Panadola Diction

I saw Tapes ‘n Tapes last year in The Village, and they were ok. Pretty good. They played the songs and left. But I liked the songs (I still really like their debut album ‘The Loon’). On Tuesday night in Tripod it was more of the same from the Minneapolitans.

I’m not entirely enamoured with their new album ‘Walk It Off’, it has it moments, but overall I think it is weaker than the first one. As a result, the set seemed somewhat diluted in terms of quality. Nevertheless, they played a decent set, with the highlight being a good rendition of ‘Insistor’, directly followed by latest single ‘Hang Them All’.

There was something missing though. It just didn’t seem big enough for me. The charm of many T’n'T songs for me is their ability to twist mellow verses into loud, epic choruses. This was exemplified by ‘10 Gallon Ascots’ on ‘The Loon’, and seems to be a recurring theme. For me, ‘10 Gallon Ascots’ was the most disappointing song of the night, as the supposed epic choruses sounded thin and lightweight. I don’t know, either a new sound engineer or new distortion pedals are needed.

I guess I’m nit-picking, but it’s always disappointing when a band doesn’t seem to do its recordings justice in a live setting. Other gripes included the lack of an encore (again) and the ridiculous Budweiser monopoly at the bar. The only beverages on draught at all these Bud-sponsored gigs are Bud, Guinness and Cashels - all served in cheap plastic glasses. (Or ‘plastics’, as they will be called when I’m in charge).

As for the support acts - Sons & Daughters were unconvincing. Poor sound again seemed to detract (the vocals were indecipherable (though that may just have been the Glasgow accents)). I saw them in around 2003, supporting Franz Ferdinand in The Ambassador, and I don’t remember exactly how that went, but they seemed like a completely different band on Tuesday - more like a band on a victory lap than a band trying to win my affection. The lead singer was wearing short shorts and a dress/top with her back hanging out. Maybe she was over for a hen night.

Port O’Brien were actually very good. They made lots of (good) noise, and mixed it up with some folkie ballads. They put in a lot of energy, and were quite amusing between songs, in a stoned, Californian kind of way - canvassing opinion on the Lisbon Treaty, and generally thinking out loud. Frontman Van Pierszalowski reminded me of a young Terry Bolea. We also bumped into some of them on Aungier St afterwards, and my exclamation of “Hey! It’s Port O’Brien!” seemed to make their evening.

I’ll say nothing about the Glasgow accents Hey, the chicks are hot. I haven’t seen Sons and Daughters live since the Franz Ferdinand tour either - I remember, at the time, they came across as a band who were still trying to find their feet. It seemed that, by the time this latest album came out, they were already being heralded as elder statemen of the Glasgow indie scene. I don’t think so.

I’ve always felt the opposite to you about Tapes ‘n Tapes: I’ve never really been that keen on their recorded material, but have loved them live. Of course, I’m basing that on the first album. They’re playing here tomorrow night, I may check them out.

That’s interesting about T’n T - both times I’ve seen them it’s been at these weird Budweiser mini ‘festival’ type gigs, which generally don’t really seem like proper gigs. Even in their email newsletter they seemed to refer to it as a pre-tour gig. I’d like to see them play a proper full set, complete with encore(s) in a decent venue.

And I’ll bring an interpreter with me next time!

[…] I can see myself liking this song at least, but Walk It Off does not sound like an album that is going to be pulling up tree stumps for me. The equally under-convinced Jusk has reviewed their recent live show in Dublin here. […]

I saw S&D supporting Editors in Birmingham earlier this year. Have a cracking photo of the fronting singer!

Their latest album is packed with catchy pop tunes, but sounds too produced at the same time. I like the accents though! Gives the songs a distinctive touch.

[…] to get some mainstream radio play over here now, and deservedly so. They were enjoyable at Tripod a while back. It’s also a pretty apt song for me at the moment, as I’m having great difficulty […]