The Breeders - King Tuts Wah Wah Hut Glasgow 19 May 2009

While the band strap on guitars and reposition themselves in a somewhat uncomfortable manner, I almost expect lead singer Kim to announce that this is their first gig. Instead she mutters something about a drum, addressing their drummer, and between them they rather limply attempt to convey what they must consider the humourous story of buying a drum from a homeless man for $5.

This is hardly what you'd expect from the spin-off project of Kim Deal, a hero in the grunge world for playing bass in stadium-filling alternative rockers The Pixies, now struggling with issues like guitar-strap twisting and microphone positioning. The band have appeared on stage for their first of two performances at a packed-well-beyond-fire-safety-limits King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, with both equipment and crew borrowed from Scots indie daddies, Teenage Fanclub, and no support act. It will be a few songs into the set before the crowd grow accustomed to the erratic but none-the-less charismatic and adorable stage presence of the Deal sisters and their band, The Breeders.

The powerful bass and splashy drums get the sardine-packed venue dancing in the square foot of room they have each to move. The distorted vocals, guitar slide and new wave catchiness of 'Cannonball' definitely makes it a fan favourite. The otherworldly vocals on 'Safari' are a demonstration of the Deal sisters' musical imagination. The band also perform 'Tipp City', the one single released by Kim Deal's third musical project, The Amps. And of course there is a great response to the appearance of Kelley's violin to perform the halting call and response riff on 'Drivin' on 9' - gimmicky but pleasant.

Instead of the usual Set/Encore breakup, Kim requested a five minute break three quarters of the way through to "splash some water on my face". The band's casual 'living room' performance style made for a comfortable audience. Although critics may point out a lack of professionalism, showmanship, technical skill and overall tightness of the band, there was definitely a lovable relatability to the group as they made friendly but meaningless observations to the audience and to each other, reminiscent of parents at their children's high school "soccer game". The informality allowed for audience members to shout out their requests. Most of which were ignored, except for one man who added "please" and got his song played right away.

Myke Hall

ATP vs. the Fans: The Fans Strike Back 2009

Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Kinda like hitting the demo button on a Casio keyboard, but not as good. Rather dull, think I may have preferred it if he didn't sing. Though I have to say the last few tracks when he was joined by the full band were pretty fun. I may have danced.

Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard
Some really cool music and some smile-inspiringly clever lyrics, were somewhat spoiled by Jeffrey’s whiny nasal voice. I liked his battered, stickered, overdriven acoustic guitar though.

M83
A guy and girl looking at each other over an array of synths, sequencers and other gadgets. Mostly instrumental. Very stylish and dancey. I especially enjoyed when the brought in low-end guitar riffs.

Devo
At the time when Devo were first popular, prog-rock was something new and futuristic. The silly hats, costumes, and dance routines fit with the quirky originality of their music. Nowadays, especially at ATP, their music seems mainstream and dated. The lyrics are quirky and pointless, culturally irrelevant or lack real depth, and... Let’s call a spade a spade; they're a bunch of middle-aged guys dancing around in their boxers shouting "whip it good".
Still, full marks for effort, they were damn entertaining. And the tune 'Uncontrollable Urge' really stood out for me.

Pink Mountaintops
This is apparently the solo project of the guy from Black Mountains. Although why the chief-songwriter and co-lead singer needs a solo project too is beyond me. These guys were actually really good. Mixing some Western and southern rock (South Western?) with some experimentalism and some great guitar-play. One of my favourite acts of the weekend.

Cave Singers
Rootsy western of the style of Seasick Steve, but there were three denim-clad rednecks up there. Still pretty minimalist and usually acoustic, they had a sincerity that is achieved through the rawness of their tunes.

The Acorn
The Acorn are a soft, folksy group whose' understated music is likable but (evidently) forgettable.

Grizzly Bear
A bit catchier than The Acorn, the tunes are bouncy and the vocals are ethereal. Like psychedelica but a bit tougher and edgier but equally floaty and intelligently constructed.

Beirut
Strong, classical vocals over trumpets and accordion. Definitely some eastern European folk-dance influences. The frontman is lovable and some of the songs are particularly romantic.

Errors
Definitely good to see Scottish bands on the bill. Their slightly tongue-in-cheek electronic post rock didn't have quite the kick I was hoping for, but certainly had an atmosphere.

Jesus Lizard
A little bit punk and a little bit grunge, the band clearly loved themselves to pieces. I did not share that love, they were OK.

