 Glasgow's long been the
centre of the Scottish underground, but could this state of affairs
be about to change? Certainly the likes of the Delgados and Belle
and Sebastian have moved upin the world, but it's unclear who
might replace them. What we can see is that the Edinburgh and
Dundee coastline has a fair number of quality acts, 3 of whom
were sampled tonight. |
 The cumbersomely-monickered Marvellous
Mechanical Mouse Organ for starters. Previewing a load of brand-new
material, which oddly isn't as animal-obsessed as their back-catalogue',
they still have a way with an affecting tune and at-times disarming
lyrics. The band appear nervous, especially singer Ewan, but
his voice improves with every gig, and the band as a whole, who
sounded a little rough-and-ready in previous times, have settled
on a fine sound. Perhaps a little rememiscent of Suckle thanks
to their use of strings and woodwind, this notion can be dispelled
after a few numbers, especially when the faster songs arrive,
as promised. "Emperor's Green" is just one new tune
which stands out .
|
 Peeps into Fairyland might
well have been headlining under different circumstances. Indeed,
they might have been playing at the Corn Exchange. It's not quite
clear why their career has stalled a little, but it's not for
lack of ideas. Looking to get back on track with a mix of old
and new material now combining to form their debut album (out
at the end of September), they put on a stormer of a show, much
more lively than the set at T in the Park. Some of the set still
has that Palace-y tired country feel, but there's plenty of life
in Peeps too, as "Palace Flophouse" shows.
 |
Ballboy are also nearly at the stage of putting
together an album, and tonight they give us a load of new, or
newish, songs. Abandoning much of the older stuff and concentrating
on actualy 'songs' (as opposed to Gordon's more familiar monologues),
Ballboy show that they are probably ready for a global assault;
"A Night at the Ballet" and "One Sailor Was Waving"
are pretty much full-on rock, while 'Public Park' is one song
with a big full sound which is driven by swirling keyboards.
All in all, we might be on the verge of something big from the
east. |