A frustrating, if differing, clash of gigs appears on Sunday 30th – a few hundred yards around the Cowgate from each other.
If more hard paced and half priced evening takes your fancy, Sneaky Pete’s will have Chicago’s triptych folk trinkets Maps & Atlases noising up the end of the month.
Tossing complimentary corners of european influences with tried and tested pulsating indie, the Illinois quartet’s 2010 debut LP ‘Perch Patchwork’ proved something of a stealthy success.
Bursting with a skinnier version of TV On The Radio’s charm, in their musicality and charm in their pop sensibilities, the band aren’t likely to be holding onto venues of this cosiness for long.
Gallops will be second in command on Sunday, with the Welsh smug-punk electro outfit finally releasing a self titled debut EP after a string of BBC sessions over the last few years. Dicing with the ‘Math Rock’ formula hasn’t let the lads down yet and surely a pounding set is pending.
Greasing the stage for this punishment will be a combo of Edinburgh’s gullet gripping rock three piece, Dupec, having a square go with disco-punk purveyors Lady North in the electro sense of the phrase.
Get in for early or miss out on a proper treat!
Tickets £7.50 from Ticketweb!
In person from Ripping Records & Tickets Scotland
Round the corner on Victoria Street, Edinburgh bred chamber-indie outfit Broken Records headline the Liquid Room.
After a tumultuous learning curve of a year from writing and recording second LP ‘Come On Home’ to supporting the shot-to-stardom band of 2010, The National, around Europe. They wound the year up with a brief UK jaunt, but begin a full blown UK and US tour month, with The Liquid Room as a launch pad on Sunday the 30th.
Their sophomore effort cast aside much of the haunting string arranged foreplay involved on their debut. Stripping it in favour of diving into gripping verses, as on latest single ‘You Know You’re Not Dead’, without losing the anthemic underlay. They’ll still be keen on throwing a misty Scottish ballad into the mix – expect flexible set on Sunday as the lads limbre up to tackle America.
From that side of the pond, their baroque brothers Freelance Whales will offer a stirring support. With the bands on a co-headline tour, the New York outfit have enough critical acclaim headline any night of the tour south of the border. After self-releasing debut LP ‘Weathervanes‘, the five piece’s spinning harmonies and uncomplicated percussion calmness has become TV soundtrack fodder.
Frustratingly there can only be one band ending the night on stage. However, if t’Whales are to return to Scotland in 2011, it wouldn’t be surprising see them flying solo on an even bigger capacity venue – get down the front while you still can.
And if you get down early enough, you’ll be swept away by local Celtic-indie outfit The Stormy Seas, fresh from supporting Mama Rosin last week. This prestigious support slot is surely a sign of the step up the quintet deserve to be making in 2011