Sleeper / The Supernaturals / Thyla at the Bristol O2 Academy

My first gig in Bristol this year and it was a cracker! An exciting up-and-coming band, the long-awaited return of some old favourites and a triumphant headline set from Britpop legends.

After finishing work and experiencing a refreshingly easy and traffic jam-free journey down to Brizzle I hurriedly found myself something to eat and then high-tailed it to the O2 to catch ( most of ) the set by Thyla who were on at the ridiculously early time of 6:45 pm.

Thyla are an extremely promising young band who reminded me slightly of The Horrors  -  not that they sound a lot like them, but they have the same instinct for taking old genres ( Goth, shoegaze, '80s indie ) and giving them a modern twist. Although some of the songs seemed a bit lacking in the tune department, they were more than made up for with the urgency of the shimmering guitars and pounding, tribal drums. Front woman Millie Duthie sang like her life depended on it, her voice an ethereal cry from the heart ( if that's not a contradiction ), like a mixture of Liz Fraser and Kate Bush... but with hobnail boots on. ( Actually she wore some pristine white trainers with very thick soles. )  The last song, Pristine Dream  -   a strident denial of being pigeon-holed by male expectations  -  was a Banshees / early Cure -style stomper and is sure to propel them into the big leagues.

The next band were eagerly awaited by me and many others in the crowd for it was the return of Glasgow's former kings of melodic, melancholic indie-pop, The Supernaturals. I have to admit I never saw many of the Britpop bands back in the day because their rise coincided with my buying a house, starting a family, all those money- and time-consuming things which are lovely but don't leave you much opportunity to go out and watch bands. ( I think my list would only include Blur, Pulp, Echobelly, Catatonia, Longpigs, 3 Colours Red... maybe a couple of others ) But I did see The Supernaturals. Many times. In fact, they were something of a fave band at the time for myself and my mate Glenn and we always said we'd definitely catch them if they ever reformed. Unfortunately, Glenn couldn't make it to this show as he was gigging himself that night with the mighty Borrowed Time, but I knew I couldn't miss it.

The band shuffled on stage and started the set almost apologetically with the low-key hymn to "bitterness and inadequacy" Trees. Maybe not the most exciting of beginnings but the set slowly picked up as singer James McColl warmed to the audience ( and vice versa ) and the band unveiled classic pop song after classic pop song. The likes of Lazy Lover, Sheffield Song, Dung Beetle, Love Has Passed Away and Smile brought a grin to every face and a chorus to everyone's lips. The 'Naturals were always masters at hiding biting and often melancholy lyrics inside catchy, deceptively bouncy guitar-pop and it was great to see they still had the knack. A mid-set highlight was lesser-known album track Idiot, in which James describes himself as "so handsome and intelligent... the world's number one suavest gent" before going on to admit "but of course I'm not, I'm just an idiot, sweetheart..."

All these songs of wounded masculinity and failed relationships ( which are much funnier than they sound from my descriptions! ) reached their peak with the majestic Day Before Yesterday's Man, with it's unforgettable lines "Jesus, I'm freaking / I've had such a weekend / I think I must be turning to God / My girlfriend has dumped me and headed for the country / With a boy who wears white socks"
  -  great stuff! All in all a fine return for a band who, while they may not be as exuberant as they were two decades ago ( who is? ), can still bang out some wonderful songs. Hopefully I'll be able to see them headline again at some point. That'd be nice. And can you play Stammer next time, please?

And then, after quite a wait, the headliners came on stage to a mighty roar. I'd always liked Sleeper but wasn't aware of much more than their hit singles, even though I always thought Louise Wener's breathy vocals were one of the signature sounds of the Britpop era. I recently bought their first two albums to try and catch up and found what I'd been missing all that time...

 They started with the sugar-rush of Nice Guy Eddie and instantly set the tone for the set  -   ridiculously fun, perfectly played, exciting guitar-based indie, with Louise Wener having a great time, fully in control of the audience, in fine voice and, it has to be said, looking very foxy indeed. Is there a sexier line in 90s music than "I picked up that bra you fancied"? Probably not. I think half the audience were reduced to a quivering heap on the floor at that moment. Ahem! Moving on...

