Inspector Tapehead, Over the Wall & Found – Live at Limbo, Edinburgh, Thursday 5th February 2008
These guys really were terrific. Chris Croasdale plays a nylon-stringed guitar at a bloody good pace, the sound of it is fantastic, and the songs seem to build from a stumble to a furious gallop over the course of four or five minutes. It’s not just the guitar though, this is just a very economically and well-assembled band. Jonnie Common’s electronic trickery, and the raucous drumming of Roy Shearer all play crucial parts in the music, and all three of them sing.
They don’t seem to play all that often – I’ve only seen them twice in a year and there’s only one other gig listed on their MySpace – and the recording of the album is going rather slowly, but I have to confess that if this is all going to be as good as this then I will be looking forward to it a great deal.
Inspector Tapehead – A Fillet of Bozo
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If there was some sort of prize for enjoying playing live more than any other band then it would be awarded to Over the Wall in a heartbeat, I would imagine. They seem to be so genuinely delighted with every chance to get up and play that, irrespective of your opinion of their music, it is pretty much impossible not to be caught up in their infectious enthusiasm.
As to the music itself, I have to say I am positively inclined, although some ambivalence remains. Some of it, like euphoric set-closer Thurso, is just superb. At times it captures my imagination just a little less, simply drifting into the generic-but-decent pop category. They’re definitely a band with potential though, and one I will happily see play again.
Over the Wall – A Grand Defeat
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An outstanding Limbo lineup was completed by Edinburgh bleep-hoppers Found (their term, not mine). A couple of years ago, just after the release of the brilliant This Mess We Keep Reshaping, I saw Found play on a few occasions and absolutely loved them. I saw them a while ago playing somewhere I don’t entirely remember and they seemed a little bit listless, as if the energy had evaporated somewhat. This time around that appears to have been fixed, and all the old strut is back in their stride.
Found are another one of these bands who seem to get on really well together as a group and really enjoy playing live. The mid-song pauses are greeted with extended waits, and general mischievous sniggering all round as they dare one another to be the first to break the silence. And for all there’s folk in some of it, pop in most of it, and samplelicious bleepery all over the place, the one word that won’t leave my head is ‘funky’. They are just a damned funky band when they’re on their game, as they were on this particular evening, and an absolute joy to behold.
To help them pay for their trip to SXSW, please don’t forget to buy their promotional album. And don’t be fucking cheap, either, you’re not all students. At least two or three pints’ worth.
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Ooh! Ooh!
There are photos of this show going up at a certain website tonight. Watch this space!
dogsandteens.com?
No, what was your favourite?
dirtyoilygrannies.com
rattyoldgrowlers.com of course.
We really should keep this for the Friday Fives, shouldn’t we. Favourite grotty made up porn site.
Made up?
I fucking well hope so.
I’m sure you’ll be happy as long as it’s got grannies in it.
I’m told you got a bit hot and bothered watching Mrs. Doubtfire!
No. No, you weren’t. You are making it up in order to try and be a smart-arse. There is, in fact, precisely no chance anyone mentioned this to you in conversation, virtual or otherwise.
Over the Wall. Saw them at Limbo last time they were there. They left their instruments playing and did a dance routine together at the front of the stage. One of the funniest things I’ve seen live. Really enjoyable band live for sure.
Inspector Tapehead – excellent.
Found – excellenter…..i know it’s not a word but fuck you, i’ve not slept in days!
The amphibian doth protest too much, methinks!
Finally, someone in the house who moans more than you do
Found were in great nick, I thought. As I’ve tried to say above, they just had real zip about them at this show, I thought.
Dylan, I take it this means you have nothing whatsoever to contribute to an actual discussion of the gig.
Like you I’ve seen Found many times and sometimes they’ve been disappointing but mainly amazing. Good to hear they are on form. Can’t wait for their 3rd album.
It’s an EP next, unless I’m mistaken.
I suppose with a band like Found it would be easy to become a little beholden to the mood of the band. Given how much they seem to enjoy playing most of the time it’s easy to imagine that if a few of them are feeling shit, it might be hard to replicate that musical joie de vivre.
