07.09.08
It’s not for the cock, it’s for something a little further North.
The Twilight Sad and Broken Records/The Bodega Social/18.06.08
It took less than three months for Scottish indie shoegazers The Twilight Sad to grace Nottingham’s Bodega Social since their last tour and this time around they’ve brought fellow Scots, Broken Records, with them. The seven piece band take to The Bodega’s tiny stage with the greatest of ease carrying a variety of instruments with them making the audience eager and wide eyed before a note is even played. Between them the band make a grand, Arcade Fire like, sound which not only expands the tiny room they’ve found themselves in tonight but also justifies the large amount of industry hype currently bubbling beneath them. At a time of year when journalists can be seen sprinting in-between festival stages to catch next years big hit it’s singer Jamie’s passionate performance followed by his hugely charming stage manor which is likely give them an edge of endearment over others.
By the time The Twilight Sad take their turn on the, now more roomy, stage the venue has filled with enough people to create simmering, excited atmosphere but still leave enough room to avoid the discomfort and impaired views of a sell-out show. As they begin to play the room is instantly engulfed in sound with singer James Graham’s vocals powerfully riding atop. Just like their lyrics The Twilight Sad’s performance seems very personal making this small gig a wonderfully intimate experience. At one point Graham makes his way to the front of the stage and as he releases what seems to be a mixture of both passion and frustration it seems that he and the rest of the band are ready and willing to vent their epic sound in a wave of British Sea Power style euphoria to a ready and worshipping crowd. If tonight proved anything it’s that The Twilight Sad are both ready for and worthy of much larger audiences ready to embrace their majestic sound.
Afterwards James Graham was kind enough to sit down with a very unprepared (we had no recording equipment) Princess and G-Town in the Bodega’s secret garden to discuss touring, sore throats and Scotland’s music scene. After listening to our post-gig enthusiasm/genuine confusion as to why they’re not bigger James guessed that since they last played they’ve gained about 5 audience members and more than aspiring to fame and legions of fans the band just want to be able to make a living from their music. To our wide eyed bursts of praise we’re told that although he was pleased with the show his voice wasn’t on top form due to a sore throat. We mention that we also greatly enjoyed the support (Broken Records) but note they’re rather different to The Twilight Sad and comment a range of genres is not unusual with a Twilight Sad line-up seeing as they have toured with Beirut and Idlewild. In reply to this we’re told line ups without variation are more interesting and tells us they were personally asked by Zach Condon and James even got the chance to sing on stage with him when he was ill which he names as one of his favourite moments on tour.
When asked about festivals James explains the band are disappointed to have only got two appearances booked so far, Latitude and The Unsigned Stage at T-In The Park, which is explained as an especially low blow as they’re a Scottish band who definitely are signed. The band are on semi-legendary label Fat Cat which James says was a very exciting prospect when the label first started showing interest as he knows people who have bought records just for the Fat Cat logo. Talking T-In The Park leads us nicely to discussing Scotland’s current music scene and there’s a certain hyped band riding a bit higher on the line-up. Glasvegas, we’re told, are ok, they’re just looking for success and musically there’s nothing exceptional there. Bands definitely worth looking up include tonight’s Broken Recrods, Errors, Frightened Rabbit and My Latest Novel.
So there you have it, a big thanks to James again for a lovely chat and a wonderful show.
Matthew said,
July 14, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Hi - I write Song, by Toad and I’m a good pal of the lads from Broken Records. I’m also starting up my own label and working with some of the other bands in Edinburgh to get their name out there a little more, and I wondered if you would be interested in perhaps receiving digital or physical promo copies of things when they are ready? I may be being a bit stupid but I can’t see a contact link anywhere on the site, so excuse me for leaving this in the comments.
One of our first releases, later this year, is going to be a side project by Jamie - Broken Records’ front man, so I thought you might be interested. You guys seem to write about slightly less pipe-and-slippers music than I do but in general I think there’s a lot of crossover. Let me know if you’re interested, either by bunging me an email at songbytoad *at* hotmail *dot* co *dot* uk or just by replying in the comments here if you’d prefer.
Cheers,
Matthew