Review: 

Standing among the assembled Indie kids (the 2008 versions) I cant believe how little the fashion has changed since I last stood here. Maybe its gone full circle? Ok, it was called Camden Palace then and the pints were cheaper but that erstwhile uniform of Doc Martins, baggy jeans and “interesting fringes” doesnt seem ten years out of place. There is the odd nod towards the impending Glasvegas-mania with a couple of sharp dressed black clad guys who have dis-attached themselves from the throng and the obligatory gaggle of Goths bemoaning the price of cider and black in the darkest corner of the venue.

I missed The Jesus and Mary Chains incendiary perfromance in Dublins SFX in 87 but I’m old enough to remember the controlled mayhem of the Connolly Hall show in 89. Anyone who missed the glory days of the Reid brothers or have time travel fantasises about Velvets gigs should get their asses along to the next Glasvegas show. Its everything you could hope for.

Comparisons between the J&MC and VU are almost too easy but as the lead singer James Allen strides on-stage all Strummer-like, complete with quiff and shades, any thoughts of the past quickly recede. With the sound growling and dripping with feedback everything shifts to now. Like a garage surf experiment gone ballistic the venue (which is huge) suddenly becomes dwarfed by the band.

Stand up drummer Caroline McKay pounds out the rhythm while the “wall of sound” eats up, and spits out the audience. It all comes down to the songs. They have the look, the attitude, the swagger and the single mindedness that sets them apart from a million floppy fringed fresh faced janglers, but do they have the tunes? They do.

The subject matter isnt pretty - tales of absent parents (Daddy’s Gone), care workers (Geraldine) and drink fuelled tear ups (Go Square Go) are genuinely heartbreaking and inspiring. Glasvegas are so out of sync with todays - Boy Meets Girl, Girl Giggles, Boy Buys A New Coat - la la la” music scene that many of us have begun to question how the fuck we accepted that crap in the first place!

So far they have resisted the lure of filthy lucre and seem determined to furrow an independent path, there is no crowd participation, no handclaps and no singalongs. They only write classics. You cant buy their records. They don’t have a record label. In a week when the NME (that so called bible of alternative) prepare to give the Manics a lifetime achievement award (for being consistently shit I can only imagine), Glasvegas are one of the few truly awe inspiring bands to have emerged in recent times.

Their new single “Its My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry” should be huge. It wont be. No one said life was fair, but you cant keep a good thing down and its only a matter of time before Glasvegas invade your town. Rip up the cinema seats and burn down the police station. Next single is rumoured to be a collaboration with Lisa Marie Presley, maybe then the world will listen………

AshK FIFA (Club NME @ KoKo 15/02/08)

Review: 

If you want sunshine "Go to Florida", well if you want music, "Go to Waterford", the place seems to have exploded in the last year, where the likes of Dae Kim and Ilya K have led the way there seems to be an unending supply of young pretenders coming up the rear, none younger it would seem then UGLY MEGAN, and their debut EP "Three Whole Funs" is an absolute joy to behold.

If you like your music delivered the way music should be then this is for you, Think Moldy Peaches/Daniel Johnston/Bis and you are on the right track. Recorded in part by John Haggis (who's 07 album BACK TO CHRISTIANA is a total gem) this shines from beginning to end. The opening track Bad Television will draw you into a world that you won't want to come out of. Remember when you were a kid and you got let off school cause of that almost flu you had? Well this is the extra day you blagged when you were actually fine but still got the hot water bottle, cocoa, extra pillow, hot flannel on the forehead and a generous dollop of Vicks vapo rub massaged into your chest by your doting Mum. Oedipus jokes aside this is music to fall asleep to, wake up to, daydream to, remember old friends to and toe tap to, if you don't have a huge smile on your face during the closing track Sunrise  V's Splack (Groove Armada gatecrash a Half man Half Biscuit gig???) then you are officially deceased and RIP!

4 tracks and a little less then 15 minutes and you'll be a different person, I'm sure there's a quote out there that mentions truth and beauty but bollox if I'm going to look for it, not everything should be wrapped up in a nice package, this isn't, but it's still beautiful, and true…….

AshK FIFA

 

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