duo are like live. Eardrum poundingly loud bass and uncompromising riffs underpin the set which is, like their album, anthemic but short. Opening with lead single ‘Tell ’Em’,
Derek E Miller (guitar, beats, production) fires through a set of unrelenting tempo, letting up only during the softer, surf-tinged ‘Rill Rill’. Initially struggling against the wall of noise, Alexis Krauss’ vocals alternate between cutesy croons and an almost hip-hop Kathleen Hanna (especially during the cheerleader-style chant of ‘Infinity Guitars’), sass-laden and terribly cool. Miller’s guitar hooks hint at his hardcore roots, having formerly played in Poison the Well, layered simply but effectively over pre- programmed loops.
While the cynical might question whether the duo have become the à la mode darlings of Pitchfork and The Guardian because of their effortless, packed-with-’tude and seemingly Skins-friendly image, a sold-out Stereo would argue that there is substance beneath their style – and bassy it is too. (Lauren Mayberry)
GYPSY FOLK TARAF DE HAIDOUKS Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sat 22 Jan. Part of Celtic Connections ●●●●● Beloved of Johnny Depp and Mike Patton, Romanian gypsy troupe Taraf De Haidouks remain a thrilling live act in their third decade. A spirited set of amped-up Cajun and Zydeco from Swiss trio Mama Rosin makes for a fine appetiser, all accordian, banjo and infectious rhythms. Next to Taraf, however, they sound positively sluggish. The delirious speed of Taraf’s music attracts shred-headed metal fans as much as it does high-spirited folkies. On the turn of a dime, the group take the tempo up to warp speed, leaving jaws agape and limbs flailing. Pan-like flautist Gheorge Falcaru opens proceedings, his birdsong trills answered by frenetic violins and accordians. Then, a cimbalom, or hammer dulcimer, like mice scurrying across piano wires. Of course, it’s not all high speed chases. Senior member Ion Manoli lends his keening voice to some stirring ballads, while their reclamations of folk-derived classical pieces show the group’s wide range. Their takes on Khatchaturian and Bartok, for example, possess a wild magic missing from conventional classical arrangements. (Stewart Smith)
ART-POP REUNION ROXY MUSIC Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow, Fri 28 Jan ●●●●●
Several days before these Glasgow shows Bryan Ferry turned up in House of Fraser, for a signing session where entry was conditional on the purchase of a £50 box-set. A similar skein of pension-provision ran through every aspect of this enterprise; from £65 tickets to hilariously larcenous merch- andise. It consolidated the impression that Roxy, when they reconvene, are now less a group than a luxury brand, a sort of Aquascutum with saxo- phones. Such was underlined tonight by the absence of any new material.
Altogether, this was opulent, leather- upholstered, velvet-lined nostalgia at its height, the best a man can get; sedately engaging when the 12-strong band tackled the hits (‘Pyjamarama’, ‘Virginia Plain’) but the rest of the time as arresting as watching a banker test-drive an Audi. Generous helpings of stuff from auxiliary members’ solo albums was thrown in – partly one suspected to allow 65-year-old Ferry the odd sit-down. Obviously in their four decades Roxy have evolved and can’t be expected to remain the glam- orous, matinee sci-fi mutants of their early days. But I don’t imagine many anticipated they’d evolve into the James Last Orchestra. (Allan Brown)
3–17 Feb 2011 THE LIST 65