[Broken Records on stage at T. Picture: Su Anderson]
The Radar-mobile raced up the M90 on Saturday morning (without breaking the speed limit, officer) to scope out the best new music at T in the Park this year. Already a bit miffed that we’d missed sets by Ming Ming & the Ching Chings and Dead Boy Robotics the previous night, we were determined to make amends over the two days by going where the tabloid hacks fear to tread. And what a day Saturday turned out to be …
The French Quarter
T Break Stage, 1.40pm
With rumours that the band had broken up floating around Balado earlier in the day, it’s both a pleasure and a relief to see Stirling’s The French Quarter take to the stage.
Awash in swathes of blue light and shimmering guitars, the band play a sublime set, taking the emergent song structures of post-rock and adding melancholic vocals and elaborate layers of instrumentation, from keyboards to xylophones. The brave decision to play new material, recorded with members of Mogwai, whets appetites for what will surely be great things to come from the band.
The majestic ‘Time to Leave’ closes the set, its ethereal keyboard and slide guitar intro gradually giving way to a steady, pulsating rhythm and leaving no doubt as to why The French Quarter are regarded as one of Scotland’s premier unsigned acts. [JM]
Sucioperro
T Break Stage, 2.30pm
Having secured a timeslot clashing with Lady Gaga on the main stage, Sucioperro were always going to prove a draw for punters hungry for substance over spectacle, but the Ayrshire alt rock outfit have surpassed all expectations by packing the T Break tent to capacity.
The band’s enthusiasm is somehow surpassed by the crowd’s, with a circle pit forming within seconds of the first chord of opener ‘Tem V Com’ ringing out, in spite of the baking heat. Though somewhat hampered by muddy sound, Sucioperro’s eight-song set delivers choice cuts from new album Pain Agency as well as a sprinkling of older material, with penultimate song ‘The Final Confessions of Mabel Stark’ a particular highlight. [JM]
Unicorn Kid
BBC Introducing Stage, 3.30pm
Just 17, Unicorn Kid (AKA Oliver Sabin) isn’t even old enough to sip the nectar that sponsors the Balado shindig. But that doesn’t stop the electro-bending prodigy kicking up one hell of a storm on the BBC Introducing stage.
Adorning his obligatory lion-shaped headgear, the Leith-born prodigy blurts out reams of Gameboy-inspired bleeps and wonky synth notes to an insatiable contingent of similarly aged hip-flingers. Teasing the crowd into a Haribo-induced frenzy, Sabin struts his hyperactive stuff as if playing to a house party of Skins worshipping teens and not one of the UK’s largest music festivals.
Once the last deranged beat drops into the ether, a sweat-soaked Sabin greets his adoring masses with full moonbeam smile and a triumphant shake of the fist. Perhaps next year he can celebrate with something a little stronger than Orange Juice? [BH]
Young Fathers
BBC Introducing Stage, 5pm
Lauded throughout the blogosphere’s hype-driving microcosm, Edinburgh’s Young Fathers have a right to feel disappointed in the sparse turnout for their TitP showing. Maybe it was a question of scheduling or perhaps their glam-hop fare just didn’t fit with Balado’s alcohol-intense disposition, but as the psychedelically garbed trio took to the stage the polite smattering of applause was telling.
Yet what ensued over the next half-hour was worthy of a more illustrious and appreciative platform. By battling the initial ambivalence with a spate of Outkast-like beats and tongue-knotting rhymes, the band’s party-time ethos rose to the fore; stirring the attention of curious waifs and strays making their way back from the Main Stage
And if their hook-heavy tunes weren’t enough to convince that this is an act on an upward trajectory, their perfectly choreographed dance routines and pistol-quick quips, surely, remove all doubt.
Today’s TitP show might have been lightly-attended, but this time next year Young Fathers should be preparing for much, much bigger things. [BH]
Broken Records
BBC Introducing Stage, 7.45pm
It’s been a tumultuous 18 months for Edinburgh’s Broken Records. After an inaugural baptism of praise, the instrumentally-endowed septet’s debut LP, Until the Earth Begins to Part, was shredded by the sharpened claws of the UK’s music press core.
Champing at the bit to prove they’re more than just a flash in TitP’s airfield-sized pan, the group storm through a set brimming with the same feral intensity that made the early day showings such breathless propositions.
Breakneck renditions of live favourites ‘If the News Makes You Sad…’ and ‘A Good Reason’ fizz the crowd into a sea of flailing limbs and sweaty torsos that verges on utter discord. Thankfully, closing candle-burner ‘Slow Parade’ restores order; uniting punters and band via the glory of heart-struck song.
The slog’s been troubled, but on this performance Broken Records prove they’re more than up to the challenge. [BH]
Bronto Skylift
T Break Stage, 8.20pm
Confounding all logic, Glasgow two-piece noise rockers Bronto Skylift somehow manage to be the loudest band to grace the T Break tent all weekend. On stage, the secrets behind Bronto’s massive wall of sound are revealed quickly enough, with frontman Niall Strachan jacking into no less than four amps at the same time and wielding an impressive array of pedals.
It’s all too much for some people to take, with a few casualties staggering out clutching their ears as Iain Stewart’s snare drum hits reached ear-splitting levels. Those who do stay, however, are rewarded with a breathtaking set and an impromptu jam session with the band, as Strachan takes his guitar into the crowd to close the show, paying no heed to minor details like instrument cables and panicking stewards. [JM]
Trapped in Kansas
T Break Stage, 9.10pm
After only a year in existence, Trapped in Kansas are headlining the T Break stage. That’s no small feat, but could the West Coast band back up their billing? At least they don’t seem nervous, cheekily announcing themselves as The Killers.
Aside from a few sound problems early on, the aplomb with which they take such complex musical wares to the live table casts any doubt aside.
An enthusiastically vocal crowd – most of whom seem to be cheering on guitarist Gregor – obviously appreciate their brand of yearning, icily melodic post-rock, and by the end of set-closer ‘The Idiot’ they have grown into their headliner status, delivering a set that turns out to be much more killer
than filler. [NM]
Words: Billy Hamilton, Jodi Mullen, Nick Mitchell
Our verdict on Sunday will be online later this week…
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