I’ve not been at many gigs recently so a Saturday night in Sleazys was a most welcome release from the pressures of life that are sent to try us. And after missing a couple of Junk Pups recent performances, including their appearance at the Variety Bar for Crowded Flat’s third birthday celebrations, having this most extraordinary of bands at the centre of the nights entertainment made it all the better.
Glasgow’s Junk Pups were bookended by Apologies from Falkirk and Edinburgh’s National Playboys. Apologies were the first band on the bill, playing what I believe was only their second or third gig as a four piece. Apologies by name, but absolutely no need for apologies for the performance, the band had me captivated from the off. At their more delicate moments I could hear shades of the bands near neighbours, Grangemouth’s Cocteau Twins, before the brooding almost goth like bass lines and the intense guitar parts layered and built to a crescendo, at their most powerful creating a face melding wall of noise, and bringing back a mixture of memories from many shoegaze gigs from back in the nineties alongside the ferocity of the post-rock sound that Glasgow legends Mogwai are famed for. I look forward to hearing more…
Following Junk Pups it was the turn of Edinburghs National Playboys to ply their trade, packing the small Sleazys stage with a line up that included, at times, 3 guitarists and a bass player. I’ll admit to not knowing anything about the band before the gig, if I’m honest, I bought a ticket purely for the presence of Junk Pups. The Playboys started positively with a song that hinted at a Pixies type vibe, but as the set progressed different elements came to the fore, some songs with a louche Fat White Family feel, the frontman with a menacing growl somewhere between Hard-Fi’s Richard Archer and IDLE’s main man Joe Talbot.
Probably unsurprisingly to most, for me Junk Pups were the stars of the show, the cheers for the band prompting Jack to stage a tongue in cheek coup from the stage to oust National Playboys from their headline slot…
This is the first time I’ve seen the band since the release of their cracking four track Ball and Chain EP (review here) with three of the four songs appearing on the set. A set which kicked off in style with their now standard gig opener, their debut single Front Garden Flamingoes. I’ve seen the band so many times now, these songs are like old friends who carry the ability to bring a smile to your face whenever you encounter them. For these songs the smile is instantaneous on hearing the first bars of Flamingoes, and it stays fixed to my face for the entirety of their blues infused, country garage rock set, like Johnny Cash joined The Cramps and started dabbling in art-rock a la Talking Heads. The joy comes from a combination of the strength of great songs – from the assured swagger of Hoi Polloi to the vocal gymnastics of Miss Behave, the wry humour in the lyrics – “Don’t piss on my leg, and tell me it’s raining…” and from watching each of the individual members of the band ply their trade with their own unique styles and pizzazz, four accomplished musicians who never cease to delight.
When you bring all these factors together I defy anyone who sees these young pups in their natural environment not to be thrilled by what they witness. On a weekend when the TRNSMT main stages appear to celebrate what is stale and boring about the current (I use that loosely based on some of the acts appearing) music scene it is bands like Junk Pups that deserve to be lauded and admired. Shout their name from the rooftops, the world needs to hear these songs.