Femme Fatale

Cover version of the month #117
Big Star cover The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground and Big Star are two majestical, mythical and magical bands that have influenced (and have been consistently highlighted by) Scottish bands like Orange Juice and Teenage Fanclub through to bands bursting on to the scene at present. 

Art-rock NYC cool, melodic vulnerability, quintessential guitar power pop and vocal harmonies. You could easily argue that the two bands stand as the ultimate patron saints to the Glasgow independent guitar pop scene. Throw in Love, The Byrds, punk bands like Buzzcocks, The Clash and Subway Sect and that's the bones of your top 10.

One song that links both of these legendary bands is Femme Fatale, written by Lou Reed and inspired by a throwaway Andy Warhol comment about Factory 'it-girl' Edie Sedgwick. New info for me - I always thought it was about (and for) Nico!

"Oh, don't you think she's a Femme Fatale, Lou?"

The Velvets recorded the song in 1966 and it was released as the b-side to Sunday Morning in December of that year and then as the third track on their debut album, the mind blowing The Velvet Underground & Nico in March 1967. It's an album that everyone with a vested interest in the history of guitar music seems to be magnetically drawn to as a teenager.

It's well documented that the album was a flop, entering the charts at number 199 upon release and then leaving the month afterwards. Check this excellent feature article by Scottish writer Grant McPhee for Into Creative.

McPhee takes a deep dive into the myth of The Velvet Underground and Nico, particularly around the sales figures, stemming from a famous quote by Brian Eno about the album only selling 30,000 copies in its first five years.

... everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band. Brian Eno

Enjoy Grant's blog. But back to Femme Fatale. Listening again, I can't help but wonder who (if anyone) Nico was thinking of whilst singing the song. Edie? Or herself? 

Here she comes

You'd better watch your step

She's going to break your heart in two

It's true

The Velvets recording is icy cool. Nico’s vocals are famously flat, off-key and the way she pronounces clown as clun at the end of the second verse is quite funny. Funny, but ridiculously cool!

She'll build you up just to put you down

What a clown

Almost 60-years on and The Velvet Underground remain a blueprint for independent guitar music. Femme Fatale is a prime example why. Short (2-minutes 39 seconds), seemingly simple, impossibly cool and utterly beautiful. Pop music can be both a hook and a heartbreak simultaneously.

Lou Reed's NYC drawl in response to Nico's rise for the chorus is sublime.

Cause everybody knows, (She's a femme fatale)

The things she does to me, (She's a femme fatale)

She's just a little tease, (She's a femme fatale)

The closing two lines of the chorus are left to Nico, over the chiming guitar riff. They are, for me, the two coolest lines of the song, sung as if Nico is in admiration of the girl she is singing of.

See the way she walks

Hear the way she talks

In the next verses, Nico (using Lou's words of course) is clearer about her warning. The guy is merely number thirty-seven in her book. She's from the street, so already has all the guys beat and is going to play you for a fool.

Alex Chilton recorded his version for the legendary Third/Sister Lovers album sessions. The Big Star version is stripped back and fragile. Chilton sounds like he is singing from the experience of having his heart broken by the femme fatale, warning others, yet still infatuated.

Big Star are in no rush here, everything is slow, the intro longer, it all feels darker, as if Chilton is barely holding it together. It's beautiful.

Others have covered this gem of a song too. Among them - I've just found the Duran Duran version ... and ... I'm not a fan! Teenage Fanclub covered it with tender care on the b-side of Ain't That Enough. And Fatale, who I have written about a number of times over the last 6-months or so, took their name from the song and recorded it as their first demo. The way the crowd sing-a-long with Lou's she's a femme fatale line at the Fatale gigs is incredible - like they are breathing new life into the song and turning it into an anthem.

