Isn’t youthful exuberance refreshing? Stonehaven two-piece instrumentalists everythingwesayisfact are only a few gigs into their gig-playing career but already one can sense it’ll be a long one. They specialise largely in spiky, angular, yet chaotic shreds of distorted noise. Guitarist Euan Davidson declines to face the crowd, preferring a sideways approach with frequent glances at his drummer, Conor MacLean. This sums up their approach to song-writing; opting for slightly more skewed guitar-lines over the top of pounding drums, which frequently steal the show with frenetic bombastic bursts. With their drop-d tunings and love of distortion pedals, it’s difficult not to call to mind early Biffy Clyro, though noisier and with more feedback. And that is a good thing.Toy have been making minor waves in Aberdeen in recent weeks, mainly as a result of their live performances. They start well and it is clear they listen to pop music. Especially pop music veering towards psychedelia, with the first two songs sounding quite akin to The Doors, though considerably more uplifting. It is clear after two lines of the very first verse what this outfit’s strong point is – the singer’s vocal ability; restrained yet still prominent and compelling. However, although they have found a comfortable dynamic, what Toy do wrong is fail to break out of a very familiar sonic shell which surrounds them for the remainder of their set. It is Copy Haho, however, who know how to keep a fresh pop sound. Immediately, it’s easy to sense that they have a love for American alt-rock but they have effectively put their own delicious pop twist on it. Vocalist Joe Hearty delivers every line with refreshing deadpan and his chunky guitar sound works brilliantly in tandem with Stuart’s off-kilter guitar work. ‘Bookshelf’ is the new song everybody loves, and it’s easy to see why as it is three-and-a-half minutes of pop brilliance. Indeed, Copy Haho just don’t write bad songs, and set closer ‘You Are My Coalmine’ is another blistering pop crusade with a fantastically marauding guitar line. Engaging, tight, and bloody good fun – catch these young whipper-snappers before they’re massive.
