Limbo

The Gold Lions To get obvious comparisons out of the way, there is growing precedent for brutal blues bands, especially ones involving only a drummer and guitarist – from The White Stripes, to The Black Keys, to local boys Bronto Skylift. In any case there’s no hiding behind a wall of sound. As luck would [...]

Maydays They open with a thumping Rolling Stones tom drum and Beach Boys harmonies, matched with what sounded like Eagles lyrics – “lines on the mirrors, lines on their faces…” They filter California sunshine through the drizzle of Britain, epitomised by ‘Eternal Optimist’, warning that despite a cheery outlook, “You might find yourself on the [...]

The Lotus Project A piercing vocal floats above dangerous sounding strums. These haunting, stalking almost-ballads are effortlessly evocative, calling to mind the desolate badlands of the Midwest. American Gothic, if you will. A sharp dress code of sombre shirts completes the effect, and demonstrates the band making a real effort. None more so than in [...]

Will Hanson Dynamics are such a key element to an enthralling performance, it’s always upsetting when a band forget them. Thankfully, Will Hanson and his trio are not afraid to use light and shade. At heart these are lovingly crafted singer-songwriter songs, with intriguing lyrics to match. “Angels with bite marks are waiting for me…” [...]

Pet Murky, haunting and desolate. Pet build atmospheric songs. On some they weave little more than glitches, pop, swishes, clicks and twitches. Meanwhile, the vocals are used mostly as an instrument, being fed through a reverb/echo box until they bear no relation to the human voice. It is at these times that Pet are at [...]

Plastic Animals Plastic Animals build layers of sound. A bass dances. A guitar wails. Distorted howling. It cascades onto everyday pop songs to give them a character all of their own. One intro feels like paragliding over Iceland; the soundscape suggesting huge, abrupt topography while the guitar adds whistles through rocky crags. For all the [...]

“A cornucopia of electronic delights” – thus the evening is introduced, very aptly, by Miaoux Miaoux. And it is he who kicks things off. Miaoux Miaoux Just a man with a guitar occupies the stage. Around him are various little boxes of electronic jiggery-pokery. The ‘man with guitar’ shtick points towards a singer-songwriter. And indeed [...]

Blank Canvas There’s nothing better than the immediacy of chest-vibrating tom drum beats. Add a beefy bass line and jaggy guitar and you’ve got a potent combination. On top of this, the singer urgently bellows. It all sounds a bit like Interpol, but you know, good. ‘Deadlock’ is a potential anthem. “We lost our heads,” [...]

Iona Marshall Iona elegantly dispenses any doubt that just one person can enthrall a room. On stage, she seems utterly relaxed, her banter almost nonchalant. But this belies a polished performance. A voice capable of expressing every emotion is brought to the fore with immaculate mic control. She uses loop pedal on almost every song [...]

While support acts The Young Spooks and Snide Rhythms were both Limbo alumni, Her Royal Highness hadn’t played the club before and had only done select gigs around the rest of Edinburgh as well as choosing to launch debut album The First at this gig, so it was quite hotly anticipated.  It didn’t disappoint either [...]