Fatale - Femme Fatale (demo)

The Velvet Underground & Nico original and the Big Star cover of Femme Fatale are added to my Everything Flows Cool Cover Versions playlist on Spotify which also features all of the songs listed below. Search for the title or CLICK HERE

Previous covers of the month blogs

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

72. Listen The Snow Is Falling

73. Mrs Robinson

74. He's Gonna Step On You Again

75. In My Life

76. Caravan Of Love

77. The Only Way Is Up

78. Dancin' Round & Round

79. With A Little Help From My Friends

80. Killing Me Softly

81. Ain't No Mountain High Enough

82. Drop

83. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay

84. Sympathy For The Devil

85. I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor

86. Love Will Tear Us Apart

87. Indian Rope Man + bonus Strawberry Fields Forever + This Wheels On Fire

88. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

89. Love The One You're With

90. Cum On Feel The Noize

91. Addicted To Love

92. Valerie

93. Ride On Time

94. Let's Dance

95. It Must Be Love

96. I Fought The Law

97. For What It's Worth

98. Do Your Thing

99. I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself

100. Don't Leave Me This Way

101. Shout!

102. God Only Knows

103. The Last Time

104. Bridge Over Troubled Water

105. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart

106. Louie Louie

107. Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

108-110. I'm A Loser, Yesterday and Beware of Darkness 

111. So You Say You Lost Your Baby

112. Kelly Watch The Stars

113. Association

114. Some Velvet Morning

115. If I Had A Boat

116. Vapour Trail

I Am The Cosmos

Trust me #62
I Am The Cosmos by Chris Bell

I Am The Cosmos was an almost mythical song that I used to read about in interviews by some of my favourite artists. Norman Blake, Tim Burgess, Bobby Gillespie all mentioned the song with a sense of awe. It kept cropping up.

Back in those days, it wasn't a case of searching on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Music. You had to try and track down the record or CD. Easier said than done for some records that my heroes referred to - many were long out of print and hadn't received a CD reissue.

Eventually I heard I Am The Cosmos on the album of the same name. I can't remember where I got the CD, but I'd hazard a guess that it was Missing Records. I was a regular in my teens, popping in to their Oswald Street store a couple of times a week after work; buying 7-inch singles, the odd album and making mental notes of what I'd buy after the next payday. 

I found out that the CD (issued in 1992) was the first time the album had been released! Chris Bell died in a car accident in 1978 at the age of only 27. His only solo material released in his lifetime was the I Am The Cosmos b/w You and Your Sister single, also in 78.

Previously, Chris Bell had formed Big Star with Alex Chilton in 1971. I got into Big Star after the many references made to the band in Teenage Fanclub articles. The beloved power pop band never really made it while they were together, but their music still leaves a mark on many to this very day. I guess it always will. 

The bands debut album #1 Record, released in 1972, only sold 10,000 copies on release and Bell left the band, disappointed by the sales, despite considerable and consistent good reviews.

Post Big Star, Bell struggled with depression. The album took him 3-years to record. Alex Chilton played and sang on some of the songs. Bell also produced (and played) on an album by a band called Prix that I intend to check out. 

I Am The Cosmos is a truly beautiful album that tugs on the heart strings through songs like Speed Of Sound, You And Your Sister and There Was A Light. Check them out - total gems. The guitar on There Was A Light is sublime, really gets me, raw emotion. 

On to the song I Am The Cosmos though. Rolling Stone described it as being; utterly transcendent, a lush, spine-tingling number in which megolomania and vulnerability come together in these unfathomable lines;

Every night I tell myself I am the cosmos

I am the wind

But that don't get you back again

What can I add? Well, it's a song that grabs my attention every time I hear it. And when I do, I will always play it more than once. 

Bell starts singing immediately, there is no intro. The guitars are gloriously soaked in reverb and Bell's voice sounds a little broken as he sings never want to be alone. 

Then there is the genius bit where he sings no, no, before going on to sing yeah.

Wanted too much to say no, no

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, yeah, yeah

After a drum roll, a glorious piercing (yet warm) guitar solo (with handclaps and tambourine lying beautifully under the surface) takes listeners on a 40-second journey that they'll want to experience again and again.

Bell comes back in full confessional mode, don't know what's going on inside, before closing with the mantra; I'd really like to see you again, I really wanna see you again

Just before the song fades, Bell changes things to sing; I never wanna see you again.

