Limbo

I’m gibbering, I’m jelly. Let me try and explain as lucidly as I can what just happened. I’ve seen (as it were) a lot of different kinds of volume. From the time in 2004 when The Fire Engines and Franz Ferdinand blew out my left ear due to an unecessary excess of high-end to compensate […]

Cacophony. Howls, wails, buzzes and crackles, loud enough to wake the gods. They build and build before intoning with bile into the mic, “Rise, Lazarus, Rise.” Vocals fuzzed loud enough to obscure all but those but the most ferociously repeated lyrics. They are uncompromising, unwieldy and just the slightest hint of unhinged. They don’t let […]

Vasquez They waste no time, launching into balls-out rock that strides like a colossus. Confident, epic and always worthy of head banging. Unusual time signatures abode, and never detract from just how danceable this stuff is. There may only be one guitar, but the bassist strums out whole chords. Sure, if you’ve got four strings, […]

Plum The room is packed even before our first act. Fresh from her triumph last night at the Scottish Alternative Music Awards, Plum makes it instantly clear why she deserved to win. A multi-instrumentalist, she accompanies herself with guitar, bass and programmed beats. Things begin softly, with multi-tracked vocals, almost singer-songwriter in nature. Soon, however, […]

Hailey Beavis Hailey’s a kooky-loking soul: all cross-gartered stockings, diaphonous, spangly top, curly red hair and acoustic guitar covered in wacky illustrations. Bags of character. Very indie. She uses the acoustic guitar to get the crowd’s attention then puts it down in favour of acapella vocals with tambourine/bells and (unexpectedly) a vintage Casio keyboard. Alongside […]

Battery Face Industrial growls, groans and howls fill the air. Battery Face start as they mean to on. They mix riffing so heavy it sounds like two bulldozers wrestling, synth with a ferocious bite, Paganini level virtuoso guitar playing, and punk yelling Rotten would be proud of. Brutal and uncompromising. The songs crackle and fizz […]

The Bad Books A tune is furiously hammered out to the clang of electric guitars. There is a 90’s indie feel in the sense of Oasis or early Manics. Also like the Manics, there are self-confessed angry songs. After ardently attacking his guitar for the first few songs, things get interesting when the singer lays […]

White Lightnin’ This is old-school, overdriven rock and roll that wouldn’t sound out of place in an American Midwest trucker bar. Clearly deeming a bass guitar as surplus to requirements, their sound is raw, rowdy and raucous. In terms of posturing, the band are actually fairly

Body Parts Glasgow’s new supergroup, comprising Jill O’Sullivan, of Sparrow And The Workshop fame, and Jenny Reeves, of Strike The Colours. Clearly creativity breeds more. As looped beats bounce around underneath, guitars like vibraphones perfectly underpin deliciously piercing vocals, which are occasionally double tracked for added effect. A close acoustic guitar is matched by an […]

IndianRedLopez Traveling from Aberdeen to make their Limbo debut tonight, IndianRedLopez more than justify the jaunt. The songs are epic, dark and brooding. The singer uses floor-mounted tom drum to add accents at opportune moments. This is a current favourite with some bands, but is nevertheless effective. The drummer also uses a mixture of synth […]