We're Only Here For The Banter - Wrongnote

Wrongnote are a four piece from Glasgow who having formed originally in 2008 released their debut album 'Reach Out, Disconnect' on 24th December 2010. Since then the band have taken their blend of spiky punk infused rock to the BBC Introducing Stage at T In The Park this summer. The band kindly took some time to answer a few questions.

Hello, how are you?

Sean: Totally awesome. Just been woken up, in Paris, by a friend bringing me coffee and a croissant.

Callum: On the verge of breakdown. I genuinely thought these mini pancakes might cheer me up but they turned out to be just three more of God’s cruel empty promises.

Tell us a little bit about your music and influences.

Callum: We make cathartic outsider-rock. In terms of influence, it’s difficult to say as we each have very different musical tastes. The only artist we tend to agree on is Prince but, as far as sounding like him is concerned, it’s fair to say that we’re an historically poor attempt.

Sean: A historically, for fuck's sake. Anyway; I like Queen.

Callum: An historically is perfect form unless we all turned American.

Sean: On this issue, I'm with the yanks.

Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?

Sean: I hear this a lot and never really understand it. There are a lot of bands around, for sure, some of which are quite good, but isn't that true of most places?

Callum: Scenes are so often a self-perpetuating ideal wherein the promise of being a part of one disguises the harsher reality. There are many independent labels, venues, journalists and promoters who have aligned themselves with the ideals of an independent music scene as opposed to the traditional model of a music industry. This is a very good thing but such an ideal can easily be tainted by a system in which some of these labels, venues, journalists and promoters become self-imposed arbiters of taste and, consciously or unconsciously, replicate the industry model. In such a system, status easily becomes the sole currency and bands are, once again, commodities. I’ve seen too many really good Scottish bands end prematurely to realise that, while it may be a great place to be part of a scene, the reality of being in a band is unaltered. Ultimately, if you enjoy what you do, scenes are irrelevant.

Which Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?

Callum: Bronto Skylift, Woodenbox and Super Adventure Club. We've also had the pleasure of sharing a stage with the first two.

Sean: John MacFarlane/Sluts of Trust. Best thing in this town by a country mile.

Callum: The best thing in Paris?

What is your songwriting process like?

Callum: Terrifying. At first, there’s the rough idea for a song. Some chords and some basic vocals. From that moment, it’s a desperate war of contrition with hostage situations, Mexican stand offs and various other forms of brinksmanship, shouting, personal insults, violent outbursts and a sometimes desperate sense of inertia. Luckily, it tends to be worth the trouble.

Sean: Yeah, suffer for your art and all that.

What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?

Callum: I’ve used these terms before but you can expect loud drums, fidgety bass, jazz chords and post-melody vocals.

Sean: Bit lazy, Callum.

Callum: Oh yeah. Sorry. I forgot the topless drummer. And no refunds.

What does the rest of 2011 hold for you?

Callum: We’ve been working on new material and will be recording some of it at the tail end of this year. Until then, we’re still promoting the album we released at the very beginning of this year.

What's been your biggest achievement so far?

Callum: It’s a tie between releasing our debut album and playing the BBC Introducing stage at T in the Park. Of course, we’re still in poverty and relatively unknown, but that has so far proved incapable of make us see sense and sto


Sean: The album, for sure. Figuring out how to make a proper record and doing so, on our own, without killing each other or splitting up was bloody heroic if you ask me.

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?

Q: How many scenesters does it take to change a light bulb?

A: All of them.

Thanks guys!

Check out more of Wrongnote on their website, Facebook, and Twitter. Also you can buy the album 'Reach Out, Disconnect' here.

Scottish Fiction Playlist - Monday 7th November

I had the feeling that I was boring you all, so to soften the experience of listening to me for two hours I invited along a guest! A guest in the form of The Lonely Boy a.k.a. Sean Gillies.

Sean was talking about his music, his influences and choosing the music for the first hour of the show. Listen again to the show to hear this AND a special live performance of Michael Jackson's 'Dirty Diana'.

Sean's choices of songs were:

Buddy Holly - True Love Ways
Ryan Adams - Let It Ride
Jeff Buckley - Grace
The Doors - Strange Days
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beach Boys - God Only Know

And nestled in amongst the chat and songs was an exclusive (I know! Pulse Community Radio and exclusive in the same sentence!) play of The Lonely Boy song 'End Of The Line' plus a stomping good cover of 'Dirty Diana'

The rest of the show went something like this.

