Lick Online - Live

According to a 'psalm of life' that I found on Google, enthusiasm is a choice. Playing to an almost empty Capitol whilst retaining the high spirit you have when you're going down a storm in a packed King Tuts certainly testifies to that. Although Mike Baillie's band (who have recently been name YourSound's artist of the month) may have lacked a certain - I hate to say it - X-Factor, you couldn't fault his charismatic stage presence and strong love of live performance. The comparisions to Snow Patrol are obvious and will no doubt be endlessly pointed out as the band progress. However, Baillie and the Fault don't come across as little boys aspiring to imitate their favourite band, but rather as a group of talented musicians who write similarly melancholic, affectual songs.

The aforementioned X-factor may have been missing but their set was never once boring, and the presence of Union of Knives singer Craig Grant towards the end of the show only added to the band's appeal. After an extremely lengthy changeover headliners Cardiac arrived on stage. The wait didn't seem so bad though as the Glasgow three-piece confidently burst into their set with minimum fuss and maximum impact. Their loud, aggressive approach came across very well in the small space and their superbly delivered harmonies were spot on. Cardiac are clearly a band who enjoy their music, and it shows.

King Tuts Wah Wah Hut

One ticket, one guitar, one local lass and several hundred Glaswegians crammed into an iconic venue makes for a pretty good night. Amy McDonald, at the ripe old age of nineteen, gives a mesmerising performance that suggests she might be the next big thing to come out of a recently prolific Scottish music scene. Taking to the stage with an air of confidence beyond her years, she made it clear that she has both talent and a bright future ahead of her.
A mixture of talented song writing, intelligent guitar playing and a deeply soulful voice combined to give Amy an added advantage in an industry that increasingly churns out an abundance or maufactured pop belles. It is heart warming instead, to see someone with a genuine personality that shines through in all of her songs.
After a small technical hitch, Amy opened with the infectious "This Is The Life", a mixture of acoustic country and indie undertones. Fan favourite "Poison Prince" was next, which combined a rampant riff and a pacey beat, cementing it as one song that should certainly be looked out for at T in the Park this year.
Halfway through the set 19 year old Amy performed "Footballer's Wife", a commentary on today's media saturated culture, which adeptly showcased the innocence of the Scottish Starlet. Throughout the gig you felt like you were being let in on a big secret, similar to the way many fans felt whilst watching Amy’s heroes Travis perform similarly about 15 years ago.
After a rousing applause Amy reappeared to give a unique rendition of "Mr Brightside", a quirky adaptation that was complimented by both her deep soulful voice and the soft acoustic tone that rung out from her lonesome guitar. This summer sees Miss MacDonald embark upon a monumental tour in support of her debut album, which will no doubt make her a huge hit at T in the Park and beyond.

Words: Scott Mullen

Photo: Neil Milton

King Tuts

As the saying goes good things come in threes. Red Snowman, Kobai and Radars were the trio who lit up and subsequently destroyed the T Break stage at Tuts.
A truly eclectic mix of bands performed for a strong crowd of indie snobs, spotty teen scenesters and industry hacks over the three nights, the majority having refined the art of blagging to get this far.

Refined, however, is not what you would dare call Red Snowman unless you want to end up with a fist full of metal for your sins. These guys make System of a Down look like Travis on a comeback. With a raw energy that brings head banging hard rock back from the dead, they match thunderous riffs with bass lines that would pound on hell’s door. The quintet exploded into a veritable barrage of lengthy songs, but fatigue never set in as they attacked both senses of sight and sound with Americanised guitar showmanship, melodically infused in angry ecstasy. If they don’t get through, I’ll pitch my tent next to the portaloos.

Closing the first night were former finalists Kobai who habitually endeavour to
unleash a thorough assault on your highest morals. The spine-tingling sextet’s intoxicating sound appeals to the new indie/rave generation, mixing synth-based heavy guitar licks with pulsating acid-tinged electro beats - think Aphex Twin and Biffy Clyro’s love child. They have linguistically matured and radiate a confidence that only manifests in rocks highest authority. Complacency will never touch the surface with this band, they have balls and they’re not afraid to throw them in your face. If you want your weekend to be full of dirty techno dance debauchery, let’s hope these reckless rave rockers will be there.

Radars initially sounded like they were also available for weddings. But the charming onstage charisma of larger than life front man Mick Radar, and the jaunty stylings of their refreshing sunshine rock melodies rapidly began to make some serious waves. Their jerky pop balladry was welcomed by the weary crowd who had suffered through a pedestrian night, until now. Supported by great backing vocals, Mick orchestrated the audience like an urban poet signalling what the story was behind each song. This isn’t your average middle-of-the-road pop rock, they have something to say and know just how to do it. In their words judges, “Rock is not your enemy”.

