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Fire
Engines / Sons & Daughters / Aberfeldy
Liquid Rooms
For those who have been following
the recently resurgent Scottish music scene, this gig
offered a refreshing novelty- some of the best Scots
bands of 2004 all on one stage, with Franz Ferdinand
notable only for their attendance, rather than a live
performance.
Alex Kapranos and co could have been returning
a favour after the Fire Engines supported them at an
arena date at Glasgow's SECC a week earlier. The Edinburgh
quartet came to national prominence at the tail end
of the Seventies as - along with The Rezillos - the
city's main punk export, and were on the ground floor
of the British
New Wave movement.
While their first incarnation came to an end in 1981,
a recent invitation to to Support Captain Beefheart's
old cohorts The Magic Band proved to hard to resist.
That led to a mini resurgence in popularity, which only
snowballed when Franz Ferdinand cited them as an influence
and invited them to play that seminal support slot.
Not only that, but a split 7in single appeared at the
show (with the Fire Engines covering Franz's "Jaqueline",
and Franz returning the favour with "Get Up and
Use Me").
So, we here find the best band in Edinburgh at the moment
opening for one of the best in the city's history. That
Aberfeldy are named after a sleepy Perthshire town and
the singer-guitarist, Riley Briggs, used to busk his
way around Edinburgh folk-clubs does not bode well on
paper. However, there's a reason Geoff Travis made them
Rough Trade's next Scottish signing after Belle and
Sebastian, and it's plain for all to see. With equal
parts jangle-some indie-pop, brisk folk and two-part
Phil Spector-style girl group backing-vocals in the
mix, a more well-constructed, warm-hearted reaffirmation
of fun in pop music you could not hope to hear.
The Glasgow quartet Sons & Daughters are the dark-hearted
flipside of Aberfeldy's coin. The singers, Adele Bethel
and Scott Paterson, are a couple, which is probably
why they present such a convincing interplay onstage,
while most of their songs revolve around fractious relationships
and heated sexuality. They're like Nick Cave's little
cousins, and theeir dark star will shine in 2005.
The truth is, the Fir Engines have to work hard to look
good next to two such sets of talented newcomers. But
sometimes hard work, in rock'n'roll terms, is looking
like you don't care either way - and Henderson looks
like a man with no more damns left to give. A blazing
45 minute set, with fiery renditions of classics such
as "Candyskin" and the still unutterably great
"Get Up and Use Me", warm thanks to Franz
Ferdinand, a proclamation this would be their "last
gig ever on planet Earth", and no encore for good
measure. It was pure punk and the fans loved it. Not
only that, but thry've found two bands who are real
contenders for hero status in the new year.
David Pollock
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