The Unthanks @ Queen's Hall, 15 Apr

It’s probably praising with faint damnation to suggest that Glasgow-based four-piece Trembling Bells definitely have more convincing live performances in them. Their third LP, The Constant Pageant, has extended their sonic palette in many different directions, wilfully averting their previous pigeon-holing as a ‘psych folk’ outfit, and it is evident the live show is trying to match this eclecticism. Founder Alex Neilson and co. have introduced a heavier, rock-oriented sound, and the former Jandek and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy collaborator seems intent on bringing that to bear tonight.

Singer Lavinia Blackwell’s deeply impressive and malleable voice struggles in the face of Neilson's rhythmic onslaught, and it is only when the percussion stops, on an a capella number sung by she and Neilson, that we get a full appreciation of the majesty and potential of this ambitious outfit.

Neilson, however, does particularly impress in a cameo appearance as one of eleven performers who take the stage as The Unthanks, with the eponymous Northumbrian singers Becky and Rachel taking centre stage throughout. The ensemble is employed judiciously, with well-chosen orchestral interjections neatly adding to the atmosphere of the sisters’ traditional (and highly impressive) folk delivery.

Despite Rachel looking like she could go into labour at any moment (her partner and pianist Adrian McNally mischievously telling us that ‘The tour was in the book before the bun was in the oven’) the sisters maintain an e asy energy and charm throughout, using vocal effects to good effect one minute and then stepping away from the mics altogether to show that theirs is a natural, pristine talent; one just at home on traditional fare such as Gang Tae the Kye as on their wonderfully eclectic take on Robert Wyatt’s lullaby Song For Hamza. [Paul Mitchell]