Bands that deserve a mention are Theatre Fall who take Weird Science to the stage, combining electronics with grungy guitar hooks. Their youthful musings are transmitted through dual guitars and electro pianos and a hilariously passionate display of facial aerobics. “We were transformers” was technologic.

Fiction/Action have potential to be great but have yet to discover their niche and are let down by their lead vocalist, whose Mike Skinner impression doesn’t gel well with the music. An “18th Century Poet” he is not.

The tranquil lullabies of The Moth and the Mirror were truly alternative. Watch out for them.

The rest were social squanderers who couldn’t even pack a punch in a gay bar. The Cider Spiders - a poor mans Kings of Leon, and The Cuts were the Fratellis in disguise. Why do all Paisley-bred bands insist on sounding like indie-pop pretenders?

Words: Andrea O’Neill

Photos of Fiction/Action: John Summers

Nice N Sleazys with Meursault and Sweaterlife

First up tonight we have Glasgow’s emotronic kings Sweaterlife. I have watched Sweaterlife numerous times this year already and they are shaping up to be a great live act. With tracks such as ”If This Is The Last Time” and “Techno Techno Techno” they have an abundance of melody that is hard to ignore. In time, when they find their “on stage banter” feet they will become all the better for it.

Next up is Edinburgh based Meursault, or rather a third of the band. Its just lead singer Neil Pennycook who graces the stage tonight, treating the crowd with his acoustic based tales of woe. It is safe to say that he has won many admirers since last year's T Break final and certainly added a few more this evening.

Tonight is the first chance for Glasgow to bear witness to the transformation of the Cinnamons from a bedroom recording project to a fully fledged live act, and the switch is somewhat seamless. While the set is a short one it is equally as sweet, treating a now busy Sleazy’s to a half a dozen well crafted pop songs.

From the superb “Analog Man” that sticks in the mind well after the set comes to an end to the Stone Roses-esque “Armed Robbery”, the Cinnamons have a knack for penning truly catchy and memorable tunes. Too often a band will over stay their welcome on stage and will pad out the set with filler, but the Cinnamons mean business and exit stage leaving everyone wanting more. It remains to be seen when The Cinnamons will venture into the live arena again, but I can only hope that it will be at a venue near me very soon.

www.myspace.com/thecinnamons

> Andrew Mitchell

Maggie Mays

Taking the stage like a gang of pop divas, The Ideal Panic kick off their set with “Say!”, a blistering slice of snarling Rock ‘n’ Roll that is coated in swaggering attitude.

Maggie May’s in Glasgow is the scene chosen for the launch of their next single, “Precious Things”… and a precious evening it turns out to be. With support acts that tick every box in the NME checklist, attendees of this gig may be expecting a band layered in the current “Glasgow” sound, singing of drunken nights with beautiful girls and such like, but fortunately The Ideal Panic harbour a saving grace: they’re actually from the Shire (or Ayrshire, for the uninitiated).

“Say!”, the set opener, is fortunately nothing like the next Fratellis’ single and serves as a splendid way to begin the evening, setting the bar for the rest of the night. The Ideal Panic are one of those bands that as a musician you wish you had been part of, because their songs just resonate with crafted songwriting. With a rhythm section as tight as your average pop band and hooks that could topple a stack of “Now That’s What I Call Music…” compilations, its hard to understand why a band like The Ideal Panic haven’t started doing afternoon television appearances or something of that sort.

The band, whether they know it or not, have got more pop in them than all the Mikas and Lily Allens put together; pop being defined as a mix of catchy melodies, charming vocals and lyrics, and a cohesive sound that you can’t help but admire. And for all their pop similarities, The Ideal Panic are a strongly independent unit, releasing their singles (previous single “I See Too Much Of Myself In You” included) through their own iWant record and publishing imprint, which allows fans to construct their own “perfect album”. Each single is backed by two album tracks, giving fans the opportunity to put together the running order as they see it: a task which I’d find extremely hard since all 6 tracks released so far are of single quality.

Previous reviews have likened the band to The Doves, The Smiths, and Razorlight in their hay-day, which does seem like lazy journalism, but unfortunately, (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it), The Ideal Panic are a tricky band to describe, and trying to do so just undermines their originality and potential. In an ideal world, The Ideal Panic would be as big as the aforementioned Razorlight, minus the cocky swagger and 80’s pop replications they call singles. I guess time will tell, because it’s certainly on their side.

