Live Music Highlights - December, 2009

If you can't stand The Pastels, The Smiths or The Vaselines then you'd better stay the hell away from Glasgow on 3 December, because The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are set to turn Stereo into indie Ground Zero for one night only. Updating the C86 sound with layers of MBV-lite fuzz has made this group the darlings of the skinny jeans scene, but anyone who digs loveable, literate pop will get a kick out of this.

Excitable young pups Tubelord are the kind of band that make you (well, me) feel old. Spastic riffing, disorienting time sig changes and put-the-world-to-rights vocals are just three of the reasons I felt compelled to have a sit down and a cuppa halfway through writing this (obviously while straining my senile mind to remember why I was typing standing-up in the first place). Anyone who enjoys mathy, melodic hooks and unchecked exuberance should be able to look past Tubelord's dearth of originality and have a right good time at Edinburgh Sneaky Pete's (7 Dec), Dundee Dexter's (8 Dec) and Glasgow Captain's Rest (9 Dec).

Ace Glasgow-via-Dingwall four-piece The Cinematics have a spanky new album to their name, and they hit Scotland hard this month with gigs at Inverness Madhatters (6 Dec), Aberdeen Snafu (7 Dec), Dundee Fat Sam's (8 Dec), Edinburgh GRV (9 Dec) and Glasgow King Tut's (23 Dec). Think muscular, atmospheric guitar music with plenty of rhythm and swagger and you're in the ballpark.

Let's get one thing straight: The Mars Volta care not for your approbation. With their wild, un-tameable barnets, their Joycean lyrics and pathological need to 'jam', they have made it clear that any music they choose to play is created solely on their own terms. Having said that, those who cough up to see their gig at Edinburgh HMV Picture House (9 Dec) should bear witness to some thrilling, visionary songwriting as well as a preternatural display of technical skill. Just don't expect them to play to the gallery.

It's easy to forget just how many great artists are signed to Warp right now. Broadcast certainly aren't their highest profile band but this unconventional duo have been spinning sinister psychedelic atmospheres for well over a decade. They get a lot of Stereolab comparisons, and Trish Keenan's vox can certainly nail that haunting '60s pop feel, but this pair are way more interesting and bring an exploratory Radiophonic vibe to the table. Recent shows have seen extensive use of visual projections, so Glasgow's Stereo (9 Dec) is a smart place to be.

The Mill is all about giving exposure to upcoming Scottish talent, and on 10 December it plays host to Homework and Kid Canaveral at Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire. Homework have a nice line in melodic rock with a funk influence while Kid Canaveral up the tempo for some lush, hard-hitting power-pop. All tickets for The Mill are free and available at themill-live.com, so get down to Cab Vol and show some love.

Findo Gask play a spate of gigs this month, and we urge you to get down to one of them because, well, they're one of the best bands in Glasgow right now. Findo go heavy on the synths and electronics, but they pin it all down with some righteous basslines and great songwriting - plus Gerard Black has one HELL of a set of pipes on him. Their new material is just getting better too, so check them at Dundee's Duke's Corner Dundee (12 Dec), Glasgow Nice N Sleazy (19 Dec) and Edinburgh Sneaky Pete's (20 Dec).

One of Sub Pop's best kept secrets, Fruit Bats, play Aberdeen's Tunnels on 15 Dec. Founded by Eric Johnson (now of The Shins), they're masters of finely crafted melodic songwriting with a vigorous folk influence. It's sunny, uplifting stuff and posseses a certain intriguing spaciness that we're digging pretty heavily.

The Mill sets up at Glasgow's Òran Mór on 17 December to showcase Sparrow and the Workshop (moody, evocative Americana featuring some fantastic vocals) and The Invisible Republic (eclectic, trippy folk-rock with a dreamy feel). As before, get your free tickets from themill-live.com.

Aberdeen's best (and only) independent record shop, One Up Records, is throwing a birthday bash on 30 Dec at The Tunnels, and none other than Fence consiglieri King Creosote (among others) will be on hand to toast this long-running and much-loved establishment. Should be quite a party.