Broken Records

@ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 17/08/08

Support band Jesus H Foxx don’t make much effort to impress with showmanship and simply focus on their tunes. To be fair you can understand it, as the musical complexity of their songs must require a fair amount of concentration to pull off. Odd time signature changes are thrown into their frenetic beats and propulsive rhythms and clever, often discordant guitar parts are laid down over playful bass lines.
Comparisons with the likes of Talking Heads, and Pavement are justified, and on songs like ‘Tight Ideas’ they also seem to be tapping a similar indie-dance vein as The Rapture. However, the erratic vocal style of their singer irks somewhat. While the vocals are probably intended to suite the jerky quality of the band’s music, you can’t help but wonder what they’d sound like if the singer made more of a concerted effort at being melodic.
There’s a palpable air of excitement tonight as Broken Records take the stage. The hype has been building very nicely for the band of late, with industry types and the music press foaming at the mouth over their commercial potential. Broken Records might be the hottest unsigned band in Britain right now but they carry the weight of expectation very well.
The band’s seven-strong line-up results in a rich, expansive, sound that fills up the liquid rooms with ease. There’s no denying that much of Broken Records’ appeal lies in the way they utilize instruments associated with traditional folk music in a fresh and exciting way. Violins, accordions and ukuleles are all used in their sweeping, bold arrangements, immediately setting them apart from the guitar-orientated songwriting of most indie bands.
However while its tempting to focus on the band’s folky-leanings and draw lazy comparisons with the Arcade Fire, it would do them a disservice. Songs like ‘If the News Makes You Sad, Don’t Watch It’ have the strength and depth to stand up to repeated listens, long after the novelty of the violins wears off. For all the interesting instrumentation, it’s the superb vocals of Jamie Sutherland that really adds something special to the Broken Records sound.
It’s also apparent the band are as interesting lyrically as they are musically. ‘If Eilert Lovborg Wrote a Song’, one of the band’ s most enchanting numbers, is about a character in a 19^th century Norwegian play by Henrik Ibsen. Willfully obscure? Perhaps. A rollicking good tune? Absolutely!
‘A Good Reason’ , the band’s folk-infused take on punk rock, gets the sweat flying in the crowd before they wrap-up with the sublime ‘Slow Parade’. It’s hard to imagine a more majestic, grandiose or apt closing. During the set Jamie, the singer, mentioned between songs that their management think they “need a single”. There can only be two possible explanations; they haven’t heard ‘Slow Parade’ or they’re tone deaf.

You can also check out this review on the website 'Real Buzz'

http://www.realbuzz.com/en-gb/Broken_Records%2C_The_Liquid_Rooms%2C_Edinburgh/index?pageID=18774

'Poke' Live

Here's a video of Scott's performance of 'Poke' at the Liquid Rooms. Cheers to ' Susied89' for capturing this special moment...

Emerging from the Twilight

Following on from the gig review below, I thought I'd post an interview I conducted with the Twilight Sad back in April. Enjoy!

Upon the release of The Twilight Sad’s debut ‘Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters’ critics were quick to praise its multi-layered atmospherics and dark intensity. However while the album was released in April of last year, it was only in the latter half of 2007 that the band started getting serious attention.
Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters topped more than one end-of year poll, and was even given the dubious honour of being included in the News of the World’s top ten albums. “That was completely daft” laughs singer James Graham. “We were up there with people like Girls Aloud and the Klaxons!”
Clearly the seal of tabloid approval hasn’t gone to James’ head. “It’s been one of those slow-burning kind of albums” he concedes. “The critics liked it when it first came out, but not many people came to the gigs! But people picked-up on the reviews, word-of-mouth spread, and more people started coming to see us.”
Andy McFarlane, bassist Craig Orzel, and drummer Mark Devine intend to start work on their second album soon, but to tide fans over in the meantime they’ve decided to release an EP ‘Here, it never snowed Afterwards it did’ on June 9. “It’s basically different versions of songs from the first album, with one brand new song added” explains James. “The idea for the EP all started when we played this place called the Union Chapel in London. There were noise restrictions which meant we couldn’t play at our usual volume, so we had to re-work our songs to make them quieter.”
To help with recording those quieter versions the band enlisted the services of ex-Aerogramme bassist Campbell and Laura from My Latest Novel on violin. “I wouldn’t say it’s an acoustic album” says James. “Even though it’s quieter Andy couldn’t help noising things up a bit!”
For their live shows, the band recently recruited Dak, another former Aerogramme man, to add organ, samples and guitar. “We’re still as noisy live as ever” assures James. “Having Dak there just moves it up a level and adds more layers to the sound. It also gives Andy more freedom to muck about.”
It’s clear to anyone who has seen them that The Twilight Sad are a different beast live than they are on record. “It would be impossible to pull-off everything on the album live” James says. “Anyway I always think its boring when you see a band live and they just replicate the record. We made a conscious decision to make our live performances a different experience from the records. It’s more visceral”
The band’s recent sold-out show in Glasgow King Tut’s shows they’ve now built-up a strong fanbase on their home turf, but it was America where they got their first taste of recognition. “It was the label’s decision to send us over there and we got great reviews” says James. “We got the chance to play some great festivals and support some great bands. Then we’d go home and we’d be playing in Nice N’ Sleazy’s in front of our mums and dads and a few of our mates!”
In the past Scottish bands like Teenage Fanclub and My Bloody Valentine have made their mark Stateside and now The Twilight Sad are doing the same. Perhaps then its no surprise that James has a great affinity for American bands. “A lot of the best music right now is coming out of the States, I’m really into Animal Collective and Panda Bear” he says. “The National as well, they’re a great band. I think a lot of UK music’s a bit shit at the moment to be honest.”
Contentious words, but maybe he has a point. If the UK music scene is not all it could be then perhaps we need bands like The Twilight Sad to redress the balance, and its evident James is anxious to return to the studio. “We’re proud of our first album but we just want to move on and better ourselves with the next one.” he says. “We don’t want to replicate what we did on the first. Hopefully we’ll have a new album out by this time next year.”
So, what are Twilight Sad’s hopes for 2008? “I hope we can get through the next year without killing each other!” laughs James. “Touring around in a van all the time does something to you!” He estimates the band played around 160 gigs last year and 2008 looks like it could be even busier with a European tour and a summer of festivals ahead.
However, despite the van-induced homicidal tendencies, touring does have its perks. “We were supporting Beirut on tour, which was amazing because I’m a massive fan” recalls James. “When we were in Denmark I actually got the chance to sing three songs with him, which was mind-blowing!”
It turns our life on the road isn’t so bad after all. “Honestly, even though we’re not making much money at the moment, it’s great just to be able to do this for a living” says James. “It’s a privilege, although I admit I still sign on now and then!”