Dum Dum Girls - Heartbeat (Take It Away)
Yusuf Azak - Soft Vision
The Moth And The Mirror - Everyone I Know
Three Blind Wolves - Emily Rose
R M Hubbert - Tipsy/Tapsy
Amber Wilson - Raise The Alarm
Remember Remember - Hey Zeus
Motorhead - Ace Of Spades
Monty Python - Lumberjack Song
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Just Like Honey
Air - Playgroud Love
The Spook School - History

Have a listen to the show again. Go on. (Due to some bloody bastards not deleting files off the computer the show stopped recording about an hour and a half in. Apologies about this.)

Scottish Fiction 7th November 2011 by scottishfiction

Single Review - The Twilight Sad - Sick

'Sick' is the first single proper from The Twilight Sad's third LP 'No One Will Ever Know' which is due out on Fat Cat Records in February next year. It is available to pre-order now (here) and is being released on 7" vinyl (yah!) and also mp3 on Monday 14th November.

It's unmistakenly The Twilight Sad, afterall James Graham's hard, brooding west of Scotland vocals are as passionate as ever. Yet it's a different sound for the band as a whole, something they have promised so we shouldn't be surprised. The guitars have been dulled down a notch, a simple repeating riff holds the song together throughout it's 4 minutes 20 seconds. Behind it, and Graham's lyrics, are the soft sound of synths, which lend to an althogether more experimental sound. Comparisons have already been made to Radiohead, which is probably fair enough. Closer to home one could imagine this being nestled nicely in an Aeorogramme album without much difficulty.

The drums pick up midway through the song, and the synths take over as the main driver of the song. The lyrics themselves are typical Twilight Sad affair, introspective, haunting and depressingly beautiful with Graham beckoning "over the hill, over the hill we go."

Having listened to it about ten times now, I'm firmly satisfied that 'Sick' displays a step forward for The Twilight Sad. For old fans it will be a little different from what you've come to love, and it's bound to draw plenty more new fans into the fold. Bodes well for the rest of the album.

LP Review - The Moth & The Mirror - Honestly, This World

As far as supergroups go, you don't get a much more impressive than The Moth & The Mirror. Comprising of Louis Abbot (Admiral Fallow & Song Of Return), Gordon Skene (Frightened Rabbit), Stacey Sievwright (Arab Strap & The Reindeer Section), Kevin McCarvel, Iain Sandilands and Peter Murch. Given the personnel one would expect high things from their debut 'Honestly, This World', and those expectations are nurtured, kept warm and exceeded throughout the 10 tracks on this LP.

Album opener 'Everyone I Know' eases us gently into the album, dainty acoustic notes are picked on the guitar before the bass saddles in and Sievwright's enthralling vocals set the song in motion. Flitting between the soft and delicate sounds and a stronger sound filled with crashes of cymbals, Sievwright bemoans 'I don't have the heart for this', hinting perhaps at a greater underlying theme of apathy towards 'this world'.

Next track 'Soft Insides' is a simply affair, reverby guitar, sweet soaring vocals mixing with chimes and threatening to sweep the listener away on a boat by a river where tangerine people eat marshmallow pies. 'Fire' picks the pace up a bit, the unmistakable vocals of Abbot take the lead, his voice has a certain familiarity and warmth about it. Jaggy riffs rise up and puncture the melody, whilst Sievwright joins in to harmonise with the closing refrains which clocks up as the best moment on the album so far.

If you've been singing along then here's a pause for breathe, the dulcet floatly light 'Boxes' is something that wouldn't be amiss on a Kate Bush album, gentle, reflective and I've since discovered a song about suicide and the resulting fallout. Which kind of fits the structure of the song well, as halfway through it explodes unexpectedly into a full drum kit extravaganza, vocals kick up a notch, and a gutsy scuzzy guitar solo leads out back to a quiet ending. It's a beautifully crafted song, with layers of detail demanding your full attention.

'Beautiful Creature' is a short song, almost like an interlude, but certainly not a filler. At 1 minute 47 seconds, and one verse, with a lovely little bit of trumpet, it leads nicely into the title track 'Honestly, This World' which again showcases the intimate nature of The Moth & The Mirror's sound and their ability to keep that intimacy alive even when it sounds like the world is falling down around them. As noisy a song as their is on the album, 'Honestly, This World' shifts tempo and pace throughout, and is a live standout if you ever get the chance to see the band live.

'Hope Is An Anchor' creeps in with soft acoustic notes, much like the opening track. It has a rather strange structure, but is pulled off and builds towards a lovely instrumental section featuring Abbot's Admiral Fallow band mates Sarah Hayes on flute and Kevin Brolly on clarinet.

