Gig review – Captain FACE @ Drummonds – 18-Dec-2009

Fat Hippy Records night.

Reviewed by Lucky.




My gig attending / reviewing plans have not gone well of late. First of all, I planned to attend Goldie Lookin’ Chain's gig at the Warehouse last Thursday, arrived at the venue an hour early to make sure I got tickets, and was informed that I was in fact 2 days early and the gig was on Saturday. On the Saturday, Cobra Kai were playing at the Moorings alongside Ghosts Of Progress, Ghost In The Machine, and The Super Six Funk Machine. As we were in our normal “first band on” slot, I was planning to come offstage, grab a pint and watch the other three bands for the purpose of reviewing. However, as soon as I got offstage I was dragged to the Crown & Anchor for a karaoke night (quick review – the guy that did “New York New York" was good. My mate who did “Mysterious Girl”, not so much). Finally, I planned to head for the Fat Hippy Showcase night at Café Drummonds this past Friday in order to catch the debut gig of new Aberdeen band The Deportees, made up of former members of Edgar Prais, 10 Easy Wishes and Eddison, and also to see Soothsayer, a Glasgow-based 5-piece made up of several ex-bandmates of mine. Unfortunately however, this date clashed with my office Christmas party, and as I was on the vino from 12noon, I seriously doubted whether I would be in any fit state to be reviewing anything by the time the Deportees took to the stage at 8pm. As it turned out, I headed home at 6pm to get a wee rest from drinking and get something to eat, got in to my flat, made a cup of tea, sat down in front of the X-Files and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up it was 8pm and the Deportees were due on stage – by the time I got changed, had a snack and battled my way through snow and ice to reach Drummonds, The Deportees were finished, all my mates had fucked off and Soothsayer were halfway through their set. Another epic failure from Aberdeen’s most half-assed fanzine.

Soothsayer, from what I saw of them were kind of like an experimental Placebo. Their songs all seemed to clock in at around 7 or 8 minutes, had lots of changes and had a faint emo tinge to them. Their use of three guitars along with a pounding bass really filled out their sound to create a really thick “wall of sound” effect, unlike any other band I’ve seen recently, and while this certainly gave some welly to the heavier parts of their songs, it sounded a little cluttered in the softer parts. I didn’t see enough of them to review their set properly, but I did see enough to say that I was really impressed by them and I’ll be looking out for them up this way in future.

And so, having gone to all that trouble to get back in to town to see 20 minutes of music, I decided to stick around and watch the next band, Captain FACE, a band I’ve never really taken the time to listen to, despite (or maybe because of!) them being a big favourite of my girlfriend. Hailing from “the mythical land of Kinmundy, Aberdeenshire”, wherever the fuck that is, they are a five-piece who play the sort of poppy funk-rock you might experience if you blended together Faith No More, Kaiser Chiefs and Terrorvision, all high-octane, energetic songs with crunchy guitar riffs and more hooks than a fishing tackle shop.

The first thing that strikes you, especially if you are a FACE virgin, like me, is the stage presence of this band. Singer Euan twists himself around the microphone stand and bosses the front of the stage like a less-twatty Ricky Wilson, and delivers witty lyrics and catchy choruses while bedecked in a red knitted Christmas jumper with a set of Christmas lights wound round him, and a Santa hat. To his right their guitarist channels the spirit of Angus Young, gurning and strutting up and down the stage with a Gibson SG, and to his left their bassist pounds away at his 4-string, sings / yells backing vocals and is wearing a bright orange T-shirt which reads “Your Face Is Shit”. Watching the FACE do their thing, you just don’t want to look away for a second in case you miss something. This band look, and sound, as though they are really enjoying themselves, and it’s infectious – the whole venue has a great atmosphere while the FACE are onstage, and down at the front people are dancing, jumping around and singing along. I didn’t catch the names of all the songs, though the tracks that stood out for me were “Small Joy” an upbeat catchy number with an extremely energetic chorus, and the barmy “Awesome No Way”, which I’m told has become the signature song of Captain FACE, and quite rightly so, because it’s fantastic, all funky guitars, a shout-along chorus and an infectious melody that makes you want to jump and flail around like an ADHD kid who’s high on E-numbers. The only low point of the set was the closing song “Credit Crunch Christmas”, a low-key and oddly empty-sounding song which was a very peculiar choice to sign off such a high-energy set, and was met with an air of indifference.

The live FACE experience is definitely something worth catching – I regret that it’s taken me 6 years to actually get round to seeing them, and I will most definitely check them out again. They may not be doing anything terribly original, but if you want to go to a fun gig with a party atmosphere, dance around like a tit and enjoy yourself immensely, you could do a lot worse than Captain FACE. In fact, you might you say you should “FACE” the music and dance! Ho ho ho! See what I did there?

Rating - ****

Captain FACE on MySpace.

