T in the Park 2008

Sorry for the delay. I've contributed a few blurbs to a big article for The Skinny. The full article is here, excerpts and other comments are below.

Before I've seen a single band, the boss has set us up with an interview with Gareth, lead singer of Los Campesinos! I meet him in the artists backstage area, sitting on a bed while a wholly unrecognisable indie band plays pool beside us. He's good chat, actually, a warm and funny guy who goes on one particularly hilarious rant about Loose Women (the TV show, not the... looseness of women) and Jordan's son, Harvey. Not sure if it's printable, or if we'd ruin their career (he needs a PR person to sit beside him and say "we retract that statement"). Later we go and watch his band perform in the King Tuts Tent. It's a huge tent and the crowd seems pretty small (they've a lot of young fans). I've written about their album before on this blog, I think it has lots of lovely moments and You! Me! Dancing!, the build and release, is absolutely brilliant here. Shame the crowd was so small (numerically, not the... physicality).

I’m sure The Music were never this popular before. Fans are literally bounding into the King Tuts Tent to get close to the new look Robert Harvey, shaven headed and bulkier, very different from the lanky long-haired hippy of 2002. And when they find a groove The Music know how to pump it: The People is especially riotous; everyone’s going apeshit. Carling don’t do comebacks, but Tennent’s obviously do. [ab]

From where I’m standing, the Chemical Brothers seem jaded. There’s crossed arms and frowns to the left of me, dancers to the right, but they’re dancing because they think they should, not because the beats are making them. We’ve seen these visuals before too. Star Guitar and Out of Control are well received, but there’s little connection elsewhere, so I leave to catch The Verve. [ab]

There’ll always be a nostalgic appeal to The Verve for fans of a certain age: but before Bittersweet Symphony, Richard Ashcroft does his best to inflate his own ego while simultaneously belittling the entire crowd. "Does anyone here know what it's like to write a classic?" he says. “You don’t have to rub it in”, we say. [ab]

Richard Ashcroft thinks he is JESUS, by the way.

dEUS the next morning at the NME/Radio 1 Stage. The crowd was shamefully small - less than 50 I'm sure - which kinda infringed the whole event.

Will Young doesn’t need to do much to convince his flock of adoring young fans of the worth of a soppy ballad. But even for a pop star, this populism is stunningly manipulative: a highland jig, a Groundskeeper Willie accent, and a 500 Miles singalong, all to much acclaim for Lovely Will. I leave before he brings out the kilt and bagpipes. [ab]

I thought he actually might be greeted with bottles of piss, but the tent was chock-a-block with young girls screaming for Non-Threatening Will. His attempts at ingratiation were actually quite hilarious, though I don't think he meant them to be.


In the hospitality area, we were being treated to a live performance from some rubbish jam band playing on the back of a lorry. But who's that drummer? It's only former Formula 1 boss Eddie Jordan! This band, Eddie & The Robbers, were incredibly due to headline one of the tents on Sunday night, after Hot Chip asked to not go directly up against Primal Scream, REM, Prodigy and Aphex Twin. So, get a bit of money together and you can headline T In The Park then, is that the deal? Anyway, such little attention was paid to Eddie & The Robbers in the hospitality area (as you can see on the left - only photographers were interested) that their headline slot was swapped, at the last minute, for a mid-afternoon slot, giving the Brian Jonestown Massacre a chance to headline. Apparently they were shit, too.

But...

This feels epochal. It’s not that Glasvegas play better than usual or anything like that: rather, the crowd response, in a Futures Tent packed full 20 minutes before kick-off, is unprecedented. This band only have one full single, yet every word of every song is belted out at full volume by a rapturous audience in thrall to James Allan. Not only does Glasvegas’ greatest ever gig confirm their big time arrival, it also demonstrates the awesome viral power of fan-shot YouTube videos. Now this is the gig to search for. [ab]

Yeah so I wasn't really impressed with Glasvegas, but that's kinda beside the point. The crowd reaction was unbelievable - I was there with Billy Hamilton, and the two of us spent most of the gig gawking at the chaos around us. I met them afterwards too, and they were thoroughly lovely people from what I could tell. But I have gone off them, as a band, since hearing the re-recordings of their early songs which are now on their myspace. They new versions are over-produced, the epic quality of their sound used to feel spacious but now it feels flat, and some A&R bozo has obviously told James Allan to emphasise his Scottish accent. It sounds fake now; may as well be Mel Gibson. What I admired Glasvegas for was that they were both very real (they sung in their real accents, using real local slang and lyrical references), and very unreal (the detached rockstar glam even while playing in tiny venues) . That detachedness allowed them to be earnestly emotional about a cause of grief for loads of young men - absent fathers, a topic which is very much under-represented in pop music - without coming across as whiney or wet. Well, that authenticity is quickly evaporating since they've signed to a major label. They still don't sound whiney or wet, but now they sound whipped. They have the Major Label Sound and it's ruining them IMO.