WOW - what a song! This Mortal Coil and Scarlett Johansson have both covered the song, but this blog is all about Bell - check the song and album.

I Am The Cosmos - Chris Bell

I Am The Cosmos is added to my Trust Me playlist; search for Everything Flows - Trust Me on Spotify , or CLICK HERE Check below for all previous blogs in my Trust Me series.

Previous Trust Me blogs

1. Something On Your Mind by Karen Dalton

1A. Crimson and Clover by Tommy James and the Shondells

2. I Am, I Said  by Neil Diamond

3. Where's The Playground Susie?   by Glen Campbell

4. If You Could Read My Mind by Gordon Lighfoot

5. Gimme Some Truth by John Lennon

6. Gone With The Wind Is My Love by Rita and the Tiaras

7. In The Year 2525 by Zager and Evans

8. The Music Box by Ruth Copeland

9. The Ship Song by Nick Cave

10. Sometimes by James

11. I Walk The Earth by King Biscuit Time

12. Didn't Know What I Was In For by Better Oblivion Community Centre

13. When My Boy Walks Down The Street by The Magnetic Fields

14. The Man Don't Give A F**k by Super Furry Animals

15. All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun by Jeff Buckley and Liz Fraser

16. Are You Lookin' by The Tymes

17. A Real Hero by College & Electric Youth

18. Feelings Gone by Callum Easter

19. Sunday Morning by The Velvet Underground

20. Did I Say by Teenage Fanclub

21. Don't Look Back by Teenage Fanclub

22. Your Love Is The Place Where I Come From by Teenage Fanclub

23. Belfast by Orbital

24. Clouds by The Jayhawks

25. Dreaming Of You by The Coral

26. Everlasting Love by Love Affair

27. Walk Away Renee by The Left Banke

28. Teenage Kicks by The Undertones

29. Shaky Ground by Sneeze

29. Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

30. I Can Feel Your Love by Felice Taylor

31. The State We're In by The Chemical Brothers w/ Beth Orton

32. Sunshine After The Rain by Ellie Greenwich

33. Losing My Edge by LCD Soundsystem

34. Mondo 77 by Looper

35. Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton

36. Rat Trap by The Boomtown Rats

37. How High by The Charlatans

38. I Can't Let Go by Evie Sands

39. Pop Song 89 by R.E.M.

40. Summertime Clothes by Animal Collective

41. There She Goes by The Las

42. We're Going To Be Friends by White Stripes

43. Autumn Sweater by Yo La Tengo

44. Sister Rena by Lomond Campbell

45. Revolution by The Beatles

46. Lazarus by The Boo Radleys

47. Wrote For Luck by Happy Mondays

48. American Trilogy by The Delgados

49. Loser by Beck 

50. Silent Sigh by Badly Drawn Boy

51. Comedy by Shack

52. Take The Skinheads Bowling by Camper Van Beethoven

53. Freakscene by Dinosaur Jr

54. Thank You For Being You by The Pastels

55. I Think I'm In Love by Spiritualized

56. Chestnut Mare by The Byrds

57. Cannonball by The Breeders

58. Like A Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

59. You Make Me Weak At The Knees by Electrelane

60. Lucky by Radiohead

61. Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

Teenage Symphonies To God

Back in the 1960's, an acid fried Brian Wilson described the songs he was writing for his Smile project as "teenage symphonies to God". Quite a description! I'm kind of amazed that it took until 1994 for a band to steal the phrase for an album title.

The band in question was Velvet Crush, from Providence, Rhode Island. Formed by Paul Chastain vocals/bass and  Rick Menck on vocals/drums, the two had played in bands through the 80's before forming Velvet Crush. On Teenage Symphonies To God they were joined by Jeffrey Borchardt on guitar. 

Velvet Crush signed to Creation Records in the UK, perhaps aided by a cover version of Teenage Fanclub's Everything Flows as an extra track on their 1991 CD single Ash & Earth. 

