Wavves/Mazes/Spectrals@ Deaf Institute 25/11/09

First up tonight are the bobbly hated Spectrals and despite a curious short instrumental warm up they offer up some choice tunes. All jingly post-grunge slacker folk pop rock with just about a nod to everything hip and happening in the world of good music. ‘It’s Ok not to be Ok’ starts off and mixes the classic Phil Spector drum beat with Joe Meek guitar twangs; a cocktail few would refuse. It then spirals into a sixties sounding version of the Bunnymen, which again, is ticking boxes on all levels. They lose a little bit of momentum by faffing between songs but the richness of their tunage belies their fresh faces. Keep them peeled for this colourful bunch.


Mazes are all laconic stage presence and slacker cool vibes. They begin with a drawling guitar riff that builds into a rough ass punk gemstone. ‘Bowie Knives’ sees frontman Jack Cooper try his hand at a Malkmus style falsetto and pulls it of rather nicely. The bass keeps dropping in and out of the mix which sort of spoils the first few songs. However, their set seems to fly by, the songs are short sharp casually vicious side swipes at everything and nothing, capturing the boredom and wisdom of early Pavement, speeding it up and playing it louder. The end of each song has Cooper yell a “yeah” and a “whoo” in mock appreciation of his bands own skills. He’s right to get excited they were stealthily stealing the show.




To be honest I’m struggling with this West Coast no-fi noise scuzz pop scene. No Age and Wavves haven’t really connected via the aural preceptors for me yet, but seeing No Age a few weeks ago was a jaw dropping experience and challenged me to reinvestigate the previously discarded recordings. With this in mind I had high hopes for Wavves especially with the excellent appetisers already witnessed this evening. Regular drummer Zac Hill was out injured but had been replaced by Jay Reatards rhythm section, so all was well or so I thought. Even from the very first song I felt I was missing something. The songs, gloriously loose and raw, didn’t seem to contain any magic, fury or charm that I could relate to. Everything felt a little too sloppy, a little too rushed. They were certainly some young lads down the front having a bit of a dance but the whole set never seemed to kick into gear. I can’t really put into words why this wasn’t working, there was just an absence of charm and tune. By the time they played “So Bored” I was lost in a sea of casual thoughts thinking “Hmm you’re bored!” and sarcasm never helps anybody does it. The speed with which they disappeared, without encore, from the stage perhaps suggested I wasn’t the only one preoccupied. Overall an opportunity missed all around.

Yo La Tengo @ Academy 2 08/11/09

There is not many bands that have been knocking about for twenty years, and it’s even more surprising when you consider that Yo La Tengo have never had much mainstream success. Despite releasing over ten albums that have largely achieved critical acclaim they’ve never “broken” the industry. This is possibly why they are still together and why they continue to quietly go about their business, cementing their reputation as one of the founders of US Indie Rock.

The stage backdrop is huge close up photo of some loose clothes buttons and along with the multi coloured spot lights there’s a real ambient closeness to the atmosphere inside the sold out Academy 2.



The first part of the set is decidedly chilled out. They open with ‘Decora’ from 1995’s ‘Electr-o-pura’ album before airing numbers from their latest critically acclaimed album “Popular Songs”. What is striking is the quality of the sound. Ira Kaplans keyboard sounds blissful and the vocal, although whispered by drummer Georgia Hubely, is spookily comforting. What becomes apparent from the off is that Yo La Tengo are a band of massive breadth. Within the first twenty minutes all three members have taken lead vocals and musically they’ve switched seamlessly between Hammond organ slumber rock into psychedelic guitar freak outs. Bassist James McNew pauses momentarily to switch on a drum loop and reverses it, while Hubely moves from the drums to the piano at the side of the stage A chill goes down the neck of the audience as they play ‘Don’t Have To Be So Sad’. It’s absolutely beautiful.



Perhaps their range of musical influence is too large to be fully examined in just under two hours and perhaps the acoustic mini-set included half way through was a slight dip in the pace of the evenings entertainment. One thing is for certain though, Yo La Tengo know how to close out a great gig. Swapping acoustic guitars for electrics they finally find top gear and blast out a final frenzy of ‘Sugarcube’ and ‘Tom Courtney’ which are as close to three minute indie pop song perfection as you can get, in particular ‘Tom Courtney’, which is fifteen years old, still has the ring of ‘instant classic’ about it. They conclude the show with the jaw dropping fifteen minute wig out of “Pass The Hatchet, I Think I’m Goodkind” and I swear to god I almost floated up above my own body like some form of transcendental crowd surfer. It was that good.

Twenty years together and Yo La Tengo so no signs of slowing down. They encore in front of the rapturous masses with a version of Dylan’s ‘I Wanna be Your Lover’ and end on ‘You Can Have it All’ and it honestly feels like we just have.

Dananananaykroyd@Academy 3 29/10/09

Glaswegians Dananananaykroyd not only have one of the contenders for best band name of All Time Best Band Names but they are rapidly confirming their status as one of the must-see live acts currently wowing audiences up and down the country. Their mix of scream-core math rock and poppy melodic sing-a-longs is an infectious blend that’s virtually impossible to refuse. Tonights Academy gig is an All Ages affair which means by the time the lights start to dim down the front half of the venue sounds like a school assembly gone berserk. A large group of teenagers have wedged themselves against the stage barriers and are singing the ‘Dananananak-ROYD!’ mantra and pumping their fists in the air.

The band amble on stage all skinny jeans, baggy T-shirts and floppy fringes and take a few seconds to high five the front row before launching into early single “Totally Bone”. The band are well rehearsed, uber tight and manage to all jerk their skinny bodies around in unison. The mosh pit at the front instantly explodes into a see of arms and legs and the occasional thrown shoe.



After a quick shout-out to local favourites Dutch Uncles they fly into the stellar single Pink Sabbath. Danan’s trademark quick flurries of melodious guitar chords mixed with abrasive riffage and smart tongue in cheek lyrics is easily whipping the crowd, and not just the young ones, into a frenzy. Halfway through the set they divide the crowd and attempt what they call the “Wall of Cuddles”; One side of the room runs directly at the other and vice versa. They are careful to explain to the overeager audience that the idea is to cuddle as many people as possible and stress that “moshing is for losers” thankfully what could be potentially an ugly incident ends as a peaceful hug fest and the band blast into the fantastic ‘The Greater Than Symbol and The Hash’ from their Sissy Hits E.P.

The bouncers leer hungrily from the wings taking obvious glee in dragging off over energetic youngsters attempting to stage dive. Finally the band finish their set with the epic ‘1993’, encouraging the crowd to sing along as second singer and part time drummer Calum Gunn runs around the venue dishing out hugs to all and sundry. The girl stood in front of me wraps two sweaty arms around him and I’m not sure she’s prepared to ever let go.

Dananananaykroyd obviously have a strong connection with people, and not just the young. As they wave goodbye to the crowd they make a point of thanking the oldies (over 18s) stood towards the rear of the venue. There aren’t many bands who could have you bouncing off the walls one minute and then charm your pants off the next.

Easily one of the most exciting and vibrant bands around at the moment, their fearsome live reputation is well earned. It’s almost impossible not to fall in love with these cheeky Glaswegians. They certainly brightened my day.