Retrospective EP Review – Sirius – “Baby Can I…?” (2002)

Simply put, there isn’t enough Aberdeen-based music being churned out at the moment out to keep two eager beavers like Gladstone and myself in fresh stuff to review. For that reason, we will also be looking back at some releases from yesteryear to see if they still stand up. First up, Sirius…

Reviewed by Lucky

Of all the local music releases I’ve ever owned, I’ve listened to this EP more than any other. I reckon that even now, a full 8 years since it was released, I could still sing along with every word if I wanted to. Sirius, for those of you who weren’t around at the time, were a punk band who formed in the early 2000s when everybody and their dog was forming a pop-punk band. The difference between Sirius and most of the others though, was that Sirius were actually very good. They were what I called “glitter-punk” and they took to the stage sporting spiky hair, safety pins, lip gloss, nail varnish and glittery hairspray. Their songs covered such topics as killing hookers “just for kicks” (in “My Valentine”), underage sex (“15’s Close Enough”) and incest (“Keep It In The Family”) and they were known as much for their wildly destructive live shows as for their music. Gigs more often than not ended in a Sirius-shaped heap of blood, spit, glitter and broken equipment, which didn’t exactly endear them to local promoters, and legend has it that by the time they split up in 2003, they were banned from every venue in the city.

The twin towers of Sirius were songwriter and guitarist Kai, and lead singer Terry Cunt, a man who never met a microphone stand he didn’t annihilate, and who seemed to concentrate more on climbing over amplifiers, trashing equipment, writhing on the floor, spitting on people and contorting the mic stands into new and interesting shapes than actually singing. While this made for an entertaining live show, it did unfortunately take away from the music, as it’s quite difficult to sing while you’re punching a hole in the wall, or jumping into a drumkit, or splitting your own head open with a microphone stand, as Terry Cunt proved often. As a result, musically anyway, live shows didn’t do Sirius justice, which was a shame because they were a damn fine band. The drum stool was filled by Christy, who later played in every Aberdeen band, ever, including De Barros and Edgar Prais, and the bassist position, while held permanently by a guy called Andy, was a bit of a revolving door of stand-ins, including Bob from Point of Origin, and on a couple of occasions, myself.

So, onto the EP. “Baby Can I…?” comes in an amusing box featuring a hand-drawn schoolgirl on the cover wearing a Sirius t-shirt. However, when you slide the sleeve out of the box, you find her clothes are actually stickers which are stuck to the box, and the happy-looking schoolgirl on the sleeve is naked and has been chopped up. Delightful stuff. (This theme is continued in the title track, where the full phrase is revealed to be “Baby, Can I… Kill You?”). Track 1, “M.I.L.F” is an ode to the sexual desire of the more mature lady (reputedly the mother of one of the band members), and while the lyrics are amusing, and feature some clever wordplay (something that Sirius do often), the track doesn’t quite jump out like some of the other tracks on the EP do – musically it sounds a little bit jumbled. Things kick up a notch though with the second track, “Baby, Can I…?”, an amusing song about the various ways to bump off one’s girlfriend. Lyrics such as “In the bathtub / with a toaster / put her legs up / spit-roast her” and “I’ll have your heart with cheese on top / while you’re still screaming for me to stop” added to smatterings of American Psycho references all add to make this a song where you really need to concentrate on the lyrics to appreciate it fully. Terry spits the lyrics of the chorus with real venom, all over some strangely major chords and cheerful backing vocals to create this most strange beast – a cheerful, happy 3 minute song all about murder. Dodgy American accents in the breakdown aside, this track is a real pleasure, and a step up from “M.I.L.F”.

Track 3 is called “Super-Hero” and tells the tale of falling in love with a girl who works on the checkouts on the supermarket by day, and fights crime by night. It’s got some nice guitar and bass work in it (Kai was never one for just using a simple 4 chord progression), and the chorus is irresistibly catchy. This song is also made up mostly of major chords and scales and bounces along nicely for its whole three minutes, with samples of a talking Powerpuff Girl doll thrown in for good measure. This track is pretty bizarre, but it’s great and it’s indicative of what Sirius could do when they could really got their musical chops on and weren’t busy getting banned from venues. Track 4 is the finest track on the EP, and not only my favourite Sirius track, but one of my favourite songs ever. “Take Me Home” is a simple tale of going out, getting drunk and getting laid. Musically it’s the most mature track on “Baby Can I…?” and it really should be an anthem for rock-night hedonists everywhere. As an EP closer, it’s perfect, as not only does it absolutely rock, but at two minutes of pure joy, it makes you want to reach for the “play” button again as soon as it’s done. If you can lay your hands on this track, I strongly advise you to do so.

Some of the “Baby Can I…?” EPs had a hidden bonus track called “Cunts”, unfortunately mine does not, so I cannot review it. However as I recall the chorus is something simple like “You’re a fucking cunt, you’re a fucking cunt, you’re a fucking cunt, you’re a fucking cunt cunt cunt” and I think it was aimed at Radio 1.

