Su Casa - 9/02/12 (Ayr)

This review is sponsored by Irn Bru and Insomnia.

Mainly (sic) when I head out for a gig I know I'm going to see varying degrees of talent on display.
There's very often the good, the bad and the ugly thrust forth into the spotlight, and more often than not all on the same bill.
It's rare for a night to run smoothly with every act being a delight to listen to.
Even rarer is for every single one of them to manage to bring something different to the experience and enhance the evenings entertainment in its totality.
Yet that was exactly what happened in Su Casa.
This was to be my first experience of seeing lauded local artist Scott Nicol play and I wasn't disappointed.
It would be fair to say his performance effortlessly matches the praise he has received locally and globally.
I'm sure Scot himself wouldn't claim to be reinventing the wheel with his music, but it sounds honestly passionate, and what he does is delivered so well that while others are doing similar he manages to come across as the cream of the crop with his take on what I guess you could call mature acoustic rock music.
An indication of how good Scott is as a performer is how from a cold start he managed to get people singing along to his own material in a very short space of time.
He arrived, made an impression from the off, and then hung onto the attention he had drawn to himself.
Harder that some would think, but it's to his credit that he made it look easy.
I was so impressed that as soon as he finished his short set I approached him and bought a couple of CDs and I wasn't the only one.
Next the very young (It's obligatory to say that) Sam Christinson was to grace Su Casa with his presence, and while I thoroughly enjoyed his previous set many months ago - and his more recent 4 track EP release -,I was surprised at how he had progressed in such a short space of time.
He's far more self assured now, and with that confidence the music has flourished.
The singular new song that he sang is yet another down payment on a promise of things to come.
Definitely a young talent to remember the name of as a singer songwriter of the future..
The co-host and regular performer that is Jamie - Little Fire – McGeechan was next and managed yet again to breath some life into his material.
Each time I see him I find him tinkering with his delivery of his material with no two performances sounding the same.
It's a pleasure to hear the evolution of his songs as they grow towards being recorded..
This year will see him releasing his début album, and at this moment in time I have no clue as to how it is going to sound.
That it's going to be good is - in my opinion - a given, but I wouldn't dare to hazard a guess as to how the songs will finally find form.
It's going to be one of those 'watch this space' situations.
Anna Sweeney followed Jamie and similarly to Sam has taken a huge jump forward in the confidence stakes.
It's a captivating introduction to her as an artist for those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing her before.
Her song writing abilities are well defined and show a level of maturity that is rather astounding for a young woman of such tender years.
This was the first time that I had seen her accompany herself on piano rather than guitar and I'm in a quandary as to what I prefer.
Maybe it will all depend on my mood on the night as both are equally entertaining.
Now I haven't got a problem in saying that Rose Parade are one of my current favourite bands.
I'm an unashamed fan and love how they can create perfect slices of pop music while maintaining a great deal of indie credibility.
Acoustic guitar, single bass drum, banjo, electric guitar and glockenspiel doesn't sound like a marriage made in heaven, but close your eyes and listen and it all makes complete sense.
There short set in Su Casa admirably displayed their talents, and I would be very surprised if they don't manage to draw some wider attention from music fans as this year progresses.
If so, then it will be well deserved, and if not, then I'll be at a loss to understand why.
Similar could be said about Melisa Kelly and the Harmless Thieves.
The word authentic gets bandied about with alarming regularity to describe so many carbon copies of what has come before, but when I hear the word I think of Melisa Kelly.
Previously I'd only ever seen her perform solo, or with Jamie of The Harmless Thieves providing some cajon, but this time it's the full ensemble with bass and keyboards.
The difference is like night and day.
While Melisa's voice soars with minimal accompaniment it's taken to a whole new level when supported by accomplished musicians who know the songs inside and out.
There's a free flowing aspect to how the music is played that only comes from being intimately comfortable as a band.
It sounds organic. From rock and roll to a snippet of some Stevie Wonder it was just pure magic.
I reckon that every time Melisa sings Jools Holland gets a hard on.
He just doesn't know why yet.
Finishing the night was Alan Frew who managed to avoid being upstaged by delving into what must be an encyclopedic knowledge of music and delivering some belting numbers that included the trad song 'Pick a Bale of Cotton' that was more vibrant and rockin' than the Leadbelly version that most would be familiar with.
He left me with the impression that with a guitar there's not a lot he can do.
I've had some great nights in Su Casa, but this is right up there.
Outstanding.

