Music PREVIEWS
PSYCHEDELIC POP DUCKTAILS With Julian Lynch and Big Troubles, Captain’s Rest, Glasgow, Fri 3 Jun; Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, Sun 5 Jun
Exotic pop artist Matthew Mondanile, alias New Jersey DIY buff Ducktails, has a hedonistic day ahead. ‘I just woke up,’ he says from his Brooklyn home. ‘After this interview, I’ll probably take a shower, have some coffee and pay a couple of parking tickets.’
Mondanile recently released his third ‘official’ Ducktails LP, Arcade Dynamics, via Woodsist Records (Wavves, Moon Duo). It’s a typically giddy blend of psych, drone, summer jams, tropical riffs and hazy vocals. In addition to playing with NY surf-poppers Real Estate and acid-rock diviners Predator Vision, Mondanile has recorded as Ducktails since 2007. ‘I was living in Northampton, Massachusetts, in a nice house near the fairgrounds,’ he reminisces. ‘We had a big backyard with a tool-shed that had a bed in it facing a farm with cows. It was pretty ideal. I’d just moved back from Berlin. I recorded six songs with an amplifier and a four-track, and I wanted to sell the tape at a show I was playing, so I photocopied some stuff and asked my friend to write Ducktails in a silver font on the tape.’ Mondanile’s day-glo melodic wooze has since been aligned with the 80s nostalgia of hypnagogic pop and his three ‘formal’ albums have been augmented by many lo-fi cassettes, LPs and CDRs – all intoxicating, and many embellished with the ultimate 80s emblem: the palm tree.
‘These days in the Western mind, palm trees speak of sunny skies and relaxing vacations,’ Mondanile reflects. ‘The head of the palm is visually comparable to our glowing sun-star, and so many symbolic meanings of the palm are related to solar attributes.’ Can we expect palm trees from Ducktails in Scotland? ‘Unfortunately there will be no palm trees on stage. However, there will be four cute boys with me.’ (Nicola Meighan)
SHOUT-POP/ ROCK DANANANANAYKROYD The Ivy, Glasgow, Fri 3 Jun, with Bronto Skylift and Young Legionnaire
As hyperactive Glaswegian sextet Dananananaykroyd ready their second full- length effort – the Ross Robinson-produced There is a Way – for mass consumption this summer (see review, page 101), the band seem keen to put a fairly quiet and frustrating 2010 behind them.
‘Last year was a very hard year for the band,’ says drummer Paul Carlin, noticeably relieved. ‘There was a lot of upheaval, line-up changes, leaving our label, all that sort of stuff. It was a difficult time. But when we got the word that Ross was going to do the album, that was kind of the start of a really exciting period of time for us which is continuing to this day.’
Last November, the band holed up in LA with Robinson (Slipknot, The Cure, At The Drive-in) who is notorious for his ‘unorthodox’ and hands-on recording approach. But it was an experience which Carlin says, has made Dananananaykroyd really up their game as a band. ‘He would always do something to really get into your guts before you did a take, and it worked, because I think he got the best out of all of us.’ he beams. ‘We’re all really happy with the record, I absolutely love it.’
Ahead of its release this month, the band make a low-key hometown appearance, in the intimate surrounds of The Ivy. As Carlin explains, ‘There’s something we like about a getting in a packed room, turning everything up as loud as you can and just absolutely destroying he place. I cannae wait.’ (Ryan Drever) ■ There is a Way is released on Pizza College, Mon 13 Jun. The single ‘Muscle Memory’ is out on Mon 6 Jun. Watch the video at list.co.uk.
98 THE LIST 26 May–23 Jun 2011
MUSICAL MYSTERY TOUR DETOUR’S WEE JAUNT Various venues TBA, ending in Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sat 4 Jun
We at List HQ take great pride in our ability to give you all the details you could possibly need to pack your lives chock-full of top-notch, culturally-fulfilling activities every month. So imagine our confusion when we tried to write about something which we aren’t strictly allowed to tell you anything about. Enter Detour’s third Wee Jaunt, taking place in Edinburgh in June. For the
uninitiated, Detour is a Glasgow-based musical adventure project run by long- time chums David Weaver and Ally McCrae (better known to most of us these days as ‘the guy who took over from Vic Galloway on BBC Introducing in Scotland’.) Their schtick involves taking musicians and putting them in the most unlikely places, from rooftops and alleyways to half-way up mountains and pub toilets, and leading patrons from spot to spot. With two Glasgow Wee Jaunts under their belts, the lads are heading for Auld Reekie. As per Detour protocol, the line-up will remain secret, but we can tell you they’ll stop in at List HQ for a one-off secret performance. Past alumni include Admiral Fallow, Rachel Sermanni, Holy Mountain, Hey Enemy, Young Fathers, Carnivores, RM Hubbert (see above, on a Glasgow Wee Jaunt), Bronto Skylift, Aerials Up, Pensioner and more, so be prepared for the cream of the Edinburgh crop to be playing in all sorts of inspired spots. Pack some sensible shoes, your pocket money and a pal to ensure a great musical day out. (Lauren Mayberry) ■ Keep checking detour-scotland.com for updates.