Sunday, and Yeasayer (above) are fucking brilliant. That's all I can say, really. I interviewed the bass player a few months ago, wrote up a feature on them, and have still never heard the album. Wasn't expecting much, but the whole 25-minute set was such a thrill, I've completely forgotten it. But everyone agreed.


That's more than can be said for Battles (above), who split opinion between me (reasoned, calm critic) and everyone else (irrational, emotional fanboys). I used to respond to Battles chat with a reasoned, calm "wank wank wank" analysis, but now I see better. While still obviously very influenced by The Wank - very Wank-esque you might say - "wank, wank, wank" is a little harsh. Battles' technical prowess is obvious, as exemplified by their frankly awesome drummer. But too often that’s used as free reign to fanny about, to randomly slap at the keyboard or squeal an off-key guitar chord in the name of the avant-garde. If only all of their forcefully rhythmic attacks crystallised into palpable songs as well as on the bonkers Atlas, they’d be the greatest band in the world.[ab]

The T-Break tent is half-full, but every soul here is crooning “I’ll get my hole!” like it’s divine truth – even the girls are singing it - and when the chorus kicks in it’s utterly triumphant. Everyone rouses from the spell, rubs their eyes in the sunlight, and wishes they were back under. Tonight Matthew, Frightened Rabbit (below) are simply magic.[ab]


Logistical problems notwithstanding, Amy Winehouse would really suit a late slot in a big tent more than a daytime slot on the Main Stage. At times seeming bored, scared shitless by the crowd, or distracted, Amy’s untuneful warbles do her no justice today. But then, I’m nine miles from the stage, and those closer in are more interested in whether she’ll live to the end of her set than in her singing. She does. [ab]

Justice are a bit flat (or maybe I'm just knackered). But then Holy Fuck are a revelation - even to my tired soul and weary legs. I danced like a lunatic - not drunk/drugged - must've looked like a fanny. Again, like Yeasayer, I was so busy enjoying it I can't remember it much. Only that I loved it, and that it was much better than Battles. Then we got interviewed for the telly, or something, someone shoved a camera in front of us and started asking us about "Tennents' unique qualities". It's the only beer at the festival, that's why I'm drinking it. That's not the unique quality they were looking for.

When he’s not doing Firestarter or Breathe, which both go down fucking mentally, The Prodigy's Keith Flint just parades about, gurning like a lunatic. That’s it. It’s Maxim who’s the star of this show, a show which is flat for spells but rescued by the madness that accompanies the hits. Who wouldn’t freak out to Poison or Out of Space? Psychopathy has never been so appealing. [ab]


(ps. I promise never to write "x has never been so appealing" again)

T in the Park: and a chat with Los Campesinos!

It's Friday evening and The Skinny is at T in the Park, along with 70,000 or so Scottish music fans. The bars are just opening, but there's a mile-long queue outside of late arrivals still hoping to set up camp. They'll have to hurry because the bands are about to start. On tonight's half-length line-up we're looking forward to reformed headliners The Verve, and veteran headliners The Chemical Brothers; but that's a direct clash, so it'll be a tough choice. Elsewhere there's the Stereophonics and the Wombats, the second coming of The Music, local hero KT Tunstall, and festival favourites Feeder. The Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson has been hanging around, and we just spotted a steamin' Eddie Jordan stoating about in hospitality.

The site's been mostly dry all day so far, but the rain has just come on and The Skinny blames Rain Wizard Gareth, Los Campesinos! lead singer, who we've just been talking to. "The rain is a good thing to us because we're playing in a tent. I think we probably share a similar fan base to The Wombats," he cackled, "but if it rains, we have shelter on our side": and with that, Gareth clapped his hands and unleashed hell. Well, a small downpour. Luckily, the Welsh indie-popsters are only here for tonight, so we should be able to avoid a mudbath. They have three other festivals to attend this weekend, but that means gutted Gareth won't be around to see Will Young here on Saturday. "I would genuinely like to see Will Young," he said. "I think he's a brilliant pop artist, and he seems such a charming, genuine guy. I think it's brave of him to play here, a lot of people won't like him. It's nice when people put pop bands on rather than the same guitar bands. Festivals are so much fun, we play 30 minute sets of our fastest, most upbeat songs, we can exhaust ourselves, we don't have long tedious soundchecks, we just do it and then get off and watch other bands, and there's lots of free beer!" But for Gareth, the main clash tonight isn't between Richard Ashcroft's return and the Ed & Tom Big Beat spectacular, but between The Futureheads and Blood Red Shoes. "We're going to see Blood Red Shoes, they're our mates, but Futureheads are on at the same time. I've not listened to their new record but their first was a big favourite of ours at Uni. Neil's got a really funny photograph on his computer of when we met the Futureheads when we were about 18, and we've both got ludicrous hair and we just look so much younger. We want to show them that and say - look how we've grown!" We've no doubt the Futureheads would be delighted to get a copy of that photograph themselves. "Look, that was us meeting Los Campesinos!" they'd say, "well before they were big!"

