Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
4 stars
Like those saved in the Velvet Underground song, 1990’s singer Jackie McKeown’s life was clearly saved by rock and roll. This can be the only explanation for what looks like a Damascene conversion from the wonky DIY indie of the then John McKeown and bassist Jamie McMorrow’s long lost outfit The Yummy Fair, a band whose alumni included future Franz Ferdinand members Alex Kapranos (then Huntly) and Paul Thomson, to the strung-out boy’s own boogie of 1990s. It’s as if drummer Michael McGaughrin injected the spirit of his old band, V-Twin, into McKeown before joining the party.
With Bernard Butler produced debut album Cookies just released by Rough Trade, this free warm-up show for competition winners from the forthcoming Rock Ness festival’s website shows off 1990s as a far smarter proposition than such implied excesses suggest. The opening Cult Status is one great big Glasgow band in-joke, Arcade Precinct is Lou Reed’s Vicious re-imagined by Jonathan Richman for a Gregory’s Girl remake, while See You At The Lights continues Glasgow’s love affair with Big Star in a spikier, less cosy fashion.
For all the trio’s world-weary sass and knowing strut, McKeown and co have a big bag of wit to accompany McKeown’s down-home and dirty guitar. It’s as if the decade they named themselves after was spent getting loaded, as was de rigeur back then, except 1990s took notes along with everything else. Yet for all their retro-styled cheek and a groovy frug through rock’s back pages that comes on like a beer-soaked soundtrack to Life On Mars, 1990s are a band on serious form. Cult status may be a life-saver yet.
The Herald, May 26th 2007
ends
4 stars
Like those saved in the Velvet Underground song, 1990’s singer Jackie McKeown’s life was clearly saved by rock and roll. This can be the only explanation for what looks like a Damascene conversion from the wonky DIY indie of the then John McKeown and bassist Jamie McMorrow’s long lost outfit The Yummy Fair, a band whose alumni included future Franz Ferdinand members Alex Kapranos (then Huntly) and Paul Thomson, to the strung-out boy’s own boogie of 1990s. It’s as if drummer Michael McGaughrin injected the spirit of his old band, V-Twin, into McKeown before joining the party.
With Bernard Butler produced debut album Cookies just released by Rough Trade, this free warm-up show for competition winners from the forthcoming Rock Ness festival’s website shows off 1990s as a far smarter proposition than such implied excesses suggest. The opening Cult Status is one great big Glasgow band in-joke, Arcade Precinct is Lou Reed’s Vicious re-imagined by Jonathan Richman for a Gregory’s Girl remake, while See You At The Lights continues Glasgow’s love affair with Big Star in a spikier, less cosy fashion.
For all the trio’s world-weary sass and knowing strut, McKeown and co have a big bag of wit to accompany McKeown’s down-home and dirty guitar. It’s as if the decade they named themselves after was spent getting loaded, as was de rigeur back then, except 1990s took notes along with everything else. Yet for all their retro-styled cheek and a groovy frug through rock’s back pages that comes on like a beer-soaked soundtrack to Life On Mars, 1990s are a band on serious form. Cult status may be a life-saver yet.
The Herald, May 26th 2007
ends
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