Dirty Angel – Kellys Bar - 10/02/12

It's been a while since Dirty Angel brought their glam hair metal rock and roll circus to town, but here they are back for a second bite at the cherry.
Older, wiser, waist expanded and hair receding maybe, but still full of the spunk of yesteryear.
Dudge, Monty, Dean, Gav and Grom are ready to rock.
Sadly the band has a problem.
It's not that they are under rehearsed, too pissed, or that their covers of the whole of Bon Jovi's back catalogue just doesn't cut it anymore.
The problem is that Dudge's trousers are so tight they are distracting the crowd from listening to the music.
You can see every vein in the two and a half inches he has, and I'm not sure if it's an optical illusion, but one ball looks to be half the size of the other.
Or if your a glass is full sort, then one ball looks double the size of the other.
Every woman in the place has their eyes glued to his crotch, and Harry the only gay in the village looks as if he is hyperventilating with excitement.
Flashbombs at a pub gig aren't the norm, but they go for it with style.
As they steam into Sweets Blockbuster there's an almighty flash and the crowd roar their approval.
The front row lose their eyebrows, but no one is caring.
This is rock and roll with a capital R.
Once the smoke clears there's a bit of a panic though.
It turns out that there was no pyrotechnics arranged and the flash and fire was just Monty drink sodden t-shirt going up in flames due to a dodgy spark jumping from the microphone that Faither had gaffa taped together.
Fair play to the band though as they don't miss a beat as they step over his prone body.
When they play the Thin Lizzy classic 'The Boys are back in town Grom decided it's that time of the night to get naked.
The reaction from the crowd makes the arrest later for public indecency worth it.
To my left Harry is pressing close to the front and flashing his moobs at Gav the pretty boy of the band.
It woudl seem that they may have a bit of history as across his moobs he has written Harry and Gav with the legend 'you want some seconds big boy' under it.
Not to be left out of the action Dean starts to light farts, and after following through proves once and for all that shit does burn.
No one wants them to leave the stage and the cries of encore reach the deafening heights of a whisper.
So never a band to leave a crowd short changed Dean plays 'Rock you like a hurricane while Dudge strums the riff of Allright now as Gav mimes the words to a Spice Girls song and Grom sings Paper Roses.
Meanwhile Monty harmonized along with the words 'someone phone for an ambulance'
Killie has definitely never seen anything like this before, and as the Bar has now taken out legal restraints on all of Dirty Angels that now mean they can't be found within a mile of the venue, it's doubtful it ever will.

Southern Culture On The Skids - Zombified

Southern Culture On The Skids often get pigeon holed as a psychobilly band, but similarly to the legendary Cramps they're not.
They're much more than that.
On 'Zombified' the sound of the band effortlessly encompasses the garages of the sixties, some surf guitar, swamp rock and hillbilly parties.
Imagine Booker T and the MGs playing Green Onions at a voodoo ceremony in New Orleans.
Dr John is there and the Sonics to.
That's the sort of party that Southern Culture On The Skids would be invited to.
Much of this first appeared a few years ago as an eight track Halloween release, but here it is given the full album treatment and the addition of more songs doesn't sound grafted on at all, it sounds as fresh as it did on its initial date of release..
If you like B-movies, exploitation films and sitting in honky tonk bars after dropping acid then this is the soundtrack to your perfect night out.

The Plimptons - Are Cynical and Bloated.