All in all, I absolutely love this EP and I still listen to it regularly. Alas it is long since out of print, but if you can find a copy somewhere, do it. You’ll enjoy it.

Verdict - a well deserved *****

Standout track – “Take Me Home”

Thoughts etc. - Rehearsal Rooms Tried & Tested (part 1 of 4)

Written by Lucky

So, you’re in a band, huh? And you’re going to be the next big thing? Well good luck with that, I applaud your ambition. However, unless you plan to sound like The Underkills (sorry Calum!), the one thing you’re definitely going to have to do is practice, and unless you live on a farm, or have some very understanding neighbours, you’re going to need to hire a rehearsal space to do that.

As far as I’m aware, Aberdeen has four rehearsal rooms, though if there are more please feel free to add a comment to this post or email me to tell me what a total fuckwit I am. Over the past year I’ve braved them all, from the sublime to the utterly shit, so you don’t have to set foot in the shit ones (I’ll save you the effort of reading it all – I’m talking about Transition Extreme). Over the course of next four weeks I’ll write a few words about all four, starting this week with Captain Toms.


Captain Toms
Ann Street
http://www.captaintommusic.co.uk/

Rehearsal rooms – 4
Gear – each room has two Marshall 100w amps and 4x12 cabinets, a bass combo amp, drum kit and PA.
Price - £15 per hour, 3 hours for £30 (off-peak).
Other services – Equipment hire, recording studio, shop, instrument tuition.

Pros – Each room has pretty much the same equipment in it, which makes it a piece of piss to just go in, plug in your instruments and play, without having to fuck about with the amps for ages trying to wrest a decent sound out of them (unlike the so-called “ sought-after vintage amps”, in some other studios, yes Musical Vision, I’m referring to you). The gear is in good nick and well maintained, the drums are well looked after and the P.A’s are nice and loud – in fact Toms is probably the only studio in the city where you can really properly hear the vocals without having to scream yourself hoarse over your noisy bastards of band-mates. The soundproofing on the walls and the roof when added to the carpeted floors and soft furnishings in the rooms make for great acoustics, with no annoying echoey noise bouncing off every surface (yes Musical Vision, I’m referring to you), plus the big fat sofa in every room is ideal for having a well-deserved break, or for your hangers-on to sit on and gasp in awe at your musical prowess. Staff are helpful and provide plenty of banter, plus they have a fully equipped shop for everything from spare strings and straps to Space Raiders and cans of Red Bull.

Cons – Pricey. At a frankly ludicrous £15 an hour, this muh-fucker is the most expensive rehearsal room in the city, and the only way to score some discounts are to book during the day (for a minimum of three hours no less), when most people are working. This puts a lot of people off – a 3 hour practice will set you back a princely £45, and if you’re doing this once a week you’ll shell out over £2300 over the space of a year – that’s the same price as 766 Cobra Kai CDs (“Some Thoughts Conecerning Education”, available now from One-Up!). Plus if you need to cancel for any reason, you’ll get charged full price, which is a kick in the balls after you’ve loyally jammed there every week and spent enough money to keep Captain Tom in weed for a month. Finally, trying to get a room here is harder than trying to hide an erection in a pair of hot pants – and if you want to practice at a sensible time (ie, not 10pm – midnight) you’ll need to book about two weeks in advance.

Verdict – Toms is, to borrow a catchphrase from a popular brand of fizzy juice, the original and best. It may be the most expensive rehearsal space in the city, but in terms of sound, facilities and gear it is head and shoulders above the rest. You get what you pay for and Captain Tom’s has everything you need, however, if money is an issue, best look elsewhere.

EP Review - No Pasaran - "Trossachs"

Written by Gladstone

I have never heard anything from No Pasaran, so I’m really not sure what to expect with this EP. What I do know is that they seem to be popular within the Aberdeen Music Scene, and news of their indefinite hiatus was met with dismay from many. If I'm looking for comparisons, I would say No Pasaran sounds vaguely like Snow Patrol without the stadium rock choruses. If you could take all the Snow Patrol "quiet" tracks, and add some extra percussion, and a female vocalist, you'd be somewhere close to the No Pasaran sound.

The EP starts with “Routines” which instantly reminds me of Snow Patrol, both vocally and the catchy tune. There’s a lot going on, but at no point does it sound messy. It is a nice track, but it doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It feels like it’s going to build to something really big at the end, but never quite does.

There is a change to a female vocalist on “Particles” and a beautiful female voice at that. The female voice suits the track better, I’d have preferred if they stuck with the female vocalist for the whole track. The timing seems to go a little during the drum solo – it doesn’t seem to quite work.

I’m really enjoying “Villages. It all falls into place nicely. Again, there’s a lot going on, but it doesn’t get anywhere close to messy. The vocal harmonies work much better than in “Particles”. The bassline adds just the right amount of body to a very nice track. The outro works really well, and finishes off the best track so far perfectly.

