My Latest Novel @ The Venue

My Latest Novel are that rarest of things - a cleverclogs band that you could see yourself growing to love. With skewed time signatures, wavering four-part harmonies, folksy acoustic guitars and bookish (how very apt) lyrics floating all over the shop, there is plenty of potential here for a dog's dinner of epic proportions. However, like the Arcade Fire, with whom they have an obvious affinity, the Greenock five-piece have enough faith in their art to solder their myriad spare parts into a coherent supercharger of a musical beast. They certainly weren't holding back at the Venue - delivering a set that veered between profundity, absurdity and lunacy while maintaining a sense of melodic presence that was, on occasion, tinged with real greatness. There remains a suspicion, confirmed during a relatively unfocused mid-set lull, that some of the band's epic instincts could use some judicious pruning. But, in a music scene dominated by the one-dimensional, My Latest Novel's wide-screen vision is one to cherish. [Duncan Forgan]