Song, by Toad

I’ve written about derivative bands before.  I mean, nothing comes out of the blue does it, not even the most revolutionary stuff we listen to, so there’s little point moaning about how this or that is ripped off from this, that or the other because everything borrows heavily from somewhere, we just don’t always know where.

I don’t know if it’s personal mood, then, or the degree to which you are familiar with the roots of the music but I can be really variable in my reaction to stuff which is obviously just a poppy and enjoyable re-hash of sounds heard a million times before.  The Shout Out Louds pretty much do the same thing as these fellows, but that I loved, whereas this causes me to feel just a little impatience.

This takes in all sorts of decent 80s indie, from Talulah Gosh to… well, Teenager in Love could almost be Simple Minds.  Basically though, for some reason it feel just a little too much like a rehash and not quite enough like a re-interpretation; or even a re-invigoration.  If someone told me this was simply a song-for-song cover of an eighties indie compilation made up of bands I didn’t happen to know, it would be believable.

So it’s fun, and they do demonstrate a good knack with a catchy pop tune on more than one occasion.  All in all, though, I’d have to say that there’s not enough to differentiate this musically from its very obvious influences for it to give me any great excitement as an album, despite what appears to be its wild popularity across the world of the internet.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Come Saturday

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Young Adult Friction

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Website | More mp3s | Buy from Amazon

This is not quite the last of my posts talking about bands from that And Before the First Kiss compilation.  If it’s boring for you for me to be going on about it, just imagine how brilliant my self-esteem is feeling, having to write a series of posts which basically say: hey, if you like music why not go read that bloke’s blog over there.  He’s a twat really, isn’t he.

Anyway, this is another of those bands which were springing up like whack-a-moles a couple of years ago, who basically reproduce the style of fey 80s indie, in this case with a little bit of  similar era fluff-pop thrown in for good measure.  I can almost imagine wearing a pair of basketball shoes, baggy jeans and a blazer with the shirt cuffs rolled up around its own rolled up sleeves to listen to this.  And doing that exaggerated side to side dancing that I vaguely and probably incorrectly associate with the Breakfast Club.

It doesn’t mean it isn’t very good though.  The pop tones are rare – most of this leans more towards the yearning of the Smiths, with plenty of gravel and growl in the guitars.  The tunes are catchy… for the most part.  There are times when I hear a band simply playing songs which reproduce a particular sound, rather than songs which grab you on their own merits.

When a sound is very familiar  like this then a band basically depend on their ability to write memorable tunes – put simply, you have to find yourself humming along.  The newer material does just that, so it sounds to me like they are band who are improving, which I always like to see.  I’m looking forward to hearing this album.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Everything With You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Orchard of My Eye

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Website | More mp3s | Buy from Slumberland Records

Christ on a bike, after nothing at all last week, all of a sudden things are going bananas this week.  You could pretty much be at a good show every night if you wanted. I’m not going to write much in this intro because, frankly, there are so many gigs to bloody write about that the post would run on far too long otherwise.

Suffice to say that Friday’s party was, from my perspective, a massive success.  The open mic bit at the beginning was not an idea many people were overly convinced by, but I think pretty much everyone enjoyed it in the end.  I certainly did.

Tuesday 9th December 2008: Frightened Rabbit at the Liquid Room.
Despitely having rather disappointingly turned into Snow Patrol on their last album, there’s no doubt Frightened Rabbit, when they’re good, can be absolutely brilliant.  In terms of one last big gig to attend before the Hogmanay chaos, this archetypal Scottish indie would be an excellent choice.
Frightened Rabbit – Music Now

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tuesday 9th December 2008: Louis Barrabas at the Forest Cafe.
Mr. Barrabas is described as ‘vaudeville folk’ in some quarters and listening to his MySpace page it’s difficult to fault that impression.  Frankly it sounds like two things to me: firstly, the kind of gig you’d be much more likely to see during the Festival; and secondly, like it really will be absolutely brilliantly entertaining.  I don’t think (although I’m not sure) that he will be bringing a band, so the theatrical musical chaos might be slightly lacking when compared to his MySpace recordings, but that doesn’t sound like it will matter much.  Excellent stuff.
Louis Barrabas – Love Struck Me Down

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Wednesday 10th December 2008: Benni Hemm Hemm at the Bowery.
I don’t know Benni’s music, but I have met him and he is a truly lovely guy.  Listening to his MySpace page, he seems less moody than the stereotypical Icelandic band, perhaps more in the style of a broader Scandinavian indie-pop, although with a lot less bubblegum.  That’s not very informative at all is it, sorry.
Benni Hemm Hemm – Veildiljod

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 11th December 2008: Jack Richold & Faith Nicholson at the Bowery.
Jack plays beautifully hushed folk songs, and Faith has a truly gorgeous voice.  Are they any good?  Well Jack wrote half the songs for the Nightjar album, and both sings and plays violin on The Moth Trap, on Song, by Toad Records.  So have a listen to this alternative version he and Faith recorded of Lady of the Calico from that album and decide for yourselves.  Bloody gorgeous.
Jack Richold – Lady of the Calico

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Thursday 11th December 2008: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart & The Foundling Wheel at Sneaky Pete’s.
Before supporting the Weddoes the following evening at the Liquid Room, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart bring their old-fashioned indie sound to Sneaky Pete’s, alongside Edinburgh racket-merchant The Foundling Wheel.  The Pains &c. might easily have been around in the mid-eighties when the Wedding Present formed, if you were to only judge by their sound, but I reckon The Foundling Wheel might shake things up a bit.
The Pains of Being Pure of Heart – Everything With You

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 12th December 2008: The Wedding Present at the Liquid Room.
Okay, so the Gedgerator’s music may be slipping into the ordinary these past few releases, but the Wedding Present play a furiously brilliant live show, and they have more quality in their back catalogue is so far ahead of almost any other band out there that there’s no way you can lose at a gig like this.  Break out the guitars, boys.
The Wedding Present – Step Into Christmas

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Friday 12th December 2008: This is Music, with Jesus H. Foxx & Mitchell Museum at Sneaky Pete’s.
Jesus H. Foxx are spiky indie-poppers, well known on the Edinburgh circuit, but I’ve not really heard of Mitchell Museum before.  A quick listen on MySpace leaves the impression of mid-era Britpop, well executed and definitely interesting.  A few more songs, however, bring you into a much more eccentric realm.
Mitchell Museum – Exciting But Drunk

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Saturday 13th December 2008: Will Cookson, Rob St. John & Withered Hand at the Wee Red Bar.
Mr. Cookson has the best set of influences of any band in history – ever!  Just have a look.  The man must be a genius.  Apart from that, two of Edinburgh’s finest alt-folkers (sorry Rob) tread the Trampoline boards (trampolines don’t really have boards, do they) so although I can’t be there myself, this might be my most confidently recommended show of the week.
Withered Hand – I Am Nothing

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.