First up tonight, Dangermule who describe themselves as an “alternative cabaret punk rock band” from Edinburgh. The band kick off with the upbeat “Cavale” with its definite nod towards early punk, Dan has a good, strong voice and he and Fergus on lead guitar trade riffs nicely during their set with Al on bass and Jamie on drums keeping the rhythm going nicely. We hear a “Heartbeat” before entering the “House of Mirrors” which was one of my favourites from them tonight and it was a joy to watch Fergus on guitar, kind of reminded me of Siouxsie and the Banshees with its flow.
Another great track next in the form of “Hot House Violet”, the band keep the pace going nicely as we get “The Ballad of Jessie Jones” followed by “Stop the World” before ending their highly entertaining but short set with “Dancer of Romane” and I get the cabaret part of the description of the band now with this track’s dramatic flow. If you like your rock music a bit quirky but fun check the boys out during the festival and on Soundcloud, you may even break into a smile.
Next up were Stuffed Animals who were a guitarist down tonight so were performing as a three piece. We strangely get no tracks from last year’s self-titled EP but we do get a nice bass-driven sound from these Kirriemuir boys. I really enjoyed the bass sound from Lewis with its grungy overdrive sound, with Russell going it alone on guitar tonight and Jamie at the rear on drums.
The boys give us a grungy/alternative rock set with moody tracks like the opener “Sugar”, “Hard to Picture” and “Pol”. I really enjoyed the rockier “Sum of Us” and would really have liked to have heard it with the extra guitar which I think would really have filled out their sound tonight. The boys end a nice short set with “Of all the Things” with its catchy full on chorus, guitar and bass sections, catch the boys live and on Soundcloud. If you like your rock music a bit more indie rock driven with real nice fuzz-driven bass then these boys are the band for you. I would not mind catching them again as a full four piece to hear what difference the extra guitar makes.
The main event now with The Kut taking to the stage promoting the new album Valley of Thorns, we also have a new bass player this tour in the form of the lovely Stella Vie who hardly stayed still all night which is always a good thing. The band break into the “I Want You Maniac” with Maha’s distinctive guitar intro; always a crowd pleaser with its sing-along chorus. The grungier “Mario” followed by “I Don’t Need Therapy” are up next and it’s tracks like these that we see why they are sometimes compared to L7 and their ilk. The band are on fine form, laughing and enjoying themselves, nice to see new girl Stella totally rocking out with Diana tearing the drums up in the rear and Maha jumping about all over the stage.
The moody “Alekhine’s Gun” is followed by the rockier “If Looks Could Kill”, the girls are having a ball with Maha letting loose on this track and the crowd are enjoying every moment. We head back to the grunge side of things with “Burn Your Bridges” before the rocking guitar heralds “I am Vain” with its catchy chorus, one of my favourites of the night with Diana’s drums right up there along with Maha’s playing and Stella’s bass, a good single possibly, this one. The thumping drums and crunchy guitar heralds the coming of the “Bad Man” and we really are in L7 territory here, always a great track live.
We get to the end of a short but fun packed set now as the girls end with what else but the rocking “Hollywood Rock n Roll”, this is a band on fire following the release of their album which I would urge you all to get. I love these girls more than their often quoted American L7 counterparts and think their music is more consistent and better written but I’m sure there will be plenty out there who disagree with me. If the girls tour near you get down and a band who deserve to be huge, check out the girls’ music on Spotify and get the album, you will not be disappointed.
The Kut: official | facebook | twitter | bandcamp
Stuffed Animals: facebook | soundcloud
Dangermule: facebook | twitter | soundcloud
