Song reviews


  Somebody Up There Likes Me by We Are Jawbone


Somebody Up There Likes Me cover art


Intelligent and dramatic Glasgow rock band

There are plenty of shite rock bands in Glasgow but We Are Jawbone certainly aren’t one of them.  No dumb rehashes of the past here as “Somebody Up There Likes Me” reeks of an intelligent fusion of punk and hard rock infused with that back to the eighties retro feel.  More  reflective and indeed theatrical is “I’m Falling”. Their bio mentions comparisons with the SAHB and for once I’m happy that is a fair one. Think I want to see what they can do live now.  Two thumbs up!


Review date: 
  www.myspace.com/466568574

  Don't Go Please Stay by Sunday Morning Service


Don't Go Please Stay cover art


London based trio with mainstream rock ambitions

More demos from Sunday Morning Service. First on is "Don't Go Please Stay" which is a slice of rather pedestrian mid-paced rock guaranteed to bring joy to the hearts of housewives throughout the world. Vocalist Nick Tate then goes a bit Ronan Keating in "Rock" but you can't argue with the confident delivery of this ballad. Altogether dirtier - and giving the band an opportunity to show their rock chops - is "Why Was I Bothered Anyway". Whilst not treading new ground, the band do what they do well.


  Weird Weather by The Recovery Club


Weird Weather cover art


Elegant and atmospheric Glasgow trio

We’re at the classy end of the market with this band. “Weird Weather” is an elegant and understated piano driven ballad with a curiously warming male vocal. Sort of the musical equivalent of stroking a cat. “DNA” intertwines male and female vocals in a song that would make any self respecting folk revivalist proud and the end result is simply beautiful.


  Troublesome by John DeRoo


Troublesome cover art


John DeRoo writes folk-blues story-songs

Reckon it must be the sound quality that makes this a demo. John DeRoo does a perfectly decent job on these songs going just a bit over the top – which is good - on “Such A Wrong”.  “Troublesome” adds on the emotional troubles to near breaking point but that’s what folk blues is all about. It would be nice to hear these songs recorded properly.


Review date: 
  www.myspace.com/johnderoo

  Monsters by Sunday Morning Service


Monsters cover art


London based trio looking at the stars

"Figured Out By Now" wasn't the most promising of starts sounding, as it does, like something the soulless son of Ricky Ross would do. "Monsters" was rather more interesting with mellow, melancholic guitars nicely complementing the words in this mainstream ballad. "Easy Street" turned out to be the strongest track showing a lot more character and individuality with Nick Tate's growling drawl of a voice finding its rightful place on the rock stage. "Blame it on the whisky" go the lyrics. Damn right you can.


  Animals by Turning Plates


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Pioneers of the gay ambient genre?

"Animals"- Lo-fi part acoustic, part prog rock, part Radiohead that sounds like it got lost on its way home from sixties' San Francisco. "Sleeping Trojans" gets a bit more aggressive but once more does the lo-fi reverb thing only this time like C86 on low end urban drugs while watching some German silent movie. "The Tin Man" - didn't even notice that this was a different song. Need to sum this one up quickly. Got it. Pass the bong.


  Pray by Miscued Vein


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New rock band from Carluke

Two songs here. "Pray" turns out to be a pretty directionless rock song that just keeps going and going without ever actually getting anywhere. A serious bit of editing would improve it however and, almost as if to prove the point, "Triplet of Ugly Sisters" is shorter, tighter and consequently a (metric) tonne better. It's nice to be able to say something nice about anything from Lanarkshire and this time I can.


Review date: 
  www.miscuedvein.com

  Burma Starmy by White Light Theory


Burma Starmy cover art


4 piece Glasgow band doing the indie rock thing

“Burma Starmy” doesn’t really impress weighed down as it is by leaden use of power chords on the obligatory maxed out electric guitar. “Future in Lights” is much more convincing with some decent male vocals to carry the weight. As a band, they need to work on developing their individuality but they’ve made a decent start here.


  Years by Martin Docherty


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Singer songwriter from Cambuslang

Three songs lacking in musical discipline (“Years”, “Holy Water” and “No More”) – all of them take an age to start and go on well past their sell by date. “Years” hits a remarkable 6 minutes and 40 seconds relying solely on repetition to get there. Neither a poet nor a storyteller, Mr Docherty really should grasp that less is sometimes more. “No More”, curiously enough, was exactly what I was thinking while I was listening to it.


  Broken Man by Kris Tennant


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Young Glasgow singer songwriter.

If he is actually from Glasgow and is young then he speaks the whole truth for he is clearly both a singer and songwriter on the evidence of these three songs. “Broken Man” and “You Deserve Better” are well written rock songs but the standout track is “Where Did It All Go Wrong”. A very commercial song with some class lyrics like “ignorance is bliss when you are a miss with three babies”, it marks Kris Tennant out as one to watch out for.



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