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Page 1: NEWMUSIC - WordPress.com ·  · 2015-04-18FORFANSOF:FooFighters,Muse, QueensOfTheStoneAge. JIMSAYS:Afternearly20years,Baby ... fans of, you’re trying to pull your best out. “It

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BABY CHAOSWHO: Chris Gordon (vocals/guitar), GrantMcFarlane (guitar/vocals), Bobby Dunn(bass), Davy Greenwood (drums).WHERE:Glasgow.FOR FANS OF: Foo Fighters, Muse,Queens Of The Stone Age.JIM SAYS: After nearly 20 years, BabyChaos are back in the limelight with athird album.

One of Scotland’s great rock hopes inthe 90s, they weren’t without success.

Debuting with the first ever release onElectric Honey Records out of the thenStow College — now Glasgow KelvinCollege — they paved the way for laterreleases from the likes of Belle &Sebastian and Biffy Clyro.

Signing to a major label, they releasedtwo critically acclaimed albums.

Their second release, Love Your SelfAbuse, was even voted into the Top 100British albums of all time by readers ofKerrang! magazine in 1995.

They later morphed into a band calledDeckard, signing to the legendaryReprise label.

So why is the time right for a return forBaby Chaos?

Chris Gordon said: “I had been busywith other bands and record deals (UnionOf Knives, Regency Buck) and I was alsoproducing records for a number of otherartists.

“A space opened up where I was able tocommit some time to this.

“We have had such great enduringfriendships that really the idea of spendingtime together writing and recording arecord seemed very appealing.

“Having ventured off in many differentmusical directions with some otherprojects I wasn’t sure I would be up foranother rock record.

“But I found it really liberating singing at

the top of my voice and thrashing away atthe guitar!”

The new album Skulls, Skulls, Skulls,Show Me The Glory sounds anything but athrowback, but it won’t disappoint BabyChaos fans from back in the day.

A slab of riff-heavy melodic rock, it’s verymuch a contemporary record.

Recapturing their old energy, they’vemanaged to create a record that actuallysounds like a fresh debut rather than aband retracing their roots.

Chris admits it wasn’t easy to initially getback into the swing of things.

He said: “I won’t lie to you, we were rusty,but even in the early rehearsals you couldhear little signs of what it actually mightbecome.

“I think we are now sounding even betterthan in our pomp in ’96, which is a fairachievement.”

The way the music industry hasdeveloped in recent years means that thistime round they don’t need the weight of amajor label behind them to get their musicout there.

The digital revolution has given bandsthe power to self-release effectively andmake an impact on fans.

Various packages are available whenordering the album online, and if you buy itdirect from the band’s website you canalso receive a bonus EP.

Chris said: “Bands can forge ahead ontheir own in a way that simply wasn’tpossible when we were kicking about inthe ’90s.

“Sure it takes a lot of hard work anddedication but if you don’t have that andyou expect it all to fall in your lap then youare almost certainly going to be stuckstrumming in your bedroom until your hairturns grey anyway. It’s a great time to be ina band I think.”

The next gig for Baby Chaos will beon-stage at Stereo in Glasgow tomorrownight.MORE: www.babychaos.com.lJim presents Drivetime on XFMScotland, Monday to Friday 4-7pm.xfm.co.uk, jimgellatly.com

By JIMGELLATLYNEWMUSIC

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ONE 2 SEEDJANGODjango are another ofour own homegrown talents.Despite now living in London,the boys— Vincent Neff, DavidMaclean, Tommy Grace andJimmy Dixon— formed inEdinburgh in 2009.They’ll be back up the road ontour, playing Aberdeen andGlasgow onMay 2 and 3.They’re promoting smashingnew album Born Under Saturn.They’re well worth seeing andtheir talents deserve a biggerprofile.Go to djangodjango.co.uk formore information.

KERRI Watt is one of our undis-covered gems.The Glasgow girl —mentoredby The Libertines drummer GaryPowell — has a superb voice.And she shows it off on newsingle You, released on April 27.It’s a track that sticks the kniferight into an ex and it hasalready had more than 350,000streams on Soundcloud andYouTube.There is no doubt that Kerrihas the talent to go far so watchthis space.Check out the single’s videonow at kerriwatt.com.

CANADIAN rocksupergroup Mountiesare all around 40 —but they are gettingdown and dirty sothey can mix it withthe kids.

The guys have enjoyedsuccess in various bandsdown the years.

Hawksley Workman is anacclaimed singer-songwriter,while Steve Bays was in HotHot Heat and Ryan Dahlewas part of Limblifter.

But now thetrio have teamedup and are takingon today’s young-sters, by startingall over again.

Ryan, 44, said:“When you’reyoung, you can bea bit of ana**hole.

“You can be notkind to the peoplearound you.

“But we’re all such fans ofeach other, we’re supportive,and that transcends into usbeing better as a band atour age.”

The group, above, took offout the blue. There was noteven a plan to form up.

Ryan explained: “I didn’tpersonally realise we werestarting a band.

“But within a few days, itsounded like a band. Wewere surprised. It just hap-pened because of our admi-

ration for each other. We’veall influenced each otherquite a bit down the years.

“Usually you’re tryingreally hard to make some-thing decent but when you’rea fan of the guys in yourband, everything is muchmore exciting.”

Their debut album ThrashRock Legacy, inset, came outin March last year to ravereviews.

One critic even claimed itwas “a Lamborghini ridethrough outer space on warpspeed with a glass of winein hand and headphones

on”.The lads have

revealed thesecret behind it —the sound ofsilence.

Ryan admitted:“I had one idea— let’s arriveempty-handed. Iwanted us to goin without anyideas, and that’show we did it.

“I wanted that rather thanturning up with things doneand being political aboutwhose song we were going towork on.

“Having three writers, wewere surprised how seam-lessly it happened.

“We work really fast.“A lot of the songs come

from 40-minute jams of usnot speaking — we’re bigfans of not talking too much.

“We’ll sit together andwrite lyrics, someone writesa line and then another per-

son adds the next one. It’s aspontaneous thing andbecause you’re trying to keepup with people who you’refans of, you’re trying to pullyour best out.

“It creates a very healthycompetitiveness.

“It’s a good environmentand we hope it lasts — andwe think it will.”

Most veterans hate theterm “supergroup” butMounties are right into it.

Ryan said: “I don’t mindthe word super, it’s a goodword.

“The fact that anybodysays anything is a goodthing.

“Calling us super is finewith us, we’ve got usedto it.

We’re going toshow up and play

“And it’s pretty accurateconsidering the success we’veall had separately.”

The band will make theirScottish debut at Glasgow’sKing Tut’s tomorrow night.

But they admit they haveno idea what sort of recep-tion they will face.

Ryan added: “We’ve noidea if there will be fivepeople or 300 there.

“We’re not sure who knowsabout this or who’s going tobe excited.

“But we’re going to showup and play — and see whathappens.”l For more, check out mounties-band.com

CANADIAN rock

Wetrulyareourownbiggest fans

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