There's nothing attractive about shoddy housekeeping. So while we can roll out all manner of superlatives about the bonkers brilliance of SLUTS OF TRUST , the fact that the Glasgow duo have seemingly abandoned their duty to inform, educate and entertain (actually, maybe that's The Pop Cop's job) is really inexcusable. The evidence? Well, their official website hasn't been updated for two years, their Myspace page has been subjected to the internet equivalent of fly-posting and they haven't released any new music since 2004. [...]
It's a rare band who can make a studio recording do them justice when their gigs ooze electric energy, but WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS have accomplished just that. The Glasgow-based quartet's ridiculously limited three-song EP (just 101 copies) - which The Pop Cop picked up at their 13th Note show last month - somehow manages to capture the sound of something so raw without at all being rough around the edges. Opening track Quiet Little Voices is relentlessly hypnotic and [...]
Stop, look and listen. Not just good road safety advice but also the key to gauging the effectiveness of a support act. The Pop Cop first came across KATE WALSH when she opened for Stephen Fretwell at Glasgow's Oran Mor in May. It was one of those defining moments - a performer no one had heard of nor come to see grips the entire audience in the kind of revered silence that puts an end to conversation and trips to the bar. Of [...]
Sideways rain, Greggs queues, excessive friendliness, non-denominational schools, Senga and Boab, Irn Bru bottles, Mel Gibson... all of these things define what is truly means to be Scottish. And deep within this culture lies an often unspoken love of THE PROCLAIMERS . It's not something many people are brave enough to admit to in print, or even to themselves, but those first couple of bars of Sunshine On Leith can't fail to stir something in the soul of most Scots. The rousing anthems are only part of [...]
It's hard to feel an affinity for a band when their musical influence is so one-dimensional. Not only is there no room for doubt about who they've been brazenly stealing from, but you can't help but wonder what is to be gained from subjecting yourself to a watered down version of the real thing. Nevertheless there are a few acts who, with shocking defiance to our opening paragraph, have a rare class for recreating the sound of another without making you want to reminisce about the good old days like grandpa. Midlake somehow manage to make [...]
When MY LATEST NOVEL first appeared on the Scottish music scene, their name was bandied around so often that most folk knew what to expect before they'd even had a chance to hear them first-hand. Or at least they thought they did. Reports of the Greenock quintet's fondness for instrument swapping, multiple harmonies and a liberal use of strings came at a time when no other band had been burdened with the 'new Arcade Fire' tag. So when English label Bella Union [...]
Tenderness and noise, strings and screams, mild-mannered yet angry... AEREOGRAMME have always come across as a band of beautiful contradiction. The nice guys of post-rock have been a fixture of the Glasgow music scene for nearly a decade and the realisation that they will be playing their last-ever gig on Friday makes us genuinely sad. While most bands fail to exhibit any hint of possessing more than one string to their bow, Aereogramme really did offer the best of both worlds. Assuming, [...]
Most people would say MODEST MOUSE make 'alternative' music, but that tag takes on the air of the vaguely ridiculous when what we're talking about is a band whose last two albums have shifted a combined total of two million copies in their native America alone. At this point we're going to preempt your counter-argument that what we're actually referring to is the byproduct of linguistic development in popular culture (a can of worms whose opening will surely end in death by boredom or, worse still, the nature/nurture [...]
Date: August 16, 2007 Time: 20.30 Location: 13th Note, Glasgow Interview subjects: Frightened Rabbit Background info: Frightened Rabbit are a band based in Glasgow, comprising Selkirk-born Scott Hutchison (vocals, guitar), his brother Grant (drums) and Billy Kennedy (guitar). The band brought out Sing The [...]
Everyone has loved Idlewild at some point, but not necessarily the same point. The hardest of the hardcore reckon their early punk days of chaos and semi-structured noise was the most exciting time to jump on the Idlewild bandwagon. Others got on board as the decibels decreased between Hope Is Important and 100 Broken Windows. More still were drawn to The Remote Part, easily their most accomplished piece of work. As for the last two albums, well, let's just say more people have bought timeshares in Afghanistan. During this time [...]
