Ross Clark/French Wives, Captain’s Rest Glasgow

May 15, 2009

On a typical Glasgow night with shoes wringing from the skydiving precipitation one of the best new venues in the city paid host to some superb sonic nourishment. Up and coming promotion team Aerials, who operate in association with The List magazine, served up another fantastic night of Glasgow-based music. The night was kicked off by an acoustic set by Jonathan Sellar, main creative force behind My Cousin I Bid You Farewell. His set was peppered with songs from the imminent debut album and despite recent departures from the band, Jonathan appears to have kept his eyes firmly on the prize, the songs are incredibly well crafted Boss-esque tunes with a soulful charm and Jonny’s stunning vocals laced over the top.

From the honey-rich violins in the set opener, ‘Halloween’, to the stomping finale of ‘Me Versus Me’, French Wives display their frankly unfathomable songwriting talent, particularly in relation to their age as a band. Less than a year after forming The Wives have produced two five-track EPs, played every top night in Glasgow and even played at the last ever Connect.

In front of a star studded audience which reads like a who’s who on the Glasgow scene – from members of Brother Louis Collective, Paper Planes, Frightened Rabbit and, of course, yours truly – the young band display their strident steps not only in songwriting but also in general presence. Gaps between songs which formerly held pensive silence are now filled with full band crescendos and this makes for a much more fluid feeling and radiates unflappable confidence, all you want in a band. With festival performances booked for the summer, including Rockness in June, and the forthcoming return of guitarist Scott Macpherson from the USA later this month, I defy anyone to stand in this young bands way.

During the changeover, I contemplate many things including whether the finale of Lost will be good, if my shoes will ever dry and whether going swimming in Loch Lomand was a good idea. I decide that, despite a life-threatening bout of the sniffles, the answer is yes to each. Three yes’. Almost like Britain’s Got Talent, without the heart rendering back story about being a virgin.

Afro-headed, bespectacled troubadour Ross Clark is the headliner tonight and judging from the swell in crowd numbers, most people are here to watch his unique brand of country tinged Americana. Tonight Ross plays without backing band, The Scarfs go missing, though all star collaborations are very much the theme of the night, first up is Roslyn Potter of indie-popster six piece Washington Irving. Later in the night backing vocals are taken up by Louis Abbott of Brother Louis Collective, the songs are delivered with passion and an unmistakable talent. Comparisons with Ryan Adams are perhaps inevitable, though, I’d imagine, flattering they are lazy and saturated, and I see more in common with the emotion filled lo-fi of Built to Spill and certainly the invention of Neutral Milk Hotel.

While I’m not willing to chastise Clark for being too imaginative, as I don’t believe such a thing exists, without the benefit of a rhythm section the songs can often sound confused and disjointed. That is nit picking though, and I’m not a primary school nurse. It is true to say that when Fhearg and Davey, from the afore mentions scarfs, join Ross at the tail end of the set, the songs begin to make a lot more sense, particularly on highlight ‘Three Blind Wolves’. The Closer, ‘Anthems In Clams’, is as hauntingly beautiful as anything on Heartbreaker, particularly when delivered the to deathly silent room without the benefit of amplification.

Ross takes his evocative out of Glasgow next for a show at the Electric Circus in Edinburgh on Jun 7, Academy 2 in Newcastle on Jun 16 and a solo show at Kings College, London on Jun 17. He returns to Glasgow on Jun 24 for a performance at Oran Mor with Sparrow and the Workshop as part of the West End Festival.