Sonny Marvello and The Insomniac Project

The second Everything Shakes night at The Admiral was held last night. DJ's played vinyl only and two of the best bands around were invited to play live.

The Insomniac Project were on first; a 6-piece from the outskirts of Glasgow - they soon won some new fans with their electro/disco infused tunes. Vocals were shared between Andrew, Mikey and Deborah - with Deborah's vocals absolutely soaring and generating conversation amongst the crowd. The first song was a standout, another song that may or may not be called No Smoke Without Fire was also brilliant, flowing superbly and Mikey did his best with the small space he had on stage to dance and get the crowd going.

The band played a full 40-minute set with their songs flowing well, saving debut single In And Out (Of My Head) to last - blogged about previously HERE - is an absolute belter. Euphoric electro disco pop.

This was only their fifth gig and they displayed enough in their 40th minute set to show that they have bags of potential and they are bound to generate some interest. They have clearly spent a good bit of time developing their sound - crisp and clean - with the ability to soar.

Sonny Marvello had brought a good crowd with them - this was their first show in Glasgow in a few years. The band had gone off the radar to record an album which they released under the guise of Flash Talk. It is a synth pop rock masterpiece, check my review HERE

The band have gone back to a more organic approach and decided to go back to the original name of Sonny Marvello. They opened with a quartet of new songs; Follow The Yellow King had echoes of The Flaming Lips while The Book Of Rays had echoes of Macca in his Wings days.

Mysteries in Motion was the song that generated the best response from the crowd. It is exceptional - full of hooks, a superb breakdown and a chorus you will be singing a-long to on first listen. I can't wait to hear this recorded.

The band then blasted out a couple of Flash Talk numbers; the powerful Tiny Little Sparks and the Bowie meets Kraftwerk Synthesise to the delight of their fans.

Then it was back to old school Sonny Marvello with the closing double header of Pull Me Up, 3 minutes of pure guitar pop and then Made of Magic with the false ending and again it is a song that has the ability to get people singing on first listen.

Sonny Marvello are made of magic; brilliant musicians led by a singer with songs pouring out of him, it is great to have them back.

Laugh At Me - Sonny Bono

On Friday night my good friend Gordon pulled a battered looking 7-inch record from his bag, placed it on a turntable, dropped the needle and let it play. There was a hiss and a crackle and then it kicked in. It sounded absolutely sensational; warm, raw, vital and urgent.

Gordon was punching the sky, singing a-long with that sense of sheer abandonment that a good song can make you do.

I had to find out who it was, it sounded pretty Dylan-esque. The song was by Sonny Bono and it is called Laugh At Me.

Listening back now I clearly missed the intro as Sonny introduces the song;

“I never thought I'd cut a record by myself but I got somethin' I wanna say. I want to say it for Cher and I hope I say it for a lot of people”.

In under 3-minutes, Sonny delivers an absolute masterpiece over huge Spector-esque production, building and building until he screams So I don't care, let 'em laugh at me, if that's the fare, I have to pay to be free

The song flows again until Sonny really cuts loose screaming it's gotta start some place, it's gotta start sometime

I love discovering songs I haven't heard before and my friend Gordon's new night at The Admiral Everything Shakes was a great place to do just that. 2 new young bands and DJ's playing vinyl only. The next night will be on Friday 25th September. I hope to discover some more fantastic music.

This is how Gordon discovered the song;

I discovered it watching the film Good Vibrations which is about Terri Hooley and his record shop which he opened during the troubles in Belfast. Despite this he carries on and releases Teenage Kicks by the Undertones as well as some other good tracks that never got the same acclaim such as Big Time by Rudy. Anyway at the end he puts on a massive punk show in Belfast town hall. It's supposed to raise funds to keep the shop and record label running but he has half of Belfast on the guest list and he loses everything so he gets up with all the bands and he sings laugh at me by sonny Bono. It's a fuckin amazing moment! Glad you liked it!

Why can't I be like any guy?

Why do they try to make me run?

Son of a gun, now

What do they care, about the clothes I wear?

Why get their kicks from making fun, yeah?

This world's got a lot of space

And if they don't like my face

It ain't me that's going anywhere, no

So I don't care

Let 'em laugh at me

If that's the fare

I have to pay to be free

Then baby, laugh at me, and I'll cry for you

And I'll pray for you

And I'll do all the things

That the man upstairs says to do

I'll do 'em for you

I'll do 'em

I'll do 'em all for you

It's gotta stop someplace

It's gotta stop sometime

I'll make sure that she's mine

And maybe the next guy

That don't wear a silk tie

He can walk by and say hi

Say, hi

Instead of why

Instead of why

Instead of why babe

Instead of why

What did I do to you?

I don't know what to do

Crash Club at Everything Shakes

Crash Club may well be the best live band in Scotland right now. I was genuinely blown away by their performance on Friday night at The Admiral at the inaugural Everything Shakes night.

Raw, powerful and fluid Primal Scream style basslines underpin (and at times lead) all kinds of electronic goodness, live beats and psychedelic guitar - at times like My Bloody Valentine. It is a powerful combination that is made all the better by the fact that Crash Club just don't let up. They have honed and toned their live set to perfection - just over 30-minutes flowing from one song to another with no let up, like a DJ set or mix album.

Ian MacKinnon strolled on stage to join the band for a couple of songs including the outstanding Recondition. MacKinnon's vocals just lifted the set even higher, producing real moments of euphoria and adding extra menace to the Kilwinning's outfits set.

Neal McHarg on bass is almost like a front man, playing bass with a mission, wearing a 'Glasgow As F**k' t-shirt and firing off riffs that demanded people move. His brother Aran never strayed far from his amp, creating all kinds of beautiful guitar sound, while the leader of the band Sammy bounded behind a bank of synths and screens, live drums keeping it real.

Crash Club play Belladrum this coming weekend. Seek them out and keep an eye on their Facebook page for upcoming gig announcements.