More like Gigs Of The WeekEND in the capital for mid-May, with a pounding sandwich of hustling politically driven folk and epic post-rock.
Saturday night can’t come quickly enough for those that have been clutching tickets for The Agitator at Cabaret Voltaire – thanks to the rousing performance on last month’s “Later…With Jools Holland”.
Fronted by 23 Brightonian Derek Meins, once of indie welterweights Eastern Lane, and backed by two tangoing – rather than dueling – drum kits, the message is hard to miss.
Flitting between broken down deep south folk and driving electro thumps where required, the simplicity behind the arrangements serves as pulsating podium for Mein’s lyrical message.
‘Let’s Start Marching’ is as blunt a 2 minute megaphone of a song you’ll get twitching your political nerves this year, straight verses and a drum beat a few dials from dub step backing the anthemic “We’re tired of doing nothing! Come on now let’s start marching!” chorus.
Spinning up the media hype machine, without a beard or acoustic guitar in sight, should be a clear enough sign of the quality of material. The two snippets that have whirled around YouTube since their national TV debut won’t do any harm to watch either.
What really makes Cab Vol a surefire destination for Saturday has to be the supporting performance of Edinburgh’s foremost gypsy funkers – The Stagger Rats, settling into a heavy schedule of gigs-akimbo across the Scotland this month.
The Dunbar bred mad hatters have recently returned from Budapest, recording their debut LP under the wing of Owen Morris (famed for cooking up the ‘brickwalling’ soundscapes behind Oasis’ “What’s The Story Morning Glory” and Ash’s “1977”).
Their own sound falls neatly between Mr Morris’ previous production duties, with pop sensibilities and effervescent harmonies. Their unique combination sticks well to sweaty leathered indie riffs and brooding Hammond keys that have seen them shuffle deserved comparisons in equal measure to The Coral and The Libertines.
With new songs a foot and the album launch to follow, this Easter European adventure will, at worst, have earned the lads more spurs that yo-yo’ing back and forth on the M8 would never come close to mustering.
TICKETS £6 ON THE DOOR! Dinnae be late!
Sunday will be a different kettle (drum) of fish, certainly an evening to mourn the loss of few hundred ear cells, with Texan post-rock propagators Explosions In The Sky casting their epic sound into the HMV Picture House.
Whilst the four piece are easily snuggled into the genre, alongside long standing post-rock their mates across the M8, Glasgow’s own Mogwai, the structure to their efforts has always been much more accessible whilst still be consistently rewarding, breaking down and rebuilding ten minute tracks with ease.
Most recent work, “Take Care, Take Care, Take Care” has been unsurprisingly critically lauded and, with setlists that continue to span their five behemoth albums and fresh from supporting The Arcade Fire in their home state, the UK tour can’t fail to be a thing of epic beauty.
Support for the jaunt comes from Lichens, drone drenched folk fronted by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe who we were lucky enough to catch at Sneaky Pete’s forcefully intimate surroundings last year. Lowe’s experimentation’s don’t immediately attach him to the Explosions sound, but the splashes of accessibility merging with disregard for predictability make him the ideal opener.