It's easy to be intimidated by KING CREOSOTE . Not due to his regal moniker, hirsute features and intense stare, but because of the sheer shitload of records he has put his name to. The prolific Fifer has over two dozen recorded albums, but only three of these have been released through "official channels". And the fourth record Bombshell, released next month, is possibly about to see him find his place in the mainstream if the instant appeal of You've No Clue [...]
Pop quiz, hotshot: What do Karma Police, Nightswimming, Clocks, Sunburn, Fake Empire, 9 Crimes and Hoppípolla have in common? They all illustrate why the piano is the most affecting instrument in music. So it's no surprise REGINA SPEKTOR provokes such feverish excitement with The Pop Cop . The Moscow-born singer's gorgeously grandiose piano melodies form the backbone of her songs, which mix amusing lyrical stories with some unique vocal jousting. Her utterly alluring charm is more than backed up by an [...]
The return of SONS AND DAUGHTERS can't come soon enough. The much-loved Glaswegians have been in hibernation for two years working on the follow-up to The Repulsion Box and nobody has come close to filling the gap. After all, who else writes lyrics as if torn from the pages of a bestseller? The intensity of the imagery in their songwriting builds a poetic sense of drama that is matched by its soundtrack - frantic, restless and immensely satisfying. And if that wasn't [...]
Believe it or not, the majority of music festivals are doomed to failure. Most struggle to come even close to breaking even, crippled by astronomical running costs and poor ticket sales caused by apathy from punters who have already been there and bought the T in the Park shirt. The organisers of the inaugural Connect Music Festival have attempted to carve out their own niche in an already swamped market by describing their three-day bonanza as a "boutique event" - which, reading between the lines, clearly means "no neds, please". [...]
The fact that a band like GUILLEMOTS are thriving at the sharp end of today's musical climate proves just how gloriously all-embracing it is. The English/Scottish/Brazilian/Can adian group are adventurous, eccentric and a little bonkers - three qualities any major label would usually run a mile from. But not Guillemots. Their charm is so irresistible it's no surprise their carnival pop has brought unbridled cheer to mud-caked festival-goers this summer. But while other wunderkinds often allow their talent for invention to spiral out [...]
It's amazing how one song can make you rethink your opinion of a band you'd previously written off as a bunch of losers. Like a naked driver who has just realised he's missed his turn-off, HARD-FI have made The Pop Cop do an embarrassing U-turn. Their new single Suburban Knights is a swaggering beast of a tune like no other this year. Its rousing verses build to a call-to-arms chorus full of a-e-i-o-u harmonies that any idiot could sing [...]
Although Scotland is in the midst of its worst summer in decades, our music scene is enjoying something of a hot flush. There is a gaggle of new bands battling for attention and THE ADS have a fighting chance of being the country's next indie stallions. If the all the sharpest music brains in Scotland got together for a powwow, they would probably invent a band that sounded much like the East Kilbride foursome. Frontman Kemy sings with a thick Scottish brogue, they share [...]
Five years ago, you couldn't have named a band whose future career path whetted the appetite more than INTERPOL . That was when - on the back of their Fukd ID EP on Chemikal Underground - the New Yorkers revisited the darkest sounds of the 80s to create the entrancingly atmospheric Turn On The Bright Lights, an album so unlike anything else of its time (don't get us started on Editors) it relied on word of mouth [...]
Well I'll be damned. Howdy y'all! Excuse us for coming over all hillbilly but it's impossible not to draw your imagery pistols and grab your partner by the hand when you've just seen the next big thing... and they're a little bit country. Last night The Pop Cop ventured out to see Beerjacket's long-awaited return to the gigging scene and it was a double treat thanks to the unexpectedly impressive second band on the bill, THE WALLBIRDS . [...]
THE SHINS inspire the kind of adulation that, if you were ever to meet them in person, would surely end up in acute embarrassment. You'd find yourself uncontrollably blabbering to James Mercer about how extraordinary his lyrics are, how you made a mix tape of their songs while courting your true love and as a result your life has never been the same since. The American band's debut album Oh, Inverted World introduced mankind to New Slang, a song so moving it pretty much inspired an entire movie (Garden State); second album Chutes [...]
The Pop Cop
Bison - Quill
Neutral Milk Hotel- Aeroplane Over the Sea
Shinichi Osawa – Big Beach Mix 2012