Chastain and Menck's Teenage Symphonies To God are not as complex as the arrangements Wilson was working on all these years ago. Their symphonies are like the ones thousands of American kids blasted out in garages and basements throughout the country - guitar(s), bass, drums - power pop. 

Lord knows what happened to my CD copy of it. I always loved the artwork - super cool. And it has been great to listen back to the songs - full of hooks, harmonies and warm guitars. If Teenage Fanclub were influenced by Big Star around this time, then Velvet Crush sound like Big Star.

Opening with Hold Me Up, you're immediately into the sun soaked world of Velvet Crush and it's a rather lovely place to be, particularly at time when it gets dark around 4pm and every time you turn on the news you don't know what will be coming next. 

Velvet Crush can rock out/jam on, beautifully demonstrated on their cover of Matthew Sweet's Something's Gotta Give, where they sounds like a dream band you could discover playing in your local bar.

They can bring it down too, #10 is absolutely beautiful. A different kind of Big Star. And then you have the likes of Weird Summer and Time Wraps Around You, both full of harmonies and chiming Byrds-esque guitar, sounding and feeling wonderful.

Speaking of The Byrds, Velvet Crush cover Why Not Your Baby by Gene Clark, their harmonies at their peak, a variety of guitar sounds colliding to sound glorious. 

Star Trip is possibly my favourite song on the album. Sun kissed and dreamy guitar sounds and melodies.

I'm on a dream cloud

Higher than the sun but I'm coming down

From my dream, my dream cloud

I shot for the stars but I hit the ground

I can't feel it, it feels alright

Keep On Lingerin' closes the album, Velvet Crush highlighting that The Flying Burrito Brothers also feature heavily in their record collection.  

Overall, Teenage Symphonies To God has a lovely waves of warm guitar sound and an infectious sense of energy. I've really enjoyed listening to the album again and I hope you do too. Or if you decide to check it out for the first time then let me know what you think.

Star Trip

#10

Never Ending Mixtape Part 14

 My Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify is now approaching 300 songs. I add to the playlist every month and then round up the latest additions in a blog.

As someone who vowed never to use Spotify or a streaming service, I have to admit I'm a convert! I still love and buy vinyl, but the ease of access that Spotify offers is unarguably incredible.

So after reading Johnny Marr's autobiography and wanting to dig into The The, all I had to do was search on Spotify and I discovered 2 absolutely sublime 12-inch remixes of Uncertain Smile and Perfect. They are sensational.

Elsewhere on the latest additions to the Never Ending Mixtape we have some real heavyweights like T-Rex, Bowie and Lou Reed, cult heroes Big Star and Gram Parson's Flying Burrito Brothers and this must be the only mixtape to have 2 Groove Armada tunes sandwiched between one by Todd Rundgren and an R.E.M demo!

You can search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify and play from the start, delve in anywhere, play on Shuffle or scroll to the end for the latest addition. Or simply CLICK HERE


Association - Teenage Fanclub
Uncertain Smile (12-inch remix) - The The
Perfect (12-inch remix) - The The
Our Lips Are Sealed - Fun Boy Three
Together In Electric Dreams - The Human League
Cosmic Dancer - T-Rex

Life's A Gas - T-Rex
Sound and Vision - David Bowie
Queen Bitch - David Bowie
Space Oddity - David Bowie
I'm So Free - Lou Reed
I Love You - Lou Reed
In The Street - Big Star
Thirteen - Big Star
September Gurls - Big Star
Hot Burrito #2 - The Flying Burrito Brothers
My Back Pages - The Byrds

Chestnut Mare - The Byrds
I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds
Another Girl, Another Planet - The Only Ones
Couldn't I Just Tell You - Todd Rundgren
At The River - Groove Armada
If Everybody Looked The Same - Groove Armada
Mike's Pop Song (demo) - R.E.M
Nightswimming - R.E.M

Never Ending Mixtape

Never Ending Mixtape - the first instalment 

OK, I always said I wouldn't....but I finally got Spotify. Hey, it is 2016, almost 2017!

