Song reviews

Deep and intense, Manchester band Love For Zero walk their way through “Dust” at a middling pace that is suggestive of a near devotional reverence to stadium bands like Coldplay. As you might expect, there’s a big chorus to encourage you to wave your lighter in the air and the song is nothing if not polished.

Once you get over the novelty of a Scottish singer tackling anything remotely topical, “Better Off Alone (A Love Song to Scottish Independence)” remains plenty good enough to mark Callum Baird out as a smart lyricist with a knowing smile on his face. Neatly namechecking his way through everything that you might, metaphorically or otherwise, associate with the Scotland of today, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this turns out to be the national anthem of a certain soon to be created independent state.

Revving up the engine of talent, Udi Levy races through his rock instrumental called “One For My Daddy’O” with so much fret board fleetness and flair that you will have no option other than to persuade him, by fair means or foul, to join your band.

There will always be musicians out to impress the mainstream and Roger Gomez seems to be one of those people. His single “Monday’s Guide” therefore aims for the middle of the road and gets there without fuss, flair or fanfare.

Complex and no doubt proud possessors of unfinished beards, Israeli band Memory in Plant infuse their song “This Love” with a well selected set of musical influences that lift them into the realm between post rock and electronically induced psychedelia. Mind expanding is clearly the way to go.

More mature and melodramatic pop from The Courtesans as “Genius” holds the stereotyping of women up to the lyrical mirror. It’s a slickly produced and performed song that walks confidently through the shadows even if the cynical amongst you might wonder who is actually being stereotyped here.

There was something about “Easy Go” (by the redoubtable Jamie Flett) that made me think of Eric Clapton round about the time when he was on the smack. Maybe it was the free rolling feel or the implied spiritualism of the lyrics? Maybe, or more likely it was the relaxed attitude to performance that having real talent brings. A very good song either way.

“Pearly” harks back to the days when a pop song was a pop song and you can’t blame Et Tu Brucé for reliving the musical pleasures of times past so let’s clap our hands once more for the verse-chorus-verse-chorus and take it to the bridge format and sing along just as we should. I am feeling the love here.

Jim Byrne roughs himself up and gets petulant regarding the time honoured four to the floor beat and thus uses “Black Sky Blues” to give himself something of a sonic makeover. The slide guitar and the side order of whiskey surreptitiously served up to his voice add authenticity even if the drummer urgently needs new batteries.

Polished and professional and yet still infused with a sense of the dramatic, The Courtesans throw their angst into a late night fairytale called “Lullaby”. It’s all atmosphere and deeper meaning but convincing nonetheless. The word is duly given for this song.

Mainstream, and thus perhaps unavoidably unadventurous, Dante present “Wake” as the summation of all the right Scottish musical influences, i.e. Frightened Rabbit, and will no doubt present this song to the masses at as many summer festivals as their manager can get them into. I hazard a guess however that not many of those present will remember this song.

Surprisingly effective for a Glasgow indie band, United Fruit set out and succeed in rocking the house with their guitar driven “How Long (Change You Into Something Better)”. Hellfire, this song even has a big chorus to get you punching the air so drink beer and sing along for that is the greater purpose here.