Live Music Highlights – August 2012
Summertime, and another Pixies gig at Meadowbank probably wouldn’t go amiss, but without huge umbrellas like ‘T on the Fringe’ or ‘The Edge’ to bring the monoliths this August, you'll find Edinburgh’s smaller venues doing very well on their lonesome this year, thank you very much. Kicking off Electric Circus’s nourishing Fringe bill, the soulfully sedate Lanterns On The Lake stop by (3 Aug) to remind us that there’s more to modern folk rock than a gang of yodelling trustafarians dressed as Dickensian peasants.
Over in Glesca, space lord mothers (and self-proclaimed 'Scotland's foremost Hawkwind tribute act') The Cosmic Dead seek to raise funds for album recording and their forthcoming UK tour with a date at The 13th Note (8 Aug). In the meantime, check their website (thecosmicdead.blogspot.co.uk) for more detail on how to find their elusive debut, finally granted a CD release last month .
Righteous contenders for the inaugural Scottish Album of the Year Award (pipped by Wells & Moffat, this time), Happy Particles swing by Sneaky Pete's for what’s guaranteed to be a mighty fine night for disciples of starry-eyed guitar rock. Sneaky Pete’s (10 Aug). Don’t sleep.
From the ashes of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (AKA Mudd off of Nathan Barley’s band) come psychedelic wonders TOY (all caps y’hear, like DOOM, KLF, TLC, OMC – all the greats), who look and sound as though they’ve just escaped a gas-huffing party that started around the west coast garage scene in 1966. Having spent a fair chunk of the last year touring in the company of Primal Scream and The Horrors, this should come as no surprise. Introduced to the world with the sublime free single Left Myself Behind late last year, the London quintet have a lot to live up to with their self-titled debut (due this September). We’ll tell you now; it’s a thing of rare splendour. Away and hear some at Electric Circus (14 Aug).
If you, like us, still get lost in mclusky's timeless attitude, and it’s a hefty line in energised, delirious post-hardcore and the odd solid Jesus Lizard cover that gets you through the day-to-day, Dundonian trio Fat Goth are without a doubt your esteemed Huckleberrys. The Artist Formerly Known As Uncle Fritz and a few of the minds who brought you Perineum, Alamos and Laeto return to Electric Circus (16 Aug). Steel Trees and Vasquez bring their own kind of ruckus.
Claire 'Grimes' Boucher puts in her Edinburgh debut at The Liquid Room this month (28 Aug), followed by a return to Glasgow (The Arches) the very next night. There's a reason we put this talented prodigy on the cover back in March; expect chaotic electro pop with hooks for days.
DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails join forces as Music [is the Music] Language returns with a less unwieldy title and another bounty of chararacters from the Scottish underground. Pitching itself as a celebration of 'the exciting creativity and diversity' of our eccentric land, the two-day festival's bill continues to swell at as we go to print, boasting nigh on three dozen bands, ranging through modern folk master Alasdair Roberts (joined by Concerto Caledonia's David McGuinness), Leith's lead-heavy sledgehammers Muscletusk and Glaswegian schizophrenic guitar pop mavericks Die Hard, to single out only a few potential highlights for your weekend (1-2 Sep). For a full breakdown of bands and venues participating see our listings.
DO NOT MISS:
DETOUR PRESENTS... CIRCA: CHVRCHES
Electric Circus, 22 Aug
On the basis of one song, CHVRCHES (yes, that’s precisely how the bairns are typing it) have generated more hype overnight than any other Scottish band in some years. To fly this high so soon could burn a newcomer, but with a pedigree that brings members of Aereogramme/The Unwinding Hours and The Twilight Sad together to rock 'roided up synths to the versatile tones of Blue Sky Archives frontlass Lauren Mayberry, you’d best have faith they can keep writing rugged pop anthems like Lies.
Playing as part of guerrilla gig duo Detour’s fringe club night CIRCA (look, should I just leave this fucking caps lock on?), they’re joined by post-punk disco Weegies par excellence We Are The Physics, Twilight Sad DJs and the promise of a ‘ROCK ACTION LABEL ROOM.' Check listings for more details on CIRCA nights running throughout the festival on 8, 15 and 29 Aug).