Live Music Highlights – February 2013

It's that time again – February rolls around, and suddenly love is in the air, as the feast of St. Valentine approaches. Or not – there's not much romance to be found amidst the runny noses, hacking coughs and abject frozen weather that characterise a Scottish February, if we're honest. Take comfort in the fact that even if you can't find romance, or if your lover's out of the game with a dose of Norovirus, there's plenty of action on the live circuit.

First up is the Green Door Studio 5th Birthday at Nice ’n’ Sleazy’s on 1 Feb, with Golden Teacher, Gummy Stumps and many more up-and-comers from the Scottish scene. Golden Teacher, a collaboration between Silk Cut and noise-punk trio Ultimate Thrush, have released a simply gorgeous 12" on Optimo – their sound is described by the label as ‘hypno-psych voodoo groove.’ For our money, it's some of the finest punk-techno to come out of Glasgow in years. Gummy Stumps meanwhile arose from the Winning Sperm Party label, and play a complex, heady fusion of psychedelic sounds, à la Captain Beefheart.  

If reggae and roots is more your thing, check out the lineup for the annual Wee Dub Festival, taking place at various venues throughout Edinburgh between 1 and 3 Feb. They've got live shows from Mezzanine Allstars, Zion Train and Prince Fatty, while the likes of Mungo's Hi-Fi, Big Toes Hi-Fi and J Bostron bring the soundsystem bliss. Check the website (www.weedubfestival.co.uk) for the full bill.

One band we've been championing for a while now are Dundee ultra-rockers Fat Goth. They launch their sophomore album Stud at Edinburgh's Electric Circus on 1 Feb, ably supported by Vasquez. The mighty Goth, as their name might suggest, are a rock band with a sense of humour – a rare thing indeed these days – but they never let that distract from their driving, blistering riffage.  

On 7 Feb, The Robin Guthrie Trio – aka the latest project from the Cocteau Twins’ founder – play alongside Ride's Mark Gardener at Edinburgh's Electric Circus. Guthrie's solo output is utterly beautiful – intricate guitar textures and complex instrumentation frame a sound which is a fitting continuation of the dream pop legacy. Gardener meanwhile plays a solo set – if you're lucky, you might even get a few Ride numbers, and for now, that’s as close to a reunion as you're likely to get. An essential gig for all shoegazing fans.

Ah, Divorce, you mental bunch. Their album was packed with highlights, not least of which were the song titles. Who could forget such classic tracks as Cunts in a Circle, or the self-explanatory Bill Murray? They make an unholy racket – excoriating howls, black metal guitars processed and distorted to within an inch of their lives, and clattering drums of death. Live, they're even scarier. Catch them at Bar Bloc in Glasgow on 9 Feb and prepare to have your bowels rearranged.

On 11 Feb, the NME Awards Tour rolls through Glasgow, stopping at the O2 Academy for an evening with psychedelic art-pop mavericks Django Django. The lads have had a banner year, with their eponymous debut album attracting praise across the board, and placing highly in a great many 2012 end-of-year polls. 

PAWS are a slightly more in-your-face proposition than the Django lot – their infectious, upfront brand of pop-punk is winning hearts and minds up and down the UK, with the band shortly set to embark on a US tour. Catch them performing tracks from the fantastic album Cokefloat at an initimate gig at Edinburgh's Wee Red Baron 17 Feb,

From here on out, these two bands look likely to be known as the ‘big two’ of Scottish indie rock (Snow Pa-who?), and both bands are in no way short of credibility, devastating live presence, or epic riffs. We speak, of course, of the justly-ascendant The Twilight Sad, who play a stripped-down acoustic set at Edinburgh's Electric Circus on 24 Feb, and their even-more-famous (so far) chums Frightened Rabbit, who take the stage at The Picture House in Edinburgh on 26 Feb. These two will be touring the US together in 2013 –  we fully expect world domination to follow, or at least that joint cover of Dancing In the Street they've been threatening.

A fan of sweeping, post-rock soundscapes and epic neo-ambient meditations on landscape, language and loss? We thought so. In that case, you'll want to catch Icelandic soundscapers Sigur Rós when they play the SECC in Glasgow on 2 March. If anyone can fill that gargantuan air hanger with gorgeous, transcendant, symphonic noise, it's this lot.

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DO NOT MISS: CHVRCHES, THE ARCHES, 2 MARCH

CHVRCHES are the benficiaries of an entirely justified wave of hype, which saw them ride into the BBC's ‘Sound of 2013’ longlist on the back of a cranked up synth-fest (called Lies) and a beautifully understated ‘proper’ debut single The Mother We Share. With a growing live reputation on the back of gigs across the country and further afield, the trio's anthemic, hook-driven electro-pop is refreshingly unpolished, maintaining a feral, frantic energy. Featuring ex-TwiSad keys man Martin Doherty and The Unwinding Hours’ Iain Cook alongside vocalist Lauren Mayberry, there's a fair chance they'll dominate 2013 if they can maintain the standard on their in-the-works debut LP. Nae pressure.