Lead single from the album 'Germany' is up next, and given that it's the track that really sold me on the band, it's no surprise I rate it up amongst the highlights of the album. A simple jerking rhythm throughout and wonderous harmonising, it's a pop song with attitude and just a little bit off the kilter. Which is a good thing.

Closing tracks 'Closing Doors' and 'Oceans & Waves' return to the softer approach seen on 'Soft Insides', the latter track is a perfect closer for this album, epitomising everything about The Moth & The Mirror's sound in one six and a half minute track. Definitely one of the albums of 2011.

Buy 'Honestly, This World' here. Check out The Moth & The Mirror's website too. And have a listen below.

Scottish Fiction Playlist - Monday 31st October

Last Monday night I gave myself the unenviable task of collating Scotland's Alternative Greatest Album. So many great songs and artists couldn't quite sneak into the two hour show. However, the show was full of great music. Check out the full playlist below and listen again.

Primal Scream - Loaded
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream
Aztec Camera - Somewhere In My Heart
Biffy Clyro - Glitter And Trauma
Idlewild - You Held The World In Your Arms
Mogwai - Friends Of The Night
Arab Strap - (Afternoon) Soaps
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Franz Ferdinand - The Dark Of The Matinee
Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas
Admiral Fallow - These Barren Years
The Twilight Sad - That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy
Frightened Rabbit - My Backwards Walk
Boards Of Canada - An Eagle In Your Mind
The Beta Band - Assessment
Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
Bronski Beat - Smalltown Boy
Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Lounger
The Delgados - All You Need Is Hate
King Creosote - I'll Fly By The Seat Of My Pants
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Delilah
Travis - Tied To The '90's
Belle And Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap

Scottish Fiction - 31st October 2011 by scottishfiction

We're Only Here For The Banter - Spook School

Edinburgh four piece The Spook School have only been gracing us with their collective presence for less than one year. And yet I've been wanting to feature them on the blog since I first heard 'History' back in June. The fact that it's still one of my favourite songs of the year is testament to how good they are. But enough of the gushing praise, it's very unbecoming of me. The Spook School have a c-86, distorted twee pop sound, and have been steadily playing gigs across the central belt for the last couple of months now. Check out what Adam from the band had to say.

Hello, how are you?

I'm fine thank you. How are you? That's what you're supposed to say isn't it? It's not true though. I'm not fine at all. I've been sitting eating grapefruit segments out of a can whilst watching YouTube videos for 3 hours. It's not a good state of affairs.

Tell us a little bit about your music and influences.

We make simple indie-pop rock 'n roll music. Partly 'cause that's what we're in to and partly 'cause none of us can really play guitar. I think we sound a bit like if Buzzcocks were girls who lived by the seaside and were scared of talking to strangers. Suppose Shop Assistants, Television Personalities and that kind of stuff has quite an influence, but most of the time we're just trying to be David Bowie or Marc Bolan and failing. Lyrical themes tend to include cross-dressing, miscellaneous confectionery and the banality of conformity (that sounds like a really shit album title!). I always feel a bit out of my depth with these 'describe your music/influences' questions.

Scotland has a thriving music scene. How do you find being a part of that?

When we first started playing together and putting our stuff out there I kind of expected the 'music scene' folk to be a bit clique-ish and turn their noses up at us as some kind clueless group of amateurs. If anything we've found it to be the complete opposite. Everyone we've come into contact with has been really nice and friendly and helpful and brilliant. If it wasn't for the opportunities we've been offered by other bands and bloggers and studios and venues I think we'd still be pissing about making noise underneath a vegetarian café (if it hadn't gone bankrupt).

Which Scottish artists would you recommend to the Scottish Fiction readers?

Oooh. There's too many. I've been listening to Bubblegum Lemonade a lot recently. He's brilliant (and we're playing before him at Glasgow Popfest. Eeek!). In general we've been introduced to quite a few really good bands we'd never heard of before as a result of being part of it all. Was very impressed with Edinburgh School for the Deaf when we played with them, and we're good friends with Be Like Pablo and Thank You So Nice. They're wonderful. I could go on for ages. There are so many great bands in Scotland at the moment. We've really picked a very busy playing field to go in to, but it's a very fun playing field. It's got swings and roundabouts and everything.

What is your songwriting process like?

