Walking into a busy McChuills from a crisply cold Friday evening in October, I was immediately plunged into darkness as my glasses steamed up, so apologies to anyone I blanked on the way in… Alan. The bar was packed with a mixture of Friday night revellers and Psychedelic Furs fans stopping by for a few liveners before heading to Barrowland, a place where I could very well have been heading if I wasn’t staying put in one of Glasgow’s best bar-come-venues for a triple bill of three up and coming young Scottish bands.
First on the bill was Sick Pay, purveyors of indie anthems which pick up the baton from the Pixies school of loud quiet loud, blending poignant quiet moments with raucous frenzied guitar noise. The loud elements weren’t always raucous, with soaring shoegaze elements bleeding into the bands sound. Another band I’ve marked down for further investigation.
Like Sick Pay before them, tonight was my first time experiencing Fairways live and I hope it isn’t the last. It’s hard to pigeonhole their sound, calling them indie-pop doesn’t seem enough. Their sound encapsulates elements of 1970s disco/soul/funk, with a smattering of 1980s synth pop and some noughties indie rock – Arctic Monkeys meets Chic with some Duran Duran thrown in for good measure? I don’t know, but however you want to describe it, one thing is for sure, they are an engaging and entertaining four piece. Their last two songs, an energetic cover of Together in Electric Dreams that could bring a smile to anyone’s face, and an absolutely glorious Read Your Mind to finish in style showed a band that can really bring the party.
I had been looking forward to seeing headliners pedalo again for some time, having last caught them at House Guest around 18 months earlier. The wait was worth it though, with a set of 9 songs that was sublime from the very first to the very last note. That very first note was struck on their single Never You from March this year, and not a note was wasted from then on in.
The divine vocals from Charlotte and Callum soared through the ether, simultaneously powerful and gossamer smooth, complimented by Calum’s guitar lines which were gently bold and eminently soulful. Not forgetting the solid rhythm section of Nick and Beth on bass and drums respectively, providing an assured and sophisticated grace to underline the bands elegantly suave and polished sound.
As well as delighting this old timer with their cover of The Cure’s Just Like Heaven, the band also slipped a couple of new songs into their set, the first, Hate Me, was like an old favourite and had me singing along to the chorus despite its newness. Another new song was the one they chose to close their set with, which Charlotte acknowledged is always a dangerous move, especially as it followed two of their best songs to date, the exquisite Mystery and sheer beauty of She’s The Sun. They needn’t have worried though as Picture It Backwards has all the hallmarks of being a fan favourite, and shows a continued progression in the bands sound from the early singles like Better (no slight on Better, which I still love). This is definitely a band on the rise, I look forward with anticipation to what comes next.