Shearwater
Somewhat indie, moody, fantasy experimentalism. Nice way to start a Sunday. Kind of a male equivalent to Bat for Lashes.

Future of the Left
My discovery of the weekend. Hard rocking, microphone screaming, sweets tossing, instrument thrashing, crowd surfing, banterous, Welsh/Geordie power trio. Loved them. "There's a band on the other stage called 'chik chik chik' (!!!). I'm not making this up, that is actually their chosen moniker!"

!!!
Funky and groovy. Synthy in a kind of 80s underground kind of way. The front man was a bit too Har Mar Superstar for me, but the rest of the band were great to watch, and the entire room was dancing. The beat wasn't too intense but it was powerful enough that you feel stupid standing still.

Parts & Labor
Indie and electronic sounds, with a healthy dose of crazy too (see the rock-out that is New Buildings). The vocals do kinda let the side down on this, which is a recurring theme this year, but these guys were enjoyable to listen to.

Spiritualised
Definitely chillout music, it’s hard to get excited about it, but the swells and treads of this many-instrumented post rock is unquestionably the soundtrack to lying in the grass. Or in the case of this particular festival, lying on the green felt carpet.

School Of Seven Bells
Fairly decent tunes, Interpol support veterans, hot identical twin girls. It sounds good but their live show left something to be desired. It’s called performance.

The Mae Shi
Take musical toys, synths and guitars and a sparkling sugar high and mix them all together. You get The Mae Shi. I would like to see more of these guys.

Top Five Recommendations:
5. Cave Singers
4. Beirut
3. !!!
2. Pink Mountaintops
1. Future of the Left

Myke Hall

Touch Me - Any Color Black

The debut EP Touch Me by Glasgow duo Any Color Black opens with the sexy-to-the-point-of-distaste, or possibly even sin, title track. The song starts with singer Louise's orgasmic moaning and breathy gasps, which are incorporated into the backing track of the song itself when they are mixed with a digital bassline and MIDI drums. The lyrics are highly sexually charged are guaranteed to get the red-blooded male listeners' red blood rushing away from their head.

Guitarist/producer Andy combines these gritty synthesised rhythm section with overdriven electric guitars that emit a tunefully cacophonic wall of sound when the song reaches its peak.

This trend continues in the following tracks As You Are. As You Were, from which the band's name comes, and the heavy-disco If I Could, with the lyrics slipping away from raw sexual urges to a more emotive expression of a girl who wears her heart on her sleeve, punctuated all the way by crispy digital sounds and heavy bass. The overall sound is very full, with made-for-surround-sound left and right panning and some effort has been put into filling those empty frequencies when needed.

As seems to be the style for most of these songs, How You Have Fun scans like a triangle pointed upwards, with the sound building up, guitars getting louder and more full as the song goes on, until Louise's voice is screaming to be heard over the swelling backing track, and then gradually elements are removed until the song returns to the bare bones it had began with. As the song builds up, the single repeated lyric "You don't know that you're beautiful" is sung with a varnish of desperation and jealousy, allowing for a plethora of different interpretations.

The lyrical circle is completed with closer Hot, a cheeky tale of a disappointing lover with a stomping drum beat.

This terrific debut merges heavy alt rock and electro with the proverbial lack of seams, simultaneously aggressive, sensual and dancetastic. Yes, I said dancetastic.

Myke Hall

Johnny Foreigner and Hundred Reasons @ Powerup - Studio 24 Edinburgh 3 Apr 2009

There's a reason musicians are the way musicians are. Not everyone has the confidence or the desire to stand up in front of a crowd of onlookers and have everyone stare at you while you do your best to both display a talent and express an artistic work at the same time. It takes a certain personality trait. For some, its attention-seeking. A boisterous, "look at me, look at me!" attitude. For some its a strong desire to get a message across, whether its political or personal, they have something to say and want to be heard. For some, it could be a subconscious manifestation of a dark, self-loathing desire to be humiliated and embarrassed, like a hand-glider with a secret deathwish.

With Johnny Foreigner, it's quite possible they're just plain nuts.

At least that's what their stage show would have us think. Nearing the end of their UK tour in support of Hundred Reasons, both bands performed the launch night of Orange Slice Records' new monthly live music event at Edinburgh's Studio 24 titled Powerup.

