Archive for March, 2009

SXSW’s Tartan army

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009

Fifteen of the 1,800 acts playing at the SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST music convention/festival/party in Austin, Texas this week are Scottish – and only about half of that lot are decent. So let’s dwell on the good stuff.

Camera Obscura’s new album, My Maudlin Career, is a beauty and could quite possibly be the one that takes the twee Glaswegians out of the underground. Twin Atlantic, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Dananananaykroyd are all familiar names on Scotland’s live circuit, although we have been reluctant to write about the latter of that trio given that they tend to make the kind of racket you’d only put on to annoy the hell out of your parents.

Come On Gang!, Nacional and The Pictish Trail straddle the traditional indie/folk fence but it’ll take something extra special from them to make large audiences fall under their spell. Those in the ‘not our bag, baby’ category include Alex Smoke with his minimalist techno, electronica group Found and hardcore band Flood Of Red. Bringing up the rear are Glasvegas.

My Latest Novel’s debut album didn’t quite live up to the hype and the Greenock band will probably live or die by its forthcoming follow-up Deaths And Entrances. Here’s hoping it does them justice. Primal Scream and The Proclaimers are curious SXSW choices given that they already enjoy established careers and are fabulously wealthy, but we’re sure the Yanks won’t be complaining.

Sandi Thom is also a curious choice for the simple fact that the music she makes is beyond shit. But what’s most hilarious is her reaction to finding out she wasn’t one of the 11 acts invited to play at the Scottish Arts Council’s SXSW showcase. This provoked an outraged Sandi to have a rant on her MySpace blog yesterday, claiming she wasn’t allowed on the bill because she lives in England. However, the Scottish Arts Council responded in heroic style by confirming that residency didn’t come into it… only ability. That’s gotta hurt!

So that’s the Tartan army then. As for the other 1,785 or so foreigners at SXSW, we have two must-hear recommendations.

First up is a relatively little-known but incredible band from Arkansas called American Princes. They remind us a lot of The National and The Smiths. Cruelly, we only discovered the greatness of their 2008 album Other People after we’d compiled The Pop Cop’s end-of-year ‘best of’ list, otherwise it would have been a certainty for the prestigious No.6 slot.

So gutted were we on their behalf that we felt compelled to email American Princes with an apology, promising to make it up by writing a piece about them on this very website if they had any Scottish ancestry. We got this reply from the band’s singer, David Slade: “I’m apparently the descendant of Robert Burns’ cousin, so yes. And I’m also friends with Alexander McCall Smith, so that sort of counts. But Scotland is, quite literally, my favorite country and the minute that I can move there, I will.”

Our second and final non-Scottish tip is Hockey, whom we raved about at the start of the year long before every other scenester had discovered them and subsequently ensured there would be no space for The Pop Cop to squeeze into their recent gig in Glasgow. Just as well the funky Oregon dudes are coming back in May then.

4 Camera Obscura – The Sweetest Thing
4 Come On Gang! – Wheels
4 Dananananaykroyd – Black Wax
4 My Latest Novel – All In All In All Is All
4 Nacional – You Wear It Well
4 The Pictish Trail – I Don’t Know Where To Begin
4 The Proclaimers – Life With You
4 Twin Atlantic – Audience And Audio
4 We Were Promised Jetpacks – Keeping Warm (Popmorphic session)
4 American Princes – Don’t Ever Promise
4 Hockey – Learn To Lose (XFM session)
b May 6, Studio 24, Edinburgh (supporting Friendly Fires) (tickets)
b May 7, QMU, Glasgow (supporting Friendly Fires) (tickets)

Posted in thepopcop | No Comments »

Music Alliance Pact – March 2009

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

Once a month the Music Alliance Pact brings bloggers around the globe together and, by heck, that time is now.

The number of countries in MAP stands at a record high of 24 after we tempted ambassadors from Denmark (All Scandinavian) and France (SoundNation) to join our gang with the promise of riches beyond their wildest dreams.