Things are stripped right back with “Landing Light”. Very simple but effective track. Again, the vocal harmonies work very well. Images of sitting round a campfire, roasting marshmallows, having a singsong go hand in hand with this song. Another very nice track.

“Woods & Water” is stripped back at the beginning, with slightly less going on than the first three tracks. It builds to a rousing finish, which helps this become the strongest track on the EP.

The bonus track is a full band version of “Landing Light”. The stripped back version probably works slightly better. This is still a good track though, but I would probably have left it out and let “Woods & Water” sign off the EP.

Overall, this is a very accomplished collection of very nice songs. I didn’t enjoy “Particles”, and think it brings the quality of the EP down, and I wouldn’t have included the full band version of “Landing Light”. If those two tracks hadn’t been included, I think the overall rating of the EP would have been slightly higher. Nevertheless, this is still a strong EP, and I hope the hiatus comes to an end soon, as I would like the opportunity to see No Pasaran live sometime.

Stand out track: “Woods & Water”

Rating: ***

www.myspace.com/nopasaran1

Thoughts etc. - The joys of being in a band: Part 1

Written by Gladstone

Roll the clock back just over three years to November 2006. The Underkills were about to embark on what we thought would be an epic journey (and to an extent I suppose it has been for us). We had booked that illustrious first gig. It wasn’t glamorous or grand, but for us, Stuartfield Local Hall was going to be the Theatre of Dreams.

We didn’t have a clue what we were doing, but we had hired the hall, hired a PA system, and got a couple of amps from our good friends Rescue Party, who were to “support” us on what was to be the gig to end all gigs.

We had planned the day with military precision. A couple of us were to meet at Sound & Vision to pick up the PA system at 1pm. We would all meet at Stuartfield Local Hall at 2pm to start setting up, and get a bit of practice in in the afternoon. Let Rescue Party soundcheck at about 6pm, and throw the doors open to the public at about 8pm. And then of course, we would take the roof off as we rocked our way to superstardom.

So, the drummer and I pick up the PA system, cram it into the back of our cars, and head for Stuartfield, where we meet the guitarist who (and I find this impossible to believe these days) was the only band member with all his own gear at the time, and was there on time, guitar and amp in hand. We’re waiting for the singer to arrive with the amps borrowed from his Rescue Party buddies, and he was also to pick up his drums from his Mum & Dad’s house in Strichen. He also – being the experienced member of the band – was going to rig up the PA system because the rest of us didn’t have a clue what we were doing.

But alas, the singer was never arriving and he wasn’t answering his phone. We dicked about with the equipment we had and tried to set up what we could, but we didn’t know what we were doing at all, so it was pointless. We eventually (at about 4pm) got the call from our singer to say he was on his way (i.e. just leaving Aberdeen). We were raging, and getting more nervous by the second, because our practice time was going to be out the window. We had to go to his Mum & Dad’s house to pick up the drum kit, which when we got it back to the hall realised that at least one of the stands was broken, and it was missing a few bits and pieces. Thankfully we’ve got one of those mates who owns a drumkit and about eight guitars, but no idea how to play any of them, and he managed to supplement what was missing. Eventually our singer turns up with the missing amps at about 6pm, and confesses that he got completely trashed the night before and didn’t get up until the early afternoon. What a bastard.

So, we quickly rigged everything up and ran through a couple of tracks to make sure the sound wasn’t awful, and then handed over to Rescue Party to do the same.

A couple of hours later, Rescue Party played a blinding set, and I was understandably bricking it. It was the first time I’d ever played anything in public, there was a 50 strong crowd in a small village hall, and all people we knew, expecting us to be better than Rescue Party!

Thankfully, the nerves disappeared about halfway through Come On And Save Me, which was our “hit” for a while (by “hit” I mean the song that people remembered because it was catchy – it’s been all but dropped from our set these days…). I (and I think the rest of the guys) had an ace time, and we threw in a cover of Columbia by Oasis which went down very well with the crowd.

To this day, that was one of the best nights I’ve ever had – getting up and playing in the band for the first time and seeing a host of friendly faces really enjoying our set was such a great feeling. The gig has been surpassed in quality by probably every single gig we’ve played since, but has probably only been surpassed in the enjoyment stakes by a few. We had an absolute blast of a party afterwards as well, with my ipod plugged into the PA system set to shuffle, and about 20-30 of us bouncing around like idiots. We also had an off-the-cuff photo shoot with our drunk photographer friend.

The Underkills playing with a tricycle

I think I might just stick to playing at public halls from now on…

EP Review – Fivefifteen – "Only Way To Be"

Released on Fat Hippy Records.

Reviewed by Lucky.

I’d never heard this band before yesterday. I’d heard their name mentioned, but I’d never seen them live, or heard any of their songs, I didn’t know if they were metal, indie, dance, country, whatever - I just downloaded their new EP off of iTunes on a whim. It could have consisted entirely of someone whipping their dick against a guitar, while pissing into an upturned trumpet and wailing like a hungry baby. I mean I literally had no idea what to expect. I’m managing to get that point across, right?

