It’s a tribute to the far-reaching influence of the Vaselines that the lineup here is so varied.
Certainly it seems unlikely that openers, Edinburgh-based post-rockers The Gothenburg Address could have absorbed much early 90s jangly lo-fi pop. But, it seems that they listened to a fair bit, and having expressed much keenness to get on this bill, here they are. Instrumental, loud-quiet and boasting an artillery of tunes that percolate away quietly before exploding into an riot of sound, they’re the kind of act to make eardrums burst, fans quiver and journalists go into cliché overdrive.
Burning Café are the locals on the bill, and rather closer to the ethic of the headliners. Though this isn’t immediately apparent – with a couple of opening numbers that border on the epic and nod to the likes of The Hold Steady or Gomez. It becomes obvious that there are two songwriters in the band – Neil, whose throaty rasp takes the lead on these tunes, and Gilleon, whose quietly-voiced efforts backed by ukelele are short and sweet and probably act as a decent introduction to the Vaselines.
Who take the stage next. My Vaselines virginity was lost (so to speak) at the first reformation show, at Mono in 2009. That was a cracking gig, though the focus probably on playing long forgotten songs with a brand new band to keep in check (or, keep Eugene and Frances in check).
This show is, I suspect, more like it would have been back in the day. The between-songs-banter is incessant – Frances opens with her plan for ‘The Vaselines – The Musical’. Inspired by a recent viewing of Mama Mia – “shit” – the Vaselines version would be more of a sort porn version.
And there is plenty of time for banter, with tuning up and occasionally forgetting quite where in the set they were, but when the songs hit they really hit home. Alternating roughly between old – ‘Molly’s Lips’, Son of a Gun’- and new – ‘Overweight But Over You’, ‘Devil’s Inside’ – it’s clear how far they have come as a songwriting force (the latter tune somehow mixing up tweepop with a portentous guitar hook that Kurt himself might have penned).
‘Sex With An X’ has a jangle that could have come from the 80s – even if ‘The 80s Were Shit’.
There’s a few surprises too, ‘Monsterpuss’ allows for some single entendre – ok, maybe not a surprise, as the entire back catalogue is pretty much spent in the 90 minute set. Encores of ‘Dum Dum’ and ‘You Think You’re A Man’ round off a show that sees the band rolling back the years with ease.
It seems that The Vaselines are around to stay this time, but if they come to your town, I’d catch them while you can.