As Scotland’s representatives, The Pop Cop has something very special from We Were Promised Jetpacks to share with the rest of the world…

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
4 We Were Promised Jetpacks – Ships With Holes Will Sink
We Were Promised Jetpacks ought to be one of the biggest stars of this year’s SXSW. They mix sweeping, sonic brilliance with a melodic accessibility that has made them Glasgow’s most talked-about band since Frightened Rabbit. Indeed, they have followed in the footsteps of their city chums by signing to FatCat, who will release their debut album These Four Walls in June. Until then, here’s a teaser from it to whet the appetite.
b June 9, Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh (tickets)
b June 10, Doghouse, Dundee (tickets)
b June 15, King Tut’s, Glasgow (tickets)

(more…)

Posted in thepopcop | No Comments »

Live review: Jack’s Mannequin @ Academy 3, Manchester

Friday, March 13th, 2009

So here we are, two Glaswegians in Manchester to see JACK’S MANNEQUIN, one of the greatest bands of our generation. To kill two birds with one stone, we’re also going to do our bit to improve cross-border relations after Rangers fans rampaged through the city and beat up policemen last year.

As we sit down for a pre-gig meal in a downtown pub we overhear the familiar sound of a Scottish eejit abroad. “I’ll rip your head off your body and tear it in two. Just give us another drink.” It looks like The Pop Cop’s hopes of repairing some of the damage (metaphorically at least) is going to be much harder than first thought.

We hop on the No. 42 bus to Manchester University, where our Californian piano-rock chums are due to play the final date of their current tour. Jack’s Mannequin’s first-ever visit to the UK doesn’t include a Scottish date, hence the 450-mile round trip, but at least we were fortunate enough to avoid having to fork out £130 for golddust tickets on eBay.
The rammed Academy 3 has already turned into a sweat box by the time these four Americans bound on to the stage. There’s no mistaking the adoration of the crowd who have waited years to see them as the opening bars of Crashing brings shrieks of delight.

For a band that is used to playing to audiences in the thousands, Jack’s Mannequin could easily have sold out the 400-capacity venue several times over, but they have to be commended for wanting to keep this rare appearance on these shores such an experience intimate.

With no front-of-stage security staff or even a barrier, frontman Andrew McMahon relishes the opportunity to banter with his devotees, teasing a couple for snogging through Bruised and expressing mock outrage at a fan’s homemade message which reads: “I waited five years to see this man and all I got was this crappy poster”.

Despite being chained to a piano stool, Andrew doesn’t let that stifle his enthusiasm, thumping the keys with gusto and grinning madly to his bandmates. Andrew declares Swim one of his personal favourites from The Glass Passenger and it provides an emotional, slightly calmer moment in a night of unbrildled energy. But it’s the material from Jack’s Mannequin’s remarkable debut album Everything In Transit that provokes the biggest singalongs and Andrew can’t resist jumping onto his piano during a barnstorming performance of Dark Blue, one of countless highlights.
As the 90-minute set comes to a close, Andrew thanks the crowd for making the last night of the tour so special and his announcement that they hope to be back soon is done with crossed fingers held aloft.

After dragging ourselves away from the merch stall (£40 for a hoodie… maybe not), we leave the venue, outside which dozens of fans are already milling around in the hope of meeting their heroes. Guitarist Bobby Anderson is the first to emerge and he patiently poses for photos and signs autographs before heading off.
About 10 minutes later The Pop Cop does likewise, stopping off at a local pub called Big Hands where we bump into none other than Bobby, who is sipping a thoroughly deserved pint at the bar. He graciously accepts our offer to buy him a drink (a shot of Jagermeister) and invites us to pull up a pew.

When we tell him we’re from Scotland, his eyes light up. It turns out that Bobby’s dad loves all thing Scottish even though he’s not sure if Anderson is actually a Swedish name. He talks about his love of classical music and how he took a trip to Leipzig during a gap in the band’s German tour because Bach spent most of his life there.

Bobby’s mobile beeps at 11.15pm with a text message which he shows us: “Ready to roll. Come now.” Alas, it’s time for our drinking buddy to go.

The Pop Cop stays for another five minutes to finish our beverages before heading to the bus stop outside the venue where we spot Andrew going the other way. It turns out he and his wife, Kelly, are leaving England to visit Paris then Florence for a short break.

He not only agrees to pose for a picture, he takes our camera and says, “I’m actually quite good at this” before executing an inch-perfect self-portrait. And with that this memorable night in Manchester comes to an end.