In actuality, the Birmingham three-piece Johnny Foreigner put a lot of energy into their performance, which isn't too surprising considering the velocity and sense of hyperactivity that surrounds their music. The yelped lyrics from the guitarist are difficult to make out, amid bleeding speedy guitar licks reminiscent of early The Cribs and thumping bottom-heavy bass. The drummer has a stripped back kit, without many toms or cymbals, giving him room to tape a synthesizer to the bass drum to play during the (admittedly few and far between) quiet moments in the set.

All three are singers, but the bassist's softer, more melodic voice works well in contrast to the raw music, a juxtaposition that works well for The Subways, a fellow indie-punk three piece.

It would probably be insulting to call Hundred Reasons emo. For a start, they've been around long enough to see the birth of that scene and have made the decision to side-step any associations, and secondly, just because partially-melodic hardcore punk is mixed with pop-punk hooks and emotionally charged lyrics doesn't necessarily mean emo. You have to wear the clothes too.

The five piece played for a good 45 or 50 minutes with barely a pause for breath, squeezing in as many tunes as possible. This was obviously a boon to the die-hard fans, but to the rest of us, it was a bit too much, and not a good enough excuse to leave out interacting with the audience. The lead guitarist had some brilliant solo skills, and the bands tunes did sway as far as anthemic Aerosmith stadium rock to punky Hoobastank needling, but much of their tunes sounded very alike, and the long set simply showed up their lack of variety.

If Johnny Foreigner are a reinvention of The Cribs or The Subways, Hundred Reasons are a recreation of Lostprophets, but with a little bit less sing-a-longability.

The highlight of the set was the epic Falter, if they had just played 25 mins of their best tunes, this would have been a much more agreeable set.

Myke Hall

The Little Kicks and Come On Gang @ Limbo - Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh 26 Mar 2009

The Little Kicks are a four-piece portraying some pretty, indie feeling-sharing. The lyrics, while never really saying much, are not dull or embarrassing. The boys play mid-pace to fast chirpy, chiming tunes, with a faint taste of that folksy indie made famous by bands like Belle and Sebastian and Alfie in there somewhere too, embodying the spirit of skinny indie kids everywhere. The high-hat beats on the drums would make any disco fans smile knowingly. The musicianship in general is streamline and at times tunefully angular and the lads have a charming swagger that is pleasant to watch. The lead singer/guitarist also seems to take great pleasure from playing a few chords on the MicroKORG synthesizer and fiddling with the resonance control.

Perhaps not quite as plain as vanilla, these guys are probably more like strawberry ice cream. Sweet, but fans of Rum and Raisin or Rocky Road, they're not going to entice you. They are the sort of band you could bring home to your mum.

As rare as it is to find a girl drummer, it must be rarer still to find one that does lead vocals. But Sarah Tanat Jones' positioning is far from the only thing that makes Come On Gang (pictured) interesting. Having just returned from SXSW festival in Texas, and not afraid to chat about it, all three members of the band were comfortable on the mic, engaging the audience with a bit of banter, anecdotes, cheap jokes. Sarah's voice is very folky, which creates an interesting juxtaposition when placed next to the dance-tempo rocky music the lads play. Guitarist Mikey Morrison plays chiming treble riffs and overdriven power chords and bassist Trev Courtney dominates the low end with a full-sounding slightly distorted heavy bassline. Its difficult not to start dancing to this music.

The highlight of the set is 'Both Ends Burning', a punky rock-out with an incredibly catchy chorus, which is on the T Break 2008 CD, that you can get free from HMV on Princes Street.

Myke Hall

Indafusion and Super Adventure Club @ The Mill - The Caves Edinburgh 19 Mar 2009

When Indafusion started a song with nothing but a rather complex dual vocal harmony between the guitarist/lead singer and the bassist/backing vocalist, some strange looks were passed between audience members. The two struggled, sometimes in vain, to stay in tune without hearing their instruments and the melody and harmony lines played a stark counterpoint to each other, with lyrics that were at best introspective, and often absurd. Neither of them could be hailed as terrific vocalist. The drums joins in. The percussionist plays with an intense look of concentration, even on the simplest beats, as if drums are his second language.

Two minutes into the song and that’s forgotten. A short instrumental break includes a bottom-heavy booming riff bass, and some tight fisted heavy guitar work reminiscent of The Misfits and hardcore punk and the audience are less confused about what the band are all about.

