Be A Familiar - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Thu 1 Oct

Go to enough gigs in Scotland, and soon you’ll know what to expect. And I don’t just mean the overexcited, teenage Topshop-clad girls and their male peers who are never exactly sure whether to join in the dancing; nor that older sort who’s given his evening to alcohol and is having the time of his life …

All are in full supply at tonight’s gig, but what’s this too? Sweet boy/girl vocals? Pleasant acoustic strums? Trumpet accompaniment? Yes, it’s some more Scottish indie types.

For Be a Familiar are, well, familiar: as cosy and warm as a couch on a winter’s evening. But just as lacking in innovation too.

They do make you want to like them, though – the obvious sincerity in their performance could never give rise to cynicism, but it’s hard to be excited when you’ve seen it all before. The dancing girls enjoyed it, though. The drunk guy too.

www.myspace.com/beafamiliar