The Coral, ABC, Glasgow, 20 Oct

The Coral have always attracted an eclectic gathering at their gigs, described by the band as consisting of "a mad hippy dancing at the back, a few little girls at the front, some 40 year-old blokes, and a gang of scallies over there pissing everyone off." It seems we're lucky to still have these Scouse scallywags around at all however, considering how things so very nearly went kaput a couple of years ago following the release of their massive hit single In The Morning, when guitarist Bill-Ryder Jones left the fray to "get his head together," and the rest of the band returned to the less than salubrious surroundings of their home estate in Hoylake. It appeared to be another case of rock 'n' roll burnout, "too much, too young," or maybe too many 'shrooms in too little time. In any case, once the band had dusted themselves down and the reality of living back home kicked in, they regrouped and returned last month with new album Roots and Echoes, which could be described as the band's first "sober" record. It sees their erstwhile eccentricity streamlined and distilled into more refined, "classic" songwriting, as evidenced by steady-as-she-goes recent single Who's Gonna Find Me, and while they may never write a tune as bonkers as Simon Diamond again, with a songwriter as talented as front man James Skelly, they are never likely to be less than diverting. [Barry Jackson]