So with a bit of intrigue, I cued up the first track as soon as it was finished downloading, sat back into my chair and prepared myself for the unknown. An “E” chord rung out, played through a tremolo pedal. This did not give much away. Then some fast drums. What could be next? Enter guitar. Nice. Bass. Nice. Hammond Organ. Wait a minute…. Hammond organ? What the fuck?

Fivefifteen are difficult to pigeonhole. They seem to lean mostly towards a sort of modern indie rock sound, but there are definite leanings towards blues, rhythm & blues and also perhaps a hint of country. If I had to pick some bands they remind me of, I would say imagine, if you will, what the bastard offspring of The Who and the Zutons might sound like (if you can get past the awful image of wrinkly old Roger Daltrey with his trousers round his ankles, chucking it up Abi from the Zutons). I don’t know if it’s a compliment or an insult to this band (I can’t keep up with who’s cool and who isn’t these days), but the instrumentation and vocals on these tracks have a definite air de Zutons about them.

Opening track “Only Way To Be” is a big catchy number with a stomp-along intro, a rousing chorus and a fun breakdown with a Hammond solo in it. The guitar sounds brilliantly crunchy, and the song is quite infectious, but it doesn’t really go anywhere – it falls back on just repeating the chorus over and over again, and doesn’t get much of a chance to tell a story. Still, it’s a good enough opener and it does the job of grabbing the listeners attention, which is the purpose of any opening track, and I found myself with the chorus stuck in my head later in the day. The second track “Gold Dust” is of a similar pace as the first, and initially sounds a little bit empty, but when the chorus comes in the whole track really opens in a warm wave of fuzzy guitar chords and gorgeous vocal harmonies. There’s a real “wall of sound” going on behind the chorus which brings the whole track to life from this point on and it doesn’t drop off again until the middle eight, which is simply a hi-hat, bass, acoustic guitar and a swarm of eerie-sounding feedback. This builds up nicely into a guitar solo and instrumental coda with shades of “Baba O’Riley” as the track crescendos and reaches it’s climax. This is a much more satisfying track than the first, but isn’t quite as catchy. The third track "Tall Tales" has a thumping beat that makes you want to nod your head and stamp your feet along to it, it’s more balls-out, dirty rock & roll, than the first two, and the first two verses and choruses demand your attention. About halfway through it goes into a maniacal double-time instrumental where all the instruments have the chance to show off, which they do so with panache, though the guitar solo is a little unimaginative and sounds like the kind of standard major-scale blues licks favoured by the likes of Joe Perry. The vocals never come back in and the song, like it’s predecessor also ends on a long instrumental. While this sounds fine, having the lyrics end by halfway through the song is something this band do too often - it makes their songs quite formulaic, and you feel they may have been cut short just as they were getting going.

All in all, I enjoyed listening to this, the musicianship was excellent, the vocals well performed, and the Hammond, for all the derision it receives, genuinely adds a new dimension to the sound and makes Fivefifteen stand out a bit from all the other indie bands in the crowd. However I did feel the songs were a little formulaic and could do with a bit of variety. It is, after all, the spice of life.

Rating - ***

http://www.fivefifteen.co.uk/

Album Review - The Little Kicks - "Boxing Clever"

Self-released

Reviewed by Gladstone


I’ve been a Little Kicks fan since they formed in 2004, having been mates with frontman Steven Milne and a fan of his old band Populous. The highlight of my time as a fan has to be the T Break Stage at T in the Park 2007. Watching your mates at T in the Park is an incredible experience. Watching them fill a tent, and make the entire tent bounce is like something from another world.
I’ve watched their progress closely, and have attended many of their gigs, and it never ceases to amaze me that they’ve never been given a record deal. When I hear some of the garbage on the radio, I just find it remarkable that a band like The Little Kicks remains unsigned. Now, I’ve heard this nonsense being spouted by fans of local bands many times before, but when you’ve been in the game for a while, you get to realise that bands very very rarely get “spotted” – you have to put the work in, and get yourself around the UK, and have a decent level of output in terms of recorded material. This is what makes the illusive record deal even more surprising. The Little Kicks have consistently played and played and played in many different locations around the country, they’ve supported some very high profile bands, including The Editors, Glasvegas and Maximo Park to name but a few, and have consistently recorded and released their music. They also have all the right ingredients for the mainstream audience. So, with all that in mind, I have high hopes for this album, and as I’m mates with Steven and the other guys in the band, I really want this album to be the best album of 2009.

"Don’t Give Up So Easily" kicks in with the signature Little Kicks high tempo disco drumbeat. Steven Milne’s vocals are impeccable as always, and so distinctive. Great bassline, although the song actually feels like it lacks a bit of body. When I think of “Don’t Give Up So Easily” I think of a real uplifting number, which the song eventually gets to nearly three-quarters in. I would prefer it if the song kicked in a lot earlier, and possibly right at the beginning. Great finish to the song.