And the next song was Delicious ( "You're delicious / You're so dirty / Make it dirty" ) so, yeah, more of the same. Next up was Paradise Waiting from their new album and you could see straight away that this comeback wasn't just an exercise in nostalgia  -  the new songs effortlessly reach the heights of the old ones. In fact, the title track The Modern Age was easily one of the best moments of the night. Sleeper's songs were often character studies about misfits, pulling back the curtain on suburbia to find the neuroses hidden there, and the new material seems an update on those themes in the age of social media and the general confusion of the 21st century. At one point, Louise mentioned how refreshing it was that Sleeper audiences don't tend to view their gigs through iPhone screens, but try to stay in the moment... "And now I've said that I can see someone filming me..."

After hitting us with such perfectly-formed, fizzing pop-bombs as What Do I Do Now and Statuesque, Sleeper showed some respect to the lineage of great female-fronted guitar bands by pulling out a fantastic cover of Blondie's Atomic which got everyone dancing, from the old gits like me to the young 'uns in the audience who wouldn't have been born when that track first burst out of New York. Note perfect with drumming from Andy Maclure that would have done Clem Burke proud. It was just sublime.
The set finished with the mighty Inbetweener ( of course ) and then the band came back to thunderous applause to play three more songs, finishing with the punch of Las Vegas and the sardonic Sale Of The Century. The band had clearly had as good a time as the crowd, with Louise telling us a couple of times how they had been unsure about this revival but now realised what a powerful thing this connection between performers and audience could still be. Hopefully they'll stick around now and I definitely need to see them again. I'm officially a Sleeper fan now! It only took 20+ years...

I'd actually dug my old Supernaturals T-shirt out of mothballs for this gig and, as I was heading out of the venue, a guy called Jed Maxwell came up to me and said "I used to have that T-shirt when I was 18! Quality shirt! Will you sell it to me? " Funnily enough, the answer was no. He was obviously upset that I didn't give him the shirt off my back and even tweeted about it the next day :-)
Here's the famous T-shirt:

After the gig I met up with Sophie, who'd just finished a shift at the Hippodrome, and we went for a quick drink at Bristol's Harbourside. A lovely end to a wonderful night.

A chip off the old block...

All the young punks...
Here's James rockin' a Clash T-shirt and my old electric guitar...



And here's me waaaay back in 1982, clearly enjoying my work on the farm. James is nearly fifteen now and I was fifteen at the time of this photo. The resemblance is quite spooky... although James says it's just the haircut :-)

Songs Of 2013

As the year known as 2013 is already a distant memory ( hey, it's nearly Summer now, isn't it? ) I thought I'd do the usual ridiculously late look back at the songs that rocked my world over the last 12 months. Of course, the universe of popular music in 2013 was ( unbelievably, improbably ) owned by a man in his sixties. More of him later. First of all... here come the girls...

Maybe not such a great year for female singers in my opinion ( for what it's worth ) compared to previous years ( even the usually-reliant Rihanna didn't seem to put out much material worth listening to ) but 2013 did see some great pop singles from the following:
 Burn by Ellie Goulding
I Love It by Icona Pop
Roar by Katy Perry
Somewhere Only We Know by Lily Allen
Royals by Lorde
No Strings by Chloe Howl ( one of the best live artists of the year )

And as well as making fantastic, upbeat, sparky pop music Chloe knows a cool T-shirt when she sees one :-)

On a global scale one of the best things to happen to music last year was the meteoric rise of Haim, three sisters from LA channelling the ghosts of '70s / '80s FM rock... but in a good way. Their combination of Fleetwood Mac-style tuneage, Michael Jackson-style grooves and Haim-style attitude was a winning combo on songs like
The Wire / Don't Save Me / Forever
They even turned up at Glastonbury, performing their own material and also doing backing vocals with Primal Scream. I think they're going to be massive...