This article originally appeared on the website 'Real Buzz'
http://www.realbuzz.com/en-gb/Emerging_from_the_Twilight/
index?pageID=18554

Twilight Sad/Frightened Rabbit

@ The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 14/08/08

Taking the stage, John B McKenna is visibly nervous. While he admits that he isn’t used to playing to such a “big room”, he needn’t worry too much. McKenna’s subtle vocals pull you in and it quickly becomes clear he is a songwriter with a maturity which belies his youthful appearance. He has a way with words too; ‘Tequila, Sugar, Tomato’ features the arresting opening couplet “The cat’s let out of the bag/walking past the robot farm”. The main let-down of the set is that he has to compete with the chatter of the crowd. While this is often the fate of the warm-up act, the punters would do well to pay more attention to McKenna’s performance. If they did they might realise they’re in the presence of an intriguing and highly promising talent.
There probably isn’t such a thing as a bad Frightened Rabbit gig, but if there is this certainly isn’t one of them. What’s so refreshing about the band is their complete lack of pretension and the downright enthusiasm with which they perform. To put it simply, they’re a fun band; they enjoy playing their music, and want you to enjoy it too. That doesn’t mean they don’t take their songwriting seriously, however. Feelings of despondency, self-loathing and heartbreak feature heavily in Scott’s lyrics but they’re exorcised in upbeat, energising songs with humour and panache.
The band’s time slot may be short but they make the most of it. Songs from their new album ‘Midnight Organ Fight’ are given an impressive airing, with ‘Square Nine’ being the only nod to older material. The high-energy bluster of ‘I Feel Better’ and ‘Fast Blood’ set the pace, but the highlight of the set is a solo acoustic performance of ‘Poke’ by Scott. Standing on the edge of the stage, with an unplugged guitar and no microphone, he brings a hush over the crowd. It would be hard to pull off this trick in a venue much bigger than the Liquid Rooms, but tonight it works perfectly. The audience listen so intently that you could almost hear a pin drop.
‘Keep Yourself Warm’ brings the set to a satisfying conclusion. ‘It takes more than fucking someone you don’t know to keep yourself warm’ offers Scott in the chorus, as the Liquid Room punters sing along with gusto. Frightened Rabbit may not be the most technically gifted musicians, or particularly cool, but I challenge anyone to find a band which plays with more heart.
While they may be label-mates and good friends, there’s still something slightly incongruous about Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad playing on the same bill. While one offers a feel-good sing-a-long, the other will take you on an intense, ear-blistering ride through the dark recesses of your soul. Okay, maybe that sounds a bit over-dramatic, but as The Twilight Sad take the stage to a loop of an expletive –laden answer phone message, there’s no doubt the mood darkens considerably.
You won’t get much friendly banter or jolly japes from these lads. Oh no. What you will get is the kind of brooding, menacing energy that few bands have the power to conjure-up. James Graham’s vocals have a raw, cathartic quality which cuts right through you. When he delivers haunting lines like ‘does your fear not grow/ when you see that you’re all mine /with a knife in your chest’ they linger long after they’re uttered.
The multi-layered, subtle textures of the band’s recorded output are given a more direct, stripped-down treatment in the live arena. Andy MacFarlane’s tense guitar lines are punctuated by ungodly volleys of distortion, imbuing songs like ‘Mapped By What Surrounded Them’ with a starkness and ferocity which is absent from their studio versions
The band are going to be supporting Mogwai on their forthcoming European dates, in what could be one of the most tinnitus-friendly pairings in music ever. Make no mistake, the Twilight Sad enjoy bringing the noise; listening to them live is a brutalising, frightening, and transcendent experience. I suggest you try it.

You can also check out this review on the website 'Real Buzz'


http://www.realbuzz.com/en-gb/The_Twilight_Sad_and_Frightened_Rabbit%2C_The_Liquid_Rooms%2C_Edinburgh/index?pageID=18772