Using that phrase makes me a dick, doesn’t it? Bollocks. Oh well.
It was a great night’s entertainment, three really good bands I was seeing for the first time – and all apparently on form.
Inspector Tapehead were the ones, if anyone, who were a bit hit and miss for me. I enjoyed their set and had a positive response to them overall – but sometimes their songs seemed to drift a little too far into Divine Comedy territory for my taste. (That probably sounds harsher than it’s meant to – it’s only an occasional loose comparison..)
Over The Wall were incredibly infectious and – you know what? – lovable. I’ve got a couple of shots of the one guy throwing the sort of guitar-god “rawk!” moves with his Gibson SG you’d normally expect to see from some poodle-haired Scandinavian in spandex, and not a bloke from Glasgow with a washed-out tourist t-shirt and a basin-cut!
And I’ve still got Thurso stuck in my head.
Found were fantastic too, really pleased that I’ve finally caught up with them. On the strength of that show I might even be tempted to pay more than £2.50 for their album!
Haha! Up yours, granny botherer!
Kazoom – and we’re back!
Divine Comedy? That I really don’t get. Their hillbilly-gone-a-noodling undercurrents are something I can imagine putting people off, so I can understand people not really getting it, but I don’t quite understand the DC comparison.
And actually, for about three-and-a-half albums, I really liked the Divine Comedy.
I don’t understand what you were hearing Dylan. Nothing like the Divine Comedy for me. Their roots are far more countrified in my opinion. Really interesting tunes, very different I thought.
I thought speaking to Ziggy at Gimme Shelter that it was an album but I may be mistaken. Either way it’s going to be something to look forward to.
I found a lot of the lyrics were striving for an arch sense of ironic intellectuality, which put me in mind of Neil Hannon’s lyrical approach, rather than the expression of emotion which usually appeals to me.
I agree there’s not quite as much of a similiraty to the music, but there’s more to carrying out a musical performance than simply modulating sound frequencies.
“striving for an arch sense of ironic intellectuality”
Well I had no idea what the fuck they were on about half the time. Far more abstract than Neil Hannon.
No wonder I got all those big sloppy kisses on Facebook… granny botherer indeed!
(nope, hadn’t listened to the music yet, just butting in)
No really, butt away, Tart! Butt away!
Appreciate the change of direction!
Further distraction can be found at Blueback Hotrod, now that the photos of the night are up.
“I agree there’s not quite as much of a similiraty to the music, but there’s more to carrying out a musical performance than simply modulating sound frequencies”
????!!! I wish you’d never said that!
Do you like the photos?
some really good photos Dylan, but i think you need to speak to a technically minded person so that one is able to scroll through them. I am a busy girl, i don’t have time for all this to-ing and fro-ing! i am gutted i missed this gig. and on another issue, i have tried twice to give Found my money in exchange for some nice music – to no avail!
A slideshow feature would be a good plan actually. There must be plugins for WordPress which do this – are you on self-hosting, Dylan?
Shonagh, try some notes stuffed into a brown envelope down by the docks at midnight. Someone’ll accept it, surely.
not looked at the photos yet dylan. still coming to terms with that ridiculous statement of yours. did you read it back before you posted?!
No, I’m not on self-hosting actually. Still on the public access side.
I agree that a slide show or “next – previous” feature would help.
not sure it’ll be nice music i get in return though Matthew…
Euan seems to have abandoned his traditional grumpy demeanour for a genuine look of trauma. Are you okay, mate? I work quite nearby – I could bring round a hot toddy and a warm towel for your fevered brow.
Well I was up til 6am with a grumpy little mcmeeken. but feel free to pop round and bring me liquor.
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i thought Over The Wall were a bit tedious (i was going to say shite…but thought that was a little harsh)….
Found and IT were awesome…
I’d agree that Over the Wall have to be a little careful not to lapse into dullness. Having a great time singing about keyboard heaven is amusing for one song, but would become wearing after a while. Still, if they can steer clear of that then I would still say that there’s quite a lot of potential there.