The story so far
It seemed obvious, even in Pariah's embryonic beginnings, that something rather special was taking shape.
At their first ever gig in November 1999, Pariah found themselves pushed up to top of the bill after the touring headliners had an abrupt fall-out. The question of whether they were ready was never asked and the orchestral dynamics of these unknown newcomers left its mark for the first time.
Universally glowing live reviews and features soon followed, including a 'One To Watch' piece in The Fly magazine. Radio 1 DJ John Peel started to play songs from their roughly recorded early demo tape on several occasions, even taking time out to call the band personally to wish them all the best.
But whilst at times it felt as though someone was looking down from above, Pariah's rise in stock was matched by their ambition. The music itself went forward. It may seem cliched, but as most of the group stepped out of teenhood, a new-found mature direction seemed to follow.
As before, it hinged on the importance of creating an atmosphere on a par with the best movie soundtracks. Yes, they could still make songs of bone-shuddering noise and control, but the need for progression saw their usual non-vocal policy ripped up, distancing themselves still further from the Glasgow underground scene and its fascination with all things weighed under the bracket of post-rock.
In the process they unearthed a truly fragile and reverberant new dimension. Of course, 'epic' still seemed to be the trademarked description of choice, but to the fore entered the creation of an organic beauty wrapped around swirls of keyboard melodies.
More live shows with the likes of ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Doves and Echoboy proved that Pariah's early promise and potential had developed into an essential band to get excited about, and for their maiden London trip they were invited to take part in Rough Trade's anniversary show with Scott 4.
Word-of-mouth and media interest helped establish Pariah as a must-see on the gig calendar, but more tellingly, the group were just as content to keep up a prolific recording output, making two locally distributed long-players called 'Summer Songs' and 'Requiem For Tascam', the latter being named alongside The Strokes, Destiny‚s Child and Travis in the Scottish Mirror's Top 10 albums of the year for 2001.

Pariah are: Andrew Bush, Evan Crichton, Stephen Ferns, Richard Stratton, David Thomson.