|
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, Destinys 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.
|
|