It’s a quiet Tuesday night and NAO are playing King Tut’s, part of a shortish tour taking in a couple of Scottish and some English dates. The new long player is in the works and there is a re-release of the debut Grappling at Hooks with some remixes, a stopgap for the time being.
But first the support – Betty missed the third on the bill Below Below, and I believe that Findo Gask were previously advertised but did not play tonight, anyway I arrive just before A Torn Mind take the stage. Straight outta Livingston, this is a young band with some obviously talented musicians – they play six songs tonight, mainly culled from one previous and one about-to-be-recorded EPs, both self-released I think. There’s a heady blend of rock, metal and prog sounds here, some U2-esque melodies and some definitely more Marillion-esque instrumental breaks, guitar, bass and keyboard all heavy in the mix. A hundred or so people, some unashamedly from Livingston, turned up for this and had a good time, the band perhaps destined for greater things, we will see…
North Atlantic Oscillation are one of Scotland’s best kept secrets but on tonight’s turnout and promotion, they may well remain so. Betty reviewed their debut album and their show as part of the 2010 Stag and Dagger (insert links here) and on tonight’s showing they are more muscular and varied than before, but not garnering the kind of audience that they deserve.
Taking to the stage before barely a hundred people (still), the core members are supplemented, giving a lineup of one (very loud but tight) drummer, a guitarist/keyboard player, a singer/guitarist/keyboards/effects and a bass player/also on keyboards. They have quite a complex set of machines and levels to operate but technically they mainly function quite well, the sound mix being expansive but not too loud. They’ve been on stage (tuning up and checking cables) a good ten minutes before starting so no great entrances or fanfares. They start with a couple from Grappling… and immediately it is for me pop heaven, the melding of the guitar, bass and keyboards just the perfect combination for an exploration of the sonic possibilities of the technology they have at hand. I think previous reports have likened the sound to Mogwai vs Sigur Ros, and I’d agree with that, also adding in some of the several new songs tonight, a bit of Nick Drake, Syd Barrett and Peter Gabriel influences in the quieter moments. There are moments to dance to and moments to swoon to, with polite applause and some clapping wildly (or oscillate wildly, if I will), but not enough – a bit of a shame but I’m not going to patronise them, I think one bloody phone company or TV series soundtrack could do it for them, the reality of the music industry in 2011-12.
Highlights of the set were ‘Hollywood has Ended’, the chord changes of which are sublime but groovy at the same time, the electronic sounds of ‘Cell Count’ early in the set indicating that we are not just dealing with synth-boffins here, these people want to rock your socks off as well.
I’ve run out of things to say, the sound is genuinely hard to describe, just visit them on myspace and see what you think – I feel glad I had a good view at this gig but actually I’d have preferred if I’d been elbowed to the back, then I’d know they were getting the popularity that they surely deserve.
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