It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen either of these bands play live so I wasn’t going to miss this one for anything. The venue, a compact, cool basement in Glasgow’s Queen Street, seems the perfect venue for tonight’s show, a fairly low-key but well attended gig by two of Scotland’s best kept pop secrets.
St. Jude’s are playing as a three piece, a family affair tonight with Ash, Emma and Grant. A compact venue, band and set as well as they blast through a handful of songs, some old and some new in their short, sweet set. Opening with a new song from the long awaited (well it is in my house and should be in every household) second album, ‘Tap O’ Lauriston’, a tribute to the now defunct Edinburgh venue, is utterly stunning, with just guitar, bass and Emma and Ash’s vocals combining and complimenting one another to great effect. St. Jude’s songs have a clever knack of evoking places and events spectacularly as evinced on the opener and on a fine version of ‘Montreal’ from the debut album, Happy Healthy Lucky Month. Stripped down and unshackled from the, at times, muddy mix of their still wonderful debut album, the songs swoop and soar, taking on a new life. The new songs sound equally brilliant, everything is so clear and given room to breathe. For the final song, Emma takes over the bass and Grant the mic for a sublime version of ‘All My Rowdy Friends Are Dead’. It’s immense, coming on like a rough ‘n’ tumble Velvet Underground fronted by a wired, hellfire beat poet raging at the dying of the light or at least the call for last orders. Overall, it’s a fantastic, breathtaking set that leaves me wanting more.
The Starlets always confuse me. On one hand, there’s the neo-noir band that have brass and strings and a cool, sinister edge, on the other, there’s the full-on guitar band with the emphasis on a raw energy. As ever, we get both tonight, and while the stripped down, full-on Starlets sound catchy, angular and frenetic, it’s the more thoughtful, stretched out songs that I prefer, when the trumpet and violin are brought into play and they sound like a bruised, elegant Glaswegian Tindersticks. Still, they are engaging and entertaining performers, hitting us with an array of great songs, full of melodies, hooklines and great banter in between songs. When The Starlets hit their stride they have a real magic about them.
St. Jude’s Infirmary and The Starlets. Ignore ‘em at your peril!
//Andy Wood