Cabaret Voltaire played host to The Llama Farm Collective’s first gig of the year. The Llama Farm is just a bunch of music freaks from all the artistic backgrounds that love live music and they invited the wonderful Glasgow trio, Vendor Defender to play, as well as Edinburgh’s Molly Wagger, and Plastic Animals to headline. An honest account of this event is that there should have been no headliner and instead an array of fucking great bands. And it was only £4 to get in!
A few mishaps mind you, one being the fire alarm sounding off during Molly Wagger’s awesome improvised electro set, resulting in the whole venue evacuating into the cobbled street where not only were the wind and rain crushing spirits, but the kids from party upstairs in the Cab Vol bar would not stop singing along to S&M. Souls were dying.
Vendor Defender are not only one of the loveliest bands ever to walk the earth, but one of the most talented. And I love them very much. They converted everyone at the gig that night. Tropical, electro, dance… that’s the best way I can describe them. I would say that this band are very professional and know their sound very well. On stage they are a force of nature. Everyone at that gig was in awe.
Vendor Defender are embarking on a series of gigs this month and next. It was a pleasure to see them perform in Edinburgh before their gigs take them back down south where the band are greatly loved.
A performance from them is not to be missed.
(Vendor Defender are playing at Cape with Miniature Dinosaurs tonight at 8pm, and then Captains Rest on April 7th.
www.myspace.com/vendordefender)
Molly Wagger, of London’s Tirk Recordings, are a dark horse. The band of two brothers and a singer and bassist have been right under Edinburgh’s nose the whole time, dosing around and generally just being very cool and amazing. Molly Wagger released their debut EP late last year with support from (funny how they all stick together) Plastic Animals at the very same venue and have since being playing the odd gig to occupy themselves before they all move down south to be closer to their label and to finally finish the recording to their first album.
This was a slightly bittersweet gig for Molly Wagger and Plastic Animals as the two bands are close friends. Since Plastic are recording in April and then gigging the shit out of everything there after, and Molly moving away, it was almost like “Goodbye, it was a pleasure to know you as a poor and talented musician, don’t come back a bunch of wankers”, but both acts are already wankers, but great ones, and fun too!
If you do decide to purchase Molly Wagger’s EP, please for God’s sake, get it on vinyl (unless of course you do not own a turntable, in which case don’t. Just purchase it like normal folk). The track entitled quite simply and beautifully ‘Molly’ is a true favourite. The band will tell you it is their least favourite of them all, but it is a gorgeous track and one that I cannot stop listening to on vinyl. ‘Weekend’ sounds very classic Californian soul. When I hear it, it’s as if I’m at a pool side on the Hollywood hills. The sound is like a golden summer that is from another time, and listening to it on vinyl is just total old school. There is nothing like this coming out of Scotland right now.
http://soundcloud.com/molly-wagger
www.myspace.com/onionandcheese
Plastic Animals are a weird pot of goodness also. The band describe themselves at “alternative/ambient/punk”; however their new sound is similar to bands like Deerhunter, and Yo LaTengo, and even Argentinian band, El Mato A Un Polizia Motorizado.
The Edinburgh band have been around for five years and have now finally made the conscience decision to make the last push. Even the comment on their Myspace says it all: “We never do anything without months in between apparently but that’s changed”. The band have made efforts to record their new EP this April in Glasgow, with some great gig gossip that I cannot share with you just now, but it is very promising.
To see the band next go to Maggie’s Chamber on the 22nd of April, Captains Rest on the 26th, or alternatively wait for their awesome EP launches in very early July with support from PAWS.
www.myspace.com/plasticanimalseverywhere /
www.plasticanimals.co.uk