It's all quite intuitive I guess. We know nothing about the theory or rules about song-writing, but I think it's better that way. Can't imagine The Velvet Underground ever sat round a table going “Lets write a song in 4/4 in the key of E that modulates in the third trimester” or whatever. Generally Naomi or I will have some chords and/or a cool riff with lyrics in a half-baked state. Then we'll try and play it with the whole band and see how it sounds. We're still making changes to songs we wrote over a year ago, so it can take a while to produce something that sounds remarkably simple (if you're us). But I think that's partly because we're learning so much at the moment.

You recently made your Glasgow debut at The Captain's Rest for Ayetunes Presents. How was the 'weegie' experience?

It was really cool. One of those experiences that makes you think “we're kind of almost actually a proper band”. Yeah, it was good. In fact I wrote one of our very non-regular blog posts about it here (http://thespookschool.com/2011/09/29/the-spook-school-went-to-glasgow/)

What could we expect to see/hear from your live shows?

Lots of noisy jingly-jangly guitars, Matt Damon abuse, some reverby ukulele stuff, stupid dancing and Niall’s chest. You can expect to have a lot of fun. At least we hope so. We always do.

I'm sooking up here, but 'History' is one of my favourite tracks of 2011 so far. Are there plans afoot for more releases?

Hahaha, thanks. We’re both honoured and slightly baffled. I'd really like to have more recordings, we're just kind of figuring it out how to do it so it'll sound half decent. I guess we don't spend as much time on it as we should. I for one seem to spend most of my time eating tinned fruit. If we had the cash, we'd be back in the studio quick as a flash. As it is we're currently trying out alternatives. You get all these people going “Young people can write and record whole albums without even leaving their bedrooms these days!” but these young people they talk about must be a lot more clever than us. We went round and did some 'as-live' recording with Nora at Henry's Cellar Bar a couple of weeks ago. So depending on how that sounds in the end, we might let folk have a little listen to it.

What does the rest of 2011 hold for you?

We've got a couple of gigs at the Wee Red Bar coming up that I think are going to be ace, then Glasgow Popfest which we've been excited about for months now.

Other than that I don't know really. Parties? Cakes? I imagine the government will continue to fuck people over, so we'll have to distract ourselves somehow. I'm thinking about building a scale model of the Taj Mahal out of spagetti. It will be quite tricky as there are lots of curved edges.

I might be presumptious here, but as you name check John Cleese in 'History', what's your favourite Monty Python sketch?

Think Anna's probably the biggest Python fan, so I'm perhaps the wrong person to ask about this. Although me and Naomi grew up in the village where Holy Grail was filmed, so have something of an affinity with that film. I really like their defence against fruit sketch, although clearly learned nothing from it given the current tinned fruit situation. Don't think John Cleese is my favourite though. I like Eric Idle. He has nice hair. Or at least did have.

What's been your biggest achievement so far?

Hmm... I think just people from proper bands and blogs and stuff saying they like what we're doing. I never expected that to happen. Getting asked to play Edinburgh Oxjam and Glasgow Popfest's quite an honour too. There was one gig that me and Niall played in dresses. That was quite an achievement I think.

Thanks for speaking with us, would you care to share a joke with us?

I would definitely care! I like this Tim Vine one:

"So I rang up a local building firm, I said 'I want a skip outside my house.' He said 'I'm not stopping you.' “

I like any skipping based joke really.

Thanks!

Direct yourself in a most direct way towards The Spook School's website, Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud and Bandcamp. Phew that's a lot of stuff. Worth it though. 

Scottish Fiction October EP

Wah hey! It's time for another Scottish Fiction FREE EP! Been excited about this one since about two days into October, so I'm happy to finally release it upon the vaults of the internet.

As well as being a collection of terrific songs which together create a whirlwind of awesomeness, this month's EP also showcases some of the best Edinburgh has to offer, as each of our four participants are from Auld Reekie. Delightful stuff if you ask me! Click on the artists names below to be transported through IP addresses and web servers to that particular artists 'We're Only Here For The Banter' feature.

First up are Edinburgh five piece Trapped Mice, contributing a track off their last EP called 'Pointing And Shouting'.

Next are Plastic Animals who have been around for over five years now, and have released a swarm of recent stuff. 'Green Light' features on our EP.

Following them is Donna Maciocia who will have some brand spanking new material out soon. She has contributed a demo of the wonderful 'Fists At The Sky'.

And lastly are Supermarionation closing things off with the track 'The Paris Express'.

Enjoy! You can download the full EP for free here (also check out previous month's EP's available for free too), and also stream below.