Archive for October, 2007

Charlie and the pop-hit factory

Thursday, October 25th, 2007


Martin Greig (left), journalistic whizzkid of The Herald newspaper, shares some of his finest words with us…

THE CHARLATANS are like cockroaches – they could survive anything. And they have done: Madchester, Britpop, the death of keyboard player Rob Collins in 1996.

It’s now 18 years since their inception. Count them. They have evolved beautifully and organically without ever seeming like genre-hoppers. They remain as prolific as ever (three albums since 2001 and another one in the offing), words and music flowing freely from uncluttered minds. Be it country, reggae or ska, the Charlies’ influences have become increasingly eclectic as the years have passed.

Then there is Tim Burgess, the Peter Pan of indie pop. The lead singer with a pout like Paris Hilton after happy hour at the collagen clinic. He’s 40, y’know, and currently living in Los Angeles. In football parlance, he’s worth the admission price alone.

The Charlies have the type of back catalogue most bands would give their eye teeth for. From the wigged-out charm of The Only One I Know through to their foot-stomping anthem about, ahem, incest, One To Another (“Sister and a brother, and a change in the way that you feel”), and the epic grandeur of Sproston Green, they are a must-see live… unlike cockroaches.

4 The Charlatans – Title Fight

b November 3, ABC, Glasgow

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Christ, it’s Cold

Monday, October 22nd, 2007

Up until a few months ago, COLD WAR KIDS were an infallibly cool band to namedrop. No wonder: their full-length debut Robbers & Cowards absolutely sizzles with swagger and soul, brimming as it is with sinfully addictive wail-along choruses.

Nathan Willett’s deranged howl sweeps into the air like a particularly unsubtle twister spinning out wildly over shimmering chunks of indie-blues-rock, especially striking on mini family-trauma epic We Used To Vacation.

However, having found out that some members of the band are – goodness! – religious, some dropped CWK like the proverbial hot potato, or perhaps more appropriately, a bag full of Bibles. “I’ll have no Christian rock diluting my Satan-baiting CD collection!” yelled the cooler than thou, smiting those Kids and damning them to Hell.

But we’re not so fickle: Cold War Kids are righteous in rock, not only in religion, and for that we say hallelujah.(Josh Baskin)

4 Cold War Kids – Every Valley Is Not A Lake

b October 25, Barrowland, Glasgow

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Saturday night fever

Friday, October 19th, 2007


THE MICROSLUTS were an electro-pop girl band from Glasgow, who are now reborn as the city’s dancefloor tastemakers. If you like a bit of MIA, The Ting Tings and The Teenagers mixed in with your Kylie and Kenickie then you should be at our next DJ outing.

We play the second Saturday of the month at the QMU, every third Saturday at Death Disco, and on the last Saturday they host Pop Disco in the Courtyard at Stavka. Don’t ask us what we’re doing on the first Saturday of the month.

This weekend, we Sluts will be DJing alongside Radio 1′s Annie Mac, Kitsune favourites The Whip and Man Parrish of Male Stripper fame as part of the Glasgay! festival. Come along and tell us The Pop Cop sent you.(Lynetta Microslut)

4 The Microsluts – I’ve Been Waiting

b October 20, The Arches, Glasgow (Death Disco)

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