ALL Photos – courtesy of Stuart @blackmagicplastic • Instagram photos and videos
Nearly March already and not a dish done. I still haven’t managed to get to an album review this year, or published the January Singles Round Up, despite my thinking I would get a chance to play catch up. Life and work gets in the way…
I have however managed to get to another gig though… should have been more, but… see above! Anyway. This was another belter. There may be less gigs for me this year due to… see above (again)… and funds… however, the ones I’ve attended to date have been nothing short of inspirational, and this one was to prove no different. I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that smaller club gigs are where it’s at. Big venues, festivals and the like have me priced out of the market now. Apart from Taylor Swift of course, but I already had them. I say resigned myself, but that puts a negative spin on a positive experience. Where better than smaller club sized gigs to experience bands up close, whether they be the bands on the rise, or more intimate surroundings for established bands.
It’s interesting how people’s different maps of the world roll. I know there are some people potentially reading this that would have bumped this gig purely because of the venue, which personally, I like. I totally get that. I’ve been to venues I feel uncomfortable in, whether that be because of the venue itself or the crowds they attract. No problems at all with that tonight. Anyway, I’m getting waylaid…
Where was I? Why was I there? Stupid null and void questions really as the answers are revealed in the blog title. Mono was the venue for what I can only describe as a celebration of (corporate) indie bands (see Hue’s t-shirt) past and present. We were in the presence of indie rock royalty (as an anti-monarchist I use the term loosely) both on and off stage. On duty was an indie pop supergroup of sorts, Swansea Sound, featuring members of, takes deep breath, The Pooh Sticks, Heavenly, Talulah Gosh… you get the picture, the Queen (I do need to find better, less anachronistic, terminology) of indie Amelia Fletcher, alongside partner in crime in The Catenary Wires (appropriately enough as I work in the rail industry) Rob Pursey and on vocals Hue Williams from The Pooh Sticks. Off duty tonight, as I surveyed the venue, were many of the great and good of the indie music scene past and present, promoters, DJs, journo’s and plenty of representation from Glasgow indie bands, none more so than the man partially responsible for spawning them all, Stephen McRobbie…
Take the opening entertainment for the night, actually, how rude of me – in fact the opening entertainment for the night came in the form of the dynamic DJ’ing duo of Robert and Hugh from Simply Thrilled. What I should have said is the opening band for the evening. A band whose roots are surely firmly planted in the alternative Glasgow scene, with The Pastels as a major inspiration, not just musically, but in name and subject matter… Truck, Train, Tractor anyone…. Talking to Craig after the gig it appeared the line up for the evening hadn’t had much time together to rehearse, with Cris stepping in on bass and Emma returning for one last hoorah on drums. You would never have guessed from the tight and slick, seemingly effortless performance from the quartet. They thoroughly entertained the early comers with their glorious dual guitar/vocal attack, bringing smiles to the faces of all comers and I’m sure making new fans of anyone previously unacquainted.
How do you follow that? Clearly with ease if you are a band on the up and up like the mighty Water Machine… have I ever mentioned them before? Purveyors of my single of the year for 2024 in Water Machine (Pt II), 2024 is theirs for the taking, with a debut album coming on Fat Cat Records later in the year, preceded by singles (for one of which the release ain’t coming without its challenges revealed an exasperated Jimmy in a chat after the gig) and UK wide gigs and festival appearances. World domination awaits. It felt like a lifetime since I got my last fix of Water Machine live (…it was only December) so it was a joy to behold the band in full technicolour glory once again. Their perfect set featuring all the live favourites, including the return of part one of their nomenclature song, mixed in with some newer songs like Clouds and newbie River. Hando was in top form as ever, an effervescent ball of unbridled energy bringing the joy and infectious good vibes to the whole venue, while battling with drummer Nicky on cowbells, each one attempting to get the last “hit” in. Flore’s sassy basslines and joyful grin as contagious as Hando’s energy, while guitar hero Jimmy is an example of studied concentration as he brings the jangle to proceedings in the spirit of the evening, channelling the best bits of all the iconic indie bands from Postcard and beyond. Just in case you were unsure. You need to see this band. I demand it of you.
You want iconic indie bands? Well, Swansea Sound are here to fulfil that role, titillating your senses and titivating your life. Forming in 2020 and two albums in already, this was my first experience of the full Swansea Sound live experience. And what an experience it was. The sound? Loud brash guitars, heading towards melodic punk territory, a fact perhaps hinted at by Bob Collins choice of a Buzzcocks t-shirt, partnered with a pulsating throb of bass from Rob Pursey, I Made a Work of Art almost feeling like a Jam song in its intro. Hue and Amelia have a superb chemistry on stage, playing off each other in the between song banter. The storytelling in the songs is sublime too, while the music is loud and the harmonies glorious, the songs have a fair smattering of ire in the lyrics, there’s a lot to be pissed off about in the UK in the 21st Century, Hue happy to mention Brexiteers in Glasgow without fear of reproach. The songs have a political slant, with and without a capital P, dealt with in an eloquent manner. There was joy and laughter throughout the set, but also tinges of sadness, with Hue dedicating I Don’t Like Men in Uniform to his late dog Kenny. Probably the most perfect song of their set, and the night in general, given the gig setting and the whole vibe of the night, was their single and ode to records shops, and music fans and “the shiteness of Spotify”, Indies of the World. A song of pure genius. As some other singer once said, its time to unite and take over…
Swansea Sound – Bandcamp – Facebook