Spotify is handy, I'll always treasure vinyl and my CD's are unlikely never to be thrown out, only taken from boxes in the loft if I go to play something on iTunes and realise I haven't exported it. Although with Spotify I don't even have to do that anymore. In fact, I haven't used iTunes since getting Spotify.

I'm enjoying making mixes. Or playlists as the kids call it in 2016.

So I thought I would start a mixtape and add to it every month, becoming a regular blog. So here is the first instalment on what may well become - The Never Ending Mixtape..... CLICK HERE TO LISTEN


Watch The Sunrise - Big Star
Starting the never ending mixtape with a song I discovered via a mixtape by The Chemical Brothers a long, long time ago in the 90's. This is beautiful.

Rock and Roll - The Velvet Underground
The Velvets are always a good and cool band to feature on any mixtape ad I am pretty sure they will feature again.

Feel so Sad (Glides and Chimes) - Spiritualized
A band that can really take you on a journey. See previous blog.

Makes Me Wanna Die - Tricky
Safe From Harm - Massive Attack
Killing Smile - Death In Vegas
Hey Lisa - David Holmes
Little Fluffy Clouds - The Orb
Tricky, Massive Attack, Death In Vegas, David Holmes and The Orb are all bands I discovered through my best mate Reddy. We had so many incredible nights in and out in our late teens discovering, listening to and talking about music. Reddy had such a cool and eclectic taste. He still does. One night we listened to Screamadelica non-stop until dawn. Reddy really feel for the Bristol scene led by Massive Attack and Tricky and The Orb's Little Fluffy Clouds is a song I can't listen to without thinking of times together. Good times.

Kathleen Sat On The Arm Of Her Favourite Chair - Hooton Tennis Club
Indie guitar bands are still alive and kicking - thank God. Two guitars, bass and drums, a sense of humour, some hooks...sublime

Feed The Tree - Belly
OK i had an indie crush on Tanya Donnelly....and still do. This is brilliant.

Shaky Ground - The Lemonheads
Nic Dalton and Tom Morgan played a HUGE part in The Lemonheads by writing some incredible songs for Evan Dando that fitted him like a glove. This is songwriting at its best for me.

Fade Into You - Mazzy Star
Just sublime, Hope Sandoval is also on the Death In Vegas track.

Reel Around The Fountain - The Smiths
Stolen Car - Beth Orion
Here's Where The Story Ends - The Sundays
The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon and Garfunkel
Bitterblue - Cat Stevens
Burned - Buffalo Springfield
Ultimate Painting - Ultimate Painting
L.S.D - The Pretty Things
Opus 40 - Mercury Rev
He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's The Pilot - Grandaddy

Girls Keith - Scoundrels, Dirty Gentlemen
Stones-y rock n roll Superb! Don't know much else about it - Spotify discovery!

Introducing - Poor Things

The Scottish music scene is in a particularly rich vein of form just now with a number of new bands coming to the fore, loads of bands and artists developing and pushing boundaries and established bands still coming up with the goods.

I'm aiming to introduce semi-regular interview/highlight/introducing blogs focusing on new bands coming to the fore. Here is the first one....

Poor Things are a band that came to my attention through a recent split single release on the fabulous Gerry Loves Records label. Their warm guitar pop sounds displayed on No Way, Jose caught my ear - very Fanclub-esque. I look forward to seeing them live in the near future.

I caught up with Craig Angus to find out a little more about the band.

1. Tell us how you formed - where are you from, how do you know each other, how and why did you get together?

Richard and I (Craig) got put in registration class together on the first day of secondary school and instantly bonded over music, he was the cool kid that could play the guitar really well and I was the over-active underachiever.  Eventually we met Gavin who at the time was going out with one of our friends from school and we formed out first band, in 2004 - which is crazy.  

Anyway long story short we started a new band once Richard and I came to University in Glasgow and Poor Things have been playing since 2011 -  our sound has changed a lot since then.  I feel like we've only really existed since 2013, like I was a different person before that... 

2. I’m pretty new to the band, you seem to have released your debut album quickly (which I like) - what made you decide to do that? What has the response been like?