We also managed to get a Los Campesinos! update, of sorts. "There is a lot of news coming soon, but I'm not at liberty to mention it now," Gareth said. Any clues? "It's a tour and a release before the end of the year" he added. So you mean a UK tour and an EP release? "I can't possibly say!" But you're winking aren't you? "I was squinting!" That's enough for us.

The Skinny will be reporting from T in the Park all weekend, so keep your eyes on the blog for more updates!

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster

The long and the short of it...

I wrote two different-lengthed reviews of this album for the Skinny, so the question is - how long's your attention span? Goldfish should scroll down a little for the wee wan...

700-word review for The Skinny website

Los Campesinos! – Hold On Now, Youngster (Wichita) (***)

Don’t overlook the exclamation mark in Los Campesinos!, or that there was three chks in the title of their much-hyped 2006 debut “You! Me! Dancing!”. This is a band that loves to exclaim!, preferring child-like free expression to the staid social graces of adulthood. You’ll know what I mean if you know that song, an early demo of which provoked blog hysteria almost 18 months ago before finding it’s way onto every discerning indie dancefloor set in town. It was a rhapsodic ode to joyous abandon that deserved the acclaim it received, but it emerged such a long time ago that Los Campesinos! have had eons to consider how to repeat the trick for an entire album - and how to rise to the challenge of meeting rising expectations. Hold On Now, Youngster will meet the expectations of all but the most unreasonably smitten fan in every way but one: the album is sorely let down by the loudness of the production.

Whatever volume you’ve happy with for the first few seconds, when the main guitar riff of “Death to Los Campesinos!” kicks in you’ll want to turn it down. Then again, at the start of second song “Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats”, the bandmates yell “1, 2, 3, 4!” in stereo-effect, and it’s still too loud. It beggars belief how nobody could have noticed this before release: Los Campesinos! are the last band to need extra volume in their production. Their music is already bouncy and exuberant to the extent that many critics find them irritating to the point of distraction. The opening twelve minutes of Hold On Now, Youngster are almost relentlessly annoying, particularly that second track which features more shouting, guitar lines, synths and beeps racing each other at breakneck speed, and a hi-hat slopping like a trebly mess all over it. The first enjoyable moment of the album is when it slows and softens with the introduction of violins, blending carefully into “Don’t Tell Me To Do The Math(s)”, which itself then launches into a noisy sprint that doesn’t let up for five more minutes.

So it’s testament to the strength of the final thirty minutes that Hold On Now, Youngster can still be considered a success of sorts. The sexual chemistry in the boy/girl vocals comes to the fore in the delightful “My Year In Lists”, which features the best of Los Campesinos! lyrical wit in the opening lines and in the ambiguous hook. “Knee Deep at ATP” provides further evidence of Los Campesinos! ability to be subtle when they put their mind to it. It ends with fast guitars and shouting, but after the carefully constructed build-up it’s far from the exasperating trial experienced earlier. “And We Exhale And Roll Our Eyes In Unison” shows they can reverse that process too, beginning with a hyperactive swing that threatens to unwind before tightening again for a slower, anthemic outro that will have festival crowds singing along all this summer.

Throughout, Los Campesinos! greatest weapons are their lyrics, and their violinist. Anyone can have a fast-paced wiry guitar band and claim an indie-disco hit these days, but Los Campesinos! are set apart by the gentle counterpoint of the strings, and the wittiness of their vocals. One song, titled “This is how you spell “ha ha ha” I have destroyed the hopes and dreams of a generation of faux-romantics and I’m pleased”, exemplifies both these strengths, with the hilarious title chanted joyfully in the chorus while a high violin line hangs in suspense over the verses, eager to drop in. If it can be said that Los Campesinos! were charged from the outset with the task of replicating the greatness of “You! Me! Dancing!” for the length of an album, this track is where they get closest.

It’s just so unfortunate that Hold On Now, Youngster is prevented from being a true indie-pop classic by the poor choices taken over the first twelve minutes. In the circumstances, it’s worth being creative with: don’t rip the first four tracks, pretend they don’t exist. “My Year In Lists” is the very first track, nudge nudge, of a short but perfectly formed debut LP.


--------------------------------------------------



Capsule review for The Skinny

Los Campesinos! – Hold On Now, Youngster (Wichita) (***)

You’ll have gathered from their name and their anthemic debut demo “You! Me! Dancing!” that Los Campesinos! like to exclaim! and shout! like hyperactive kids! They don’t need any more bounce in their step, but unfortunately the much anticipated debut album Hold On Now, Youngster suffers from trying too hard to add more punch in the production, meaning the breakneck-paced first four tracks are horribly loud and annoying. It’s a real shame because the remaining half-an-hour is so strong that it clearly shows Los Campesinos! have the talent in them to make an indie-pop classic. This isn’t quite it, despite the new version of that dancefloor-smashing demo, and several more tracks that replicate it’s greatest strengths: witty and charming lyrics, boundless youthful energy, and violin lines that provide a harmonious counter-balance to the quick and wirey guitar and keyboard motifs. As a front-to-back listen, Hold On Now, Youngster can be trying; but if you start it at the fifth track, there’s plenty to get excited about.