The Kills – Midnight Boom

On album three, American/English girl/boy duo The Kills add literal meaning to the garage rock genre: opener U.R.A. Fever sounds like it was made in a scrapyard, seemingly taking its rhythmic cue from metallic clunks and ratchet whizzing. This abrasive edge pervades an album that sticks with their elementary, dissonant blues engine, but accepts added [...]

Hot Chip @ Barrowland, Glasgow, 26 Feb

It’s not hard to see why Hot Chip chose Matthew Dear  (**) as support for their UK tour. The synth-prodding, cowbell-clutching Texan, along with his buddies on guitar and drums, treads the same not-quite-dance, not-quite-indie path as tonight’s headliners. But his club-oriented brand of electro sounds swamped in the expansive space of the Barrowland Ballroom.
Despite [...]

Malcolm Middleton – Sleight of Heart

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While former accomplice Aidan Moffat carries on hacking away at the Hallmark notion of romance, Malcolm Middleton presents his less bludgeoning but equally brazen thoughts on love with the aptly titled Sleight of Heart. Middleton deems this is an intermediate release between ‘proper’ albums but, when he wasn’t promoting his unlikely assault on the Christmas [...]

Monkey Swallows the Universe, The Graeme Mearns Band, Gavin Gordon @ Cab Vol, 11 Feb

A gig review for The Skinny…
At the Skinny we know a good thing when we hear it, and that’s why Glasgow singer/songwriter Gavin Gordon is here tonight. Well, our competition for a gig at Cab Vol, plus his formidable talent. The seated, unplugged Gordon makes amends for a diva-style late entrance with a revelation of [...]

Interview: Damn Shames

This is a feature on up and coming Edinburgh band Damn Shames which I recently penned for The Skinny. It was cut down slightly for print, as there’s fierce competition for space in the magazine’s bursting musical pages don’t-cha-know, so here’s the definitive version…
Music journalism can be a strange, haphazard, frustrating affair, governed by tight deadlines [...]

Super Adventure Club, Papier Tigre, Jacob Flynch @ Henry’s, 6 Feb

Ah, back in Henry’s on a weekday night. That sweet’n’sour waft from the Chinese restaurant upstairs; the cheap snake-light that probably came from Woolworths round the corner; the timeless pile of debris stage-left, including what looks like a rider of Tesco orange juice and packaged sandwiches. It truly is the last word in no frills venues, [...]

February - A month in singles

Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong may have a ridiculous name, but they’ve already been tagged as a band on the rise in 2008. No surprise on the evidence of Lonely Buoy (***, 18 Feb), with its Bloc Party pace and Cribs-y guitars. [Although they fairly divide opinion, as Ally shows in his hilarious [...]

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

Here’s a challenge. Describe Hot Chip to an indifferent friend in as few words as you can. If you’re struggling, that’s because all the usual tick-box tags fade as sharply as your friend’s attention span when faced with a band as wilfully divergent as Hot Chip. Their first album, 2004’s Coming On Strong, was broadly [...]