Dundee's Hello Pirates? kicked off the evening and it was, at last, good to hear them through a really first rate PA, courtesy of The Doghouse's Audio Wave guys. Armed with a new drummer who's giving the band's repertoire of flowing indie-pop songs some extra power, punch and muscle, it's evident that the effect has not been lost as they unleashed a new, more spirited approach to the songs with an overall performance that rocked The Doghouse. The guitarist provides the meat of the melody, pouring out buzz-saw riffs and high-flying leads, balanced where appropriate, by softly strummed chords to show the range of which the band is capable. Looking distinctly like a bank manager about to go on army training, the sinewy bassist provides an undercurrent of strong and strident thunder that gives the songs a consistently solid foundation. Together they arrange the songs wtih a mass of memorable melodies, insistent rhythms and unforgettable riffs, each an absolute delight and guaranteed to have you have them hanging around in your head until the next time, a mark of a solid band who can provide instrumental magic that answers your prayers for both pop and long-term indie enjoyment. On top of this the songs themselves are delivered with strength, delicacy, conviction and passion by the extraordinary vocal talents of lead singer Samantha, a consistently, constantly in-tune, mid-high register vocal, just soaring out of the PA with purity and perfection. The songs themselves fulfill the time honoured, classic quality pop-rock brief of being instantly accessible, completely enjoyable and yet the sort of songs that, if assembled together on one album, would be the sort of album you'd be playing for years to come. You get the fragility of a song such as "I Just Thought" with its gorgeously high-flying vocal and softly strummed guitar intro, gradually building into a song that just sails effortlesly into your heart as it gathers a head of steam from the rhythm section and drives inexorably through the rest of you, inducing a feeling of satisfaction and warmth. Then there's "Solar Powered Human" wirives ahead with a full steam of guitar and rhythm section as Sam's vocal delivers the verses with force and finesse, the "whoo hooo" hook sticking its gorgeous tentacles into your soul, as the song powers ahead. When you take the songs as a whole into consideration, although they don't sound a thing like them, you have the strength of variation of something as classic as Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" or similar, such is their ability to write, compose, play and sing. All they need now is a female harmony singer (the one thing missing from before - and I know just the right person!!) and the picture is truly complete.
Second on were a band called "Quiet Voices", a Dundee band of whom I'd never before heard, although understandably so when they announced that it was only their third gig. So, off they go with song number one, a quartet with a really distinctive guitarist who rings out over the mid-paced rhythms ection, while the singer delivers the song. Almost from the first minute, I'm thinking "this sounds amazingly like The Smiths - surely not???" - so, on I listen to the rest of the song. Then along comes the next one and I'm thinking "jeez - this band really do sound like The Smiths - the song structure, lyrics and arrangements are soooooo similar". Then along comes the third songs and, guess what!! - yep, a Smiths cover!! Ahhh HA!! I was right!! Onwards they fly through a set of original songs that had the fans dancing along and the rest of us quite amazed. They even manage to make the happy songs sound miserable - while the singer displays all the hallmarks of Morrissey without once sounding like him - let there be no mistake, this band is Scottish through and through (least I think they are). Either way, if you thought no-one could ever recreate what The Smiths were all about and still make it sound original, then think again 'coz this lot have got it nailed!!
Headline act were Doll & The Kicks, a band from Brighton, a city in England for which we at Dead Earnest have a lot of respect as they've produced bands as claassic and original as The Beautiful Word, Hold Your Horse Is and more. The odd part here is that this band had recently supported on a UK tour by Morrissey - bizarre!! Anyway, armed with a visual band and lead female singer of what you'd call thin but shapely stature, the way she moves about on stage looking like you could fold and bend her a zillion ways and she's still spring back into shape. What she does have is this high-register vocal that someone described as a "cross between Kate Bush and Gwen Stefani" (how I wish I could take credit for that comparison!!) which is pretty well spot on. There were times when the voice did give the distinct impression that it could peel paint off walls at several paces, but overall, she manages to keep the high-flying voice within acceptable ranges. Song-wise, the band have a kind of electro-indie-rock approach to things, and, despite the undoubted quality and directness of many of the songs, there was very little here that you'd go out of the venue having them swirling around in your head - a distinct contrast to a band such as Hello Pirates? who, although not as huge a sound, have the advantage of the songs in their favour. This band's songs sound like the sort of thing that would go on an album, sell a zillion and become a forgotten artefact within 12 months - but, hell, if you sell a zillion who cares if your songs are vacuuous!! But, on the plus side, you do keep on listening to what you're hearing in a live contetxt and I have to say that, audibly and visually, I was hooked to the whole set. I know that Sarah from The Doghouse loved them - me, I'll wait until I hear some recorded studio tracks before making my mind up to see them again.