I think maybe because we'd been plugging away for two, three years in the sidelines, it felt like a bit of a bucket list thing - something it would be cool to have as a momento to the band.  I guess because you never know when something like that can just stop - all it takes is one person to emigrate, or just say they've had enough.  With this band and us being such old friends, it could't function without the core three members, and no matter how things go from here that's our small contribution to the world of music.

The genesis, Andrew Dyce from Saraseto Records, who is a great friend and supporter of the band, asked us if we wanted to do it, and we had a bunch of songs that we were happy with and we had made a bit of money from various festival gigs and our first EP, so yeah - why not? 

I think writing an album is a great challenge that presents a few structural obstacles - the whole process definitely improved us as songwriters and the record seems to have reached a lot of people, a lot more than we could really have hoped for considering it was such a DIY effort.  It's not the most well known or hyped release of recent times, but we played a few cool shows off the back of it and the people that like it seem to really like it.  I'm still amazed that people choose to listen to music we make.  I think they're taking the piss probably.

3. Tell us about your other releases - what have you put out to date and is there anything in the pipeline?

One EP (Hurricane Poor Things), One Album (Poor Things), two split singles, one cassette on Fuzzkill with the formidable Catholic Action and one on Gerry Loves Records, a 7" with Halfrican, Sharptooth and Pinact and a contribution to Fuzzkill's Now 666 tape which some of our favourite bands were part of;  Secret Motorbikes, Deathcats, Kill Surfff.   

We've been writing songs for a while now, over a year, with the aim to do another album.  We demoed a track last week, and we're pretty excited about how it sounds.  The scattergun approach to the last record was great but we can probably take a bit more time, spend a bit more money and do something really memorable.  I'm really, really excited about it.  Richard has written some absolutely brilliant songs, and I think I'm putting my best stuff forward too.  

Visit the Poor Things band camp page for releases to date 

4. What has been your best gig to date?

The Gerry Loves launch parties were an obvious highpoint.  We also had a crazy show in Paris in May 2014 that ended up being really busy and I think having travelled so far that was pretty special.

5. What gigs do you have coming up?

We are playing The Hug and Pint on Saturday 22nd August and beyond that are doing a mini tour with our pals Min Diesel in October, the focus right now is writing and finishing off new songs. We're going up to Loch Fyne to do 4 days of solid demoing in early September, before emerging to an unsuspecting world. 

6. Tell us about your influences - what music do you like?

As a unit we're big Weezer fans, big Pavement fans, beyond that we're into Teenage Fanclub, Smashing Pumpkins, Big Star, any indie music from that wonderful 1990s period.  

7. How do you write as a band?

Richard lives in Aberdeen and I live in Glasgow, so we write things individually and then share them over emails, and then when we practice with Gav we bring it all together and pick things apart a bit more.  It's quite a good way of filtering the good stuff.

8. What other young Scottish bands do you like?

We're big, big Halfrican fans - they've got excellent legs.  Also Pinact and Sharptooth who were on our 7" release.  We've done a lot of shows with Catholic Action who are about to really take off and they're a really fun band with great songwriting at the front and centre.  I never miss Tuff Love either.

9. What do you think of the music scene in Scotland - what is good, what is challenging, is anything missing?

That's a tough one.  There's a lot of really great stuff going on, and then stuff that does nothing for me and that perplexes me - but hey, opinions right?  It feels futile criticising a band you're clearly just not into.

I think things are pretty good now thought, and the rise of DIY labels is a brilliant thing, it's encouraging people to be creative and be independently minded. Long term there's an obvious glass ceiling, but it shouldn't matter too much.  

10. For those new to the band - why should they check you out?

It's what Elvis would have wanted.

Five for Friday 12/08/11

Completely off the cuff today although starting with this beauty from the past as Lauren Laverne just played it on 6 music.

Followed by some genius by Damon Albarn;

And Teenage Fanclub playing with Edwyn Collins at Mono!

3 beautiful minutes of gorgeousness from Big Star.


And we end with abit of Hot Chip - great tune.