"I Know It’s Over" is very catchy. It’s repetitive, but not too repetitive – just enough to grab your attention and hold it until the bridge, and then does the same in the second verse and the outro. A very nice track, which will probably translate very well into a live setting – it’s the kind of song that will get you dancing.

I feel myself warming to this album with "One More Time" – this is more like The Little Kicks I know and love – it gets straight into the action, with high tempo drums and lead guitar, and gets to the uplifting chorus fairly quickly. The feel good bassline and drumbeat keep the track going throughout, with the chorus lifting the song right up. Nice middle eight leading into the final chorus and outro. Best track so far.

The cool bassline in "We Came Alive" strangely reminds me of “I Love You Baby”!! This track overall actually reminds me a lot on the new Arctic Monkeys songs, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s very different for The Little Kicks. ‘Mature’ is possibly the word that best describes it. This is closesly followed by another 'mature' track. The lead guitar in "Let Me Down" is really nice, and works really well with the bassline and vocals. It sounds great when it kicks in at about 1 minute 40 seconds, and the second half sounds like it’s ready to take off, and it does at the second chorus. The rousing outro sounds like it would make for a great finish to a live set.

"Chances We’ve Had" follows with another catchy bassline, and high tempo drumbeat means that this track grabs you right from the off. Steven Milne’s vocals sound particularly good on this track. This is somewhere between the high tempo “discoed” up Little Kicks of old and the new mature sound that has peppered this album so far. It is a very catchy number, and the kind of track that would never leave your conscience if you heard it first thing in the morning. It really comes to life towards the end, and sounds like another great live outro waiting to happen.

Things are taken right back down with "Small Talk" which is very moving. It could definitely bring a tear to your eye if you had just broken up with your girlfriend, and I suspect it was written about the loss of a loved one. Very nice, mellow song.

The beat is restored in "Looking Out For Number One", although the cheeriness isn’t quite back to the usual Little Kicks standard. The message behind the song appears to be one of loneliness and unhappiness. Despite the sad vocals and lyrics, it still manages to have a certain feel good factor with the upbeat work on the keys and drums. The last third of the song builds into an upbeat crescendo, and it turns into one of the strongest tracks on the album.

The intro to "Time To Take Over" instantly reminds me of early Franz Ferdinand (which is no bad thing in my book), but reverts straight back to sounding like the Little Kicks when the verse kicks in, and then changes between the two for the rest of the song. On the whole, a more upbeat track, which edges towards the Little Kicks of old, and this will be great in a live environment.

Strangely "It All Comes Out In The End" reminds me of a factory, and visions of a guy doing bone-breaking fifteen hour shifts is never far from my mind throughout the track. The song really gets going about 3 minutes 30 in, and the outro signs the album off really well.

Overall, I think the word that best describes the album is “nice”. I said I had very high hopes for this album, and in all honesty I feel a little short-changed. I do think the album will be a real grower – I’ve liked it more each time I’ve listened to it – perhaps after a few more listens I’ll absolutely love it. It’s a real easy listening album, and it would be easy to sit, headphones on, eyes closed and get lost in the album, but I can’t help but feel the album would have benefited from a couple of the older Little Kicks tracks like "The Optimist" or "After Tomorrow Before Today", which I think encapsulates exactly what the Little Kicks are all about – or perhaps The Little Kicks have completely moved on from that sound, and onto this more easy listening, mature sound. It would be a shame to completely lose those upbeat disco beats that I and many others grew to love.

Stand out track: “One More Time”

Rating: ***

www.myspace.com/thelittlekicks

EP Review - Cast Of The Capital - "Rotten Kids & Haversacks" - A Second Opinion

Reviewed by Gladstone

Cast of the Capital is a band I’ve been championing for about a year. I was hooked after they sent me a copy of their first demo. My favourite thing about Cast of the Capital is that they take a bedside lamp on stage with them – how cool is that? The highlight for me of following Cast of the Capital, was standing in the Banshee Stage at Wizard Festival 2009 – Matt Morris (who is the most polite frontman I’ve ever seen) came on stage and said: “Hey, we’re Cast of the Capital, we’ve came from Aberdeen today to play you some songs.” And I heard a New Deer bumpkin behind me say: “A’ the wie fae Aiberdeen?” Comedy genius. The thing that strikes me about Cast of the Capital is that what they’re doing isn’t necessarily cool, and not the type of music that a lot of people (like the Wizard Festival-goers) would be into, but Cast of the Capital always win everyone over. When that nice, well spoken kid addressed a crowd full of Charlatans fans from New Deer, and they kicked in with their jingly-jangly happy sound, probably about half of the tent wasn’t convinced. But by the end of the set, everyone was into Cast of the Capital – even The Underkills drummer stood beside me who “hates all that jingly jangly shite” as he so eloquently puts it. I’ve heard quite a few people say of Cast of the Capital: “I don’t usually like this kind of thing but…”

So, I had high hopes for the brilliantly named "Rotten Kids and Haversacks" EP, and I wasn’t disappointed when "Comiston Springs" kicked in with this great hook, and the very cheery, catchy song filled my senses. It is very well produced, yet has a very lo-fi sound. The song just gets better all the way through, as it builds to a happy crescendo. Great start.