There's not a day passes that I don't hear something from a well known mainstream band that makes me question who it is that buys that blandly repetitive auto tuned crap.
What the masses are listening to especially suffers in comparison when I've just reached the end of a Plimptons release like 'The Plimptons are Cynical and Bloated'.
For every 'Baby Baby Baby Ooooh', it would seem that the Plimptoms are more than capable of delivering a rock solid blow of originality wrapped in the warm embrace of sardonic wit in return.
As Newton says in his third law 'For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction' and that's what the Plimptons are.
The reaction to the actions of the blandly offensive brain dead nonsense that litters the airwaves twenty four hours a day.
Fans may consider that there's not a lot different going on in the Plimptons camp, but I would ask them to have a closer listen.
Individually the songs are just as deviantly poptastic as expected, but whereas in the past each album sounded like an anarchic scramble to get every single idea in their head down in the studio, this time there's far more of a flow to it all.
Previously every song was a singular gem, but there was times that it sat uncomfortably next to its album mate..
Imagine a 500 piece jigsaw.
Each piece looks lovely, but they're from 500 different jigsaws.
That's what previous releases were like.
Collections of great individual songs.
Now on 'The Plimptons are Cynical and Bloated' everything fits together and provides the listener with a clearer picture of who The Plimptoms are.
It sounds like a real album as opposed to a compilation.
Of course it's still packed to overflowing with warped vignettes of small town life that come across like surreal mission statements from the front-line, but this time out the band have certainly hit their stride in delivering them.
That's the main difference.
So if you're tired of the same old same old as people say, then maybe it's time for you to stretch your imagination and sample something that sounds far fresher.
There will be a moment when you could suffer from a bit of culture shock and you would have to acclimatize yourself to listening to it as I'm sure your ears are currently comfortable with the sheen that is put on pretty much everything, but take my word for it.
There are rewards to be found.
Lasting ones to.

Oh aye, and go and see them to. Details are on the poster...clickety click.

Who said protest music is dead?

Thanks to John Duffy of Duffy's Gypsy band for upping this on facebook.
Lets make it go viral.

Dirty Edition from the last man standing

The balance in the universe is off.
We have global conflicts, ecological disasters and here in the UK a coalition government to deal with.
The potents of disaster are everywhere.
Here in Ayrshire we have our own imbalance to.
We have more talented bands and artists per square mile than I can ever recall, and yet in Kilmarnock we have nary a stage for them to promote themselves from.
It's small potatoes in the large scheme of things, but never the less it still twists my melons man.
Thankfully some people are still fighting the good fight.
David Hanvey is one of them – in fact he could be described as the last man standing - and this coming weekend he's back trying to valiantly breath some life into the faltering lungs of a scene that will start spiralling downwards to extinction if it isn't supported.
Make no mistake about this.
The success of The Dirty Editions weekend will go a long way towards ensuring that live original music continues to flourish in Kilmarnock.
So it's up to you.
It's not even a case of dragging yourself out to support mediocre talent.
Over the course of the three nights in two venues there's something for everyone.
A line up to make the most disillusioned music fan swoon.
This is some of the best of what is on offer locally building up to known headline acts that wouldn't normally see Kilmarnock listed on their tour itinerary.
The weekend starts on Friday (10th) with local heroes The Longhorns headlining a night in what used to be Jollys/Dirty Martinis and is now known as Kelly's.
This is just the beginning, the teaser for what is to come.
The Longhorns have a solid local following and could fill the venue on their own merits, but the addition of The Mighty Kung Fu playing their last ever gig means that it's doubtful that there will be room to breath.
These bands alone make the ticket price a bargain, but the addition of Roadway, the Empathy, Dirty Angel and the obligatory more to be confirmed makes this seem like an opportunity not to be missed.
Saturday sees Tommy Reilly finishing off another fantastic line up in Kelly's
In support he has one of my current favourite bands who are tipped to make the big time and that's The Imagineers.
(Check them out at the bottom of the page.)
The rest of the line up aint too shabby either.
Matt Scott, Rose Parade, Jamie Keenan, The Holy Ghosts, Scott Nicol and Colin Hunter.
Tell me that there's a duff artist amongst that lot and I'd have to check and see if your ears are painted on.
No surprise that that's not all either.
Turn up on the night and see who else will be there.
I doubt it would be a wasted effort if anyone arrived early doors.
The weekend culminates in the extra special appearance of Steve Cradock (OCS/Paul Weller) in Bakers, who is doing a solo acoustic tour at the moment.
Although I've been assured that there will be some special guests joining him.
(Shhhh. Don't ask. It's a secret.)
Apart from Steve, who many will consider the jewel in The Dirty Editions crown, joining him will be What the Heroes Say, Tragic O'Hara, Graemes Minky Tiger, Dead Wolf Club and yet again more.
If that's not enough to blow your mind then what more do you want?
How about some DJ sets and Northern Soul at an after show party with Steve Cradock spinning some discs?
Yeah. I though some people might like that.
Now if this doesn't manage to kick start something locally then someone should just tag the toe of Kilmarnock and leave its corpse in the morgue.
Any local music lovers who don't attend at least one of these nights better never ever ever ever utter near me that nothing every happens in Killie.
Peace.

Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour

Sometimes a band just manage to slip by like a ninja in the night.
You seem to recall having seen or heard something lurking in the shadows, but there's nothing that you can really hang a memory on..
That's what happened with Band of Skulls and their début album with the fantastic name of 'Baby Darling Doll Face Honey'.
For some reason I was aware of it, but it didn't really register.
In hindsight it was maybe because it came out in a month that was heavy with great releases, but then again maybe not.
I'd just be guessing.
All I know is that the band didn't really register until a friend (Mark Hickey) sent me a link to them and informed me that he had grabbed some tickets for a forthcoming show and I was going.
Since then I've been checking them out and with each listen to them have become increasingly impressed.
The Alt Rock label that they have been tagged with is a bit of a woolly one and doesn't really convey the rich and textured music that they play.
Neither does the seemingly strange reference points that are being bandied about.
They sound a bit like U2?
Really!
There's some Coldplay in there?
Is there!
Forgive me, but I'll happily be the one man marching in step here and say I don't hear that at all.
What I hear is a band who have managed to take some classic rock that's steeped in the blues and gave it a bit of a modern sheen without losing any soul or slipping into the grunge rut.
It's equally refreshingly exciting and familiarly comfortable.
The duel male and female vocals are the hook that will drag you in.
There's not much that is out of their reach, from balls out scuzzy rockers to more introspective and contemplative refrains that give way to crunching sonic assaults. This is a band have got it all nailed down.
On 'Sweet Sour' all the retrospective promise I found in their début is realized.
The shading within the music is expertly laid down and over the course of the album it rarely jars regardless of how heavy or softly they want to tread.
Possibly it could be said that on this outing they are a bit more accessible, but I'm not the sort to have ever had an issue with that.
The more people hear Band of Skulls the better.
Check them out.

Madonna linked to the selling of organs as fans find themselves priced out of seeing her live.

It's a given that the Conservative party is out of touch with the reality of most peoples lives, but on a scale of one to ten they probably average around an eight and see the full ten score as something to aspire to.
Meanwhile Madonna has managed to blow their pitiful eight of ten out the water and grabbed the full ten out of ten by charging $300 a ticket for her forthcoming shows and telling Newsweek magazine that people would be advised to "Start saving your pennies now', because “People spend $300 on crazy things all the time, things like handbags. So work all year, scrape the money together, and come to my show. I'm worth it."
Forgive me, but I don't actually personally know anyone who would pay $300 (£190) for a handbag.
Well okay I probably do.
What I mean is I don't know anyone who has the spare cash lying around to buy one, or anyone with the inclination to save all year to do so.
So it's official now.
Madonna and reality have parted ways.
Or have they?
The above opinion of this was one that jerked from my knee, traveled straight to my fingertips and then ended up hammered out on the keyboard, but when I think about it I can see where she's coming from.
In colloquial terms it's still 'ripping the pish', but she is probably right that people will pay that.
In fact they will pay the £190 plus a booking fee and then on the night they will happily hand over the cash to cover their travelling expenses, maybe go for a meal, certainly get a bit tipsy and probably grab a snack on the way home to.
For two people their night with Madonna will cost £500, or more.
It's sort of mind boggling to me, but she's right.
People do spend money on crazy things.
Crazy things like a couple of hours of watching a woman who is in her fifties lip synch and gyrate through an aerobic workout while being caressed by muscularly sculpted gay men in thongs.
I'm guessing about the gay men in thongs, but if they don't make an appearance on a Madonna tour then I suspect that a certain element of her fan base would be rather miffed.
Now that is crazy. That is loco crazeeeee.
Not people being miffed at a Madonna gig sans gay dancers, but the bit about watching a lip synching aerobic workout from her.
So in hindsight, and now that I've managed to get passed my initial reaction, maybe she isn't as delusional and out of touch as I thought, but instead just as immorally greedy and exploitative as a hedge fund banker.
I'm not sure what is worse really.
So I guess it's down to people to send her a message from all of us who are in this together and introduce her to the reality of working hard and getting fuck all for it.
Let here practice her dance routines and work her arse off in rehearsals, and then let her sit and watch the ticket sales remain static.
It will be good for her.
She'll feel closer to her fans.
Honestly.
It really will be for her own good if the tour bombs.
If for some reason someone really needs a fix of Madonna then maybe they could try out the mini tribute act that's Kylie Minogue.
Basically she does the same show for a fraction of the price anyway, and she always guarantees the inclusion of muscularly sculpted gay men in thongs in her show.
Just a thought.

