El Dog / Canary Warfare
Glasgow, The Mill @ Oran Mor (Wed 9th May)
The opening act appear to be your typical Indie 4 piece, with ballads and jangly guitars, but I get the sense Canary Warfare are trying to be a bit different. Their sound reminds me of many; Snow Patrol, REM, to name a few, but they don’t seem to be too confident with it.
When they bring on a piano player for a few tracks the sound changes again. All in all there was too much going on, too many layers of sound and the main guitar could hardly be heard above the bass. There was even a laptop contributing even more to the din, which I felt they just didn’t need.
All their songs had a melancholy feel, no surprise upbeat numbers – even their cover of Lily Allen’s ‘The Fear’ was mournful, although it was good to hear it being sung in a broadWeegie accent! I get the feeling Canary Warfare are a good band trying to do to much. If they simplified their sound I feel it would work so much better.
El Dog take to the stage and get stuck straight in! Their sound is a good mix of post rock style Biffy and Mogwai, but with a harder more ‘Rawk’ edge – lots of heavy riffs mixed with gentle piano samples and extended instrumental sections. At one point all the lights go out leaving just two white lights, slightly strobing, illuminating lead vocalist Bob and guitarist/vocalist Alan in a slightly surreal manner, all slightly Pink Floyd-esque. The two vocalists combine well to produce excellent harmonies and Bob has a powerful, yet melodic voice that carries well. The banter is good, Bob likes to keep us amused between songs with a joke or two, and the crowd are very impressed. Definitely a band to watch out for.
Lynne McKinstray