Before listening to the EP, "The Witching Hour" has been my favourite Cast of the Capital song. I know what to expect, having heard it many times before, but I was looking forward to hearing it with this level of production. It really is a lovely song, with great lead guitar work and real feeling behind the vocals. The second half of the song is slightly more rocked up, and the fast very tight drumming works perfectly with the happy feel of the song. This is a very memorable track and will get stuck in your head all day.

"Passing The Horse" kicks in with upbeat drumming, and cool guitar riff, the lead guitar soars, and then Matt Morris’ voice fills the song, and is just so infectious. You can’t help but be in a good mood when you hear this song. I’d imagine if someone had just punched you in the face, but then the next thing you heard was this song, you’d instantly forgive them. This song wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of Happy Days. And then the hand-clapping middle 8 – it’s all just so catchy, and well put together.

The cheeriness is brought down a few notches with "Crematory Blues" – an acoustic guitar and single vocal only track. It starts off nicely – very simple guitar progression, and the usual nice vocals. Sadly, the vocal seems to lose it in parts about halfway through, and seems to get a little too high towards the end. A nice song, but weaker than the first three.

Everything is brought up a notch or two with Tree Sleep. This starts off well, another upbeat number, nice bass riff, followed up with the usual jangly guitar sound, which makes for an enticing hook. This isn’t as cheery as the first three, and doesn’t quite sound like the same band. There’s a very definite sound in the first three tracks, and to be honest that sound is what makes me love Cast of the Capital. I do really like this song, but it sounds somehow out of place on this EP.

Overall, a very strong EP. The first three tracks are brilliant, with tracks 4 and 5 being good, but not quite up there with the first three. I think the EP would have been better without "Crematory Blues", and possibly a re-shuffle with "Tree Sleep" not being the last track, as it’s not as indicative of Cast of the Capital’s sound, so shouldn’t be the sign off track. Having said all that, this is an EP that should be distributed to every household in the UK. In the midst of the nationwide depression we find ourselves in, a daily dose of "Rotten Kids and Haversacks" with breakfast could lift the nation’s spirits.

I have very high hopes for Cast of the Capital in 2010. The progress they’ve made in 2009 has been astounding, but every step of progress has been made on merit. This is a band that deserves to be playing every festival in the UK and beyond next Summer.

Stand out track: "Passing The Horse".

Rating : ****

www.myspace.com/castofthecapital

Read Lucky's review of this EP here.

Thoughts etc. - Who is Gladstone?

A glimpse into the busy life of a local promoter and musician.

Written by Gladstone.

Like many a young lad, I grew up with aspirations of wanting to be famous in some shape or form, from wanting be a professional footballer, to a Formula 1 driver, a boxer, and probably a few other ridiculous ambitions, I finally settled on being a rock star.

Armed with a crap guitar from Argos, I was going to be the next Noel Gallagher. Twelve years later, I still can’t really play guitar. I can manage a few chords, and can play some easy songs, but that’s about it. I do play bass guitar, however, so I’m getting there.

I sort of stumbled into the Aberdeen Music Scene through playing bass for The Underkills, and always being the one involved with getting gigs, and promoting the gigs etc. I seemed to have a talent for talking our way into decent support slots, and got the bug for gig promotion. I set up a promotions “company” – Exposure, and was responsible for the Exposure @ Lemon Tree clubnights, which were a success in musical terms, but not in cash terms. I had lots of fun along the way, but lost far too much cash to keep it going for any length of time.

Some of the ups and downs so far in my life as a promoter have included: Alan McGee almost getting stuck in London due to serious weather conditions, and on the same day, ALL the bands getting stuck in traffic less than a mile from the venue, and all being about 3 hours late for soundcheck; Alan McGee then arriving about 4 hours late at the airport, and me having to drive far too fast in the icy conditions to deliver him to the venue 5 minutes before doors open; over 300 people turning out in the same horrible conditions to make the first clubnight very memorable indeed – and drinking the bar dry of lager; a certain “big name” local metal band pulling out of the show less than a week before, and taking their mates with them, leaving me four days to promote a very expensive gig; the Lemon Tree managing to book a theatre show upstairs to coincide with our metal clubnight downstairs – cue, very low level ambient metal music, followed by grindcore locals Ablach scaring the shit out of the theatre goers as they were leaving; putting on a gig in Edinburgh, and TWO people turning up; Roddy Woomble promising to throw an almighty ceilidh party, but then not bringing any ceilidh music and proceeding to play very dull folk music for two hours; the hip hop night being all round brilliant, and in particular Dan Le Sac’s set being amazing – remix of Song 2 followed by remix of Smells Like Teen Spirit; and the final clubnight being an all local affair, and being a massive success, with Indian Red Lopez being absolutely showstopping!

Dan Le Sac rolls another phat one.

I threw the towel in at the beginning of the Summer, but have been dragged back into the game kicking and screaming, and clubnights will happen again next year, but I’ve learned many a lesson, not to be repeated…

Some ups and downs of being in a local band have so far included: playing gigs to less than 10 people (lots of times); amazing gigs in Glasgow, followed by epic nights on the lash; playing Summer of ’69 at a wedding; headlining an unsigned stage at a festival; supporting Dodgy (being an up and a down, giving the poor turnout and Dodgy being, well, dodgy), The Law, The Dykeenies, Hayseed Dixie (who are just brilliant), and playing to a packed NEW DEER PUBLIC HALL.

The band took a long break this year, but the fun is back again. We don’t have the pressure of upcoming gigs, and a period of “experimentation” has ensued*, with some great new material emerging, and on top of the lyrics that I normally contribute, I’m now realising my dream of being an actual songwriter – armed with a bass multi-effects pedal, I’ve found myself composing songs on the bass guitar, a couple of which will hopefully be making their way onto The Underkills set list in 2010.

(*Note: We are only experimenting with our music, nothing else…)

Above all else, I’ve always got a lot to say when it comes to music, and you, my friends have just stumbled upon the place where I air my views on anything and everything related to the Aberdeen Music Scene, be it, local bands I like / dislike, amazing gigs I’ve attended, the highs and lows of being a promoter / local musician, great bands I’ve discovered, hilariously crap bands I’ve discovered, Aberdeen music venues, and the characters that grace the scene…

EP Review – Cast Of The Capital – "Rotten Kids & Haversacks"

Released on Kittiwake Records.

Reviewed by Lucky

In between selling out gigs in that there London, and chumming up to the likes of Vic Galloway and Steve Lamacq, Aberdeen’s indie darlings Cast Of The Capital have finally got round to releasing some material. Three years since their inception, this 4-piece have been steadily working away at their craft, building up a fan base, and have landed some pretty impressive slots at the likes of Rock Ness, Belladrum and the Wizard Festival. Could this be the year they break through?

I’ve finally managed to lay my hands on a copy of their debut EP, the confusingly-monikered “Rotten Kids & Haversacks” (there must be some story behind that title), and I’ve been looking forward to hearing it for some time. My first experience of Cast Of The Capital came on a sunny Saturday afternoon this summer as I was wandering around Belmont Street doing some shopping and happened across them playing a live set on the pavement outside One-Up. Stopping briefly to see what they sounded like, I was quickly hooked and ended up watching the whole set…

So to the EP. What hits you straight away when you put on this CD is excellent production on the tracks, and how well put together the songs are - they are all very well written, and are for the most part, 3 minute pop songs with catchy melodies, jangly guitars and some nice vocal harmonies. That’s not to say that these songs are in any way “obvious”, or straightforward, far from it in fact, the 5 tracks on this EP are quite a mixed bag, and can take you from soaring pop melodies to dark and introspective in the space of two songs. The first track “Comiston Springs” is a joyous affair and a great way to open any EP, poppy and upbeat with great production, a catchy chorus and a glorious middle 8 that makes you want to stand up from your chair and dance around like a character in a cheesy 80s teen movie. The second track “The Witching Hour” slows it down a bit, it’s more minor and opens with some beautifully played and sparse-sounding guitars, a theme that runs throughout the song, even after the rest of the instruments have joined in. The song lacks the instant hooks of the first track, but is still really well-written, with its many changes and its intricate guitar work. Track three, “Passing The Horse” is musically more similar to the first track, it has a jangly 60s vibe, great harmonies, nice lead guitar work and some lovely backing vocals, and it’s kept short enough to hold the attention of even the most easily distracted. This song drills its way into way into your brain and just refuses to leave, this is the track you’ll find yourself whistling when you’re walking to work in the morning, unaware you’re even doing it. Unfortunately, the quality of the songs dips a little with the last two tracks. “Crematory Blues”, is a country-tinged slice of Americana, a stripped-down effort featuring just vocal and acoustic guitar. It jumps out as the weak link of the EP, and thankfully is kept to under two minutes as the lead vocal begins to grate a little. “Tree Sleep” bounces along nicely and is more straightforward indie than the rest of the EP but it doesn’t quite hit the heights of the first three tracks, though the 1 minute of instrumental near the end is arguably when the sound is at it’s fullest, as the guitars, which sounded throughout the EP as though they were played with only the gentlest of touches, really kick in and build up to a fairly rocking crescendo that closes off in the EP in style.

Overall, this a very decent debut EP from a band who really sound as though they have the potential to go far. It does run out of steam a little bit toward the end, but the three excellent tracks at the beginning more than re-dress the balance.

Rating - ****

Standout track – “Passing The Horse”

www.myspace.com/castofthecapital