Gas Giant plus support @ Cabaret Voltaire
Inducing smiles via the wonder of chord progression.
| 11 May 2007
Taking the early shift on the Cab Vol stage tonight, Eagle Owl (3/5) look different to many of their contemporaries and their sound satisfies that idea. Processed violin and double bass combine with electric guitar to form a soothing mesh, mindful of Godspeed but more youthful. Chords rise and fall around softly-spoken lyrics until the instruments merge in an extended abrasive ending.
Shutter's (3/5) approach is comparatively schizophrenic - half melodic delay, half devastating compressed distortion and harmonics. They're occasionally shaky but when they get it right they sound like 80s arena rock and Durutti Column turning into Part Chimp, which is a strange and interesting beast.
Edinburgh veterans Gas Giant (4/5) cross the post-rock aesthetic with pastoral guitar. They've been hiding in the shadows for years, creating beautiful, emotional music. Summoning ghosts of sound from thin air, they create a sweet sense of false security – shattered by feedback as they lurch into overdrive. Math4stupid begins with a funereal march, working minimal notes through a lazy ascendancy which then unfurls into silence. In Coppafeel they control the sound and create a brooding intensity with violin bowed guitar. Slo-core reaches a sickening ceiling of spiralling guitar then explodes into a locked groove. Driven by devastating snare rolls the repetition reaches saturation, then welcome release. Gas Giant again demonstrate the ability to blend sound and affect mood, inducing smiles via the wonder of chord progression. [Chris Bathgate]
Shutter's (3/5) approach is comparatively schizophrenic - half melodic delay, half devastating compressed distortion and harmonics. They're occasionally shaky but when they get it right they sound like 80s arena rock and Durutti Column turning into Part Chimp, which is a strange and interesting beast.
Edinburgh veterans Gas Giant (4/5) cross the post-rock aesthetic with pastoral guitar. They've been hiding in the shadows for years, creating beautiful, emotional music. Summoning ghosts of sound from thin air, they create a sweet sense of false security – shattered by feedback as they lurch into overdrive. Math4stupid begins with a funereal march, working minimal notes through a lazy ascendancy which then unfurls into silence. In Coppafeel they control the sound and create a brooding intensity with violin bowed guitar. Slo-core reaches a sickening ceiling of spiralling guitar then explodes into a locked groove. Driven by devastating snare rolls the repetition reaches saturation, then welcome release. Gas Giant again demonstrate the ability to blend sound and affect mood, inducing smiles via the wonder of chord progression. [Chris Bathgate]