CANNONBALL FUN

The Breeders, Glasgow ABC 8/4/08

by Kate Smail

SquareOne Entertainment

Girls with guitars get a bad press. Unfairly shunned by men who think they don't rock hard enough, and often side-lined by women who prefer a lead singer worth throwing their underwear at.

However, judging by the packed audience at the ABC in Glasgow last night, The Breeders are band that transcend stereotypes. Men and women in equal numbers crowded in to see the legendary rock outfit fronted by the inimitable Kim Deal, of Pixies fame, and her merry cast of oddballs.

Deal took to the stage wearing a man's jumper and no make-up, looking a lot like a wholesome mother earth type. That is, until she opened her mouth and a gravelly stream of expletives rolled out followed by a raucous, infectious laugh.

The set consisted mainly of tracks from their first new album in six years, Mountain Battles and keen not to disappoint, a few tracks from their most famous offering, Last Splash, were thrown in for good measure.

The crowd were a little restrained for the first few songs, especially by Glasgow standards, until the first few chords of No Aloha rang out. The mood changed, and a healthy exchange of banter between Deal and the audience ensued. It's not easy to win over a Glasgow crowd with wit, but Kim and her sister Kelly had the audience lapping it up with their dry humour and sharp one liners.

By the time Cannonball arrived their work was done. The venue was rocking, despite the fact that it was full of professionals in their thirties and forties, clearly reliving their misspent youth.

My only bugbear with an otherwise flawless set? Their new material is so much softer than The Breeders of yesteryear. Why is it as bands age that they feel the need to experiment with folk and country influences? Some of us still want to rock out. Even if we are old enough to know better.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: R.E.M

by Chris Hammond

SquareOne Entertainment

R.E.M – Accelerate (Warner Brothers)

Last century an R.E.M release would quite literally have signalled a collective orgasm for the music press and public. Smart, unique to the point of weird and sublimely listenable R.E.M were the intelligent mainstream band of choice. 'Were' being the key word here; because inevitably success bred expectation levels which could not easily be met.

Monster, New Adventures in Hi-Fi, Up, Reveal, Around The Sun. . . hardly essential listening. I suspect for the first time ever R.E.M knew they had to deliver in order to remain reasonably relevant.

So it's with as sort of resigned inevitability I can confirm that Accelerate is better than their previous three efforts combined but only half as good as Out of Time. Make of that what you will.

Song for song it sounds typically R.E.M. The wickedly addictive Mr Richards harks back to the halcyon days of the mid 1980's when the group evolved into a quirky, grungy, indie behemoth whilst Supernatural Superserious is as breezy a summer pop song as you'll likely hear this year.

More of the same only better next time, thanks lads.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK: LOWGOLD

by Chris Hammond

SquareOne Entertainment

Lowgold – Promise Lands (Cooking Vinyl)

Ah, the UK indie scene! There’s the monolithic mediocrity of Coldplay, the unbelievably past-it Oasis, the literally vile Razorlight and the walking get-out-of-jail-free card known as Peter Doherty. But wait, it seems that the perennially overlooked Lowgold could be set to mount a takeover.

Excited yet? Well you would be if you heard Promise Lands stand-out track Just Like A Sin because its gobsmackingly tasty. Principally, this is because Lowgold sound nothing like their yawnsome, skinny jeaned, anti-war, fruit-loving indie peers and elders.

Mixing forlorn anthems with low-fi slow burners might not be a musical eureka moment, but the band do it so well you’ll be hard pushed not to utilise the repeat button on your CD players remote for the best part of a week. Promise Land comes highly recommended.