Song, by Toad

As a few of you have noticed, there has been a little gig confusion, what with me promising an Autumn Toad Night with the Pineapple Chunks and then not putting it in my own listings.

Basically, I have been unable to find anyone to put on the bill with them, so have been unable to promote the gig.  So by the time yesterday rolled around I thought it best to just cancel, rather than put on a badly-promoted gig which would be rude to the Chunks, and not a lot of fun for everyone else.  No-one wants a badly-run, half-arsed gig night, basically.

What I thought would be best would be to invite the Chunks onto the bill at the Toad Christmas Night with Jesus H. Foxx instead (Saturday 12th Dec for those taking notes) and make sure that the night was properly promoted and that they therefore were afforded due respect.

So instead of Saturday being a full-on gig night at the Bowery, Ruth has very kindly suggested (and very kindly not beaten me to death for being an idiot) that we have an acoustic night in the bar, have people round to DJ and generally just make a nice night of it.  So we need about four volunteers to play acoustic sets, and a couple of people to volunteer to play some records and everyone else to volunteer to turn up and get pissed.  It’ll be free, but for my sins I promise to stand everyone who plays (music or records) a few beers as a thank you.

So apologies to Ruth and the Pineapple Chunks, but we can still have an excellent night despite my stupid tendency to take on far, far too much and then to balls it up.

Red Red Meat – Idiot Son

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And in non-Toad-related news, gosh aren’t music blogs suffering from a colossal case of groupthink!  Go to the Hype Machine and check out the artist page for Vampire Weekend and see how many people have posted their new song.  I do have some sympathy with this – I mean, we all just post what we’re interested in (don’t we?  don’t we?) and I was personally curious to hear the song – but it does look bloody ridiculous when you see that great big long list.

I wouldn’t bother if I were you.  It’s shit.

We’ve not had a bloody good Toad Night for a while, so it really is about time one was on the immediate horizon.  And it is!  Next Thursday – a week tomorrow at time of writing – I have put together a lineup for Tigerfest which is sort of not really a Song, by Toad Records showcase.

Meursault, obviously, aren’t bad at all, but you know them already.  They have a new EP out, did you know that?  Available only from Avalanche Records, live shows and from the Song, by Toad Records site.

Meursault – Nothing Broke

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Inspector Tapehead are a band I rate very highly, and we are talking to them about releasing their album later this year, once they get it finished.  This isn’t definite yet, but I am very much up for it so fingers crossed and all that.

Inspector Tapehead – Listen With Your Ears, but Look Through a Telescope

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The Japanese War Effort are currently working with Fabrikant and have a new EP out called King of Poland but, erm, well I really like what they (he, really: Jamie Scott) are doing so bugger it.

Japanese War Effort – Winning Eleven

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The whole business is going to cost you a fiver, which is a fucking bargain, frankly, and will be happening at the Toad’s venue of choice: The Bowery on Roxburgh Place.  Doors are at about half seven, and the bar closes at eleven, so don’t be too tardy.  Hope to see you there.

I haven’t mentioned Jesus H. Foxx much on these pages and that is because, if I’m being brutally honest, I had my doubts about them as a band.  They were good, and they were lots of fun, but for the most part it seemed to lack a bit of something. The music could be very uniform and one-paced over the course of a whole gig.  I wasn’t entirely convinced by the lyrics either; whilst they seemed to use them effectively as an instrument to provide rhythm and melody, they seemed to fare less well as actual words.  They were using vocals, basically, rather than lyrics, if you know what I mean.

Well since then I’ve ended up chatting to the band from time to time, talked to other people involved and generally got to know them a little better and, you know what, they had similar concerns themselves for the most part.  They weren’t entirely happy with playing an entire set of short, spiky pop songs and also weren’t entirely happy with being pigeonholed as the angular indie rock support band of choice for the Edinburgh.  They didn’t have the haircuts, for a start.

Over the last couple of years they’ve really worked worked hard to develop their sound, and they now sound like they are turning into the kind of band they want to be.  No disrespect to earlier stages in their development, but to hear them talk about the music now, there’s a very solid, very believable confidence about them.  Their new recordings sound extremely promising, so I was really excited to see them live for the first time in ages and judge for myself.

And in the end?  Well, I was very impressed indeed.  The music just sounds more sophisticated.  They’ve shuffled the lineup a little, varied the pace greatly within their set, and they sound much more like a band who know where they’re going these days.  There’s depth, I suppose I’d call it.  They still have that bouncy, energy to call upon, aided by the raucous battering of twin drumkits, but they really are able to shift things around.  The cornet is a welcome addition to the sound as well, as are the female vocal harmonies.  It just all rounds things out nicely and gives a real presence to the music.

So now I am looking forward to their upcoming EP release really rather a lot.  I reckon Jesus H. could make a real impact this year if they play their cards right.  They have a base level of public awareness, general support from the grass-roots within the city, and now a good fistful of exciting new tunes they should really be able to make a splash with.  And they’re from Edinburgh.  And they aren’t alt-folk.  Imagine!

Jesus H. Foxx – I’m Half the Man You Were (Old Version)

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Jesus H. Foxx – I’m Half the Man You Were (New Version)

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Jesus H. Foxx on MySpace

P.S. Apologies to the other bands on this bill, but I was finishing the Pictish Trail Toad Session and only arrived at the venue very late.  So I’m not ignoring them, I just didn’t get there in time.

Whilst I am not especially determined to spend my time on this blog shilling for other people’s enterprises, this is pretty last minute so emergency measures are called for. It also involves two of my good friends, so I’m afraid you’ll have to be tolerant.

This very Monday, yes the 10th November, the excellent Samamidon will be playing at the Bowery, supported by an acoustic set from Meursault. So to my friend Campfires & Battlefields who introduced me to Samamidon I say thrprprprprbb!

See you there, folks, with a bit of luck. In the meantime, if you don’t know Samamidon then have a listen below, along with a song from Meursault’s Toad Session.

Samamidon – Saro
Samamidon – Little Johnny Brown
Meursault – Nothing Broke (Toad Session)