Shooting gallery time at the 13th Note. The sitting, standing or otherwise target was one David Williams. Last time I saw him he was using the alias of Keen Affection but tonight he made no attempt to disguise himself. He started off with awkward acoustic guitar before diverting into crude laptop driven electro pop. Offering him a blindfold would have been the civilised thing to do.
Then, as if by magic, an audience suddenly appeared for the masochistic delights of an Edinburgh band called Young Spooks. Like some art house take on The Stooges, they unleashed wave after wave of distorted guitar, thudding drums and stop-start-sing-shout vocals as part of their sonic assault. Don’t worry about the songs for this band is all about impact. Straight in, attempt to blow the roof off and leave - the Young Spooks are a musical grenade.
After no doubt pausing to wonder what had just happened, The Statler Project filled the stage and set about laying down some pretty darn relentless beats that sounded like some unholy dance floor coupling between The Happy Mondays and Kasabian. Robert Speirs delivered the words like they would be his last and, lo and behold, the walls did actually begin to shake before him. The Statler Project are a brute force weapon. Or perhaps they just have connections upstairs?
Paying the bill tonight as they were on last were Nico’s Bike. Something of a curiosity, they kind of crossed the line between female fronted trash and twee pop while showing the kind of ineptness that could be so easily mistaken for charm. However, it did work on me but but then again I have always had a failing for reverb laden guitars, cheesy synths and female vocals. Looking at the big picture, if it works for the likes of Girls At Dawn then why not Nico’s Bike?
Enough rambling – it’s kebab time.