Indie Pop

The Stone Roses reform to play dates at Manchester's Heaton Park in summer 2012

19 Oct 2011

As you’ve no doubt heard, yet another cornerstone of the British music establishment has chosen to dust off its bucket hat and have it large with a reunion tour. This is no ordinary by-the-numbers reformation, though. This is The Stone Roses. Capable…

Sons & Daughters

17 Dec 2009

Sons & Daughters What better way to see in the bells this New Year than in the company of Sons & Daughters for a shimmering slice of indie pop. Joined by Sparkling Shadazz and Errors (with a DJ set) for a proper Hogmanay hoolie. Mono, Glasgow, Thu…

Camera Obscura

16 Apr 2009

This Glasgow band’s status as much-loved outsiders was amusingly encapsulated by a headline on the front page of The Guardian in 2007, linked to a feature inside summarising what readers thought to be unfair omissions from the paper’s list of 1000…

The Ballet

22 Jan 2009

INDIE POP Travelling thousands of miles from New York City to Europe for a tour is not something you’d expect a band to do half heartedly, so it was a shame to see Big Apple electronic indie pop softies The Ballet performing here in Glasgow with a…

Misty's Big Adventure - Television’s People

30 Oct 2008

From the glam Brummie ensemble – whose claim-to-fame so far was a 2006 video for ‘Fashion Parade’ guest starring Noddy Holder – comes album number four. Conceptual – about a depressed individual cocooned in his own environs and indeed, mind…

Scouting for Girls

27 Mar 2008

Part of the new wave of British acts eating up the charts with their infectious take on indie pop, tracks like ‘She’s So Lovely’ and ‘Elvis Ain’t Dead’ are a distinctly jaunty take on the formula, imbued with shrewd lyrics and a knowing smile. And as…

The Royal We

18 Oct 2007

INDIE POP The Royal We (Geographic) Brevity characterises Glasgow indie darlings The Royal We’s first (and final) album to the letter: it lasts just 15 minutes, contains only eight tracks, and roughly marks the band’s end, the sextet having already…

Dirty Projectors

18 Oct 2007

INDIE POP Rise Above (Rough Trade) Although the new album from New York singer-songwriter Dave Longstreth is pitched as a from-memory re-interpretation of Black Flag’s Damaged LP, there isn’t much here that will have old punks getting excited. With…

Reverend and the Makers

18 Oct 2007

INDIE POP The State of Things (Wall of Sound) So-called by friends because he loves preaching, ‘Reverend’ Jon McClure uses this début collection to fuse workaday Brit-culture musings with stomping indie dance beats. Throbbing, shouty and arrogant…

Ladybird •••, Kattparaden ••

20 Sep 2007

INDIE POP The Winchester Club@The Flying Duck, Glasgow, Sat 8 Sep The performance space (calling it a stage would be a stretch of the imagination) at Glasgow’s newest nightspot The Flying Duck is obviously far from ideal – not least because of…

Records - The Just Joans

18 Jun 2007

INDIE POP Problem page pop from a bunch of self-confessed puny losers from Motherwell? It shouldn’t work - hearing them sniff and sigh through bleak, downbeat stories about getting chucked in Strathclyde Park, or feeling they’ve missed their prime…

Duke Special - album review

Duke Special

10 Oct 2006

INDIE POP Judged on its own merit, this second release from the dreadlocked ‘boho-chic’ Belfast lad (bet you don’t get many of them) Peter Wilson has some fine moments. Opener ‘Wake Up Scarlett’ is a giant of a song, while ‘Everybody Wants a Little…