Anti-Flag - The General Strike

If there was ever a time that the world needed a band like Anti-Flag it's now.
The General Strike sounds akin to what ducking your head into a bucket of ice cold water feels like.
It's a sharp shock to your senses that will banish apathy from your mind.
While some people have been reading the writing on the wall, and predicting that we are easing closer to reaping the backlash from the world leaders love affair with capitalism, it is a fact there has been far more people tucking their heads in the sand and deluding themselves that everything will be okay.
Especially the youth.
As long as mummy and daddy can hide the mountain of debt that they are accruing to provide them with their Converse, designer hoodies, i-phones and Beats headphones then everything is fine and dandy in their world.
Well it's not fuckin' okay.
In fact it's far from okay and Anti-Flag are stepping up to the plate to give them a timely bitter pill to swallow.
They're delivering that unwanted message.
The telegram from the front line informing people that their dreams for the future are dead, or are at the very least missing in action.
The world is fucked, or more accurately they are telling you that the world is teetering on the edge of being fucked and unless you, and yes I mean YOU, act now then there really is no light at the end of the tunnel.
The General Strike is an angry call to arms for the next generation to wake up and shape the world they want to exist in.
Are the kids listening though?
They are to the music as Anti-Flags popularity will attest to, but are they listening to the words, really listening?
Only time will tell.
Regardless of what does happen in the soon to be future it will be a matter for the record that Anti-Flag didn't waver and spoke strongly and clearly about our responsibilities.
Yesterday was ours, tomorrow is yours. Make it everything it can be.

Foxy Shazam - The Church of Rock and Roll

I fell hard and fast for Foxy Shazam.
It was one of those serendipitous moments of stumbling across them online and then finding out that in just a matter of days they were playing locally.
There was a problem though.
I had tickets for Cheap Trick on the same night, but as they were playing a matter of streets away I thought that if Cheap Trick finished early and Foxy Shazam started late it could be do-able, and it was.
As the last chord rung out from Cheap Trick we hot footed it to see Foxy Shazam and arrived just in time for them to step foot on stage.
What a fantastic night that was.
From that day forth I was hooked and picked up their back catalogue and kept an eye out for something new, and now here it is 'The Church of Rock and Roll'.
Cue the clichéd hyperbole about worshipping at the alter of rock and roll and how on the seventh day God created Foxy Shazam etc.
Never mind all that though because the music itself can do the talking.
With each album there's been the criticism that they have become less experimental and edged ever closer to a mainstream rock sound and to an extent it's true, but what's the problem with that anyway.
Over the course of this album I still hear the wit and humour that the band are known for, the eclectic musicianship to, and if the music works for a wider audience then I'm failing to see what the issue is unless some fans want to keep them as their own little secret.
For myself I'm happy to shout out from the rooftops that Foxy Shazam will fulfil all your bombastic rock and roll needs.
If there was ever a band that needed the stadium to express themselves then it is these guys.
The closest we have here in the UK is The Darkness, who Foxy Shazam recently toured with, but they fall far short of matching these guys.
The Darkness possess something that makes them equally loved and loathed.
They're a bit of a one trick pony in the opinion of many, but Foxy Shazam take the best of what The Darkness has to offer and pump it full of steroids before taking the music on a journey to far flung places that their UK peers probably don't even know exist.
If you want guitar solos, helium squealed vocals, funkyness with honking horns and poptastic soul as the soundtrack to your day then Foxy Shazam are here to provide it all......and more.