On a very thin week of gigs indeed, I was pointed in the direction of this one by Billy from Spins ‘n’ Needles, in his capacity as roving Drowned in Sound Anointed Bloodhound of Musical Excellence. Apart from a bit of cursory MySpacery beforehand I had precisely no knowledge of Isosceles before this gig, but I was certainly optimistic. Their MySpace songs are a sprightly bunch – heavily overlapping with that spasmodic, angular guitar indie-pop accompanied by plenty of low-fi synth that seems so popular at the moment. There’s a bit more to them though, because they seem to combine enough old school rock ‘n’ roll influences to make their sound distinctive enough to be interesting.

Before that, however, late withdrawals meant another chance to see local Toad favourites Meursault. No electronics this time, as in previous gigs, so they performed with just a banjo, uke and guitar to bring the rhythms over which Neil Pennycook’s yowl leaps like the curse of impending pestilence. I liked the acoustic setup actually (very Toad Session-friendly, hint hint!) and I reckon you can probably stick them right at the top of my list of Edinburgh bands you haven’t heard but should have. I’m guessing neither Broken Records nor Found count as secrets anymore. Get in touch via MySpace and demand that they get their shit in gear and send you a copy of their album. I’d be amazed if it doesn’t make the Toad Top 1o come the end of 2008.

Meursault – The Dirt & the Roots[audio http://www.matthewjamesyoung.com/sbt/Meursault-TheDirtandtheRoots.mp3]

On to Isosceles, and the joy simply continued. There is nothing that I would describe as particularly innovative about this group. Jerky, punchy guitars with synths and slightly shouty dual harmonies are as common at the moment as a disappointing blind date, but I think I would elevate these guys above the sizable herd with whom they run. Listening to their recorded tunes on MySpace, there’s something flatter about the music than there is live. On stage good indie-pop songs are turned into bloody excellent ones, largely due to be being played with the sort of genuine zest and life that few bands seem capable of.

Lead singer Jack Valentine is genuinely charismatic – so into it he looks a bit mental half the time – and manages to put in an a performance that is exciting and really engaging, without ever looking remotely like rock star posturing. William Aikman on keys puts in a valiant effort too, to the extent that I would perhaps suggest that his constant ability to surprise might be what picks this band out from their peers as special. But that would ignore the bass player, whose riffs are absolutely central to more than a few Isosceles songs. And as for the drummer, well I’m afraid I barely got past the other three to know, but given the extent to which this lot clearly are a band, in the most unified sense of the word, I assume he must have been excellent as well.

They have a single out in a little while on Art Goes Pop, a Leeds based indie label, I believe, who have released stuff by the Low Miffs and Popup in the past, so they definitely have a nose for quality Scottish indie-pop bands. I’d probably buy it just for the artwork (above) which is very nicely done indeed, but in any case, Watertight and Kitch Bitch (spelling notwithstanding) are two of their standout songs so there’s no excuse really. So for all I wouldn’t describe myself as giddy about this band, I reckon they have the capacity to be very good indeed.

Isosceles – Isosceles
Isosceles – Watertight