It would appear that Edinburgh’s Randan Discotheque have been beavering away in their own peculiar little world since 2006. With a handful of CD-R releases and 7” vinyl under their belt, Sonderweg is being billed as their third album proper. They are however, brand new to me.
Having stumbled across a charming and articulate tribute to the late great Michael Marra written by Craig Coulthard – head of the clan Randan – got me curious as to what Craig’s own music sounded like. A quick foray to Youtube and I was leaping round the room to ‘Grandad’s Coffin’, the lead single from this album. Enormously infectious, the song rumbles along at a sprightly pace with fuzzy guitars and great boy/girl vocals countering each other perfectly albeit in a delightfully skewed kind of way. Safe to say I was smitten.
Mere weeks later and the opportunity to review Sonderweg was not to be passed up and I’m happy to report the album has exceeded my expectations ten-fold.
Opening with the sound advice of Three Things – “be ready for what’s coming…” – before bestowing the scuzzy groove of ‘My Dad’s Going To Afghanistan’. This is pop, but it’s multi-faceted pop. Musically it pulses with throwback 70s riffing, squidgy keyboard sounds and piccolo snares mimicking machine gun-fire. Lyrically you don’t know whether to laugh or cry as Coulthard sings,
“My dad’s going to Afghanistan, my dad’s going to miss Christmas time, my mum’s going to be all alone… hope he gets the right kind of foot-wear”
Coulthard is a wonderfully dry story-teller, and that’s where the Marra influence shines through the most, especially on the superb ‘The Duke & His Orderly’, the art-pop of ‘Where Did You Come From?’ and the distinctly Scottish strum of ‘Heather the Weather’.
Brimming with ideas, sometimes complex but never without hanging everything on a hummable hook, it’s this adventurous spirit that sees Sonderweg excel. Charismatic and charming from start to finish.