@ Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, on Fri 8 Apr 2016
It’s a modest, but appreciative crowd in Sneaky Pete’s this evening for Glasgow-based Junebug‘s venture over to the capital. A West Coast (Scotland) band, touting West Coast (USA) influences, they’re firmly embedded in a long line of classic rock.
By contrast, support band Made As Mannequins couldn’t be more of-the-moment. They throw all the right musical shapes – chiming, arpeggiating guitars and insistent beats in the Foals / Two Door Cinema Club line – all set-off by unapologetically Scottish vocals. It would be no surprise if they were soon too big for wee Sneaky Pete’s, such is the radio-friendly charm of forthcoming single Siena. They’re actually at their best though on some short, spacey guitar wig-outs. Clearly, they have the poppy nouse, now to add more of these bolder, braver flourishes.
Junebug are in a different space entirely. The promo blurb opts for Jefferson Airplane; on early numbers, there’s the snazzy bouquet of a more recent Californian vintage like Rilo Kiley. But, in fact, as the set progresses, the hippy rock vibe goes missing in action, replaced by something more earnest, more intense, and much closer to home geographically. Less “free spirit”, more Duke Spirit.
The ‘bug are a musically talented bunch. David Devereux is a demon for rapidfire bass licks. The solo on Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al would presumably hold no fears. His rhythm section co-conspirator Harry Smith can play loud and big, and singer Alli Brown can belt them out, too.
With such heaviness in the air, it’s no surprise that Royal Blood cover Figure It Out is on the menu. A new, unnamed song has a great glam stomp to it too. Their other choice of cover is less well made. Take Me Out might serve a wedding band well, but it’s incongruous here.
We see little of another side to Junebug, sadly. Every song seems to start with a bash of the floor tom, and then some riffage. In particular, the set is crying out to hear Brown on a tenderer number. There’s one (again unnamed) song where the dynamics change and there’s a glimpse of what that could be like. Junebug presumably have that kind of thing in their arsenal, but it’s not on display tonight.