I didn't really listen to a huge amount of dance or Rap in 2013 ( no real reason ) but some of the good stuff did come my way:
Look Right Through by Storm Queen ( albino panther pic from cool video above )
Animals by Martin Garrix
Thrift Shop / Can't Hold Us by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Latch / White Noise by Disclosure
Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke ( feat. Pharrell ) ( controversy ahoy! )

After bemoaning the lack of good new indie / Rock / whatever bands for the last couple of years, 2013 seemed to be bursting with them. As well as the usual old fogeys, I managed to see a few great young bands live last year and, luckily, they lived up to their promise on record too. Some of the best songs were:
Follow Baby / Lovesick / Float Forever by Peace
Cough Cough / Duet / Don't Try by Everything Everything
Superfood by Superfood
Peace by Kids In Glass Houses

Not quite so young, but equally awesome were the following:
Reflektor / Joan Of Arc by Arcade Fire
2013 / It's Alright, It's OK by Primal Scream
Stoned & Starving / Master Of My Craft / Careers In Combat by Parquet Courts
Xanman / Giant Tortoise by Pond ( the Australian Psychedelia renaissance continues )
And then, of course, there was Mr. David Jones...

David Bowie somehow surprised this spoiler-ridden, internet-addicted world by appearing from nowhere after a ten-year absence and rumours of illness and retirement with a new single and, soon after, one of the best albums of his career. Only Bowie could have pulled off such a trick, like some Victorian magician wowing the crowds with his legerdemain. And on his 66th birthday, too.
The Next Day sees a return to a more traditional Rock sound for Bowie after his turn-of-the-century forays into Drum 'n' Bass. But that doesn't mean it's old-fashioned: ace producer Tony Visconti updates the sounds of "Heroes" and Scary Monsters for the modern age and Bowie is on top form, his voice betraying no signs of age and his song-writing skills as keen as ever on wonderful songs like
The Next Day / Where Are We Now / The Stars ( Are Out Tonight )

 But, after all that, my Song Of The Year doesn't come from the Thin White Duke but from a couple of French robots. Yep, the ubiquitous Get Lucky by Daft Punk ( with the help of Pharrell Williams and Chic legend Nile Rodgers ) was the earworm of 2013 and, even now, after listening to it approximately 10,000 times ( probably ), its all-conquering robo-funk groove still sounds as cool as on first hearing.

And this brave new world of 2014 is looking pretty good, too. Brand new music is expected this year from The Horrors, The Maccabees, Everything Everything, Peace, Kasabian and more. Onwards and upwards!

Oh, yeah... that was post number 750. Phew!

TeeFury T's

Check out TeeFury for tons of terrific torso trappings...

...and no, they're not paying me to say that.

Marvel Super Heroes T-Shirts

What the best-dressed young gentlemen are wearing this season...

Favourite Gig Fridays: The Supernaturals

You know those "almost" bands? The ones who almost make it but miss out on that all-important big break? Glasgow's The Supernaturals are a prime example. They came along as the Britpop scene was just past its peak, and they were buried by the mass of bandwagon-jumpers and no-talents who clogged up the charts at the time, all hoping for a piece of that Oasis/Blur/Pulp action. Which is a shame because, even though they might not have proved it by record sales, they were a cracking live band.

They seemed to be constantly touring during their short existence and I saw them a number of times with my mate Glenn: at Gloucester Guildhall ( a couple of times ), Cheltenham Night Owl and The Fleece in Bristol - there might have been others I can't remember ( over to you Glenn...) - all great gigs. If I have to choose one I'll go for the Night Owl gig, coincidentally the site of my Official Worst Gig Of All Time as well.

The venue was a packed, pokey little hole and the band were on top form, with much onstage banter between singer James and keyboard abuser Ken, and some major audience participation. In other words we jumped up and down, bellowed out the songs, laughed at James's stories and helped him take the piss out of Ken. The 'Naturals ( as we insisted on shouting out at them ) played a set bursting with melodic, anthemic indie with a definite '60s flavour. And what great songs: Please Be Gentle With Me, Lazy Lover, The Day Before Yesterday's Man, Smile - the latter being their most well-known tune, from countless TV adverts. They weren't the remotest bit edgy or innovative or self-consciously cool, but they were something just as important: FUN! A Supernaturals gig put a grin on your face from start to finish and you would have to be clinically dead from the neck down not to get up and dance/pogo/whatever.

I actually wore a 'Naturals T-shirt to the gig ( blue with a big, red "S" - where have I seen that before? ) and a very pretty young girl asked me if I was with the band - I had to admit I wasn't. ( Damn! )

Soundtrack: It Doesn't Matter Any More by The Supernaturals

Mean and Green

James wearing my old Incredible Hulk T-Shirt which has just beamed in from the Planet 1970's. ( A bit like his haircut: a visit to the barber's seems advisable. )

Soundtrack: Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal.