Locked up in that land of loops and discontent better known as central Scotland, the Ladywell Lout explores a musical territory populated with angst and a degree of misanthropic satire. His album “Gadgies and Radges” is unsurprisingly downbeat but there are moments when a bleak sense of humour escapes from the laptop prison. One of those moments can be found in “Trancetasticminimalplastic” where Alex Salmond and his empty double glazing salesman style promises are chopped up into the truth and sprinkled over a minimalist dance floor beat. Following that song into the bottomless pit of working class cynicism is the bleakly ironic “Phil Collins Got A Drum Kit When He Was 5”. There’s clearly not a lot to smile about past, present or future in the world of The Ladywell Lout.
If you are of the type that appreciates the surreal nature of life, even if it is encircled by the grey clouds of doom, then look no further than “Gonny Come Here Danielle” where a street conversation attempts to start a fight with the ambient soundscape that has captured it before disappearing into the reality of the night. It’s not quite as brutal as, say, The New Juice Whores of Leith but it draws from that same hopeless viewpoint of the human condition.
OK, so the Ladywell Lout isn’t the Just Joans nor, I hope, is he on the phone to the Samaritans 24/7 and this album is anything but uplifting yet I would still prefer it to any number of three chord indie rockers with nothing other than mediocrity on their mind.
Available from Bandcamp.