The Jam Jar (situated upstairs from Sinky’s), is Dunfermline’s newest gig venue, with apparent lofty ambitions judging by the eclectic mix of comedy & music it’s booked in its nascent period – usually the preserve of venues a hop, skip & a jump across the water.
Presumably the Jam Jar is a former function room, decked out with PA & fitting transforming it into a gig venue; which considering the current climate for pubs & venues struggling to keeps their heads above water, it’s a wonder that more establishment owners don’t make their function rooms available to budding promoters looking for a chance to prove themselves.
So to the music and the opening act, the Dunfermline based Astrid & Quinn come across as a more opaque Glasvegas, with rousing choruses and touches of The National & Broken Records with post-rock elements their sound steeped in reverb & delay and awash with atmospheric synth & guitars. Overall they put in a solid performance, save for some ill-advised injection of electronic-keyboard into the mix that doesn’t gel or come across well through the PA.
Being on home-turf no doubt helped People, Places, Maps put in an energetic crowd-pleasing performance with their front-man leading-the charge for acceptance & giving it his all; however going against the grain of the clearly enthralled P.P.M. contingent, I felt their sound to be in the vein of Snow-Patrol indie-rock by numbers – although they had some original elements & where a dynamo of energy & well timed posturing, it felt like it was missing a vital ingredient & it all wore a bit thin after a-while, as I yearned for the genuine heart-on sleeve raw-emotion that was soon to be upon us, served up as only James Graham and The Twilight Sad could.
It may have been my imagination, but the crowd seemed to have thinned slightly near the front (although still pretty full from front to back) before the ‘Sad take stage in typically sonically-intense fashion. As a lurching malevolent wall of sound descends, the brooding yet understated James Graham seems to be immediately transfixed and caught up in the band’s dominant soundscape – delivering his dark enigmatic verse, eyes firmly shut & at times seemingly oblivious to the audience, who are equally transfixed by him.
Starting in strong fashion with ‘Kill It In The Morning’ they play large swathes from their new album ‘No One Can Ever Know’ with their new record overseen & anti-produced by Andrew Weatherall. Taking cues from the likes of Depeche Mode & NIN, not to mention a slew of post-punk & electronic pioneers, the band drift into synth inflected waters, without forgoing their signature wall of sound, clashing violent coruscating guitars, and folk-tinged heart.
The new material which works well in a live setting & is punctuated by tracks from their last couple of LPs such as the heavily paranoid distillation of ‘Reflection Of The Television’ & the ever-potent ‘Cold Days From The Birdhouse’ & ‘And She Would Darken The Memory’ where the potent mix of James’ saturnine demeanour, thickly accented phrasing & pernicious mysteriously dark lyrics come to the fore – his Scottish raw-rasp scraps, gnaws & gnashes through the thick haar & seemingly impenetrable layers of sound; giving a most emotionally fraught delivery, which can’t fail to move and overpower everyone in the room. As a UK, European & American Tour beckon I fully expect them to leave an equally lasting impression on familiar & uninitiated ears!
See Petra’s previously-published photoreview.
- The Twilight Sad / People, Places, Maps / Astrid & Quinn - 15 February 2012
- Little Kicks - 28 November 2011
- Found / Martin John Henry / Man Without Machine / The Strangers Almanac - 2 October 2011