According to recent reports, guitar bands are at their lowest ebb.
That might be true in terms of conventional sales, but this latest instalment in the New Year's Revolution series proved there's many a band doing interesting things within rock's confines.
Admittedly, the fluid rhythmic time shifts of openers Lady North are unlikely to set the charts alight, but the pop world might be in better straits if they did, given the unerring strength of the tunes in the Aberdonian trio's noisy, all instrumental set.
They weren't quite as eyecatching as Natalie Pryce, though, a suited and booted foursome who already seemed to boast substantial confidence, given they came equipped with videos flickering on the wall and a set-closing number that featured a spoken-word vocal. A tad pretentious, some might find, but they certainly proved different from the majority of acts on the Scottish scene, with a frontman in Mark Swan who hollered and raged like Nick Cave. He was aided by some superbly insistent, loping basslines a delightful tendency by the band to deliver waves of noise with poise. Hugely impressive.
Hunt/Gather proved more energetic, and they flung themselves around with commendable gusto. Their screaming songs were, however, not quite the finished article, meaning it was a steady set, rather than thrilling.
United Fruit, however, are more complete. The Glasgow four-piece's set was rousing, modern rock at its best, crammed with chunky riffs and catchy yet clever hooks, with Don't Leave Me Alone already sounding gargantuan. The band's power in full flight could stir even the most catatonic subject from slumber.
HHHH
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article