That can often be a problem with playing progressive music. I definitely admire the fact that these guys idolise bands like Yes and Gabriel’s Genesis, and they, like their idols, are able to move from contrapuntal multi-layered avant-garde to no-holds-barred Guitar Hero speed-solos, and everything in between; but it’s tough music to accept, especially by the hook-loving masses.

The drums play a big part in painting the picture of each musical scene, whether the backdrop is a woodpecker’s tap, or a stormy ocean crashing on the rocks, and the vocals, when the music gets going, are powerful and gripping.

Next up are Super Adventure Club (pictured). A lot of journalists or reviewers love it when bands don’t stick to established genres, because it means they get to invent their own titles to describe the music (the term “spaz-jazz” was batted about). Others like everything to fit into neat little musical boxes, and can employ the use of hierarchical tree charts and Venn diagrams to describe the exact specific classification of every band they hear. I must admit I relate more to the latter category, and for that reason I’m going to label Super Adventure Club ‘experimentalism’.

They experimented with tempo, timing, time signatures, key, tonality. Yet somehow, against all odds, came out with some really catchy tunes, peppered with witty, surreal, even comic lyrics.

The secret, of course, is that the three of them (drums, bass, guitar. All singers.) Are all music scholars, two of them teachers. Which is just downright cheating.

I’m also trying to avoid the temptation of describing them as lo-fi simply because they reminded me of Pavement. But they did mostly just stick to playing their instruments dry, and when a special effect was used, it was carefully chosen and added an extra angle to the song.

I was, however, upset that they missed out their best song ‘Built In Redundancy’, which is one of the songs that gets played on Fresh Air FM automatically when there’s no DJs in the booth. Even more upsetting was when the crowd were chanting for one more tune, the guitarist tells us “We don’t have any more tunes”. Yes you do! I heard it on your MySpace!!

Both bands have a song about sloths… I’ll leave you with that thought.

Myke Hall

What You're Looking For - Little Green Machine

It might be a little bit odd writing about an unsigned band that have already broken up. But I really like this EP and think it deserves a bit of attention.

What You're Looking For is the second EP self-released by the Edinburgh power trio Little Green Machine. The comparison to the last one is probably clichéd but I'd say the sound is slightly more matured, less raw and more carefully produced.

Each track features incredibly clear and well separated drums, without ever letting them sound overwhelming. The guitar sound is mid-balanced and bright in the quiet bits and fuzzy and distorted in the loud bits. Lead singer/bassist Jack's voice has a post-heavy night out strain to it. The sound of the band is a mix of late 90s grunginess (Placebo, Smashing Pumpkins) and American alt-rock (Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction).

Opening title track What You're Looking For has a bit of a punk feel, opening with drums and feedback, with a running pace beat and tempo all the way through and builds up to a chant-along chorus of "Hold on to what you love". As with a lot of songs executed by three-piece bands, the "solo" section is manipulation of chords rather than single notes, so that the song doesn't lose any energy.

Take Me By The Hand is the EP's ballad tune. With a John Frusciante Chili Peppers sound to the guitar, the song floats along. The very active drums and plentiful fills don't seem to kill the more relaxed mood of this tune.

Honey Bee is the lyrical highlight for me, blending ironically cited cliché with some inspired introspective imagery, like "you moan about the honey and you won't drink the wine". Some pretty harmonies provided (presumably) by drummer Cat. It starts by sounding kind of glitzy and disco but descends into some dark grungy chord progressions.

The ends on Jelly Baby. Very Nevermind-era Nirvana. The song includes a breakdown which is just crying out for some "get the audience clapping" sessions when they play it live. Like the rest of the album, it sticks to grunge principles. Angsty lyrics, loud in the chorus, quiet in the verse. It actually starts quite indie-folk, but when the chorus kicks in it kills off all traces of Snow Patrol.

Jesus, how many times in this article have I used the word "grunge"? I'm sorry, its currently my favourite genre. I disagree with Wikipedia's definition because there has been a lot of different bands since 1994 that use the features of grunge music and it's ridiculous to just call them all "post-grunge" because they didn't come from Seattle. If that were the way it worked we'd have been listening to "post-rock" since Please Please Me came out in 1963.

Back to the point. This EP has the right balance of rocking out and chilling out that a rock record should. Its a shame the band have broken up, but I should probably plug what they're doing now. Jack has recorded some solo stuff and has been known to play tambourine and backing vox for City City Beat. Cat has joined St Jude's Infirmary and Arthur (guitar/backing vox) ... isn't doing anything musical anymore as far I know.

Myke Hall