Chris Cope

Cobra Starship - Hot Mess

17 Feb 2010

(Atlantic) This latest offering from New York electro boppers Cobra Starship features some pretty disposable tracks, like the lacklustre ‘Fold Your Hands Child’ (a nod to the album of the same name by Scots twee-heroes, Belle & Sebastian) but when…

Killswitch Engage

11 Jan 2010

‘This is the Taste Of Chaos tour, not the Taste Of Tampons tour’, says Killswitch Engage guitarist and general oddball Adam Dutkiewicz, before requesting that the now pungently perspired crowd pogo up and down and side to side again once…

Porcupine Tree

ABC, Glasgow, Fri 11 Dec 2009

8 Jan 2010

When a band play their new album in full without barely taking a breath, you know they’re either a tad self absorbed and wrongfully rate their album as fantastic, or, the album is actually pretty fantastic. Tonight UK prog-merchants Porcupine Tree…

Thank you

13th Note, Glasgow, Mon 2 Nov 2009

13 Nov 2009

Ironically, Thank You seem pretty appreciative tonight. They thank the support bands multiple times and the assembled crowd too, who form an exclusive club of culture vulture meets prog nerds at the cosy, vegetarian café cum dingy basement that is the…

Dream Theater - SECC, Glasgow, Sun 11 Oct

Prog rockers entertain

15 Oct 2009

Progressive metal godfathers Dream Theater are here tonight for their Progressive Nation tour, and they bring with them some buddies who share their insatiable love for odd-timings and guitar wankery. Sub-headliners Opeth impress with their melancholic…

Miss The Occupier - Bar Bloc, Glasgow, Wed 30 Sep

Small crowd, big entertainment

2 Oct 2009

‘We are Miss the Occupier, but most of you already know that,’ says the enchanting Roz Davies, the band’s pink haired front-woman, and unfortunately, this is probably true. It’s a sparse crowd indeed, but the music certainly isn’t lacking from this…

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue

17 Sep 2009

AC/DC aside, prematurely losing your lead singer is often fatal for bands. Grunge icons Alice in Chains of course lost Layne Staley in 2002 to years of well-documented drug (mis)use, but Black Gives Way to Blue will give them belief that they made the…

Every Time I Die - New Junk Aesthetic

16 Sep 2009

(Epitaph) Every Time I Die’s last two albums were aptly entitled Gutter Phenomenon and The Big Dirty, showcasing the American noiseniks’ gruff and salacious sound. Their latest effort is little different. An unpredictable smorgasbord of neck-whipping…

InMe

Essex rockers show off their new album

3 Sep 2009

InMe have had a bit of a rough time in recent years. The alt.rock band went from being the poster boys of a teenage generation – with tracks like the brooding ‘Firefly’ regularly on music television in the early 00s and helping to win an army of devoted…

Terry Reid and The Fortunate Sons - Winchester Club, Glasgow, 29 Aug

The blues maestro plays Glasgow

3 Sep 2009

Roll’n’roll folklore states that he turned down overtures from Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but tonight blues maestro Terry Reid joins forces with Glasgow outfit The Fortunate Sons. It seems, however, less of an amalgamation of musical wits than might…

Twin Atlantic - ABC Glasgow, Wed 29 Jul 2009

11 Aug 2009

Twin Atlantic are one of Scotland’s buzz bands. The Glaswegians have already notched up an enviable list of support slots, including with our very own Biffy Clyro, and have been handpicked to open for the Smashing Pumpkins. And tonight, they’ve been…

Super Adventure Club - Captain's Rest, Glasgow, Thu 6 Aug 2009

11 Aug 2009

It’s not very often that a local band comes along and turns your head so much that you’re gyrating like an owl, but Super Adventure Club certainly do the trick. They’re here to bring their super-inventive, jazzy, experimental rock-outs to the ears of…

T In The Park – Friday

13 Jul 2009

Chris Cope reviews the acts making a big splash at the first night of T.

Jocasta Sleeps

9 Jul 2009

It could be said the Scottish alternative music scene is threatening to become over-saturated with Biffy Clyro clones, accent and guitar attack in tow, so where are the bands capable of transcending this rut? Well, we may well have just found one.

Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West

25 Jun 2009

(Weathermaker) Clutch are one of those bands who constantly find themselves outside the circle of mainstream music, and unfortunately, it seems they’ll never transcend the fringes. This is their ninth studio effort and, rather unspectacularly, keeps…

Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage

25 Jun 2009

(Roadrunner) It seems that for today’s metal bands to achieve success, they’ve got to be able to mix the traditional guttural distortion with clean melody and soaring choruses – and Killswitch Engage are premier purveyors of this dichotomy. This…

T in the Park: Future music

25 Jun 2009

Chris Cope picks eight faces new to T in the Park eager to show some love in Balado

Brand New

11 Jun 2009

ROCK Like a dozy-eyed mammal emerging post-hibernation, American rockers Brand New are resurfacing after what has seemed like a slumbersome last couple of years. And it’s good news, for instead of catching up on 40,000 winks and conserving energy…

Cobra Starship - Garage, Glasgow, Thu 22 May

28 May 2009

This has been a long time coming for New York City-bred tykes Cobra Starship. Their last two dates in Glasgow were postponed, so third time lucky – it seems. It appears they may have booked the wrong venue however, with the crowd akin more to a youth…

Exposure: Serpico

28 May 2009

It seems to be quite a quick rise to fame. How did it all get started? Not that quick! We formed the band in mid-2005 and released our EP at the start of 2007. It got some nice reviews and we’ve basically been on the road as much as possible since…

Exposure: Oscar Charlie

5 May 2009

Oscar Charlie are musical immigrants. The unsigned indie band came to Glasgow from the Shetland Islands as a trio riding on a wave of major label interest with the intent to furrow themselves a path into the mainland music scene. Along the way they…

Exposure: Miss The Occupier

23 Apr 2009

‘Indie punk-rock may never have been so glamorous’ proclaims Miss The Occupier’s MySpace site, and who’s to disagree? This female-fronted trio from Glasgow is headed by an electrifying pink bob that’s sure to add an aura of glamour to any occasion.

Beltane Fire Festival

16 Apr 2009

What’s that coming over Calton Hill? Yes, it’s the annual Beltane Fire Festival, complete with fire, frolics and lashings of body paint. Celebrating the beginning of the summer season, the unique festival draws inspiration from ancient Gaelic traditions…

Exposure: Sucioperro

14 Apr 2009

Say hello to Sucioperro, if their exotic sounding name hasn’t crossed your path already. They’re the next band to follow in the Ayrshire footsteps left by the inimitable Biffy Clyro, which certainly ain’t any easy thing to do. Borrowing Biffy’s crashing…