Cliché? Tick.

www.myspace.com/theidealpanic

> Ben Pomphrett

Mon 23 April, Oran Mor

Opening with a thunderous instrumental number, Electric Soft Parade announced their arrival at Glasgow's Oran Mor in truly ear bleeding fashion. Driven by brothers Tom and Alex Whites’ harmonies and at times three guitar assault, ESP’s power pop is given a heavy dose of grit and bite live. More so than on record, the band reveal their heavier influences, and their performance at Oran Mor left the punters satisfied, balancing thrashy rock numbers against piano-led ballads. Deciding a couple of songs into their set to play their new album in its entirety was a brave move, but with catchy, bouncy tunes and buckets of good vibes and banter, the band didn’t lose the crowd at all during their ninety minute set. Although they didn’t manage to play every song from the new record, they got close, with standouts being No Need To Be Downhearted Pt 1 and If That’s The Case, Then I Don’t Know.

Refreshingly for an indie band, ESP were all smiles throughout the night, and even had to stop at one point to wait on their drummer as he collapsed into a fit of giggles. With a feeling of joy that shamelessly infectious, and the band behaving as enthusiastically as the crowd, the name of their new album - No Need To Be Downhearted - seems decidedly fitting.

Released the same day as their Glasgow gig, Lick Magazine made the most of the occasion by catching up with Alex and Tom for a quick chinwag before they took to the stage.


Hi guys, how the hell are you?

Tom: We played a Fopp Instore today to minus four people. It was okay though.

Alex: Yeah, you’ve got to just play through. It’s not our fault if people don’t come. We just write our songs and if people come, they come. What are you supposed to do?

Find them and hurt them?

A: [laughs] Yeah, seek them out.

So how is the tour going so far?

T: It’s going well. We played a place called Dunning last night. It’s in the middle of nowhere, up in Kinross. But it’s been good. We spent a few days in a studio up there. It’s been great. We had a couple of gigs in Dundee and Aberdeen, which were good as well.

So what’s Glasgow like to tour? And be brutal….

T: Oh mate, it’s good man.

A: Tom’s girlfriend Kirsty lives here, and my ex fucking girlfriend who just broke up with me today lives in Edinburgh. Sorry about that. Anyway, we love coming here and through the years have always had good shows here. It feels like a homecoming gig without having the pressure of knowing your mates are in the crowd and stuff. There’s always that triumphant vibe. I don’t think we have ever had a really bad show here.

T: We had a really nice show up here last year in Brel. An acoustic thing.

A: We played the Barfly before that. Our drummer Priesty wasn’t around, so we played like we used to; with me on drums, Tom singing, and our bassist; as a three piece. Me and Tom used to swap around and stuff.

What’s the response been like to the new tunes?

A: Brilliant so far.

T: It was good in America when we went over to do South By Southwest.

Speaking of which, how was SXSW?

T: It was alright, but we went to do some shows after that on the west coast, in LA and San Diego. San Diego was very good, probably one of the best shows we played this year.

A: It’s funny because we listen to lots of American music and then you get out there and people who live there are like, “You’re great!” It’s like, fucking hell… that’s amazing.

T: And we were basically a new band out there because we never got to go over for our first two records. Our first label never got us out there. The Human Body EP was the first thing we put out in America properly and then this new record. We’re going to put out a compilation of the first two albums too.

You self produced your new album. Was that difficult? Was it kind of like being in class without the teacher there?

T: [laughs] It was kind of like that. We have been in enough studios with enough producers and engineers running the desk and operating Pro Tools. Recording on reel to reel is just more and more expensive. We basically just figured out how to use Pro Tools in the first couple of weeks and it was just a process of elimination really. We have always recorded at home and stuff. We were using Truck, our label's own studio, so it was ultra cheap. It meant we could actually spend time working out what sounds good and dicking about with the mics and stuff.

That must have allowed you a lot more freedom, not having to answer to anyone but yourselves.

T: Yeah. The way the label works, it’s not your usual A&R setup in the way that a label like BMG works. It’s very fucking relaxed, you know. Robin, from the band Goldrush, he basically runs Truck and it was unusual because we had never been in the position where a label had signed us because they had genuinely liked what we did, and didn’t want to fuck with it and just wanted to release it… which was amazing. We expected to deliver the record to them and for them to “umm” and “ahh” about it for six months. That’s what has always happened in the past. But it was similar to how we worked with Brakes and Rough Trade. It’s a similar setup.

Electric Soft Parade’s new album No Need to be Downhearted is out now.

http://www.electricsoftparade.com/
www.myspace.com/electricsoftparade

> Ally McGurn