DUNDEE LIVE - BANDS TO WATCH!!
ISIS + THE LANE + HIRO! - Hustlers 13-09-08
It's been a long time since the days when Isis looked like they were heading towards the top of the tree. While there are many things you could point towards for that not happening, the one thing you could say about the early band is that a sense of aggression was only ever apparent in glimpses while much of the rest followed a middle ground that worked so well at the time.
Now, a couple or so years later, Isis are back on form and quite simply, on fire. Zara's vocals are still, arguably, the finest that any female singer in Dundee possesses. The sheer strength has been magnified to the point that when she just does the sound check, the whole room listens and applauds. Bands who've never before heard her vocals, sit there open-mouthed at this eruption coming from this diminutive female on that stage. When the set begins and the sheer strength of vocals storms from the PA, you can't help but be absolutely riveted to that remarkable voice. But, it's not just the voice - everything about the modern Isis is magnified!!!
The band are a trio - Zara plays predominantly rhythm guitar and riffs, while the tall willowy figure of Martin plays this immense sounding electric bass that kind of acts as lead instrument, a sea of arrangements that you'd think couldn't work in a zillion years yet in these guys' hands, it just does. Add to that a drummer that holds the two forces of nature that are Marin and Zara together, whilst propelling it forward, and you have this whirlwind of something that is neither rock nor punk nor indie but is actually an off-planet htbrid of the three.
Track-wise, you get something like "Waiting" and "Nah Nah Nah" from the latest EP, delivered with firey arrangements as this sea of fuzz guitar crashes from the speakers, the pounding bass running up and down your spine and saying a cheery "hello" to your skull before demolishing it, while the drums power out and, on top of all this, Zara's impassioned, powerful, emotive and positively mighty vocal, delivers a three minute slice of indie punk-pop that can't fail to have you leaping about the place as well as jaw-droped in admiration. A clutch of new songs reveals the new direction is producing the goods - never has the band sounded this angry - you wouldn't want them moving in next to you!! The guitar rifs to oblivion while the mid-range vocal just flies and drives, the songs themselves so addictive that, by the end, your head's so full of them, you don't know which one to remember the most. But it's not all about power - in there is a ballad performed by Zara alone that is just inspirational - only about three minutes long but so passionate and heartfelt with rippling electric guitar and gloriously tender vocal, proving that a heart truly beats in that frame. Then there is the long-standing favourite, "Blue Horizon", still an absolute pearl of dynamics, building and explosive muscle.
This is the Isis of today - venues that wrote them off a long time ago should regroup and reassess, for this is a band that could tear the roof off of any indie gig - it's raw, it's pure and it soars like an eagle. Just awesome!
The Lane were not to be daunted. A trio from Fife they also managed to whip up a storm, but in a wholly different way. What they played was a smoking brew of Americana-laced hi-octane indie rock with as a positively anthemic set of songs were also delivered with passion, this time a less powerful but commanding lead vocal from singer and guitarist Kyle Farrell still being a force around which the songs revolved. He has a kind of less nasally air of the Tom Pettys about him, while the instrumental work was also not a million miles away from the likes of Petty with more of a wall-of-sound Oasis quality in there too. What did strike home was just how emotional the songs were, again, sung with passion and strength but, especially as a male vocal, in a wholly different way from Isis, yet the fuller sound of The Lane made up for the rawness of Isis, and provided both a neat link and a required contarst from what had gone before. The songs themselves are the sort of thing that you know you're going to like alot on second and third hearings, with some quality if brief lead guitar breaks pepered throughout the set. The rhythm section of Chris Penny and Stuart Condie sounded crunchy and solid throughout, while the band really swung with strength and passion. It probably wasn't the best set they'd played as there wasn't exactly much of an audience after the Isis crowd had departed, so you can forgive them for that, but they played seriously and with their hearts in it. Well worth seeing again, I hope one day I'll have the chance.
To a sparse room of friends and a few hangers on, Hiro! came on stage. The first time I'd put this band on as a trio they featured female drummer Martyna, guitarist Troy Lynch and guitarist/vocalist Nicole Ritchie, all young and all paszsionate about what they do. Across songs that included both originals and covers, they played a set that was actually superb, BUT there were flaws - however, flaws that can easily be ironed out. The main thing was the drummer was just too "polite" - she seemed to be only playing part of the kit. I learnt afterwards that it was only an early gig for her as she'd not been in the band long. What she played was good - there just wasn't enough to it. Lock her in a room with a bunch of White Stripes albums, Can's "Tago Mago" and you're well on the way.....
To have a band like this with no bass and two guitars, seems a tad bizarre yet they pull it off. However, Troy did, at times, tend to wander off into keys unknown, sometimes sounding decidedly at odds with what Nicole was playing and singing, but then it would come back and all would be well. Again, his playing was good, and he kind of twists and turns with the songs, rather than keeping in a straight line, which always adds an air of mystery as to where he's gonna take his bit next - which can also be hit or miss, but it's fun to watch.
However, and no disrespect to the other two, the undoubted shining star of this band is Nicole. A bit like Isis, you tend not to notice the guitar work too much as you're just awestruck by how someone so young can have such a superb vocal. This is an Isis in the making and, over time, this could be Dundee's next vocal talent. She's got a purity to what she sings and the way she sings it, but there's so much strength in there too, and she knows how to use the voice for dynamic effect, knowing when not to sing as much as when to sing. I couldn't honestly tell you waht they played as it's now about 4 weeks or more since they performed and I made no notes - but I can tell you how they played, and that was rather good, in Nicole's case, absolutely superb. definitely a band to watch but they need more rehearsals before they step out in the open if they are to be seen as a true rising force.
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